NH waiver WMUR

[keeneking]

Hey all you NH Dish subscribers. As you already know, WMUR ABC channel 9 is not part of the Boston Locals. Have any of you applied to Dish for a waiver to get WMUR and have any of you been successful? I'm ready to make the switch and give Time Warner the boot, but my wife wants to keep WMUR. I think she is secretly in love with the weatherman Mike Haddad ;) If there is little chance of getting a waiver, I grudgingly will have to go with Directv since they carry WMUR as part of the local package. Let me know how you have made out. Thanks!

[TNGTony]

"Have any of you applied to Dish for a waiver to get WMUR and have any of you been successful?"

Huh? If you apply for a waiver from a TV station, that is specifically so they allow you to watch ANOTHER station. The Dish package has the Boston ABC affiliate which is owned by the same company.

See ya
Tony

[keeneking]

As I understand it, if you have an ABC affiliate in your state and the local DISH package does not carry it, but it does carry an out of state ABC station, you can submit a waiver to Dish (not the station) and ask them to "provide" it to you. Waivers are few and far between I am told.

[jgoggan]

If you do not qualify for locals (which you can easily check at Dish's site), then the question is simply whether or not you could pick up a local affiliate with a decent over-the-air antenna. If you CAN, then they won't give you a waiver and you therefore can't get it on Dish. If you can't, then you can contact the NEAREST affiliate, explain that you can't pick them up with an antenna, and request a waiver so that you can get it from Dish.

Of course, that's if the web site can't already compute an automatic qualification.

For example, where I live, all I did was type my address in at Dish and discovered that I already qualified to get NBC and ABC -- so all I had to do to get those via Dish is tell Dish that I want them -- and pay the $1.50 each.

My nearest Fox affiliate is about 45 miles away. When I called, they entered my address into their system and said that I was right on the edge of acceptable signal quality based on mileage. I then explained that I was right at the bottom of a big hill (which is the case) and can't get them with an antenna. They said no problem and gave me the waiver (they mailed it to me and then I faxed it to Dish).

My nearest CBS affiliate, which I also don't pick up with an antenna, said that, based on mileage, I was too close to get a waiver. If I wanted one, I had to pay a tech about $100 to come out with a signal meter and prove that the signal was too low at my house. I decided that CBS wasn't worth $100. :-)

So, I have Fox, ABC, and NBC -- and I'm happy with that. Two were automatic waivers -- and one I had to request.

Good luck!

- John...

[n1wbd]

Originally posted by keeneking
Hey all you NH Dish subscribers. As you already know, WMUR ABC channel 9 is not part of the Boston Locals. Have any of you applied to Dish for a waiver to get WMUR and have any of you been successful? I'm ready to make the switch and give Time Warner the boot, but my wife wants to keep WMUR. I think she is secretly in love with the weatherman Mike Haddad ;) If there is little chance of getting a waiver, I grudgingly will have to go with Directv since they carry WMUR as part of the local package. Let me know how you have made out. Thanks!


WMUR is not carried period by Dish, rumor has it that they cannot deliver a good OTA signal to the uplink site near Boston.:shrug:

I have the same problem here with WNNE is Hanover,NH / White River Jct. VT they can't get a signal to the uplink site in Burlington,VT However I am told they are putting in a fiber link to the uplink site.

[jgoggan]

Now that I re-read your original post again, I may be missing something...

When you do your address at Dish's site, what does it tell you you qualify for? Do you qualify for the Boston's Locals package? If so, then no, I don't think you can try to do anything to get some other station (WMUR) since it simply isn't offered via Dish, correct?

Basically, all of my stations come out of New York -- and I'm in Michigan. If you have waiver-allowed stations because you can't get a local, then you have to choose from a limited set of affiliates. I chose New York since it was the same time zone as me. So, even if you got a waiver, you wouldn't be able to pick WMUR if there is some other local package that you qualify for that doesn't include it. At least, I've never heard of that happening...

- John...

[keeneking]

Here is what WMUR's website says:

Due to a change in the Federal Law regarding Satellite Home Viewers, WMUR can no longer accept subscriber requests for a "waiver" to receive network programs by satellite from distant stations.

