You need Top 200 just to get WGN America?

[Mike]

I'm a very new (less than 48 hours ago) DISH subscriber. I used to get Comcast Digital Starter for free, paid for by the old landlord. Then they sold my building and I guess the new landlord hates Comcast, or Comcast is incompetent, or the landlord owns stock in AT&T, or probably all of those. Everybody's cable modems were shut off, all converters and cable cards were bricked, as of December 17th 2103. As of today, over a month later though the coax is still connected and live. They (Comcast) just won't sell anyone service.

I noticed AT&T vans every day since then (there's 93 apartments in the building) and I decided why should I contribute to their COMPLETELY unearned windfall? Fortunately the new property manager has a liberal satellite dish policy, and I got some used equipment and self-installed (did not want a contract due to various reasons at this time).

Anyway, in Houston, you can get WGN (America) in the cheapest most basic package from Comcast (Limited Basic). In fact, it is still on clear QAM right now (no more analog on Comcast Houston). I can get WGN still, and my local channels on my flat screen. But you need Top 200 to get it on DISH?!?

I just thought that seemed kind of wacky. Surely WGN isn't charging all that much? Has it always been a mid tier channel? I used to have DISH, over 10 years ago at home when I was in high school, but we had the AEP. So I have no recollection , other than I remember the AEP only cost us something like $100 back then, WITH 3 receivers and now it's over $125 and that doesn't even include receivers

 

[garys]

Retransmission agreements are different between different providers. It depends on what both parties agree to.

 

[Mike]

Retransmission agreements are different between different providers. It depends on what both parties agree to.

Obviously. But WGN always seemed like a basic cable channel to me. Like TBS. Try to imagine a standard late 90's analog cable system without TBS.

 

[primestar31]

Let's call it as it is: a scam to make you pay more for your sub.

Providers know which of the 5-10 channels are watched MOST by the average person, and they tend to put them in higher tiers to get more money out of you.

 

[TNGTony]

WGN America is not even close to being one of the more popular channels on cable. It only has about a 60% distribution rate nationwide. This means that 4 in 10 Americans with cable can't get WGN no matter what package they have.

Rank​	Primetime​	Total Day​
Net​	(000)​	Net​	(000)​
1	ESPN	4194​	NICK	1791​
2	USA	2333​	DSNY	1544​
3	HIST	2159​	USA	1456​
4	DSNY	2032​	ESPN	1412​
5	TNT	1878​	ADULT SWIM	1297​
6	TBSC	1820​	FOXNEWS	1134​
7	FX	1751​	NICK AT NITE	1101​
8	DISC	1675​	TNT	1090​
9	FOXNEWS	1666 ​	HIST	1052​
10	NICK AT NITE	1540​	TOON	1032​
11	ADULT SWIM	1425​	HGTV	803​
12	HGTV	1343​	FX	786​
13	A&E	1337​	A&E	770​
14	AMC	1305​	ID	766​
15	TLC	1237​	TBSC	714​
16	FOOD	1207​	AMC	696​
17	FAM	1176​	DISC	680​
18	BRAV	1116​	TVLD	642​
19	ID	1013​	FOOD	639​
20	SYFY	1006​	FAM	588​
21	LIF	999​	SPK	549​
22	SPK	964​	TLC	547​
23	BET	927​	LIF	508​
24	TVLD	923​	SYFY	481​
25	MTV	801​	DISNEY JR	475​

ESPN is artificially high because of the bowl games. Next week it will come back down to the lower end of the top 10 as usual.

 

[Scherrman]

To me WGN is placed in the 200 because it's watched more for sports and the 200 is where most of the sports channels on Dish get added.

WGN really doesn't offer anything anymore than Chicago baseball now. It's not really that popular of a channel anymore. Where does DirecTv place WGN?

 

[jcrandall]

DirecTV places it in the Xtra package, which is similar to Dish 200 placement.

Many cable companies have it on a basic tier, which anymore is more of a throwback that was just never changed. WGN America is very different today than in the 90's when it was a superstation - and there was many less cable channels.

 

[babnmn]

you could get dish latino max package and save $5.00 a month over AT200.

