No Star Trek for Direct TV customers in the Midwest

[scottchez]

For many in the Midwest- Nebrask, Iowa ect. . . There is NO UPN station so you can not watch Star Trek Enterprise.

In some cases, the Cable company owns all UPN rights so the only way to get UPN is through Cable (as is the case with Cox Cable in Omaha.

I confirmed with Direct TV. There is NO way to get UPN on Direct TV so I can watch Star Trek Enterprise.

The ONLY way to to get UPN is with Dish Network (see attached Emails).
---------------------------------
Thank you for your interest in DIRECTV! I'm sorry, but a UPN affiliate
is not available in your area, even though we do carry most other local
channels.

Federal law only allows us to provide you with the local channels for
the TV market area where you live and Los Angeles and New York feeds
are
the only distant network feeds that we can send waivers for. Here's
some
background on why you might not see a particular local TV station or
network affiliate on DIRECTV. If your city doesn't have a local
affiliate of a particular network (such as WB, UPN or CBS), we can't
include that network in your local channel package. Also, some local
stations broadcast their signal at low power or are unable to deliver a
good quality signal to us. As new local TV stations start service,
provide a higher power signal, find a way to get us their signal, or
become affiliated with a network, we have a process to update our local
channel offerings. We hope to continue expanding our local channel
offerings in the coming months.

Thank you again for your interest and keep checking DIRECTV.com for the
latest news and information.

For more information on our product and service, please call our
24-hour
customer support center at 800-DIRECTV, that's 800-347-3288.

Sincerely,

Rupinder
DIRECTV Customer Service
------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for writing. In most cities where we offer local channels, we do
carry a local UPN affiliate. In a few cities, there is no local UPN
affiliate, so we cannot provide that network there. Unfortunately, we
do
not offer UPN as part of another package at this time. Please continue
to visit our web site at DIRECTV.com for the latest information about
our services.


Sincerely,

Brenda
DIRECTV Customer Service

[Mike D-CO5]

That was the main reason I went with Dish in the first place when I left Primestar. I had to have Star Trek Voyager . Our area did not show it since we had no UPN station. I've been watching Star Trek since I was a kid when the original premeired. :)

[Bogy]

Guess I will just have to stay with Cox-Omaha.

[Msguy]

That is very unfortunate. I have Direc Tv and I live in the Memphis Local Television Market. We have UPN 30 WLMT TV as part of our local channel package on Direc Tv in Memphis's Market. Some of these Smaller Television Markets in the Midwest are gonna have to get up to speed on things. They shouldn't disinfranchise Folks. The FCC and these smaller towns and cities are going to have to get a station out there for these folks to view. i'm sure someone reading this post might think i am crazy with this post. but hey times are a changing and this day in age UPN Should be available to everyone. EVEN folks with Dishes.

[scottchez]

About to switch to Direct TV, Found a friend that can record Star Trek for me on UPN.

Still NO way to get UPN on Direct TV. It is only on Cox cable channel 2 and on the DishNetwork Super Station package (you get Two UPNs and Three W Bs).

[cnsf]

I am a HUGE Star Trek fan, and I hate to say it.....but.....you're really not missing much.

[SamC]

In my market, which is not yet local to local on DirecTV, I can get all the other channels (NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, religion, PBStaxwaste) for free with a basic antenna. A joint WB/UPN (WB schedule from 8-10, UPN from 10-midnight) station is located in another city about 45 miles away and just won't come in with any clarity. Prior to it coming on the air two years ago, WB and UPN were totally unavailable.

DirecTV's answer, and I have been a customer from almost the begining of DBS has consistantly been the same: drop dead.

IMHO, this is pure GM. NEWS, a CUSTOMER ORIENTED company will be totally different. The day NEWS takes over, UPN will be added, and lots of other pro-customer actions will be made.

[scottchez]

That is a good point about the NEWS Take over.

Is it true that they own some of the UPN stations and that they may put some on Direct TV on a nationalfeed?

When is that buout schedualed?

[Mike Richardson]

Fox Television Broadcasting does seem to own some UPN stations. I think they own the one in Houston because I've seen weather messages "from" FOX 26 scrolling on UPN 20.

[SamC]

In something like 15 of the top 25 markets, NEWS has a "duopoly". That means they own two stations. One is obviously Fox, and the other is UPN.

With no UPN, those stations are stuck showing old movies and reruns in primetime. NEWS won't let that happen, they have a vested interest in the survival of UPN. Currently if you had the most popular show in the word on UPN, about 20% of people couldn't watch it, because UPN just doesn't exit in their town. That means UPN ratings are lower than they wouuld be for the same show on a Big 4 network.

Plus NEWS is just a customer driven company. GM isn't. The management styles are totally different. If the customer wants it, NEWS will provide it.

[jdspencer]

Plus NEWS is just a customer driven company. GM isn't. The management styles are totally different. If the customer wants it, NEWS will provide it.
I hope you are right. No matter how often DirecTV tells me the reason for not offering distant nets for WB and UPN I can't understand why not. Period. Dish Network does. I recently got a Dish 301 receiver so I can get the Superstation Pack. Which I'll drop, if and when locals come to my area or DirecTV starts to offer them nationally.

[catman]

We in the Green Bay wisconsin can get UPN .