$5.99 for 4 Locals -ABC..A bit much

[MikeW]

deleted by me

[Pete K.]

I don't know anything about your market
but if ABC is NOT included in your locals,
E* should be offering a one dollar discount
@$4.99 per month. If you want KTLA
and UPN supers (WWOR, WSBK), you'll
have to pay extra. Re: PBS, is that
a local or the national feed?

[Geronimo]

You know what it does seem unfair. But almost anything else might too. Just to someone else.

They carry all the stations in a DMA. Sometimes that is 4 sometimes 20. Usually something in between. They could offer you ABC---although if there is no OTA reception you might be able to get it anyway. And you could obviously buy WSBK or WWOR.

I have heard that the Colo. Springs people are getting a "Free" WB but that is he only case like this that I personally know about.

Heck how many channels are in the VT DMA? and I would bet that many Vermonters watch Albany NY TV anyway. It does not always seem to make sense.

[Mike123abc]

Same thing could be said about over the air reception... My market has 8 channels over the air (ABC/CBS/NBC/PBS/FOX/UPN/2 religious) but does not have a WB station, so I am forced to pay for the superstations. I get the rest of my OTA for free (well the one time cost of an antenna and splitters/amps/etc).

Don't get me wrong I feel fortunate that I am able to get nice clear reception of the above stations but that is just how my market is (#142).

[Cheyenne]

If the pakage does no meet your needs/terms,
then don't buy it !

[Mark Holtz]

Isn't Dish working on getting a ABC station from a neighboring DMA since the Monterey market has no ABC affiliate?

[JohnH]

They charge $5.99 and give $1.00 credit until they can bring in a distant ABC for Monterey/Salinas.

[MikeW]

deleted by me

[shilton]

Originally posted by MikeW
I've got family back in Salinas/Monterey and noticed Dish now has their locals. $5.99 for NBC, CBS, FOX and PBS. Who in their right mind would pay that much for so little? I don't understand how LA gets over 20 channels for the same price. Why can't dish throw in KABC, KTLA and a UPN super to this package to make it worth the money? I would never fork out 6 bucks to have 4 channels!
I am in my right mind and I'd gladly pay $5.99 for my locals. Currently I am paying my cable company $13.99 a month for the stripped down BASIC package just so I get locals, so considering that $5.99 seems like a bargain...besides, how many of those "extra" channels do you really think you'd watch anyway??? How many shopping channels and Religious nets do you need and as for the others, they usually run second rate, old reruns of something or other. Heck, I can get my fill of that on TBS. $5.99 isn't such a bad deal...really! Now If Dish can only squeeze in the Johnstown/Altoona DMA, I'll gladly shell out my part.

[Ken Seeber]

Originally posted by MikeW
Cheyenne-Brilliant response. How long did it take for you to come up with that original one???

Cheyenne may not be original, but he was accurate.  If you don't like the price, don't buy.

By the way, where I live (St. Louis DMA), I get the locals plus the entire WB/UPN superstation package for a combined $8.99.  If the same holds true for your DMA, and it should, I don't see that there's much to complain about. 

[Jacob S]

It is a bargain in a sense compared to how much cable companies charge just for locals themselves but usually cable offers some extras in with it while Dish charges a $5 fee on top of the $5.99 fee in which makes it around $11 plus $5 for each additional receiver. The good thing about satellite is that it is all digital and you can take the dish anywhere you want the locals within the spotbeam whereas with cable it is just at your house.

[Marcus S]

I don't blaim you Mike to recall your post. No sympathy from the DBS cult. I expect that to change this fall with yet, another rate hike. Charlie at the the recent CES that 100 & 150 subs will receive another $1 rate hike this fall and threatened another $2 rate hike for local & distant nets by this time next year. But then the clowns, will post it's only another $1 or $2.

DVI, not on the 921. Maybe on the 201.

[Ken Seeber]

Your continuing habit of lobbing personal insults at anyone who disagrees with you is getting old, Marcus. Give it a rest, or at least come down to a lower altitude where there's more oxygen.

TV, satellite and cable in particular, is a luxury. If you can't afford $1 or $2, you should reevaluate your budget. Personally, I'm more worried about the cost of heating my home going up $50 per month this winter over last, considering it's an expense I can do nothing to avoid.