 

[MikeD-C05]

I don't even watch this channel and I have it in my programming pack. Sports don't interest me and there is nothing else but reruns on this channel.

 

[Bobby]

I've had the Everything Package, or its equivalent, for 16 years. I think I may have watched WGN once, maybe twice, in all those years....

 

[renegade734]

WGN-America is watched once a day in my house ... from 1-2pm weekdays for Midday News. Seldom if ever on at any other time. Still don't like the idea of it being in AT-200. If it were in a lower package, I would downgrade.

 

[BoiseStateFan4Life]

DirecTV places it in the Xtra package, which is similar to Dish 200 placement.

Many cable companies have it on a basic tier, which anymore is more of a throwback that was just never changed. WGN America is very different today than in the 90's when it was a superstation - and there was many less cable channels.

My local cable company doesn't even have the channel. Along with like MLB Network, NBA TV, IFC, BET, Tennis Channel, BBC America, Sundance, and 40 other channels If you ever move to a city with Cable One service, take your stuff and scadaddle out of there xD I would take TWC/Comcast/Cox/FIOS any day.

 

[jrbdmb]

Let's call it as it is: a scam to make you pay more for your sub.

Providers know which of the 5-10 channels are watched MOST by the average person, and they tend to put them in higher tiers to get more money out of you.

I think it is actually the opposite of what you say. The biggest channels (ESPN, Fox News, TBS, USA, etc.) want to be on the lowest tier (AT 100), so they can get the most subs to pay for their channel.

Upgrading to AT200 gets you channels like TruTV, Lifetime Movies, Hallmark, Nat Geo, and WGN. Relatively speaking these are niche channels. People buy the higher package because they find one or more of these niche channels interesting.`

 

[Deadlocked]

WGN is moving I to original programming this year.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[AZ.]

WGN is moving I to original programming this year.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

WGN(Chicago) is a CW channel.... It was like TBS years ago till they caught hell for something about sports?... And its just not baseball... Thay have Bulls basketball and BlackHawks hockey....But WGN America and WGN Chicago are nothing close to being the same.

 

[TNGTony]

WGN America will be showing some original programs this year. It also looks like the Cubs may finally be dumping WGN at the end of this season.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/06/wgn...original-scriptd-series-brannon-bragas-salem/

http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2013/2/18/4001596/cubs-wgn-deal-2014

 

[Tampa8]

I think it is actually the opposite of what you say. The biggest channels (ESPN, Fox News, TBS, USA, etc.) want to be on the lowest tier (AT 100), so they can get the most subs to pay for their channel.

Upgrading to AT200 gets you channels like TruTV, Lifetime Movies, Hallmark, Nat Geo, and WGN. Relatively speaking these are niche channels. People buy the higher package because they find one or more of these niche channels interesting.`

Agreed, and Top250 even more so.

 

[Teehar]

And yet...every time Dish has a prolonged locals dispute,they add WGN as a replacement.What does that tell you?It tells me it doesn't cost them much.

 

[dare2be]

And yet...every time Dish has a prolonged locals dispute,they add WGN as a replacement.What does that tell you?It tells me it doesn't cost them much.

It doesn't tell me anything about their cost. Locals (pennies per channel) are almost always cheaper than most national cable networks, AND, the replacement is only for select channels on select DMAs. I would think even if WGN costs twice as much or more as the channel being replaced, it isn't really enough subs to really make a fiscal dent.

 

[Teehar]

It doesn't tell me anything about their cost. Locals (pennies per channel) are almost always cheaper than most national cable networks, AND, the replacement is only for select channels on select DMAs. I would think even if WGN costs twice as much or more as the channel being replaced, it isn't really enough subs to really make a fiscal dent.

You honestly don't think that WGN is a cheap channel?In 2013 it was substituted at least 3 times for a local channel in different dmas.WGN is on the lowest tier of many cable providers,that would also lead me to believe that it doesn't cost much.If WGN is a high cost channel or for that matter much higher than a local tv channel,Dish wouldn't be substituting it so much.Never hear of them using TBS in one of these disputes.