When did Dish start charging old timers for locals?

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old corps

SatelliteGuys Pro
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Jan 13, 2005
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Mid-Michigan
Sorry if this is common knowledge. I haven't been around here in awhile. I've had Dish for well over 20 years and have the Top 200 package, a 722K & 722. My locals were always included and I just noticed I'm being charged $10 @ month for 'em. Seems like they started charging for them a long time ago but if you had them for free previous to that you were grandfathered in and got them for free. Is this correct???
I AM a grandfather and don't wanna pay for 'em!

Ed
 
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Actually in the really old days you got locals along with your other channels for a given price. You had the opportunity, at that time, to shut them off and you got a $5 reduction in cost. Later, locals became part of your subscription and you did not have the opportunity to shut them off. Now, recently, Dish has shown a $10 cost for those locals. What they actually did was to bring down the cost of your sub by $5 and then at the same time added in the $10 local charge bringing your overall cost up $5 for your overall sub. This all happened at the usual annual raise in the price of a subscription. At the same time, Dish is now allowing you to unsubscribe from locals. In effect they are simply showing you what locals are costing you, and them. They have to pay the station owners to give you your locals over satellite. It would seem that, with station owners asking more and more for transmission rights, Dish is setting up a system to pass all of that cost to their subscribers.
 
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Thanks for taking the time Bobby, appreciate it. I actually have a very good outdoor antenna with rotor but it's near tall old oak trees and especially in the summer (leaves) when the winds blowing at a good clip the signal gets broken up. To reliably get locals I still need them from Dish. This month was the 1st time I noticed the charge. I don't like it but it is what it is.
Ed
 
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This is a game Dish has played for the past 17 years to hide the fact they are raising rates.

Locals started at $4.99, then $5.99 and now $10.

The local channels have been included with the base package on and off during the years, usually done in a way to hide the fact they are increasing prices.

For example if the base price was $29.99, and the locals where $5 they would come out with a new package for $37.99 and say the locals where now included.

Then a few years later they will lower the price to let’s say $34.99 without locals and try to justify it with this crap they are giving you a choice to not pay for what you don’t watch.

You pay for the locals regardless if they are included or sold separately.

If you don’t want to pay for locals, then put up an antenna.

The only reason why I think the locals are $10 to begin with is because of the flex pack, and they know most people want locals and they wanted to advertise a lower base package so they can do their typical bait and switch advertising which has been for the past 20 years pay less for less channels.
 
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old corps said:
Sorry if this is common knowledge. I haven't been around here in awhile. I've had Dish for well over 20 years and have the Top 200 package, a 722K & 722. My locals were always included and I just noticed I'm being charged $10 @ month for 'em. Seems like they started charging for them a long time ago but if you had them for free previous to that you were grandfathered in and got them for free. Is this correct???
I AM a grandfather and don't wanna pay for 'em!

Ed
Click to expand...

Pretty much as Bobby said. You are not paying extra for locals, they reduced the price of your package and separated out the locals. As he said at the same time the price of locals increased by $5. One reason they did this is because now you can drop the locals if you want to something you could not do when they were part of the package.
 
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Tampa8 said:
Pretty much as Bobby said. You are not paying extra for locals, they reduced the price of your package and separated out the locals. As he said at the same time the price of locals increased by $5. One reason they did this is because now you can drop the locals if you want to something you could not do when they were part of the package.
Click to expand...

Dish told me that I could not unsubscribe from the locals ... mandatory.
 
I have the top 200 or something like that - everything. I will go to my account and check right now - thanks.
 
rexlan said:
Dish told me that I could not unsubscribe from the locals ... mandatory.
Click to expand...

rexlan said:
Excellent - Just went to my account and sure enough I removed them --- :clapping
Click to expand...

What have we learned from this? You wasted time out of your life talking to a DISH CSR that you will never get back... If you call a DISH CSR again hoping for better answers you could be considered insane as that is the definition of of insanity. :biggrin
 
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Claude Greiner said:
This is a game Dish has played for the past 17 years to hide the fact they are raising rates.

Locals started at $4.99, then $5.99 and now $10.

The local channels have been included with the base package on and off during the years, usually done in a way to hide the fact they are increasing prices.

For example if the base price was $29.99, and the locals where $5 they would come out with a new package for $37.99 and say the locals where now included.

Then a few years later they will lower the price to let’s say $34.99 without locals and try to justify it with this crap they are giving you a choice to not pay for what you don’t watch.

You pay for the locals regardless if they are included or sold separately.

If you don’t want to pay for locals, then put up an antenna.

The only reason why I think the locals are $10 to begin with is because of the flex pack, and they know most people want locals and they wanted to advertise a lower base package so they can do their typical bait and switch advertising which has been for the past 20 years pay less for less channels.
Click to expand...

Claude, the real issue is the local guys are pricing themselves out of the market with their ridiculous increases in rates they are demanding.
 
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PortlandChris said:
Claude, the real issue is the local guys are pricing themselves out of the market with their ridiculous increases in rates they are demanding.
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That’s also true.

They should be happy the satellite and cable companies are rebroadcasting their signal.

I agree the retransmission fees are getting out of hand. But I’m still right on the way dish packages their locals.

Even Comcast charges $5 and sometimes $10 for locals under broadcast Tv fee
 
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Comcast charges $18 for locals under their new internet streaming option.

Claude Greiner said:
That’s also true.

They should be happy the satellite and cable companies are rebroadcasting their signal.

I agree the retransmission fees are getting out of hand. But I’m still right on the way dish packages their locals.

Even Comcast charges $5 and sometimes $10 for locals under broadcast Tv fee
Click to expand...
 
Claude Greiner said:
That’s also true.

They should be happy the satellite and cable companies are rebroadcasting their signal.

I agree the retransmission fees are getting out of hand. But I’m still right on the way dish packages their locals.

Even Comcast charges $5 and sometimes $10 for locals under broadcast Tv fee
Click to expand...

They may .....but..... In some markets it's a surcharge in others it's how DISH is doing it a separate charge. So when it is a surcharge that could be the $5 you see at times.
 
It was Feb 1, 2011 that locals became mandatory in each package. That was a bad day to be a CSR. Also, anytime I had to call in on my own account... was a crapshoot. Some of us took pride in our business, some of us showed up for a paycheck and did not care to figure anything out. I will say one thing, if Charlie wants a better/stronger customer service... he will show them more appreciation. There were many things that made us feel like Dirt, yet we were the ones interacting. That was probably his biggest screw up, but the bean counters did not see it that way. With all the merger talks, and growing of 3rd party businesses I believe nothing will change much.

Claude, I have only ever seen locAls the $5 prior to 2/1/11, and then $10 currently, however international customers had a fee of $6.99 since they did not have a base package that included them. I don’t know what the international packs look like today.
 
And actually over a decade ago, E* also had a locals-ONLY pkg (local channels & NOTHING else) for $10. They introduced it around the time when the OTA digital TV migration was in full swing & they figured they could get some OTA-only subs to try E*, who could no longer get OTA signals. I had this pkg ("moved", of course) w/Denver locals, (all their primary nets + PBS & UPN were all CONUS back then) as well as their "Dishnet E & W" (NY/LA) distant networks + the 5 Supers, which were all bundled together for $10 also. Unfortunately a few years later they ditched the locals-only pkg & all those subs were force migrated to the Welcome Pak.

The good ol' days of multiple time zone nets... :)
 
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