[Cheyenne]

Sheess.... Sensitive bunch here.
MikeW, No need to take anything personal and run away.
Just do not understand why people subscribe and continue enrollment to a service that does not meet your needs and terms?
Then moan and groan after the fact?

Maybe the real issue is the darn high presure marketing tactics (CSR's).

Marcus, do we really have to resort to name calling?

Ken Seeber, I'm with ya man.
I only wish my problem was a $1.00/month increase !

[Mike123abc]

Since I have been with Dish my bill has gone up $5/month. During the same time my local cable company has gone up about $10/month. In my particular area (and I know there are areas of the country where cable is not sky high) cable is more expensive than Dish by a lot and the gap is only getting wider.

[RichW]

As I mentioned to Marcus in another post, my bill went up by one buck a month, and I now have new Cinemax channels. I still consider DBS a real bargain, but hardly a cult.

[Marcus S]

When the thread replies continue to have absolutly nothing to do with the post, it reflects on that individual. When a person only subs to one package, it cannot be used to justify the experience of multi package subscribers. When the same handfull of people I see in this post start chasing other posters off... then they must be as guilty as they would have others believe of me.

[jerryez]

Too many people on this forum defend Dish so vigorously that it is hard to believe that they do not work for Dish.

[Mike123abc]

Originally posted by Marcus S
I don't blaim you Mike to recall your post. No sympathy from the DBS cult. I expect that to change this fall with yet, another rate hike. Charlie at the the recent CES that 100 & 150 subs will receive another $1 rate hike this fall and threatened another $2 rate hike for local & distant nets by this time next year. But then the clowns, will post it's only another $1 or $2.

DVI, not on the 921. Maybe on the 201.

Originally posted by Marcus S
When the thread replies continue to have absolutly nothing to do with the post, it reflects on that individual. When a person only subs to one package, it cannot be used to justify the experience of multi package subscribers. When the same handfull of people I see in this post start chasing other posters off... then they must be as guilty as they would have others believe of me.

When you keep posting about rate hikes you have no way of knowing if they are going to happen or not, then you invite people to speak up. Yes Dish raised rates this year, that is not being debated, you jumping in and saying just wait how much in the future is what caused the diversion from the topic. If you want to talk about rumors of future prices then complain that others are off topic you get what you complain about.

[Cheyenne]

WAKE UP PEOPLE !!
YES, DBS and CABLE personel monitor this site.
Take advantage of this oppertunity and forward your concerns/ideas in a clean, polite, professional manner.
Maybe, just maybe, something may come out of it, then again, maybe not. Regardless of results, your intentions may just come to merit.
Keep it clean and to the point. Moaning and groaning with offering
no solutions result in ..... nothing.

[Marcus S]

I am not as concerned about what may occur as I am about what has already occured in just 1 year. As noted, it is important to complain to the right sources before people scratch their heads and ask "how did that happen". Charlie already stated another $1 increase by this time next year w/no details. That is fact, not rumor.

[Cheyenne]

OK Marcus, what can be done to help you?

[Marcus S]

Write / call the appropriate sources "if" you are effected, and state this is not ok.

[Jacob S]

I was once accused of working for Dish because I had said something that complimented Dish. I have a lot of things against Dish on the retailer side, some things against them even on the consumer side as well, but not everything is bad. I guess no company is perfect but there are certain things that could be fixed that they have made worse over time and things they refuse to fix.

On another note, to say that people change the topic of the post getting off of topic, I think most people on here are guilty of that and it is to be expected. Even saying things about someone changing the topic is changing the topic itself as well and causes others to do the same. A few posts in a change in topic is not bad.

[guest]

Someone please define "spotbeam". Thanks.

[Mike123abc]

A spot beam is when the satellite signal does not hit the entire US but is focused on a small section (about a 500 mile diameter circle). By using small circles they can use the same frequencies or "channels" over in different parts of the US to show different content. They are used in locals so the same set of frequencies can be used over and over in different areas of the country to show the local stations there. Each satellite has 32 transponder frequencies. Dish uses 5 from each of their 2 satellites for spot beams for Local stations.