Did anyone get a letter via e-mail...

On how Dish is not going to provide distant locals to subscribers?
This is what I got:

Based upon a recent court ruling, there may be some small changes to your DISH Network programming. Rest assured, you will be able to continue to receive your local networks and other great programming that DISH Network currently provides.

So, you are NOT in danger of losing any of your local network channels, such as ABC, NBC, CBS or FOX, from your community, and you can still enjoy all of the other great programming we provide, like ESPN, USA, Discovery and Showtime, without interruption.

But unfortunately, as a result of a recent court ruling, no later than December 1st, 2006, we may no longer be able to provide distant networks to customers regardless of past qualifications. :mad: :mad: :mad: Distant networks are the ABC, NBC, CBS or FOX broadcast channels that you receive that originate from a market outside your community.

In addition, DISH Network continues to do everything possible to prevent you from losing your distant network channels before December 1st. If you want to help our efforts and preserve your distant network channels – or learn more about what is happening in Washington about this issue – you can go to www.savemychannels.com which will walk you through how you can contact and email your representatives in Congress to ask them to protect your channels. Because we are running out of time, we ask you to call and email today.

Please visit channel 240 for additional information.

We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for being a loyal DISH Network customer.

WTF!!!!!! I am pissed right now!!!! I get Fox NY for the NY Giants only!!! And as early as December, I can't stand to see the Pigeons every Sunday, WTF!!!!!!:mad:

Watch your language!!!

Unless you have a waiver from your local station or live in a city with O&O affiliates you were probably one of the people who got Dish in this predicament in the first place.

After your childish outburst, I have less sympathy for you in any case.

Settle down Mr. Texas Tech. He never actually used the verbage. It's best if you don't reply and move on. They are only words and if you're offended by letters, then that's another issue

Get a life Texas. Just because the cowpukes lost yesterday doesn't mean you have to take it out on us. And this is a message board. I have clearly seen many posts where members released their fustrations on Dish or any other issues in satellite tv. Thanks for the backup King. Sticks and stones........ Find some oil Tex.

It's a matter of Digital Rights Management and civil contract agreements.

The networks agreed to give local Over The Air (OTA) broadcasters EXCLUSIVE rights to distribute their network's programing in the area their transmitters can reach (with allowances for overlaps with other Over The Air broadcasters in fringe areas). Many of those agreements have been in place a LONG time and were probably necessary to recruit those local network affiliates. Cable and satellite providers can't relay network programing from other network affiliates (network owned or not) without permission from the network and the permission isn't possible because it would violate the terms of the EXCLUSIVE contract with the local affiliate.

I live in Terre Haute, Indiana 47804, and I get ABC out of NYC. The closest ABC affiliate is about 55 miles away. Does this mean I will get no ABC at all since locally there is no ABC?

There's also a scenario with commercials that play into this ruling as well. Advertisers pay to advertise in a specific market, ie. New York so If I'm in Texas watching a New York station and seeing ads on that station then that advertiser is getting the free benefit of advertising to Texas without really paying for it. If you ever listen to public radio over the internet you'll notice that many stations go silent during commercials (at least they did the last time I listened to Radio over the internet).

I live in Terre Haute, Indiana 47804, and I get ABC out of NYC. The closest ABC affiliate is about 55 miles away. Does this mean I will get no ABC at all since locally there is no ABC?

That is what the court's ruling states.
The only way for you to receive ABC is through your local cable company (or whatever is available through an over the air antenna).
Dishnetwork is running information on channel 250 right now about this issue.

Get a life Texas. Just because the cowpukes lost yesterday doesn't mean you have to take it out on us. And this is a message board. I have clearly seen many posts where members released their fustrations on Dish or any other issues in satellite tv. Thanks for the backup King. Sticks and stones........ Find some oil Tex.
The team name is the Red Raiders of Texas Tech.

As far as your locals thing it is not DISH network's problem. If you want to get NY locals then you can move back to NY or switch to DTV and purchase the Sunday Ticket. As soon as the NFL pulls its head out of you know where and make the ST for all networks the better. It is not DISH's decision to remove the distant locals so you should vent your frustration at the networks and the courts.

As far as champions check out the avatar to the left.

90% of commercials for fball games are the same.I watch split screen on Sundays.1 local on ST and the commercials are virtually identical.

