No room for more HD Locals by 2013?

[jscud]

With it's current HD locals numbering system, Dish has boxed itself in to 6 local HD stations per DMA. DirecTV already has several markets with 7 broadcast networks in HD (for example NYC, Philadelphia, Washington DC each have the big 4 plus CW, MNTV & PBS).

What is Dish going to do when 2013 comes around when they will be required to carry all the stations for a particular market in HD? Aren't they going to have to revamp their entire HD channel numbering system before then?

John

 

[hendrix04]

what numbering system are you talking about?

 

[Lt Disher]

They can open up a new range of number for local HD, if needed. The channels are mapped down anyway so the actual number is less important. The new interface on the 922 is less number dependent and more icon driven. They may not need to revamp.

Or maybe they will do a wholesale revamp in future years as you suggest, but it is not an absolute necessity.

 

[Toddwsu2005]

Beyond that, they are launching a few satellites in the next few years with a ton of spot beam capability for exactly this reason.

 

[digiblur]

And there is still room on the beams on 129. Some TP's aren't even being used.

 

[DodgerKing]

With it's current HD locals numbering system, Dish has boxed itself in to 6 local HD stations per DMA. DirecTV already has several markets with 7 broadcast networks in HD (for example NYC, Philadelphia, Washington DC each have the big 4 plus CW, MNTV & PBS).

What is Dish going to do when 2013 comes around when they will be required to carry all the stations for a particular market in HD? Aren't they going to have to revamp their entire HD channel numbering system before then?

John

FYI, some markets have 8 with DirecTV. Here in LA we have 8 on DirecTV (CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, MNT, CW, IND, PBS)

 

[ripnbigc]

Heck, at this point I would take any HD locals!

 

[HIFI]

Heck, at this point I would take any HD locals!

me too:up

 

[harshness]

What is Dish going to do when 2013 comes around when they will be required to carry all the stations for a particular market in HD?

Who said anything about requiring HD? Perhaps you could offer some evidence of your claim?

 

[Laddyboy]

Who said anything about requiring HD? Perhaps you could offer some evidence of your claim?

Are you suggesting DBS providers can downres a local HD signal to SD and comply with the requirement?

 

[PHXHoward]

I can't imagine how much space all these HD locals must take up in their system. Seems like there is a block of space for national channels and then they need 50x that in order to hold all these NBCs and ABCs etc that all show the same content.

 

[TheKrell]

Ciel 2 (129W) Spotbeam Utilization

And there is still room on the beams on 129. Some TP's aren't even being used.

According to digiblur's numbers in the Uplink Center, there are 35 spotbeam transponders not used at all, and 110 used (usually for 1 DMA). According to my math, that's (8-5) X 110 = 330 HD channels available on partly used spotbeam transponders, and 8X35 = 280 HD channels on entirely unused spotbeam transponders. Or 610 total channels available for locals from 129.

 

[cubsfan34]

Who said anything about requiring HD? Perhaps you could offer some evidence of your claim?

FCC Allows Satellite-TV Providers to Phase In HD - 2008-03-27 20:30:00 | Broadcasting & Cable

 

[commodore_dude]

FYI, some markets have 8 with DirecTV. Here in LA we have 8 on DirecTV (CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, MNT, CW, IND, PBS)

Same in Atlanta, and they aren't even transmitting the flagship PBS station in HD, so it could be 9!

 

[digiblur]

According to digiblur's numbers in the Uplink Center, there are 35 spotbeam transponders not used at all, and 110 used (usually for 1 DMA). According to my math, that's (8-5) X 110 = 330 HD channels available on partly used spotbeam transponders, and 8X35 = 280 HD channels on entirely unused spotbeam transponders. Or 610 total channels available for locals from 129.

Wasn't necessarily the math I was talking about. A little simpler...

The TP has 4 HD's on it. They can run 7-8 on a TP with no issues. So... for each DMA covered they could easily add additional channels.

For instance in my area there's a TP for one market and another with the next door neighbor market. They could have consolidated the two together, but they didn't. So they have future expansion to easily add the PBS to the beam when the time comes. CW and MyTV aren't HD in my DMA yet. Damn..analog transition delay didn't allow them to hot cut yet.

 

[sdschramm]

....and yet the HD locals they do provide still don't cover the whole area they should because of the spotbeams. For example the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA area. (click the link to learn more)

 

[HDRoberts]

Echostar 14, Questzsat 1, and Echostar 15 (launching to 119, 77, and 61.5, respectively) will all have spotbeam capability. E14, who's FCC filing came through a few days ago, will have over 50 spotbeams.

Dish will do fine.

 

[digiblur]

....and yet the HD locals they do provide still don't cover the whole area they should because of the spotbeams. For example the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA area. (click the link to learn more)

Pack up the viritual "U-Haul" and get out of DMA!

 

[Paradox-SJ]

Echostar 14, Questzsat 1, and Echostar 15 (launching to 119, 77, and 61.5, respectively) will all have spotbeam capability. E14, who's FCC filing came through a few days ago, will have over 50 spotbeams.

Dish will do fine.

That is as long as there isnt a problem with the second stage seperation and burn and the bird actually makes it geostat orbit and then the solar pannel actually deploy and and and

 

[BobaBird]

The HD locals around 6300 for the most part have 4 channels followed by a gap of 2 unused numbers, then the next set of 4+2 following in sequence.

The markets added since 2008 do not have unique numbers (at least not that the intended end users can see). They re-use numbers starting with 5200, 5250, 5260, 5270, and a few others. What we've been seeing lately with new market additions is that they get uplinked in the mid-4000 range, then get renumbered to 52xx when they go live.

This week's uplinks show Oklahoma City added but not available at 4659-4662 to 119°, but OKC is already available at 6489-6492 (with Birmingham starting at 6495 after a gap of 2) on 119°. I think they're getting ready to renumber the older markets with the new scheme. They probably just need to make sure the numbers aren't re-used in overlapping spots.