Emailed FCC commissioners about receiving out of state locals.

[Tampa8]

Got my waivers from Honolulu with dish, if you got pbs national they will return if dish ever provides distant network.

If you cancelled dish back 2005 and switch to directv. Then you comeback to dish, you are a brand new customer. Then you have to requalify. My receiver is residential not rv, what I did not understand when talking to dish representative about distant. That your residential account could receive locals through the dish rv department.

If only it were that easy but that is just completely wrong. Iceberg gave the answer, PBS had nothing do to with Distants, at that time anyone could get it, it was an A La Carte choice even if your PBS was available. But then when more local PBS channels were being picked up you couldn't order it anymore, but could keep it Grandfathered. Even if you did not qualify for Distants, even if you were a Yankee Fan, even if you were left handed, you could at one time get the national PBS.
DISH has no, none, nada waivers for Distants associated with them anymore. Since all requests for waivers now must be submitted from your carrier, not from you, that means DISH would have to submit new requests, which any sane person knows 99.% would be denied. That isn't even taking into account by law DISH and DIRECT can't give distants if your locals are available, even if you can't get them with an antenna. So that would leave an affiliate issuing a waiver to someone that otherwise would/could be watching them and letting them watch some other affiliate. In today's world not going to happen enough to even think about.
I know a CSR told you/agreed with you about this story, but that's all it is.

 

[mike123abc]

I doubt that even an RV license would work in HI... Hard to say you are going to be driving out of the DMA...

 

[jerryez]

correct. Since Honolulu locals are on Directv (and that covers all the islands) you're SOL on distants

Small sacrifice for living in paradise.

 

[TNGTony]

One thing that is always overlooked in these discussions about OOM broadcast channels is broadcast rights. When TV stations buy programming (programming that doesn't originate from the network, reruns on network programs, or sports coverage), the station is paying for the distributor, producer, or sports team for the right to air that program within a certain area. Local stations can generally nor afford to buy national or international broadcast rights. If the station allows itself to be sold outside the area for which it bought programming, they are in breach of contract with the distributor for any of the programs they do not have the right to sell outside their area.
The the other side of the same coin is that these stations buy exclusive rights for their market (exclusive local rights). This would prevent other TV stations within the same market buying rights to that program. This would prevent two competing stations from showing Jeopardy in the same market. When you bring in an OOM station that shows Jeopardy, you are doing two things:
1) Distributing programs outside the areal the distributor is allowing that station to cover
2) Infringing on a local TV station's exclusive rights to air the program imported on the OOM station.
I am not even delving into the morass of legal hurdles one has to jump to justify plucking a station off the air and rebroadcasting it which is akin to "borrowing" a magazine, making xerox copies and selling them without paying the magazine for more than just one copy.

The same thing applies to network programming. The network grants each local affiliate their territory. The networks are slowly changing this with things like Hulu and network sites that show network programming (though delayed). But for now, the that is the way it is.

This has nothing to do with the FCC. This is 100% contract law. The airwaves belong to the public (a saying, not a legal claim) but the content on those airwaves belong to their owners. All the laws that allow for OOM locals are meant to overturn these private contracts between private companies.

All local channels can, and many do, make their locally produced content available everywhere.

 

[rusty813]

That is if you sub to distant networks, and play the station on a tv at the bar. If you do so and get caught you lose the right to sub to and watch distant networks.

 

[Hall]

Remember the days of having to get waivers from your affiliates? What a joke! You had a better chance of winning the biggest lotto jackpot in the nation! (Is that waiver thing still going on?? I'm obviously out of that loop.)

I ran across this statement from the local station (they OWN all four networks too !!) in Lima OH:

WLIO or WOHL does not provide "waivers" for satellite subscribers who are not provided HD by their provider.

http://wlio.net/

Pretty ballsy for them to make that blanket statement. I suspect it is enough to stop a lot of people from even asking. Isn't there guidelines about this where under the right conditions, the station does in fact have to give you a waiver ? Or, can they do a site survey and say "broadcast can be received with a suitable antenna configuration..." (even if that means a 100' tower or something silly) ?

 

[ronjohn]

Pretty ballsy for them to make that blanket statement. I suspect it is enough to stop a lot of people from even asking. Isn't there guidelines about this where under the right conditions, the station does in fact have to give you a waiver ? Or, can they do a site survey and say "broadcast can be received with a suitable antenna configuration..." (even if that means a 100' tower or something silly) ?

