Isn't it an all or nothing thing with them? I can see in this case why they couldn't give the KC local for ABC, but if they couldn't do it for other networks when there are no "local" affiliates in the St. Joe DMA for the other networks, then the law is, IMO, broken.
Dish lost the ability to sell ANY local outside of the DMA even if in some cases they could a while back. Dish cannot sell distants either. So basically if Dish carries your locals you get just those even if its two or 3 of the Big 4. The exception is PBS. Dish can sell the nationwide PBS to markets that dont have a PBS.
I always figured it was merely a matter of the satellite providers deciding that if they couldn't provide all the locals from the subscribers DMA within that DMA, then they get nothing (and if they qualify on the Grade B Contour criterion, they could get distant locals). That's consistent with the way they operate: with cable, many people on the "border" of two DMAs can get two locals for each network if they live in an area which can reasonably get both of them with an antenna ("substantially viewed"). With satellite, you get whatever the DMA should get and nothing else. And in this case, that means only ONE major network affiliate. Is it really the LAW preventing these (cable can do it), or is it just satellite willing to write off a small segment of the population faced with this conundrum?
If it *is* the law, then the law really sucks. If cable can offer some KC locals in this area when satellite is prohibited by law from doing so, then there are some Congressfolks in the pocket of the cable companies.
cable has different rules. The rules with cable are "pick it up OTA then you can carry it". I saw that at our cabin. Cabin is 120 miles north of Minneapolis and 90 miles west of Duluth, MN. Cable company there carried ABC & NBC from BOTH Minneapolis and Duluth. The county is in the Mpls DMA. A year or so ago they dropped Duluth ABC & NBC from cable. They said to offer more channels (ie: public access) but right after that the two translators that serves the county for NBC & ABC Duluth shut down and the license turned back in...coincidence????
(by the way...no way they could get a clean picture of those stations without the translators being 5 miles away)
Satellite has sig viewed rules too according to a FCC document but Dish lost that ability due to the court case. Basically Dish was allowing people to sub to both locals & distants when they didnt qualify for them. So they lost the ability to provide locals from outside the area even if you qualified legally.
In most cases, Directv carries the locals from an area and if there is not the full slate of locals (the big 4) the rest are piped in via a neighboring market. Below is a good example (I'm using Mankato again)
KEYC is the CBS in Mankato
KSTP, KARE, KMSP are from Minneapolis
The others are national feeds
cable carried WCCO (CBS) out of Minneapolis too. In some areas where a cable system carries more than one affiliate, the "local" one can ask for exclusive rights. In Mankato they carry both Fox Mankato (the subchannel that KEYC has) and KMSP from Minneapolis. KEYC has asked for exclusive Fox rights so when there is any national program on (primetime & sports), KMSP has to be blacked out on cable
). What I need to know is some clear cut answers about if this is a worthwhile investment or not? If so I am totally confused by what I need. Thanks in advance JP