I'm actually very upset about losing distant networks. Living in Vermont, I was actually one of those people who got legitimate, in-writing permission from the local affiliates so I could get network coverage. At that time locals weren't available. Now they are, but the broadcast quality is so appallingly bad (the stations look like something out of TV in the Fifties -- below even analog grade, if that's possible) that it makes me want to drop-kick my 42" plasma out the window. It simply isn't fair to force customers to go local if the local broadcast signal quality is so appallingly bad. Is it true that by 2007 all stations will have to broadcast digital rather than analog? Or will that deadline come and go as usual?

Very upset about this!

The analog (NTSC) TV cut off date is presently February 2009.

Report local LIL picture problems to dishquality@dishnetwork.com.

If this is a LAW now..then when will Directv customer's have their Local Long Distance channels cut off?

If your locals grant you waivers you should be okay.Right????

If your locals grant you waivers you should be okay.Right????

NOPE!! Distants ARE GONE for everybody using DishNetwork!

AGAIN..WHY AREN'T THEY DOING THIS TO DIRECTV CUSTOMERS TOO :mad: ?????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AGAIN..WHY AREN'T THEY DOING THIS TO DIRECTV CUSTOMERS TOO :mad: ?????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Because DirecTV was not found to have ignored the rules for giving customers distant networks by a Federal Judge!

FWIW. Congress is dealing with this issue now. There is bipartisan support to overrule the court decision with legislation. It probably won't pass before the December 1 cutoff but is predicted to pass soon after the New Year. DISH will probably have to tighten up their qualification process but they were a little loose to start with and that is what got them in trouble. Congress is not going to let their rural subscribers be cut off for long. Apparently DISH has been successful in getting their subscribers to complain to their legislators.

Regarding DTV distant locals. My best friend lives in Minneapolis and has had East and West local feeds for several years. When he first got DirecTV, locals were not available and he just called and said his OTA analog was poor. Since then, he has purchased Locals and now upgrading to HD Locals, yet each time they continue to let him keep his East and West feeds. Why would he ever sign up for Sunday Ticket when he can watch the Network Games out East, West, and Local. He has a choice of ~8 games each week. Of course I hope he can keep it as long as possible but part of me hopes he loses this. (He likes to brag that he has East, West Feeds)

Regarding DTV distant locals. My best friend lives in Minneapolis and has had East and West local feeds for several years. When he first got DirecTV, locals were not available and he just called and said his OTA analog was poor. Since then, he has purchased Locals and now upgrading to HD Locals, yet each time they continue to let him keep his East and West feeds. Why would he ever sign up for Sunday Ticket when he can watch the Network Games out East, West, and Local. He has a choice of ~8 games each week. Of course I hope he can keep it as long as possible but part of me hopes he loses this. (He likes to brag that he has East, West Feeds)


Update - Well he did just get his HD reciever hooked up and he is not allowed to get local channels in HD if he is getting the network feeds. So for now he is keeping his SD locals and will use OTA for HD feed.

They cut mine off TODAY!
We have no cable or local channels here so we are just plain out of luck.
What kind of world is this when rural people cannot even watch tv?

Wednesday November 29, 2006
Thousands of satellite customers to lose networks
by By The Associated Press
Print StoryEmail StoryAbout 34,000 West Virginians will lose touch with their favorite network TV programs on Friday.
After that date, satellite TV provider DISH Network must stop providing subscribers in the rural areas around Beckley, Bluefield, Clarksburg, Parkersburg and Wheeling with distant feeds of several networks.

All of those DISH Network customers, except Clarksburg, will lose their ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox signals. Clarksburg customers will lose their ABC signal.

Last week, U.S. District Court Judge William Dimitrouleas in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., rejected an attempt by Colorado-based EchoStar, the parent company of DISH, to delay the cutoff date.

In a previous ruling, the judge had determined that EchoStar violated federal copyright law by sending so-called "distant signals'' from out-of-area stations to subscribers and ordered the company to stop.

Nationwide, roughly 850,000 customers will lose their network service.

In West Virginia, the ruling will affect primarily customers in rural areas where television doesn't transmit West Virginia stations or in mountainous regions where customers can't get the signals.

"For consumers, it's basically a lose-lose situation,'' said Jeannine Kenney, a senior policy analyst with the Consumers Union in Washington, D.C.

"Through no fault of their own, hundreds of thousands of people will basically be left without important programming.''

U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller has introduced legislation in Congress that would allow EchoStar to send distant signals to customers if it compensates the broadcast station in question. In areas where no local affiliates broadcast, EchoStar could transmit the channels without paying a fee. The bill would also require EchoStar to deposit $20 million to cover any future violations of federal communications law.

