Seattle Area HD Locals? RANT

[lets-rock]

So I move to the countryside(from 20 miles North of Seattle - to 45 miles NE of Seattle and upgraded from standard D* to HD, receiver and all.. Signed up for the HD package - inc locals (I had locals b4).. Well when I couldn't get the locals in HD. I called and the D* folks said I could get them off air- No I can't (antenna web says so ; to far) (Before I got the Off AIR via a trusty UHF antenna and my Sony's built in tuner)Then the D* folks said I needed a waiver- so they requested one for each local channel- CBS-FOX-NBC-ABC- DENIED-- I called the local stations and they said- 'Send a letter and we'll file it-but we are not granting any waivers at this time".. OK- D* says they'll be available in the future.. I said - Comcast can give them to me via the digilite package for about $20 (us) a month + box- Can I get out of my contract- They said you agreed to be bound- I said you said- UGH- I asked for a person to call- You can email/contact via the web page- UGH--

I should mention that this started with my brand new outta the box HD reciever ID had been hacked and my initial local set was for New Orleans- I did get HD SHO-HBO and a few others.. until my morals and 4 hours of phone time with 4 different D* csr's figured out what the deal was - then got both my moved(previous D* system) and new D* receivers both working at the same time..

My bud lives in Bellingham, WA. Near the Canadian border- and had received waivers for the west/east coast feeds about a year ago.. ABC's up and he requests it- DENIED..

Seems the affiliates are denying everything- do to sponsor pressure.. Now D* needs to go live or lose folks quick-

rant aside-

Does anyone know when the puget sound region will be able to receive all/most/any local channels in HD?

The D* website is more difficult to navigate then the abbr. dewey ..

Thanks-

 

[Bull Moose]

I feel your pain. I live about 25 miles from most of the Seattle towers and get inconsistent reception.
Fortunately, Seattle is a top 20 market, so the HD locals should show up soon after they get those new birds up the middle of this year.

 

[charper1]

Your pain is felt by a lot of people but realize this is no fault of D* but your local affiliates (NAB) fighting tooth & nail to maintain their illegal monopoly. You should complain to your reps and the FCC, as well as getting in the ear of the NAB.

 

[DrWho]

I live less than 5 miles from my Antennaes and FOX comes in like crap.

With VOOM it came in just fine OTA.

 

[dswallow]

Somewhat ironic isn't it, considering Seattle networks are available in HD on Bell ExpressVu in Canada -- anywhere in Canada, from east coast to west coast.

 

[dv8]

I'm in the same boat as you. I get NBC on a lucky day OTA and now with Seattle #12 getting skipped over for #13 Tampa on the LIL Launch this summer plus the addition of MPEG 4 I think ill be "moving" to LA today and just get National Feeds.

 

[Fgsilva]

Somewhat ironic isn't it, considering Seattle networks are available in HD on Bell ExpressVu in Canada -- anywhere in Canada, from east coast to west coast.

Not only to Canada...

 

[lets-rock]

You mean No HD Locals this summer for Seattle?

I'm in the same boat as you. I get NBC on a lucky day OTA and now with Seattle #12 getting skipped over for #13 Tampa on the LIL Launch this summer plus the addition of MPEG 4 I think ill be "moving" to LA today and just get National Feeds.

?????