DISH dropped CBS from my service!

[dsclark]

DISH dropped my local (Reno, NV) CBS station. Station claims that they agreed to let DISH carry them for the same rate they did in last contract, but I guess DISH wants a price cut. DISH claims the station is greedy and wants double the cost. Station has a written offer to keep current plan, sent to DISH.Attention Dish Subscribers - KTVN Channel 2 - Reno Tahoe News Weather, Video -
So, DISH dropped CBS 11/1/11. This is hard for us as this is our favorite station and plus it has football. The dumbest suggestion we've gotten is to use an antenna. Yes, we have an antenna that we use, but we can't use our pvr to record! DISH, to show their spitefulness, stopped putting up the program guide for CBS. Instead, the guide says over and over "Contact your local CBS station now!". On the channel, they have 3 minute propaganda clip running in an endless loop where some woman from DISH calls the station greedy and apologizes that they no longer will carry CBS.
Wife called up DISH and they offered 3 months of free HBO and $10 credit for the next six months. This really is small potatoes to us as this our main channel. I have gotten tired of streaming CBS off my laptap (plus it has its bugs) so...
We are getting a $100 Tivo premiere. We will be able to record our HD stations, will get Netflix and Hulu Plus. Tivo will give us service for $10 a month, add the rest of the providers and we will have a bill of a around $35, much less than our current bill of $99 with DISH. With the $ saved, maybe I can convince wifey to replace my aging Pioneer reciever with an Onkyo 1009
Funny, if DISH didn't do this, I was ready to re-up with them for another two years and continue to give them $1200 a year.

 

[rocket69]

if you have a 211/622/612 or a 722 dvr it has built in ota digital tuner and you can recorde 1 show at a time. if you have a 722K you can have dish send you the ota card and recorde 2 shows from ota and 2 from sat at the same time.

 

[whatchel1]

DISH dropped my local (Reno, NV) CBS station. Station claims that they agreed to let DISH carry them for the same rate they did in last contract, but I guess DISH wants a price cut. DISH claims the station is greedy and wants double the cost. Station has a written offer to keep current plan, sent to DISH.Attention Dish Subscribers - KTVN Channel 2 - Reno Tahoe News Weather, Video -
So, DISH dropped CBS 11/1/11. This is hard for us as this is our favorite station and plus it has football. The dumbest suggestion we've gotten is to use an antenna. Yes, we have an antenna that we use, but we can't use our pvr to record! DISH, to show their spitefulness, stopped putting up the program guide for CBS. Instead, the guide says over and over "Contact your local CBS station now!". On the channel, they have 3 minute propaganda clip running in an endless loop where some woman from DISH calls the station greedy and apologizes that they no longer will carry CBS.
Wife called up DISH and they offered 3 months of free HBO and $10 credit for the next six months. This really is small potatoes to us as this our main channel. I have gotten tired of streaming CBS off my laptap (plus it has its bugs) so...
We are getting a $100 Tivo premiere. We will be able to record our HD stations, will get Netflix and Hulu Plus. Tivo will give us service for $10 a month, add the rest of the providers and we will have a bill of a around $35, much less than our current bill of $99 with DISH. With the $ saved, maybe I can convince wifey to replace my aging Pioneer reciever with an Onkyo 1009
Funny, if DISH didn't do this, I was ready to re-up with them for another two years and continue to give them $1200 a year.

Something isn't quite right here. 1 of them is not saying the full story. I just read what KTVN has to say and they are lying to the public. Here is their message: DISH wants to pay less than two cents a day for our local and CBS programming… and all the while, most subscribers are paying more than $30 a month for their DISH service. We think you'll agree that KTVN's local news and information programming and our CBS programming is worth at least 2 or 3 cents a day. This translates to we want to be paid more than any other station in the area. They are saying E* pays less than 2 cents a day but we want 2 to 3 cents per day. So yes they are wanting to double or maybe triple there fee. That is the problem. In short they are lying to you the viewing public. The want allot more money for carriage and so E* had to stop carrying them since there is no longer a contract in place. If E* did carry them they would saying that they agree with a price increase.

 

[dsclark]

Not really. We can't set up to record any shows as it shows the same "Call your station" message for every hour block. The only way we can record is if we catch the show live and hit the record button. All shows recorded will be titled "Call your CBS station now!" in the recorded show guide!
We'll be doing this tomorrow night for four hours or so of CBS, then skip through it.
We like our CBS news too. The sportscaster for it got killed last night by a hit run done by a drunk, we missed out on the tribute they did for him.

 

[whatchel1]

Not really. We can't set up to record any shows as it shows the same "Call your station" message for every hour block. The only way we can record is if we catch the show live and hit the record button. All shows recorded will be titled "Call your CBS station now!" in the recorded show guide!
We'll be doing this tomorrow night for four hours or so of CBS, then skip through it.
We like our CBS news too. The sportscaster for it got killed last night by a hit run done by a drunk, we missed out on the tribute they did for him.