But with Congress out of session until Dec. 5, the Democratic senator said some disruption of network service for DISH Network customers is inevitable.

"We may not be able to get this resolved before Dec. 1, but we must make sure that as soon as possible consumers can access the stations they have come to depend on,'' he said in a statement.

Kathie Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for EchoStar, referred a call seeking comment to a company statement supporting the legislation, but expressing regret that it will likely come too late to prevent disruptions in service.

While Sen. Robert C. Byrd supports the proposal, another member of Congress who helped draft the law that EchoStar violated, is warning against any emergency legislation.

Utah Republican Rep. Chris Canon, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, said he doesn't want the company to get a "special interest exemption'' from the law. He noted that the court ruling affects relatively few DISH Network customers and they have the option of switching to DirecTV or cable.

"EchoStar violated the law and should not be allowed to use its consumers as human shields in the debate on the legality of its operations,'' Canon wrote in a letter to fellow members of Congress.

Kenney said no one wants to sanction EchoStar's actions, but cable is limited in many rural areas that don't have nearby providers. And DirecTV has higher costs than the DISH Network service, she said.

EchoStar, which has about 12.5 million customers nationwide, is still hoping to delay Friday's deadline through an appeal filed with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

http://dailymail.com/story/News/+/200611299/Thousands-of-satellite-customers-to-lose-networks

I live in Albuquerque and get all my locals in HD

Dish cut off our distant network channels yesterday, November 29, 2006. We are in the Los Angeles market and got the Denver and NY feeds so we could watch prime time programming at a decent hour. We WERE thinking of getting a 50" plasma for Christmas, but not now. We can't watch anything because it all comes on too late. We're typically in bed by 10:00 PM if not before. I've been searching for answers but there don't seem to be any. Directv can't offer us distant network channels, either, because we can get the locals - I checked. I did propose a different address really out in the sticks, and Directv said we would be eligible for HD distant networks as there are no HD locals in that area, but I can't figure out how you're supposed to sign up for service and say you live 80 mi. away from where the dish would be installed. How does that work? In any case, I'm so bummed over this. I've complained to our senators and reps, but doubt that will do any good. I only hope that the great television gods will smile once again on us. :bowdown: I didn't see how signing up for cable would help us either, does anyone have a good suggestion? Thanks

Dish cut off our distant network channels yesterday, November 29, 2006. We are in the Los Angeles market and got the Denver and NY feeds so we could watch prime time programming at a decent hour. We WERE thinking of getting a 50" plasma for Christmas, but not now. We can't watch anything because it all comes on too late. We're typically in bed by 10:00 PM if not before. I've been searching for answers but there don't seem to be any. Directv can't offer us distant network channels, either, because we can get the locals - I checked. I did propose a different address really out in the sticks, and Directv said we would be eligible for HD distant networks as there are no HD locals in that area, but I can't figure out how you're supposed to sign up for service and say you live 80 mi. away from where the dish would be installed. How does that work? In any case, I'm so bummed over this. I've complained to our senators and reps, but doubt that will do any good. I only hope that the great television gods will smile once again on us. :bowdown: I didn't see how signing up for cable would help us either, does anyone have a good suggestion? Thanks
For your family a dvr sounds like the best solution.You can record your favorites ota and watch them later.That's the best benefit to me of a dvr record now and watch whenever it's convient.

Thanks for your response. That does sound like my only option. The other reason we so appreciated the DNC was so we could actually watch all the shows in one evening that are on at the same time on competing networks. It was great for that. I'm seriously depressed over this turn of events. :crying:

A dvr can record 2 different shows at once on different channels.Get dvr and go with the ota you'll be much happier,trust me.Anybody who has used a dvr can atest to that.

OK, looks like we don't have a choice anyway. Now, WHICH DVR would be best? I know there are threads devoted to such things, but threads tend to disagree with each other and I sort of need a now fix. Thanks soooo much!:D

A dvr can record 2 different shows at once on different channels.Get dvr and go with the ota you'll be much happier,trust me.Anybody who has used a dvr can atest to that.

If you have Dish I beleive the Vip 622 is the best 1 avaible.For Directv it's the HR20 which is on back order,as far as cable is concerned it varies from area to area.

Just read this, but haven't had time to research it.

http://www./showthread.php?p=737431#post737431

I'm not affected by the ruling so I didn't spend much time reading it.