Local Fox Denies all waivers even with Signal Test

[KE4EST]

Interesting Thread.

 

[waltinvt]

They are playing hard ball and the customers are all getting hurt, I thought Congress was going to help. I think they forgot about the smaller DMAs.

When was the last time congress did anything to help anyone that wasn't politically or $$ motivated? In fact they have and will continue to go out of their way to keep from helping consumers if the lobbing effort is strong enough.

Like anything else in a free market, if any business (TV producers) is going to put an item up for sale to the public, then any part of that "public" should be entitled the opportunity to purchase that item.

If my local store refuses to import and sell me that item, I am free to purchase that item somewhere else and have it delivered to my home.

As long as I am willing to pay the seller's asking price and there is a means to get that item to me, should the seller of that item be able to deny me the right to buy that item?

That's exactly what is happening with network television broadcasts. They choose to distribute their product through local resellers and grant that reseller exclusive rights for a particular territory but that local retailer decides to only market to part of that territory. Meanwhile a neighboring retailer has the same product and IS willing to market it to you but isn't allowed to.

If congress really cared about people's rights, they'd amend SHVERA to allow the satellite distribution of any network signal to any viewer whose local affiliate can't prove their signal reaches and at Grade "A" quality.

If it's going over the public airway, then every person should be entitled to equal, fair market access.

 

[johnnytuinals]

It might be $9 a month for the 8 Stations(Thought it was $9.50}
But double checked and paying $7.50 a month,,,,can't beat that deal.......
Just wondering,why are the people complaining about not able to get programing?
I would say make it easy for yourselfs and find a WHITE area and your problems will go away...JT

 

[Sammy033]

Call it a principle I guess. I no longer get ABC because of the shutoff. But Im not really bothered by it because as time went on I never watched it anyway. If I went for the new DNS method I could probably get it back if I were interested.

People can certainly mess with location to get their channels, but it still means the system is on the side of the locals and not the public. Other than simply shutting off service, I am curious what kind of penalties there are for people that do not use their real address and are caught? There are all kinds of laws on the books that are not enforced. People just dont know about them until some busybody decides to.

Before you laugh at such a silly idea, yesterday I saw on a new rose bush I bought that it was illegal to reproduce it. Now I dont expect the rose police to come beating down my door in the middle of the night. But there are all kinds of things that can get people into trouble if the right people make an issue of it.

Actually... Im not even sure what the networks themselves would privately want. Would they like the ability to sell their programming to other distributers? Maybe it would cut into the profits they receive elsewhere.

 

[SmityWhity]

I saw on a new rose bush I bought that it was illegal to reproduce it.

What happens if it reproduces on its own?

 

[SmityWhity]

A new waiver was sent & now the Station denies it saying all waivers denied because Dish has not launched locals

So is the station saying that once Dish launches locals in that area, they will grant waivers?
To who, DirecTV customers?

 

[Pepper]

What happens if it reproduces on its own?

They are grafted, they don't reproduce on their own as far as I know.

 

[cj9788]

A complaint can be filed with the FCC if a customer went through all the procedures, as outlined in SHVA and all its subsequent incranations, and is found to be unserved via signal testing. The trick is getting the station and the DBS provider to agree on a tester and the payment of said testers fee. There is alot more to it than to say some had a sig test and the station is not giving a waiver. If the test is done properly the the station has no say so in the matter. If you are not getting that grade B signal then you are unserved and elgible for DNS.

 

[dishcomm]

You think thats bad, my brother is 3rd from the bottom in DMA size.

There is NO ABC in that DMA. The nearby ABC in the nearby ABC is claiming rights and refusing the waiver, turns out they are up linked in that DMA and they are holding out for Dish to also carry the station in the 3rd from last DMA under the significaly viewed rules (the cable tv has it).
It is imposible to get the station OTA, the Cable TV gets it only by an Antenna on top of a water tower.

They are playing hard ball and the customers are all getting hurt, I thought Congress was going to help. I think they forgot about the smaller DMAs.

In the grand scheme of things the small DMA's do not matter...Both satco's can boast that they provide locals to 90% of the population..To them, that's enough.
look at it this way, Hi def junkies are brooding about not enough TP's for their HD fix..Imagine the fur that would fly if say, E* backed off on adding HD national channnels to accomodate the small DMA's..What friggin nightmare

 

[pattib]

Should probably start a new thread with my story but it is similar to original poster

I lost CBS as of 12/1. I don't qualify for AAD. I am told that I should be able to get a signal OTA. I get the signal about 50% of the time. I did request a waiver but went ahead and "moved" anyways.

I called AAD on Feb. 5th to check on waiver, mostly out of curiosity. It had been 7 weeks since my request. They said that WTVY said no. I decided to call the station. Just wanted to see what the reasoning was.

I actually spoke to the General Manager. He was pretentious and arrogant. These were his exact words. "I will not allow outside networks to come into my area". He tried to cut me off when I tried to speak. I let him ramble on for a bit and then proceeded to ask him if he had intentions of getting on the Dishnetwork lineup. He wants to (I actually think it is killing him that he is unable to be on the line-up) but he said Dishnetwork won't let him. Then he was off and running. He has a personal vendetta against Charlie Ergen. He used his name several times and kept repeating that the court ruled against Charlie because he broke the law.

I only wish I had it on tape. It was truly amazing. BTW, he said he is unable to be on the dishnetwork line-up because his station would be considered a distant network. Isn't that rich? Since WTVY is in Alabama they can't provide locals to North Florida legally, at least that is what he said he was told. It's almost as if his apathy against dish/distants is biting him in the ass. Karma?

 

[Buzzdar]

Try 71945 zipcode it qualifies for all networks with NPS . You can google search the town of Hatfield, Arkansas and create a street address and apartment number that qualifies for the distants with NPS.

now if you were to do that would not lose any locals that you might be getting?

 

[Hall]

now if you were to do that would not lose any locals that you might be getting?

Since Dish and NPS aren't working together on this -- wink, wink -- you shouldn't lose your Dish locals. Dish doesn't know the details of your business with NPS, nor does NPS know your business with Dish.

 

[johnnytuinals]

Send the FCC police lollll
First I think they will go after the Pirates with their boxes
Then they will go after StarChoice(Since starChoice should only be in Canada}
Then the FCC police will come after us,the ones that are paying for a service that we cannot geta decent pictire in our area lol...
I am glad that there are ways of getting the SF/Atlanta at a very good price and the people complaining are the ones that are driving 65mph in a 55mph zone.....JT

 

[Tower Guy]

I am glad that there are ways of getting the SF/Atlanta at a very good price and the people complaining are the ones that are driving 65mph in a 55mph zone.....JT

Speeding must have been one of the commandments that Moses dropped.

 

[Tower Guy]

If congress really cared about people's rights, they'd amend SHVERA to allow the satellite distribution of any network signal to any viewer whose local affiliate can't prove their signal reaches and at Grade "A" quality.

If Congress cared about people's rights, they'd give local stations "must carry" rights on satellite systems in all 200+ markets.