Local waiver process

[jwittenmyer]

I live in rural southern Ohio, ZIP 45652. D* and E* both assign me local channels originating from Charleston, WV, over 110 miles away in very hilly/mountainous terrain. According to Antennaweb.org none of those channels are available to me OTA, and unfortunately, they are NOT in HD on either sat service. So here are a few questions that I'm hoping I can get answered.

1.) How do I go about getting a waiver to receive the east coast network feeds? Who do I call or what do I fill out?

2.) If I get the waiver, will I get the national network feeds in HD or will they be SD only?

3.) Anything else I should know about this process?

Thanks so much.

[paulman182]

If you are a current D* subscriber, D's webpage shows you to be eligible for NY HD locals. Go to this website:
http://directvdnseligibility.decisionmark.com/app/addressform.aspx
and type in your information.

I inputted your zip, and it shows you to be eligible. Call D* and ask for the HD DNS Eligibility Department. They are the only ones who know what you are talking about. Tell them their page showed you to be eligible for HD DNS, and that you cannot receive your locals with a rooftop antenna.

Since D* carries your locals (same ones as mine) in SD, you will not get them in SD, only HD.

I had been a subscriber for a couple of months last year when I signed up for the NY DNS stations. It was easy once I got to the proper department at D*. I am in east Kentucky, same locals as yours. PM if you have any questions!

[jwittenmyer]

Thanks so much for the info. Do you know if the same applies to E*? I'm still deciding which service to pick. The $199 HD-DVR cost for D* really sucks when E* gives you a superior unit (Vip722) for free.

EDIT: Nevermind, I found this link with info about E* DNS:

http://ekb.dbstalk.com/dishnets.htm

Thanks again!

[West Coast Rat]

What inhell is DNS? I have Direct TV and have been trying since August 1st to get my local channels in HighDef. They sent me the new HD DVR, but no one told me until I hooked it up that I needed the new bigger dish. Their website didn't tell me how big it was, nor that I would need a wider viewing area.

Now I'm trying to get a bid to trench up the hill to my backyard so my new larger dish can see the five satellites. It is now October 17th and I'm still waiting for a bid to dig a trench through my small lawn, behind some stone steps, and up the hill.

Fox and NBC let me pick up LA HD network feeds here halfway between SF and LA, but the local ABC and CBS stations won't allow me. The only reason I switched from Charter Cable to Direct TV was that Direct carries the lone Northern California station—Comcast Sports Net out of Sacramento—that we here on the CENTRAL coast can receive! Satellite TV choice surely hasn't gotten any better in the past decade.

Whose idea at the FCC was it to not let us have east coast feeds here on the west coast? Is there any national politician out there that supports the consumer?

[jwittenmyer]

DNS stands for "Distant Network Service". If you live in an area where you cannot get your local channels over-the-air, you can pay a little extra to get the four major networks out of New York or LA. Go to the link that paulman provided and put in your ZIP code. It will tell you if you are eligible for the DNS program. If you're not, sorry, you're stuck with what you've got. It's the FCC's fault, not D*.

[bubba gump]

Does anyone know the phone number for the ceo of DN?