Well, you are both right. It is space and $$$. KTLA has been Tribune's biggest and most reliable money-maker for years, especially during the dark period when things seemed to go all wrong at Tribune--are things much better, now? Tribune's past annual reports had whole paragraphs fawning, praising, thanking the heavens, for KTLA's standout $$$$ performance as making up for every other challenged part of their empire. WGN may be Tribune's flagship station, but KTLA is Tribune's goose laying the golden egg, its crown-jewel, its cash-cow, the river of money they can't stop from filling its pockets, and the ONLY part of its business to always out-perform their other holdings and allows the quaterlies and annuals to look decent. And not much of that money is ever spent at KTLA as channel 5's management is CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP, with some of the lowest or modestly paid reporters--under $200,000 salary with a clothing allowance--in all of our beloved LA land. Witness the many technical screw-ups when watching locally produced programming as testament to the KTLA cheap. The lack of KTLA in this latest annoncement of several Tribune stations is a glaring omission. There is more to this than just bandwidth issues.
IMHO, it is a bit more of $$$ than space. KTLA had to have been mentioned in negations regarding the recent announcement of Tribune stations on Dish, but I think Charlie and Tribune agreed to deal with KTLA later down the road when Dish will unequivocally have the space, and Charlie can delay having to pay the big bucks later. Oh, Tribune is gonna come up with a rally big number for Dish to pay for KTLA, and Charlie knows it. Los Angeles is one of the few markets in which Charlie has not had much success in pressuring locals into submission (the Viacom/CBS take-down was a completely different matter that was nation-wide). He has had to hand over mountains of money to the big LA LIL's (KTLA is a CW with pro sports) because the LA area has perhaps the highest penetration of satellite in the country. Dish is doing very well throughout the LA DMA, but it is that success that paints him in the corner of having to pay BIG for LA LIL's.
Let's hope that Tribune and Charlie get along well during the talks for KTLA, and we could get it in HD by later this year, as ol' chuck said. However, if Charlie thinks Tribune wants too much money, he will not put it up until the end of--the following year. Let's hope for sooner rather than later. Best wishes to all.