You aren't recording it OTA then. As they have no way to cover up OTA. They may not have the guide but the OTA will not have what you say running over top of it.

 

[dsclark]

You aren't recording it OTA then. As they have no way to cover up OTA. They may not have the guide but the OTA will not have what you say running over top of it.

You really don't get it, do you? For my area, CBS comes on 2.0 and 2.1. The 2.0 is from DISH, yes, it is from DISH, MPEG4 in all its glory. The 2.1 is off the antenna- yes, I have an antenna, a big big antenna on my roof. On the channel guide, I see the channel 2's, then the channel 4's and so on.
Now, if you look at the programing guide (that is the thing that has the names of all the shows), you see this for CBS (from satellite) and CBS (from the antenna):
"Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/.
Yup, it goes on for as far as the guide will go!
Now, I can record Important News at 9:00pm or I can record Important News at 3:00am. I can also record, off my antenna, Important News at 5:00pm. My antenna also lets me record Important News at 10:00pm on any night. If I record Important News off the sat, then I get the DISH lady on her loop. If I want to record shows off the antenna, yup, it'll record them. But, in the programs to watch, "How I met your mother" wil; be titled Important News, CSI Miami will be titled Important News, and so on. And, that is if I manually hit the record button for each show. Timers? Worthless, don't work. The box stopped recording CBS. This is because it looks at the guide and sees that there is nothing there.

 

[whatchel1]

You really don't get it, do you? For my area, CBS comes on 2.0 and 2.1. The 2.0 is from DISH, yes, it is from DISH, MPEG4 in all its glory. The 2.1 is off the antenna- yes, I have an antenna, a big big antenna on my roof. On the channel guide, I see the channel 2's, then the channel 4's and so on.
Now, if you look at the programing guide (that is the thing that has the names of all the shows), you see this for CBS (from satellite) and CBS (from the antenna):
"Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/Important News/.
Yup, it goes on for as far as the guide will go!
Now, I can record Important News at 9:00pm or I can record Important News at 3:00am. I can also record, off my antenna, Important News at 5:00pm. My antenna also lets me record Important News at 10:00pm on any night. If I record Important News off the sat, then I get the DISH lady on her loop. If I want to record shows off the antenna, yup, it'll record them. But, in the programs to watch, "How I met your mother" wil; be titled Important News, CSI Miami will be titled Important News, and so on. And, that is if I manually hit the record button for each show. Timers? Worthless, don't work. The box stopped recording CBS. This is because it looks at the guide and sees that there is nothing there.

The titles will be a pain but you can set manual timers to record any of the OTA CBS shows. And you don't get it your local station is lying about the facts of the case. BTW you can edit the name of the title of the program too. It will be a pain but then you will know what it is.

 

[RobMeyer1]

Not really. We can't set up to record any shows as it shows the same "Call your station" message for every hour block. The only way we can record is if we catch the show live and hit the record button. All shows recorded will be titled "Call your CBS station now!" in the recorded show guide!
We'll be doing this tomorrow night for four hours or so of CBS, then skip through it.
We like our CBS news too. The sportscaster for it got killed last night by a hit run done by a drunk, we missed out on the tribute they did for him.

You can do manual timers in advance to record KTVN OTA for the whatever time periods you want. It won't have a good title, but at least you don't have to be at home to catch the programming you want. Something else to try: In the guide try selecting the future one hour OTA version of KTVN you want to record, then select "Once", "Weekly", "Daily", or "Mon-Fri", then "Create Timer" (avoid "All Episodes" or "New Episodes").

I went thru this earlier this year when our local Albuquerque CBS and FOX affliliates asked for an obscene price increase which I am sure is what is happening here. I am with Dish on this one. If they start paying each of the local stations what they were asking, Dish would ultimately have to increase their prices to Dish customers as well. All locals are available to me free OTA, so I object to the high prices some locals think they are entitled to. 3 cents a day is about 90 cents per month, or about $11/year. Now multiply that by each local station and you're talking real money for something most of us can get for free OTA.

 

[boba]

dsclark you really need to read the instruction book for your receiver. Learn how to use what you have rather than complaining.

 

[Tampa8]

The op is most likely correct, at least about the guide. With the station not being broadcast the guide probably does not have the programming. The other's suggestions hold true, though not convenient you can still record with a manual timer.

Reading the statements as others have, I have to agree, it sure seems like a two or three times increase. If true they offered to let Dish carry it at the current cost, I can only guess for legal reasons Dish could not. That would be a good question to ask the CEO through the email address. Many do get a reply from his office.

