Dish to drop WLNS?

[CubsWin]

It's easy for me to say, since this isn't one of my local affiliates, but I side with E* on this one. WLNS can spin the numbers and make E* sound cheap because they won't pay a penny a day, but where does it end? Before we know it, they will be asking for $7/month and claiming that E* refuses to pay the very reasonable fee of "less than a penny an hour."

 

[CorpITGuy]

Is DirecTV poisoning the water or what? They must be paying these bribes from these local TV outlets... and that's what they are, BRIBES! If the cable companies, DirecTV and the telcos would stop paying the bribes, these stations would either stop trying to take advantage of consumers (because that IS what they're doing .... Dish would just pass the cost along to us) or go belly up.

 

[Charise]

I've always thought this retransmission structure is totally backwards. It seems that it is the stations that should be paying to have their signal retransmitted as it would reach potentially many more viewers allowing them to increase revenue from advertisers.

I wonder if there are any numbers showing how many viewers (for this and other stations like it) receive the signal from cable, satellite, OTA, etc.?

I think if many of these stations had to rely on only OTA for viewers they would probably have only a fraction of the audience they currently have. What would that do to their advertising revenue?

I totally agree with your viewpoint, and I have even voiced it myself in the past.

 

[tempVAdish]

You can't blame local stations for trying. With advertising revenue drying up and more and more people using satellite, cable, and especially DVRs, local stations are getting to be in a tough situation financially. A TV station license, especially in smaller markets, is no longer the license to print money that it once was.

After the digital switch next year how many people are even going to bother with broadcast TV alone anymore? That's gotta hurt the bottom line at your local broadcaster.

Which is even more reason for the stations to want to be on satellite. People w/ satellite & locals on that system, won't even notice the digital switch...

my $0.02

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Maybe people should email WLNS and let them know how stupid they are being...

Lots of email addresses at WLNS TV 6 Lansing Jackson Michigan News and Weather - WLNS.COM | Contact Us

Have fun!

 

[jcrandall]

That would be a big loss for Dish in Lanisng. I work a mile from the station, and WLNS is BY FAR the #1 station in the Lansing market when it comes to news, local coverage, etc.

If they lose the SD station, I could see Dish losing subscribers quickly. There are really only two traditional news stations in Lansing (no ABC) and the CBS 6 is the strongest.

 

[jbull1381]

Not to hi-jack this but we are getting the same message on WATE TV6 in Knoxville. Maybe its the TV6 thing?

 

[llzel]

email GM@wlns.com

 

[digiblur]

Note that 'a penny a day' works out to $.30/month/subscriber. That's pretty high for a local channel.

And I've always wondered is it a penny a day for each DishNetwork sub? Only the ones that subscribe to locals? or the ones that live in that DMA and don't sub to the locals?

The never really say exactly what it is....

 

[grb]

As WLNS has posted on their website, since Dish has discontinued service, viewers can receive WLNS on Directv, cable or OTA.

Why is it always Dish that is unable to come up with a contract and ends up discontinuing service for days, weeks or months?

If Directv can provide continuing service and still remain the satellite leader they must be doing something right -- the cost isn't costing them customers.

What happens eventually is Charlie will sign a contract and the subs will have been inconvenienced for days, weeks or months, if they haven't switched by then. Whatever pennies Charlie is saving isn't obvious on our monthly billings and I believe this repeated behaviour costs Dish customers in the long run.

 

[flyingsquirrel]

And I've always wondered is it a penny a day for each DishNetwork sub? Only the ones that subscribe to locals? or the ones that live in that DMA and don't sub to the locals?

The never really say exactly what it is....

The over the air broadcasters are pushing for a "standard rate" of .30 per month per subscriber in a particular DMA, no matter if they subscribe to locals or not (at this point I think Dish is the only provider offering any kind of option).

This is more than a 50% increase over existing terms (less than .20 per month).

Most of the deals (cable and satellite) were signed three years ago, and run out this month. Lots of agreements are ending, and lots of local channels on lots of cable and satellite systems might go dark.

 

[Foxbat]

While waiting for the CIEL-2 status update, I looked at the Lansing Market Area... TruckAds has it listed at 550,900 people. Doing the math, that's $5,509.00 per day, $170,779 per 31 days, and $2,010,785 per year, just for one OTA channel. How many of those 550K people have DISH Network? Maybe 20%? If they all subscribed to their Locals, that brings in $6.6M per year. Now, if the eight other stations tried to get the same deal, Dish is losing money to provide Local-into-Local service for these people.

 

[HDRoberts]

While waiting for the CIEL-2 status update, I looked at the Lansing Market Area... TruckAds has it listed at 550,900 people. Doing the math, that's $5,509.00 per day, $170,779 per 31 days, and $2,010,785 per year, just for one OTA channel. How many of those 550K people have DISH Network? Maybe 20%? If they all subscribed to their Locals, that brings in $6.6M per year. Now, if the eight other stations tried to get the same deal, Dish is losing money to provide Local-into-Local service for these people.

I doubt it's per total people in the DMA. Probably only per sub in the DMA. And I have to imagine not more than 10% sub to Dish. Probably they are asking for around $200k per year. Still, too much for a channel that is given out free.

 

[Butcha]

KELO TV in Sioux FAlls, SD is doing the same thing. When I saw this thread, I checked it out. They are all Young Broadcasting stations. Kelo is doing the same thing to the local cable company in Feb. When Direct's contract expires with them they will try the same thing with them. I hope their advertisers pull out and give their $ to the competition.

Butch

 

[bighick]

So u want Dish to pay for the locals and then not charge us? I hope your saying locals should be free for both which will never happen

 

[mts]

That's odd... WLNS TV 6 is still on my Dish. Have they reached a deal or did they agree to an extension?

Midnight 12/10 already has passed, right?

 

[Butcha]

That's odd... WLNS TV 6 is still on my Dish. Have they reached a deal or did they agree to an extension?

Midnight tonight

 

[jcrandall]

Just to point out, I'm sure it is DISH customers in that DMA. Not all subscribers, and not all households in a DMA.

If E* had 100,000 customers in that DMA (1 in 5 households, perhaps a bit high) at .30/mo it would cost $30k per month.

I think of it like this:

Dish charges customers $5/mo for locals
DirecTV charges customers $3/mo for locals

Even if they paid 30c to every affilate (they don't) we're only taking $2 per month per subscriber.

ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS, CW, MY

If you paid them all 30c, it totals $2.10/sub/mo. They don't pay that much - especially for things like PBS, CW, MY. A resonalbe "cost" to provide locals to a particular DMA for carriage costs is under $2. The rest goes to infrastructure and profit.

I don't know what WLNS charged in the past, but 30c per sub per month is not completely unreasonable. Also remember, E* has HD in Lansing, so there may be a small premium in there for HD.

 

[jcrandall]

If anyone that gets this station locally sees it go out tonight can you post for us so we can get it on the news page. We'd just like to get local confirmation. Thanks.

Considering I just watched the 6 news at 11pm and they were talking about it, I think it is safe to expect it to disappear during the night.

I'd expect either 12am or 2am, depending on the time zone of the contract enforcement (WLNS or Dish)

 

[digiblur]

Keep an eye on the uplink report forum. The slates are ready on 61.5 and 110.