Tribune Broadcasting Company Blacks Out DISH Customers in 33 Markets;

Joe Capitano

SatelliteGuys Pro
Oct 19, 2003
218
113
There is no dispute DISH has had that lasted 6 Months or even close.
Remember what I called "Fish v dish" just before the HD switchover? That one between Fisher Communications (now defunct) and dish lasted nearly six months and got quite testy on the Fisher side at times (sound familiar?). I should know. One of the Fisher stations was KOMO Seattle. Those stations all were acquired by Sinclair a couple of years later so we didn't escape their recent kerfuffle, either.

One more thing...
Looks like it's owned by "Tegna, INC" - I don't see anything about Tribune.

Tribune owns KCPQ (FOX) and KZJO (MY) in the Seattle market, and we all know what's running in place of those for the forseeable future.
 
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pamajestic

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Pub Member / Supporter
Mar 25, 2009
233
129
Gettysburg, PA
So, are we on our own if for example my local NBC is blacked out, and dish sent me the free antenna, but it can't pull anything at all in because i'm 65 miles from all local networks. Also, i'm so far in the country that i have very slow dsl (around 1 mb/sec or so) which totally sucks for trying to stream video. Dish mentions online to go to nbc's website to watch the shows that are missed at night, but that's not feasible for us. Has anyone had any luck of them coming out and installing a bigger OTA antenna so that the local's will come in? I'd rather not have to do that, but darnit, there are shows i'm missing nightly!!! I won't switch from Dish, but when paying nearly $200/month, i expect more!

Go to Tvfool.com and run a report for your exact location and post the link here or start a new thread in OTA section. A generic report for Osceola shows line of sight and a good signal.

The antenna Dish sent you is not suitable for your NBC. Your NBC is on channel 13.
 

xfoneguy

SatelliteGuys Pro
Sep 25, 2008
1,293
365
Duvall, WA
Remember what I called "Fish v dish" just before the HD switchover? That one between Fisher Communications (now defunct) and dish lasted nearly six months and got quite testy on the Fisher side at times (sound familiar?). I should know. One of the Fisher stations was KOMO Seattle. Those stations all were acquired by Sinclair a couple of years later so we didn't escape their recent kerfuffle, either.

One more thing...


Tribune owns KCPQ (FOX) and KZJO (MY) in the Seattle market, and we all know what's running in place of those for the forseeable future.
yep - definitely time for me to start researching antennas.
 

xfoneguy

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Sep 25, 2008
1,293
365
Duvall, WA
I just realized that I have (had now!) 35 - 1/2 hr and 1 hour recordings of repeating "propaganda" recordings in my PrimeTime folder from out local FOX channel.. Duh! I'm not even sure how that many recordings could stack up there.
 
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pamajestic

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Mar 25, 2009
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Gettysburg, PA
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xfoneguy

SatelliteGuys Pro
Sep 25, 2008
1,293
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Duvall, WA
No doubt you are deep fringe, but based on your report you do have a chance if you want to give it a try. I recommend the Stellar Labs 30-2476 from MCM electronics mounted outside above the roofline.

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/30-2476
No doubt you are deep fringe, but based on your report you do have a chance if you want to give it a try. I recommend the Stellar Labs 30-2476 from MCM electronics mounted outside above the roofline.

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/30-2476
thanks for the recommendation - I am going to take your suggestion and give it a shot. I've been thinking about this for quite some time now. I've been wanting to check out the other locals that I've never had access to with satellite. I guess this is just what I needed to push me over the edge. Also, I didn't realize how inexpensively priced these things were.
 

xfoneguy

SatelliteGuys Pro
Sep 25, 2008
1,293
365
Duvall, WA
No doubt you are deep fringe, but based on your report you do have a chance if you want to give it a try. I recommend the Stellar Labs 30-2476 from MCM electronics mounted outside above the roofline.

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/30-2476
one other question if you don't mind...... our FOX affiliate is a UHF station (ch.22) - any suggestions for an antenna? Also, I haven't used a roof-top antenna in so many years, I can't remember - can the VHF & UHF elements be mounted on the same mast?
 

Dished Off

Active SatelliteGuys Member
Jun 14, 2016
24
19
Scranton
I now have OTA guide data for the DVR with Tribune's WNEP so for the most part I am now a happy customer.

Still waiting for the superstations though they were only available in SD anyway. I was able to ask for a refund without having to cancel them and worry about never getting them turned back on due to Dish's self imposed 'bridge of no return' policy. I plan to ask for it again at the end of this month should the dispute carry on into August.

I rarely watched WGN America and even less so since they removed the nightly prime time simulcasts of WGN News. Its just another boring channel now with just a small handful of origonal series. I can live without it since if there is breaking news in Chicago, WGN America is not going to show it anyway. Plus I did hear that WGN Chicago (The Local Version) will be losing its CW Affiliation, I think in September.

Perhaps other Tribune stations will follow if people start petitioning their respective networks should this dispute carry over to other satellite / cable providers also having to black them out.

Forced bundling is an issue and should not fit the definition of 'good faith' requirement that the FCC promotes. This should be challenged via the FCC and not through arbitration. Dish should take this up directly with the FCC and on capital hill.

We need to have A La Carte like they have in Canada. Otherwise cord cutting will continue. I would like to be able to choose a package with just the news and educational channels in it. I can't. Dish Network's entry level packages lack access to all of them at the same time due to forced bundling by the providers which prevents Dish from doing this without an act of congress. One entry level package only offers MSNBC, and the other one only offers FOX News and not both of them for example.
 

JerryDowning

SatelliteGuys Pro
Pub Member / Supporter
Jul 31, 2012
782
358
NE Illinois
I noticed during a Cubs game today that WGN is scrolling a message across the bottom of the screen that tells Dish customers to call Dish if they wish to watch Cubs games. What I don't understand is if a Cubs fan cannot watch the game, how do they see the message?
 

Blackhawks

SatelliteGuys Guru
Oct 24, 2010
120
34
Chicago Norh Suburbs
I now have OTA guide data for the DVR with Tribune's WNEP so for the most part I am now a happy customer.

Still waiting for the superstations though they were only available in SD anyway. I was able to ask for a refund without having to cancel them and worry about never getting them turned back on due to Dish's self imposed 'bridge of no return' policy. I plan to ask for it again at the end of this month should the dispute carry on into August.

I rarely watched WGN America and even less so since they removed the nightly prime time simulcasts of WGN News. Its just another boring channel now with just a small handful of origonal series. I can live without it since if there is breaking news in Chicago, WGN America is not going to show it anyway. Plus I did hear that WGN Chicago (The Local Version) will be losing its CW Affiliation, I think in September.

Perhaps other Tribune stations will follow if people start petitioning their respective networks should this dispute carry over to other satellite / cable providers also having to black them out.

Forced bundling is an issue and should not fit the definition of 'good faith' requirement that the FCC promotes. This should be challenged via the FCC and not through arbitration. Dish should take this up directly with the FCC and on capital hill.

We need to have A La Carte like they have in Canada. Otherwise cord cutting will continue. I would like to be able to choose a package with just the news and educational channels in it. I can't. Dish Network's entry level packages lack access to all of them at the same time due to forced bundling by the providers which prevents Dish from doing this without an act of congress. One entry level package only offers MSNBC, and the other one only offers FOX News and not both of them for example.

OTA WGN-TV9 is dropping the CW to focus on Chicago Sports, so they don't need to sub-contract out sports to WCIU or another Independent Station due to Network Commitment. WGN carries the Blackhawks, Cubs, Sox & Bulls (these teams also are on other stations)
 

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