Can't subscribe to Hartford channels

[bthom70]

We've been a dish subscriber for over 2 years.
In the beginning we were promised CT channels in the near future.
Now after Hartford locals have been added, I've been told by E* that since I live in Danbury, Fairfield county, we can not have Hartford. We're stuck with NYC and theres nothing we can do about it.
I' ve called 5 times and gotten the same answers.
Does anyone else live in Fairfield county have Hartford locals?

Brian

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Technically Dish is correct, you are legally in the NYC DMA.

However you can "move" and have your service address be somewhere in the Hartford DMA area, and leave your billing address where it is.

My feeling is if you can receive them via antenna you should be able to subscribe to them as well.

 

[bthom70]

Am I correct the D* allows Danbury to have Hartford locals.?

For some reason everyone uses the Neilson ambiguious score. Which says Fairfield county is included the NYC DMA. doesnt make since to me.
I want the choice to watch MY own states locals.

I'm trying to fight and call one of the Hartford stations to request a waiver of some sort.
Does anyone know of a solution??

Brian

 

[Tampa8]

We've been a dish subscriber for over 2 years.
In the beginning we were promised CT channels in the near future.
Now after Hartford locals have been added, I've been told by E* that since I live in Danbury, Fairfield county, we can not have Hartford. We're stuck with NYC and theres nothing we can do about it.
I' ve called 5 times and gotten the same answers.
Does anyone else live in Fairfield county have Hartford locals?

Brian

This has nothing to do with Dish and unfortunately they cannot do anything about it. You do not live in what is considered the Connecticut TV area, you should be getting the New York City channels. The convaluted way it is currently done, the State you live in does not matter, it is the DMA you live in. There has been some talk to change this exact situation so that anyone in the State of Connecticut and a few other states would be able to get their State locals, but nothing has been even proposed yet that I know of. Dish would would be breaking the law if they gave you the Connecticut locals. If Dish told you the Connecticut locals were coming, more than likely they just assumed that living in Connecticut meant you were able to get the Hartford/New Haven channels since they are they virtually the only ones in the State. They probably did not realize you are not in the Connecticut DMA until they looked it up. (Which you can too - at either the Dish site or the Direct TV site)

 

[Tampa8]

Am I correct the D* allows Danbury to have Hartford locals.?

For some reason everyone uses the Neilson ambiguious score. Which says Fairfield county is included the NYC DMA. doesnt make since to me.
I want the choice to watch MY own states locals.

I'm trying to fight and call one of the Hartford stations to request a waiver of some sort.
Does anyone know of a solution??

Brian

The "Waiver" would have to come from each of the New York City stations. I'm not sure they will give you a waiver but always worth a chance. The waiver has to be asked for by Dish.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

The law REALLY needs to be changed.

Why can cable companies offer 2 or 3 DMA's with no problem, yet Satellite you can only get one?

 

[James Long]

Cable is based on true reception in the city served. DBS is not. DMAs were used to make it easy on DBS companies trying to figure out who qualified for what. But zip codes work well for distant qualification (with exact geolocation working better).

I agree - the law REALLY needs to be changed. We HAVE the technology to locate users for DBS just as accurately as cable systems. Let's level the playing field.

JL

 

[Tampa8]

The law REALLY needs to be changed.

Why can cable companies offer 2 or 3 DMA's with no problem, yet Satellite you can only get one?

At the time they were allowed to, it was for those outlets that covered areas that had mixed DMA'S. There was no technology to give some one set of locals and others on the same system the other set without scrambling them. That would have raised the cost to the consumer because they would have to get a box for every room just to get their locals. I do not know the current status, but only those systems spanning more than one DMA should be able to provide more than one set of locals.

 

[Alan Gordon]

The law REALLY needs to be changed.

Why can cable companies offer 2 or 3 DMA's with no problem, yet Satellite you can only get one?

Agreed! My closest CBS and ABC is in another DMA, and even though I haven't been to that DMA in over 5 years, CBS would not give me a waiver. Once all 210 DMAs are up, this will more than likely be something the DBS companies will fight for (if they aren't already).


~Alan

 

[AppliedAggression]

If you had cable in your area, which locals would you receive?

 

[James Long]

Where I live now, the locals from my DMA including LPs and a DT only UPN.
Where my parents live, the locals from their DMA *and* from my DMA (since the town is Grade B for my locals).

Via E*: My parents would only get their DMA, I would get nothing (no locals yet) but will get three networks (no ABC), a PBS and an independent when they finally roll out my market.
Via D*: Yet to be seen - their bird should launch this month or next, and we will see if they are ready to transmit. Nothing outside the DMA.

