Why is the CW in SD?

[Mister B]

Here in El Paso the CW network is on channel 7-2 which is owned by the local ABC affiliate on 7-1. The CW is in HD OTA and on cable but downgraded to SD on Dish. I know Dish has a history of only allowing the "Big Four" networks to be carried in HD if they are on an OTA sub-channel. FOX in Albuquerque is on 13-2 and in HD. However, I feel this excuse is outdated and unjustified. With the OTA re-pack and transition to ATSC 3.0 more and more channels are going to be on OTA locations other than the primary -01 slot. There may even be situations where all of the major broadcast share one frequency.
Is Dish discriminating against the CW as they are newer than FOX? I believe they both carry the same number of hours of network programming now. As much as I would also like to get MyNetwork and ION it is understandable that they are really just syndicated re-run channels. Have there been any cases where a local station has insisted upon HD carriage for one of their co-owned affiliates at the time of negotiation with Dish?
It feels unjust that I have to watch the CW in blurry SD just due to their OTA channel slot while people in other cities where the CW happened to start out on a full power analog station have HD for the same fee structure as other customers.

 

[ibanez_ax]

Here in El Paso the CW network is on channel 7-2 which is owned by the local ABC affiliate on 7-1. The CW is in HD OTA and on cable but downgraded to SD on Dish. I know Dish has a history of only allowing the "Big Four" networks to be carried in HD if they are on an OTA sub-channel. FOX in Albuquerque is on 13-2 and in HD. However, I feel this excuse is outdated and unjustified. With the OTA re-pack and transition to ATSC 3.0 more and more channels are going to be on OTA locations other than the primary -01 slot. There may even be situations where all of the major broadcast share one frequency.
Is Dish discriminating against the CW as they are newer than FOX? I believe they both carry the same number of hours of network programming now. As much as I would also like to get MyNetwork and ION it is understandable that they are really just syndicated re-run channels. Have there been any cases where a local station has insisted upon HD carriage for one of their co-owned affiliates at the time of negotiation with Dish?
It feels unjust that I have to watch the CW in blurry SD just due to their OTA channel slot while people in other cities where the CW happened to start out on a full power analog station have HD for the same fee structure as other customers.

Do you have a Roku or something similar? If so, you can use the CW app to stream shows free the next day in HD.

 

[MikeD-C05]

In my area we had the CW in HD and Sinclair that owned both CBS and FOX, decided to move the Fox station to a sub station of CBS and they then moved CW to SD picture quality. To make things worse the HD station that they had on another transmitter that had FOX in hd is now showing DABLE channel in HD no less. So we lost the CW in hd and gained a station that shows old decorating shows from 20 years ago. Yes, you can watch all CW show on their app but you also have to watch all their commercials too. So get ready to commit 60 minutes to watch your show.

 

[DJ Lon]

Do you have a Roku or something similar? If so, you can use the CW app to stream shows free the next day in HD.

Once again the question comes up in my mind, "Why would I want to stream something using my potato and data-capped internet when I'm already paying for this channel by having Dish?"

 

[Mister B]

My internet speed fluctuates a lot. It is not even noticeable with the way I use the computer to read the newspaper, use this site or even shop. But I tried streaming and although most of the time the picture was good, suddenly it would be worse than a low quality OTA sub-channel.
Yes, I could put up a tall antenna and get the CW in HD or take cable TV but as DJ Lon just wrote, I choose Dish for other reasons and would think they would want to be competitive. Are they really that starved for bandwidth that they could not add another channel in HD on my spot beam? We do not have nearly as many TV stations as other large cities.

 

[ctrenkamp]

Must be nice to get the CW

 

[Howard Simmons]

I have the CW in HD here in the Mobile/Pensacola area. The CW station is the sister station to the CBS station which is owned by Nexstar. During the dispute with Nexstar we lost both stations.

 

[pattykay]

It feels unjust that I have to watch the CW in blurry SD just due to their OTA channel slot while people in other cities where the CW happened to start out on a full power analog station have HD for the same fee structure as other customers.

Just be glad that you are not in the Toledo or Cincinnati market. Both of those markets have the same situation OTA (CW on a -2 subchannel) but Dish does not bother to carry either of those markets' CW affiliates at all.

Are they really that starved for bandwidth that they could not add another channel in HD on my spot beam?

Actually, they probably are that starved. Keep in mind that the spotbeams are actually quite a bit larger than most of us may assume they are, and each spotbeam is likely being used to carry multiple markets' locals. On Western Arc, the locals situation was so bad that some markets actually had to be moved to CONUS, due to lack of room on the spotbeams. Dish is just this year starting to turn off all SD local feeds in some Western Arc markets, which then frees up some room on those spotbeams. As a result, Sacramento HD locals (one of the CONUS markets I just mentioned) were finally recently able to be moved back to a spotbeam. Of course Dish would prefer to have as many local markets on spotbeam as possible, instead of "wasting" CONUS bandwidth. So, look for more local channel changes to take place in markets across the country. This is being done as Dish continues the work of finally converting Western Arc to only support HD MPEG-4 receivers, and ending support for the older MPEG-2 SD-only receivers.

