HD locals for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA timeframe??

[amoni]

I had to call this weekend because I was having trouble with a new smart card and of course it took four hours for them to discover I had a different card than what their computer said. So while I waiting during certain calls, I would ask about how the whole area cant receive the HD channel. Took my time explaining the whole thing and both times the CS person came back with the same pat "The reason you're only getting one HD channel is because that is all we subscribe too right now. We have no information when other channels will be available". Of course that answer had absolutely nothing to do with what I asked.

 

[costanzas_wallet]

They've got till Mondays Heroes... and if they dont have it by then... then I'll just have to wait DAMNIT!

The laws of Dish state: New Locals shall launch a day after the current season ends.

 

[Minac]

I'm hoping that Dish can't get WBRE & WYOU on NOW because there is an exclusive with Direct until the end of year. Maybe comes January we'll all be much happier.

Wallet-- you're right on the mark!

 

[jeepers94]

Those of us in the Madison WI area are in the same boat.We only have Fox in hd.The other3 networks are to be up in hd before years end,according to several dish csrs and installers.I called to cancel,for the second time,but they gave me a month of service free.
Well,3 strikes and they are OUT! I have an appointment scheduled for Jan 5 with Direct.
The picture quality is good,but the way they screw the customer is too much. My bill has been right once in the past year! I won't regret switching one bit,even though I know Direct is almost as bad!

 

[NothingToGein]

First time poster, recently subscribed to Dish in the Williamsport area, where they said they would have HD for these channels up by the end of October...like the rest of you, still nothing. Has there been any recent update or has anyone heard anything about when they will have this problem resolved? I've tried to talk to Dish but they give me the same line everytime, we are working on the problem. Really hope they can get this fixed by the time Lost starts up.

 

[Jim S.]

The only way they're going to fix it is to move to a different spotbeam (which they likely don't have, or they would've put it on the right one in the first place) or a different satellite (which would require a different dish.)

 

[fmanfr66]

Any Update on wyou, wbre, fox, wswb and pbs channels in HD and time soon from Dish.

 

[hopton]

I haven't seen or heard diddly-squat. Everything I was told from the stations (months ago) was that Dish already had an agreement with them and they didn't know why they weren't broadcasting it. That, plus the fact that a TON of the customers in the DMA aren't even covered by the spotbeam for HD makes it even more frustrating.

No worries, though. I am sure we will have it "soon"!

 

[costanzas_wallet]

what i dont get ... why does dish need to spotbeam the hd feed when they can remove the sd and feed only the hd signal? those feeds would still be downconverted on non-hd sets, right? are the satelites truely that crowded that they cant even sub out the sd? because it seems a waste to have all those sd channels being simulcasted in hd.. why not just eleminate the sd conterparts all together?

 

[Jim S.]

The only way the HD feeds would be downconverted is if the customer has an HD receiver. There are those of us who think that Dish should've quit giving out SD receivers a long time ago, but unfortunately we're not running Dish.

 

[costanzas_wallet]

so if a channel is broadcast in HD, dish wouldnt be able to allow a SD receiver to show it, regardless of resolution? I know that when a HD feed is viewed on a SD television, you only see it in the maximum resolution of the set.. wouldnt the same hold true for a SD receiver?

 

[Jim S.]

There are several problems. First, on Dish the HD channels are modulated differently (more bits per baud, if you understand PSK coding), so the SD receiver wouldn't necessarily know it was even a valid signal. Second, the HD channels are now all MPEG4, and none of the current SD receivers understand MPEG4. Third, even if any of the HD channels were still MPEG2, none of the existing SD receivers were built to deal with HD in any form, so they wouldn't be able to output a signal for your TV to downscale. Fourth, I doubt any analog TVs are built to downscale HD signals. You'll find a few that can deal with a widescreen SD signal (which the Dish HD receivers will output in certain modes, and some DVD players can output), and a very few expensive ones that can do 576 lines instead of 480 for European SD, but even 720 would probably be too fast for them to sync to, if there were any way to get a Dish SD receiver to output it, which there isn't.