The way I read that quote, they do not offer waivers if your provider does not carry the HD version of the station. It does not say anything about not receiving SD versions. However, if the satellite company carries local-into-locals for a particular DMA, they either carry the station on a must carry basis, or they have to negotiate re-transmission fees. If Dish cannot come to agreement on re-transmission fees with a station, I seriously doubt that the station will issue a waiver so that a subscriber can get the network content from out of market.

According to the FCC, http://www.fcc.gov/guides/service-options-satellite-subscribers , new subscribers cannot get out of market under any circumstances if local-into-local is avaiable. They can only get out of market if local-into-local is not provided IF: 1) A computer model shows that they are "unserved" by the broadcast signal, or 2) The SAT company(not the subscriber) gets a waiver for the subscriber from the local stations.

According to that web page, if you are grandfathered in, you can continue to get distant stations. Since Dish does not offer distants, it is not possible to be grandfathered. Also according to that web page, you can only get new distants if local-into-local is not provided in your DMA AND you meet other requirements. I would say that it is almost impossible if not impossible to get distants on Dish under the current regulatory rules.

 

[bigjohnok]

Blame Congress for this.

 

[Juan]

There are Nelson families which they monitor their viewing habits that determine the ratings.

ozzy and harriet? (lol) maybe nielson

 

[wlwgampa]

The problem I have is that my local news station is located less than 10 miles from my house "as the crow flies". I live close to the Pa/MD state line and can't get the station which has my locals because it is in Maryland. My only option is to get an OTA antenna just to pick up that one station. Just wish that DISH would have that station in my locals which are in the Harrisburg DMA.

 

[kozmo104]

I can't get my locals either. I get Detroit channels which is fine. But as far as local weather and events Flint channels would be more local.

 

[Tampa8]

The problem I have is that my local news station is located less than 10 miles from my house "as the crow flies". I live close to the Pa/MD state line and can't get the station which has my locals because it is in Maryland. My only option is to get an OTA antenna just to pick up that one station. Just wish that DISH would have that station in my locals which are in the Harrisburg DMA.

That's a good example. DISH could give you that if it is considered a significantly viewed station. But nothing makes them, and that I think is where we are with Distants even if DISH could give them in some circumstances. I think that ship has sailed and DISH won't use spectrum for CONUS Distants.
I did think they would offer a set for RV's, but so far I'm wrong.

I don't know if one person can make a change in your case, but you could ask about that channel if you know it is significantly viewed. The page I have saved for the SV list link, and even after a search on their site and finding the link at the FCC it says it has been removed or no longer exists.

 

[nelson61]

The problem I have is that my local news station is located less than 10 miles from my house "as the crow flies". I live close to the Pa/MD state line and can't get the station which has my locals because it is in Maryland. My only option is to get an OTA antenna just to pick up that one station. Just wish that DISH would have that station in my locals which are in the Harrisburg DMA.

Senator McCain has been working on legislation to address your specific problem (when you shop/ do business/etc) in a market but live over the line. A commin problem in areas of the West.

Sent using SatelliteGuys Android App

 

[Rolling Joe]

Senator McCain has been working on legislation to address your specific problem (when you shop/ do business/etc) in a market but live over the line. A commin problem in areas of the West.

Sent using SatelliteGuys Android App

Senator McLame should sponsor legislation to get the federal government out of the TV "market" business. The only reason it's a "common problem" is because government is involved in the first place. But pigs will fly out of you-know-where before that happens.

 

[Neutron]

I didn't think Aereo would work over VPN.

 

[dare2be]

Senator McLame should sponsor legislation to get the federal government out of the TV "market" business. The only reason it's a "common problem" is because government is involved in the first place. But pigs will fly out of you-know-where before that happens.

You're right. It'll never happen. The corporate lobbyists ("pigs") and their bribery money will have to fly out of Washington before it ever happens.

 

[mike123abc]

The original OP is in HI, even if he got waivers it would not do any good, the HI spot beam would not carry other markets...

 

[Tampa8]

Decisions decisions. Move to the mainland on the hope and prayer all the legislation and objections against having Distants goes away, or, live in Hawaii and enjoy the beautiful weather and surroundings.

 

[thomasjk]

No brainer

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[renegade734]

That is true, but the real hurt on the local affiliate is fewer local eyes on a local channel translates into lower neilsen ratings, which lowers ad revenue for the station. I see the argument from both sides, and the best compromise I think would be to require a local channel subscription (or included in your package) before allowing a subscription to an out-of-market local set. I would pay extra to have access to more than one market even if one of them had to be my physical area.

It will only translate into lower Nielsen ratings if Nielsen families are subscribers to distant locals. How many of those are there nowadays?

Disclaimer: I was a Nielsen household and a distant/Superstations subscriber for almost two years. What a pain in the @$$ that was. Someday, I will tell my story.