Under the new regulations, all such "waiver" requests must now be made through subscribers' satellite provider:

"As of November 29, 1999, the newly-enacted revision in the Satellite Home Viewer Act provides the Satellite industry with a revised method of legally qualifying eligible homes. Affected satellite subscribers should contact their satellite provider for more information about their eligibility. Upon receipt, the Satellite Provider will evaluate each request, and if it appears to have merit, they will forward it to us for our review and action."

To attempt to get a waiver, contact your satellite carrier as listed below.

DISH Network Customer Service:
P.O. Box 33577
Northglenn, CO 80233
1-800-333-DISH (3474)


DirecTV Customer Service
P.O Box 92600
Los Angeles, CA 90009
1-800-DIRECTV (347-3288)

I have a business associate who claims he receives WMUR in Keene, NH and my local E* dealer also claims it is "possible" if you follow the right protocall. I am getting a lot of conflicting info and I am beginning to feel like it is too much of a hassle and risk to go through all of this. I just really wanted to know if any DISH users in NH receive WMUR. If not I guess I will reluctantly be going with Directv so that I can get WMUR. Thanks to everyone for the input and words orf wisdom. This forum is awesome!

[Scott Greczkowski]

Yes what you say above is correct, YOU can not apply for a waiver, however you can call Dish Network and ask them to obtain a waiver for you.

I guess this is due in part that some people were making their own waivers and sending them to their satellite providers wanting distant locals to be turned on, when indeed no real waiver was ever obtained.

[jgoggan]

Weird. I had to request my own from my local affiliates.

Dish basically has the automated system that can tell you if you qualify and, if you don't, they tell you that YOU can try to obtain a waiver. At least, that's what they told me.

Neither affiliate that I contacted said that I should be having Dish contact them. The one gave me the waiver no problem -- which I faxed in. The other wouldn't, as I mentioned above, but it certainly wasn't because I had called directly...

Oh well. Maybe I didn't follow protocol then -- but I still got my waiver from Fox -- which is all I really wanted. :-)

- John...

[findwaldo]

Originally posted by keeneking
I just really wanted to know if any DISH users in NH receive WMUR. If not I guess I will reluctantly be going with Directv so that I can get WMUR. Thanks to everyone for the input and words orf wisdom. This forum is awesome!

Dish does not carry WMUR. They were unable to get a signal to the dish uplink center. DirectTv does carry WMUR (if you qualify for the boston locals). I've heard that the picture quality of the channel isn't great. That could have changed recently.

[TNGTony]

Keeneking,

I take it Keene, NH...(I used to go to school in Winchendon, Ma just down the road from you)...That area qualifies for the Boston locals...all of them. That includes the ABC affiliate from Boston. No need for waivers.

See ya
Tony

[keeneking]

Thanks TNGTony. I already knew that I could qualify for the Boston locals with DISH. The waiver question was WMUR ABC Ch9. in NH. I am really confused over this WMUR issue. Especially since there are local Keene people telling me and showing me that they have DISH and received a waiver to get WMUR. I think the term "waiver" is confusing some people. I know WMUR is not carried by DISH, but is carried by DTV. The waiver I have heard about somehow allows you to be a DISH customer and receive WMUR. I don't know how it happens, but I have seen the channel on a DISH system. And it is not being received through an off-air antenna. Strange indeed. From the responses so far, I am to assume no one else in DISH land gets WMUR. Soooooo....I think I will be heading to DTV land and a HDVR2 system. Thanks for all the feedback guys!

[TNGTony]

Keene, There is no possible way that WMUR would be on a legitamately subscribed Dish system. For a little while there Dish had WMUR uplinked, but 90% of the time it was color bars and the other 10% it was a ghosty, snowy mess. (that's why Dish doesn't carry it) Now, there is a Dish 5000 receiver that has a built in off air tuner built in to the unit and the Dish 6000 receiver has an optional module you can put in the unit that allow off air reception of local channels. That is the only way that a Dish system would have this channel right now.

Yes the term waiver has confused the issue. A waiver is a specific thing that you ask for (or have your satellite provider ask for you) from a station when you want the right to watch ANOTHER channel of the same network from outside the area. Essentially, the local station would be waiving their right to force you to watch them for that network's programming.

Anyway, DirecTV's service is good and it has what you want. I hope everything goes well.

See ya
Tony

[keeneking]

Thanks again Tony. You have been a great source of info.

keeneking
"Hey...I can almost see grass again. Spring is on the way"