My theory is that they mirror the LiLs to save bandwidth. If they provided the redundant data for both the OTA and LiL, that would be twice as much data. Considering the numerous amount of LiLs, that could significantly lengthen the amount of time it takes to download the guide. Sure they could stop mirroring during a dispute, but that takes time and money, and I'd say that very few of Dish's customers actually utilize OTA. As far as PSIP, again, not enough people utilize OTA to make the investment worthwhile, not to mention how unreliable PSIP is to begin with.
Dish: Why screw up guide for OTA channels when you black out local channels???
- Thread starter rharkins
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In theory, yes, that's a valid point. This is just text though, which is highly, highly compressible. We already receive guide data for markets other than the one we're in (I say that because my guide is populated with data for Cincinnati's local channels while I'm in the Dayton market - I have no doubt that our receivers have guide data for every local market that Dish carries).
This was my thoughts too.
I have spoken to most of the engineers in Tulsa after TVGoS went away and my Paldvrs reverted to psip. We get 4 days of psip for all but 2 stations now. My 3 Paldvr's are still working great with psip. The problem is getting to a station engineer that actually cares about what they are doing and sending out. Our 2 stations that only send 18hrs of psip are Cox owned stations and they won't doing anything without the OK from corporate.
It's all about numbers..... How many viewers get their TV by antenna ? Don't base it on the people here either ! It's a small number. Then, of those who do OTA, how many have OTA DVRs ? It's a much, much smaller number. A non-DVR set-top or the digital tuner in your TV doesn't need much more guide data than 12 hours. Hell, I'm not even sure if my 3-month old (smart) TV even has a "guide" !
Extremely small percentage of Dish customer base. I myself don't see it as a big deal and I use my antenna with dish.
But, Dish could possibly use the OTA capability as a leverage tool, and start a knowledge push to their subs.