 

[costanzas_wallet]

excellent answer. thank you.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

I only want 1 Question answered.
WHERE ARE MY FOX,NBC,AND CBS HD LOCALS????

 

[costanzas_wallet]

lol .. on comcast.

 

[costanzas_wallet]

Just noticed this link .. mp3 ..
http://www.satelliteguys.us/attachment.php?attachmentid=31880&d=1228797607

.. they said 'we now have' Wilkes Barre locals... so I'd assume we are a day closer to getting them than we were yesterday... I could be wrong though.

 

[amoni]

That's from the recent Charlie Chat. They say Local(S). It is only one channel and not available to the entire designated area. In other words, it's a LIE.

 

[edpkp81]

That's from the recent Charlie Chat. They say Local(S). It is only one channel and not available to the entire designated area. In other words, it's a LIE.

The LIE in print:

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Oct 09, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH), the nation’s third largest pay-TV provider and the digital transition leader, today announced the addition of high definition local channels in five markets: Florence – Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Fort Myers – Naples, Fla.; Greenville – New Bern – Washington, N.C.; Madison, Wis.; and Wilkes Barre – Scranton, Pa. DISH Network® now offers local channels in 70 markets reaching 71 percent of U.S. TV households.

Maybe it's me but I interpret channels as meaning more than one!

 

[Farmdog]

Sorry in advance for the long post and the bad news.....I have no information for those of you that are able to get the spot beam, but are still waiting for NBC, CBS and FOX.

However, for those of us that have not been able to get the spot, I have some rather bad news. I sent the following letter to the ceo@dish email address and got the response below my letter.

If you don't feel like reading it all, the short version is they know we can't get the spot beam, they are doing nothing about it, and we are basically out of luck.

Goodbye Dish Network. This is the final straw!!!

MY LETTER:

"I have been a subscriber to Dish Network for over 6 years and I have been very pleased with the service, equipment, technical support, and mostly with the best DVR in the world. However, I have recently tried multiple times to get live chat and telephone CSRs to answer a question without any satisfaction. I am hoping you can help me with a straight answer to a rather simple question.

I live in Lewisburg, PA (17837) in the Wilkes-Barre DMA. I have waited very patiently for HD local channels to become available to my market. I was pleased to see that at least one of my locals (WNEP in HD) was made available to my DMA. I was prepared to upgrade to a VIP series receiver and extend my contract the required term, trusting that the other HD locals would soon become available. This is not a question about when those channels will be available, so please keep reading.

Upon learning of the new local HD channel I contacted a local retailer to confirm that the information was accurate and that this channel was indeed live. He advised me that yes it was, but that in our portion of the DMA (far west side), the spotbeam on which this channel (and all future HD locals) is being delivered is too weak to receive a reliable signal. He advised that the channel cuts in and out, drops audio, and is viewable less than 10% of the time. Needless to say, I was quite disappointed.

Your website initially showed this channel as "available" at my physical address, but has since been changed to show "no HD locals" for my address. This leads me to believe that Dish is aware of the problem. In all my discussions with your CSR's I have been told everything from "Yes, you will get this channel without issue" to "No, it is not available". None of them seem aware of the spotbeam issue.

Can you please confirm if this is a known issue and if anything is being done to deliver HD local channels to the entire Wilkes-Barre DMA? If nothing is being done, does this mean that I am forever "out of luck" when it comes to receiving HD locals from Dish?

I would hate to have to switch to DirecTV or my cable company, both of which have had all of my HD locals for some time now. I have been so pleased with Dish that I was willing to wait for you to catch up to the competition, but now it seems that I will never be able to see these channels at my address. This would really force my hand.

I anxiously await your reply. Thank you.

RESPONSE:
Unfortunately, your zip code falls outside of the spot beam for locals in HD for the Wilkes-Barre DMA. We will not be able to provide these channels to you at this time and there is no timeframe for if or when we will be able to provide you HD locals. I apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused you.

Thanks,

Gregory Wall
DISH Network Corporation
Executive Communications
Phone: (720) 514-7317
Gregory.wall@echostar.com

 

[Derwin0]

That sucks, too bad they can't put y'all on 77, like they did Harrisburg.