JL

 

[Mr Tony]

If you had cable in your area, which locals would you receive?

At my service address, IF cable was available (it isnt)

cable..Minneapolis ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS, UPN, WB, PAX (Mpls DMA), PBS out of Brainerd (still in DMA), NBC & ABC out of Duluth (different DMA)

satellite..Mpls DMA channels..ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, UPN, WB, PBS (2), IND

so cable has 3 more channels available..the PBS in Brainerd does qualify for must-carry, but since they are 110+ miles away from the rest of the stations, they cant get it to the POP. I just would like the Duluth stations, too. The Duluth stations actually have our area during the weather, whereas Mpls talks about Brainerd (35 miles away).

 

[awax]

If you had cable in your area, which locals would you receive?

In my area I can receive:

Cable
ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, PBS, PAX, UPN from Fayetteville/Ft. Smith DMA, ABC and PBS from Tulsa, CBS and WB from Springfield, MO and NBC from Joplin MO

With E*
ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and PBS from Fayetteville/Ft. Smith

 

[Alan Gordon]

If you had cable in your area, which locals would you receive?

My street doesn't qualify for cable, BUT if it did, I would be able to get Albany, GA's (my DMA) NBC, FOX, and TBN. I'd get a IND from Cordele (also in the Albany, GA DMA) and a PBS from Dawson, GA, also in the Albany, GA DMA. However, I'd also get Columbus's ABC and CBS from the Columbus DMA, as well as a UPN from from Valdosta, GA which is part of the Tallahassee DMA. The cable company also has a CABLE-only WB! station that if I'm not mistaken is a rebadged version of the Atlanta DMA?! I saw a list earlier last year that listed the channels, but since I can't get it anyway, I didn't pay much attention.

~Alan

 

[bthom70]

If I had cable, I would not be part of the NYC DMA.
I would get my locals from Hartford and New Haven.
Answer me this Batman. Why is Dish having to play by 1 set of rules when the cable companies are allowed to not follow any.

Does anyone know if D* allows Danbury to get Hartford locals???


Brian

 

[TNGTony]

bthom70,

The reason why Satellite and Cable have different rules is due to their history. Cable TV started as nothing more than a community antenna (Scranton PA in 1947). In fact Cable TV's abreviation is still CATV. This means that all the rules and laws concerning cable TV are based on what a cable TV company can pick up with an antenna at the system's head end. To this day, cable companies can carry TV stations from any market they are able to pick up with sophisticated reception equipment as long as the channels are "significantly viewed" in their area.

On the other hand it has NEVER BEEN LEGAL for satellite companies to pluck a TV signal off the air and resell it to subscibers without the TV satation AND the programmer's consent. Loopholes and ambiguous language in other existing laws along with extremely low penetration to average home subscribers kept these things in limbo for 3 decades. But finally 1990's it was solidified in court rulings and the SHVA. The SHVA allowed satellite companies to sell TV stations without the station's permission to anyone who could not otherwise get TV reception AND had not been a cable subscriber within the last 90 days. But it DID NOT allow a satellite company to sell a TV station to anyone who could pick up the same network over the air. The funny thing was that this was in effect EVEN if the station the satellite companies were delivering was the same one you could get off the air!

In the SHVA there were exceptions made for national and regional "superstations', but it also put a moratorium on the creation of new superstations. Again, this is taking a TV station off the air WITHOUT the TV station's or the copyright owners' consent and selling it via satellite. There will NEVER be a new superstation like this again.

Just to make sure I am clear, the SHVA is a solidification of existing laws and closing of loopholes and ambiguities. It did not just "pop up".

In December 1999, the SHVIA (the I stands for Improvement) allowed for satellite systems to sell TV stations into their own local markets and nowhere else. The local markets were not pulled out of thin air either. Nielsen, like it or not, is the standard for what TV stations do. The county in CT in question is an extension of NYC and its market. Economically, *MOST* people in that county do business with, work in and travel to NYC market counties more than they do New Haven or Hartford. *Most* people in the county are more likely to watch NYC TV than Hartford. The moment that changes, Nielsen will reassign the TV market in that county. Every summer the map is redrawn for the new season.

If you are in Fairfield Co., you ARE in the NYC TV market. Dish and DirecTV cannot, by law sell you anything other than NYC local channels. To you that is NYC.

See http://ekb.dbstalk.com/TVMarkets

See ya
Tony