 

[HanoverPretzel]

I always hate the old "Just pull out an antenna and watch it over the air" stuff. A lot of people live in areas where they can't get stuff over the air, at least not with an indoor antenna. If an apartment complex no longer wanted to provide running water that was previously included in the rent and then said "Just collect some rainwater from the roof with special equipment (That you must purchase)", people wouldn't go for that, and some might even point out that they don't have a roof (i.e. not on the top floor)! Granted, CBS isn't as important as water, but I think folks understand my point.

 

[rocket69]

at one time dish would supply and install an OTA for you as an upgrade and last time i looked at doing upgrades for customers of dish (9months ago) it was still listed as an option not sure of upgrade terms in contract for 2 year at $17.50 month or $10.oo pro-rated.

 

[Mr Tony]

Dish has decided that the main OTA channels the guide comes directly from the sat channel guide info. So if the sat one says "Important Info" then the OTA will say the same

You've already found a monkey-shine roundabout way of recording the OTA but manual timers works the best. I've got some OTA timers that are set manually because DIsh wont give guide info on some channels so it just says "digital service"

 

[navychop]

I record OTA onto my ViP722 DVRs all the time. It's not as easy as using the EPG, but no harder than using a VCR was.

 

[SarKen]

The titles will be a pain but you can set manual timers to record any of the OTA CBS shows. And you don't get it your local station is lying about the facts of the case. BTW you can edit the name of the title of the program too. It will be a pain but then you will know what it is.

This is what I had to do during the Fox issue awhile back. I just setup a manual timer for the shows I wanted. Then in the morning while having my coffee I would rename the recordings with actually show names then set the days manual recordings is needed.

Not the best solution and would be great if the OTA channel had the guide data. But, at least I was able to record the OTA channel.

 

[dsclark]

3 cents a day is about 90 cents per month, or about $11/year. Now multiply that by each local station and you're talking real money for something most of us can get for free OTA.

In your example, you think $.90 a month is too much, yet ESPN takes in about $4 a month (!) from a channel, many never watch. Why is it that I can't have CBS, but I am forced to subsidize this overpriced channel? If CBS wants an extra $.60 a month, I'll pay it. Hell, take away the ESPN (and spanish channels, LOGO, BET and a bunch of other channels while you are at ) give me CBS and keep the change. The sat/cable companies are losing 1000's of subscribers because people are tired of paying lots of $ for channels they don't want to watch.

 

[osu1991]

Now multiply that price by every channel in your market that Dish carries. If every station gets those rates then you might be paying 10 to 15 a month just for locals and that is just for the major channels, now add in if some of these locals want Dish to carry their subchannels too. Realistically you could be paying closer to $20 a month just locals. Now add in the cost of getting your locals signal to Dish's uplink facility. Your local channel affiliate doesn't cover this.

 

[KAB]

If CBS wants an extra $.60 a month, I'll pay it.

Well then, get a hold of Charlie and tell him to make the deal!

 

[Tampa8]

It's worth repeating from previous posts. ANY fee charged to Dish is too much. Networks were granted exclusive rights to certain areas(DMA's) and in exchange they provided free OTA signals. If you could not get their signal (White Zone) you could get out of DMA (Out of Market - distants) channels if a provider would give them to you.

Then it progressed to something totally new, all in favor of the network. Even if they can't provide an OTA signal, Dish and Direct can not give you Distants if they carry the locals.

And now it has progressed further yet to holding Dish or Direct hostage by charging fees, when their signal is being reached in many cases to areas it would not otherwise via Satellite. It benefits the Network far more than Dish. Why? Because Dish and Direct really should be able to give you any network it wants if the local can not provide the OTA signal. So Sc-w the networks. ::

lol

 

[dsclark]

Despite losing 11,000 subscribers last quarter, profits are up. Dish profits up but subscribers dip - Entertainment News, TV News, Media - Variety
So, has anyone seen a reduction in rates? My point here is that DISH is not playing hard for the benefit of the consumer, they just want a bigger profit, they could care less about the consumer. If some subscriber in my area just reupped with them, theyt are screwed for the next two years and there are lot of people in this area who can't get CBS off of antenna. If Dish really cared about the consumer, they'd let people pick the channels they want. For example, you have $50 per month to pick channels which have different prices. Want ESPN? That'll be $4. Want Disney? That'll be $1. Hypothetically, the local CBS could demand $10 per month. Well heck, the consumer will get to decide if they want want to spend 20% of their bill on that.
Right now, that is what people are doing with ota and internet.Went to Best Buy the other day and saw a large selection of internet streaming devices. Their are 1000's of people who agree with me- they are called former Direct/Dish subscribers. When Apple vamps up their Apple TV service in another year or so, Dish/Direct will wilt the same way that cable companies did when Direct first started service (and I was one of the first in my area, still remember sending USSB a monthly check!).