SD Conus duplicates in the EA?

[r10fret]

What is the purpose of providing SD conus duplicates in the EA? All the receivers in the EA (except internationals) would already be VIP series and capable of downconverting HD to SD for non HD subs. It makes no sense.

 

[mike123abc]

It makes no sense, but essentially it appears (from things like the Disney lawsuit) that the content providers insist that both be carried (and in some cases want payment for both feeds). Essentially the content providers do not allow the HD version of a channel without Dish also providing the SD version.

 

[r10fret]

Okay then they should put all the SD conus duplicates on one TP for legal reasons and then just authorize the EA boxes for HD to open up more capacity. Couldn't they also already just claim they provide the SD duplicates in the WA? Seems there is a loopwhole they should be exploiting.

 

[JosephB]

It makes no sense, but essentially it appears (from things like the Disney lawsuit) that the content providers insist that both be carried (and in some cases want payment for both feeds). Essentially the content providers do not allow the HD version of a channel without Dish also providing the SD version.

I don't think that's necessarily true. Probably true in a lot of cases, but it's more likely that Dish would have to pay slightly more per channel per subscriber (hence the HD access fees that Dish and DirecTV have). I do agree that it doesn't make sense, and I hope that eventually more channels go the way of Fox News (technical-wise anyway) and simply letterbox their HD signal for SD subscribers, thus allowing providers the flexibility to simply downconvert HD channels for SD subs.

I imagine that day will arrive eventually, when American TV households reach the tipping point of a majority (and I mean more than just 50%, but a large majority) of sets being HD.