CBS stations return to DISH

Just want to point out, broadcast owners do PAY for their spectrum. First, they payed to acquire the rights to the spectrum, and they pay yearly in fees to renew their licenses.

Don't know about renew fees but I remember that they did get their digital spectrum for free if they turned over the analog spectrum back to the government.
 
They also pledged to serve the community they serve. Not sure how they do that when they prevent people getting their signal. :D
Broadcasters keep people from putting up antennas? :biggrin

Don't know about renew fees but I remember that they did get their digital spectrum for free if they turned over the analog spectrum back to the government.
Think about this for a second. Broadcasters had a 6mhz channel allotment. They gave that frequency back to the government and got a 6mhz channel allotment. They didn't gain anything. The only thing that changed was the frequency. Do you consider that "getting the spectrum for free"?
 
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Broadcasters keep people from putting up antennas? :biggrin

Think about this for a second. Broadcasters had a 6mhz channel allotment. They gave that frequency back to the government and got a 6mhz channel allotment. They didn't gain anything. The only thing that changed was the frequency. Do you consider that "getting the spectrum for free"?

The original spectrum was free. Of course that was many years ago and if the stations sold the new owners in effect paid for spectrum as part of the purchase, but it was not a payment to the government. They do have to pay a fee to renew their licenses.
 
The original spectrum was free. Of course that was many years ago and if the stations sold the new owners in effect paid for spectrum as part of the purchase, but it was not a payment to the government. They do have to pay a fee to renew their licenses.
Any idea how many stations are currently owned by the original owners (those who did truly get their spectrum for free)?

Land was free way back when too. Was your house free? :D
 
but I remember that they did get their digital spectrum for free if they turned over the analog spectrum back to the government.
As sam_gordon said, the digital spectrum wasn't free - they swapped it for the analog spectrum. They have to, I presume, pay yearly fees to keep it going forward as well.
 
Any idea how many stations are currently owned by the original owners (those who did truly get their spectrum for free)?
Given that there seems to be about a dozen media conglomerates that own hundreds of TV (and radio) stations, I'd say the number of original owners is very small !
 
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Kinda curious how much it costs to operate a TV Transmitter and how many people only just have a antenna. A TV Transmitter ought to have a hefty electric bill.
 
So I now see a little popup on the cbsnews site saying could lose CBS lol they are doing the same thing cnn did but little larger. What regions does this effect again anyway?
 
To honestly believe that Streaming shows is a small percentage of viewers is completely wrong.
Here you go...
According to a new study from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)®, The Market for U.S. Household Television Services, the percentage of U.S. households with a television that relies exclusively on an antenna for television programming reception (six percent) is about to be eclipsed for the first time ever by the percentage of households relying only on the Internet for TV programming (five percent).
http://www.ce.org/News/News-Releases/Press-Releases/2014/OTA-Study_060514.aspx

Since "everyone you know" streams TV, I must say, you are they are in a very elite group ! :clapping
 
Don't know about renew fees but I remember that they did get their digital spectrum for free if they turned over the analog spectrum back to the government.
Something else to keep in mind... the "digital transition" was mandated by the government. Stations didn't have a choice.
 
Kinda curious how much it costs to operate a TV Transmitter and how many people only just have a antenna. A TV Transmitter ought to have a hefty electric bill.
It will vary based on the transmit power, the utility rates, etc, etc, but I've heard a number like $100,000/month thrown around before.

It's not always just for people with antennas either. In some areas, the local cableco will use an antenna to pick up the local broadcasts to retransmit. Satellite can do the same to get the locals to the 'local' uplink center. The CE at the local station that provides uplinks to D* and E* told me that most of the stations here use fiber or microwave and one, I think, was via antenna. I would think they'd have antennas as back-ups though as well.
 
It will vary based on the transmit power, the utility rates, etc, etc, but I've heard a number like $100,000/month thrown around before.

It's not always just for people with antennas either. In some areas, the local cableco will use an antenna to pick up the local broadcasts to retransmit. Satellite can do the same to get the locals to the 'local' uplink center. The CE at the local station that provides uplinks to D* and E* told me that most of the stations here use fiber or microwave and one, I think, was via antenna. I would think they'd have antennas as back-ups though as well.
In my market, Dish gets all programming via antenna. Direct gets one station via fiber, the others are all antenna.

FYI, I live in the mountains of North Western New Jersey, and I cannot receieve CBS from an antenna 30 feet off of the ground.
Yes, I know there are people who can't receive OTA. However, they are in the minority.

I do wish there was a way that those who are out of OTA range (maybe as determined by a 3rd party like antennaweb or tvfool) didn't have to pay for locals (or at least the local broadcaster didn't charge for those subscribers).
 
I am one of the poor folks who can't get my LA locals OTA because I am in a valley 75 miles from the transmitters.
If I put an old fashioned rotor system 40 feet above my roof I could probably get both LA and San Diego, but I can't even find a local OTA installer. There is no way I am going to try to get on my roof and put up a 40' mast. I tried that 50 years ago and gave up.
 
Any idea what the renewal fee is? I speculate that it is small.

https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-323151A1.pdf

Commercial VHF Stations:
Regulatory Fee
Payment Type Code
Markets 1-10
$86,075

Markets 11-25
$78,975

Markets 26-50
$42,775

Markets 51-100
$22,475

Remaining Markets
$6,250

Construction Permit for New VHF
Station
$6,250

Broadcast Auxiliary
Station
$10


Commercial UHF Stations:
Regulatory Fee
Payment Type Code
Markets 1-10
$38,000

Markets 11-25
$35,050

Markets 26-50
$23,550

Markets 51-100
$13,700

Remaining Markets
$3,675

Construction Permit for New UHF
Station
$3,675

Broadcast Auxiliary
Station
$10
 
The one month Cyber Monday free trial of CBS streaming is working perfectly on my new Samsung UHDTV using screen monitoring from a Galaxy S5 phone. Take that Moonves! Don't need Roku streaming, after all.
 
the percentage of households relying >>>only<<<< on the Internet for TV programming (five percent).
Key word here Hall. The percentage of people who regularly watch streaming video is much, much higher.

According to Nielsen, 3 out of 4 viewers watch at least some internet streaming/vod TV. The number is nearly 85% for those under 25. Traditional live TV viewing still gets the lions' share. 14 and a half of the 141 hours (over 10%) of TV the average American watches every month is done on the internet. That is up TWO hours a month from last year, and double what it was two years ago. The numbers are higher fro those under 25 and nearly non-existent for those over 64.
 

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