Now, having said all of that, Dish is now using CONUS bandwidth to simulcast all of the Cincinnati HD locals at two satellite locations (77 and 72) and yet they still don't have bandwidth to carry Cincinnati's CW affiliate at all, not even in MPEG-4 SD?

Is Dish discriminating against the CW as they are newer than FOX? I believe they both carry the same number of hours of network programming now.

CW lacks a Saturday night line-up, and CW is only two hours on Sunday night, compared to Fox's three hours on Sunday night. CW also lacks live sports programming, which Fox has plenty of. So, all of that still gives Fox the edge. I whole-heartedly agree that Dish should not be discriminating against CW this way, though. In fact, I would go one step farther, and say that CW should have been included in PTAT (including AutoHop) from the very beginning of the original Hopper, instead of leaving CW out completely.

 

[Mister B]

According to the James Long site, there are no other cities on El Paso's spot beam. It is not Albuquerque, Tucson or Odessa which are the only other cites that seem reasonable to check.

 

[TheKrell]

"Why would I want to stream something using my potato and data-capped internet when I'm already paying for this channel by having Dish?"

I know what data caps are, but what the hey is that "potato" doing there?

 

[pattykay]

I know what data caps are, but what the hey is that "potato" doing there?

Spying on him. You know, because potatoes have eyes everywhere.

 

[DJ Lon]

I know what data caps are, but what the hey is that "potato" doing there?

It's a slang term for really horrible internet service that lags and/or disconnects all the time which describes my wifi hotspot perfectly

Spying on him. You know, because potatoes have eyes everywhere.

Well there is that too which is why I use a VPN

 

[TheKrell]

It's a slang term for really horrible internet service that lags and/or disconnects all the time which describes my wifi hotspot perfectly

Huh. Never encountered that slang. You sure it's not this meaning from netlingo.com?

Person Over Thirty Acting Twenty One. (pronounced: potato) This is what's known as a hilarious acronym to describe "People Over Thirty Acting Twenty One." For example, "did you get a load of that POTATO?" It is an acronym used in texting, online chat, instant messaging, e-mail, blogs, and newsgroup postings.

 

[pattykay]

Huh. Never encountered that slang. You sure it's not this meaning from netlingo.com?

I still like my explanation. Given the context, it makes perfect sense if you are referring to a streaming device, and are worried about it spying on you.

 

[Tampa8]

DISH carries 14 channels here - all in HD including the CW, also an independent station, and ION, even multiple PBS stations, except for three channels and one of those is a CD channel, one an LD, and one is HD OTA and is a Religious Channel.

I do think it is mostly because sub channels unless a Big four network are in SD on DISH. In Tampa PBS did something different and because of it one of it's sub stations is in HD on DISH. They broke off three channels and put them under a different license even though they are still sub stations.

 

[DJ Lon]

Huh. Never encountered that slang. You sure it's not this meaning from netlingo.com?

LOL I'm over 30 but 21 was a very long time ago and my giddy up and go got up and went

Oh...and... UD: Potato Internet

 

[ibanez_ax]

Once again the question comes up in my mind, "Why would I want to stream something using my potato and data-capped internet when I'm already paying for this channel by having Dish?"

Okay, fine. Then try an OTA module if you can get OTA reception where you live. CW will be in HD.

 

[DJ Lon]

Okay, fine. Then try an OTA module if you can get OTA reception where you live. CW will be in HD.

Uh, don't be coming into my face throwing me shade! I'm not the one with the problem.

I just meant by my comment that I think it's lame when people talk about legitimate Dish concerns here and usually the first response from someone is to stream instead. Not all of us have reliable, unlimited or inexpensive internet which is why I value having Dish as an entertainment option.

In fact I'm dealing with a similar situation right now. Local Spanish broadcaster got bought by Weigel who turned it into an O&O MeTV affiliate. Dish turned off national feed and the local is only offered in glorious SD on Dish and I can't pick it up OTA. And I know MeTV is available in HD because at my previous address I could pick up the MeTV OTA sub-channel on my H3 (which I can't get here either) which is transmitted in 720p HD by another station.

 

[ibanez_ax]

Uh, don't be coming into my face throwing me shade! I'm not the one with the problem.

I just meant by my comment that I think it's lame when people talk about legitimate Dish concerns here and usually the first response from someone is to stream instead. Not all of us have reliable, unlimited or inexpensive internet which is why I value having Dish as an entertainment option.

In fact I'm dealing with a similar situation right now. Local Spanish broadcaster got bought by Weigel who turned it into an O&O MeTV affiliate. Dish turned off national feed and the local is only offered in glorious SD on Dish and I can't pick it up OTA. And I know MeTV is available in HD because at my previous address I could pick up the MeTV OTA sub-channel on my H3 (which I can't get here either) which is transmitted in 720p HD by another station.

So it's lame when people try to help? Buh-bye.

 

[Tampa8]