Phoenix Meredith stations dispute?

[DJ Lon]

Looks like Dish and our two Meredith-owned Phoenix stations (KTVK-3, Ind. & KPHO-5, CBS) are gearing up for a dispute come Monday the 15th. Channel 4 appeared on the guide between them this evening telling us to go to dishpromise.com and The 3/5 website has this Will DISH Network Drop 3TV, CBS 5? to say.

Of course the statements from Dish and Meredith are the standard finger-pointing (e.g., each other is being unreasonable and not taking negotiations seriously).

 

[dishdude]

Why would anyone in Phoenix pay for locals? I have an antenna in my attic pointed at South Mountain, locals are no concern.

 

[DJ Lon]

Who pays for locals? I have an antenna in my attic.

Yeah, well...some of us pay because we don't have an attic to put an antenna in, are too far away from the transmitters to get a decent signal with an indoor antenna and we like to be able to record all 4 networks at the same time instead of just 2 OTA. Just because my profile says "Phoenix, AZ" on it doesn't mean I live within LOS of South Mountain.

 

[dishdude]

Yeah, well...some of us pay because we don't have an attic to put an antenna in, are too far away from the transmitters to get a decent signal with an indoor antenna and we like to be able to record all 4 networks at the same time instead of just 2 OTA. Just because my profile says "Phoenix, AZ" on it doesn't mean I live within LOS of South Mountain.

It has to be one of the easiest DMAs to pick up locals OTA in.

 

[mwdxer1]

Why would anyone in Phoenix pay for locals? I have an antenna in my attic pointed at South Mountain, locals are no concern.

The Phoenix DMA covers a large area. I am sure there are placers in the state that can't get the locals OTA. If it wasn't for our translators, we would be no OTA here on the OR Coast. Back in the analog days, at least me could get a snowy picture from some Portland & Seattle locals, but now with digital, not enough signal to lock getting any from a distance.

 

[Tampa8]

Meredith-Dish Retrans Deadline Looms - TV News Check

 

[ChadT41]

I’m in Mesa, about 17 miles ATCF from south Mountain. Fun fact, the Dish call center is only about 4-5 miles from the transmission towers. The Gilbert uplink center is about 14 miles or less from the towers. I bought an indoor antenna from Walmart some time back, so let them go down. KPHO doesn’t matter, and although the most watched channel by myself, it is only during prime time and while shows are in season. I’d rather just set up manual timers and will be just fine. No one else in my family watches it.

 

[mwdxer1]

Meredith-Dish Retrans Deadline Looms - TV News Check

Here we go again. Like others, I have an OTA antenna that gets both KPTV/KPDX Portland.

 

[DJ Lon]

If this blackout happens and I decide to take Dish up on the free OTA antenna email (save yourself $12/month) offer they sent me a few months back what exactly do I get? I've read other posts here but what you get exactly is always vague. OTA dongle for the Hopper 3? Outdoor antenna? Does the outdoor antenna co-exist with the dish itself since I'm not disconnecting service? Does it share existing wiring? Can I keep the satellite locals and OTA at the same time?

 

[ChadT41]

Should be just an antenna. Indoor/outdoor based on location. I don’t believe the adapter is included, you’d have to purchase that one.

 

[DJ Lon]

Should be just an antenna. Indoor/outdoor based on location. I don’t believe the adapter is included, you’d have to purchase that one.

That'd be silly; why would I even bother? I already own rabbit ears that don't work hehe

 

[PHXHoward]

In Phoenix. The OTA antenna works fine with my H3. Others in the family have HWS and had to go back to Dish locals because OTA recordings were not playable until after a DVR restart.

 

[PHXHoward]

Most likely Dish chose not to capitulate to high retransmission fees because this is just one more way to push people into taking the free OTA install which in the long term will allow them to negotiate lower fees.

 

[Claude Greiner]

Most likely Dish chose not to capitulate to high retransmission fees because this is just one more way to push people into taking the free OTA install which in the long term will allow them to negotiate lower fees.

The problem is all the customers without an OTA solution.

Just last week Mobile Alabama lost 2 stations on Directv and we have been selling Comcast left and right.

Heaven forbid someone should just put up an antenna.

 

[Claude Greiner]

Dish and Directv should start providing an antenna with each install.

Just turn on the specific local channels that don’t come in OTA.

In several years, these little disputes won’t even be an issue.

They should have designed the LNB’s 15 years ago with an OTA input with built in diplexer and put another diplexer inside the receiver.

If the providers had done that, they would be the ones in control during these disputes

 

[JSheridan]

IMHO adding some kind of kludge OTA one size fits all antenna wouldn't help much if at all. A lot of people get satellite TV because they can't get the locals with an antenna. Also, Genies and Hoppers can't diplex OTA signals.

The real solution would be for congress to do what's right and stop all the protections they have sold to the National Association of Broadcasters. If Dish, DirecTV or the cable company were allowed to substitute a distant local for the one out during a dispute the extortion would be over. These local channel disputes would end immediately.

 

[DJ Lon]

Now there's a crawl every hour. "Dish will drop KPHO July 15...call Dish and tell them to keep it..., etc." No mention of their corporate ownership attempting extortion along with a dozen or so other owned stations along for the ride

 

[ChadT41]

Never is...

 

[PHXHoward]

The channel icon for CBS 5 has been replaced with the generic OTA icon. I hope that the guide data continues to flow through for the OTA version of CBS. It would be silly to cut off the guide data after so aggressively encouraging people to switch to OTA.

 

[Jon J]

I usually get a strong OTA signal from the Nashville Meredith NBC station but yesterday and this morning there is no signal at all like the transmitter isn't even on.

I think there may be a problem with the OTA adapter since my Samsung TV sees the OTA station directly just fine but repeated scans with the H3 show nothing.