I really hope you haven't hurt your head banging on the wall but DISH has no control over what your local channels are. Neilsen sets the Designated Market Area (DMA) by FCC rules and DISH just has to obey the rules. Now I would suggest you do what I do my DMA has 2 stations but with a TV antenna I can receive the Dallas stations. With DISH HD DVRs most have a digital tuner built in so I can record the stations from Dallas even though DISH can't sell them to me.
Giving up on Dish
If you ever gotten frustrated trying to reason with a large company then you know how I feel right now. I swear there isn't one person with Dish that knows how to do anything but give scripted answers and send form letter e-mail replies to potential customers. Here's my story. We've been with DirecTV about 8 years but after several price increases decided to take a look at Dish. Programing packages are comparable as is equiptment so it came down to local channels. We live on the boundry between two markets, Dish has us in the market to our South which we have never watched. DirecTV splits up our zip code by county and offers us the locals we have watched all of our lives to our North. I have sent numerous e-mails and called Dish a couple times trying to get them to take another look at their channel assignments for our location. All we get are scripted answers and form letter e-mail responses. Another reason we were looking to switch was Dish's tailgater. We RV and thought the tailgater would be a more affordable alternative to the Winegard or VuCube antennas required with DirecTV. I guess we'll just pay a couple hundred more for a antenna and give up on Dish.:bang
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I live in between two markets and have DISH.I also have an OTA antenna up because I like to watch programs on both markets.No problems here.Geeze said:If you ever gotten frustrated trying to reason with a large company then you know how I feel right now. I swear there isn't one person with Dish that knows how to do anything but give scripted answers and send form letter e-mail replies to potential customers. Here's my story. We've been with DirecTV about 8 years but after several price increases decided to take a look at Dish. Programing packages are comparable as is equiptment so it came down to local channels. We live on the boundry between two markets, Dish has us in the market to our South which we have never watched. DirecTV splits up our zip code by county and offers us the locals we have watched all of our lives to our North. I have sent numerous e-mails and called Dish a couple times trying to get them to take another look at their channel assignments for our location. All we get are scripted answers and form letter e-mail responses. Another reason we were looking to switch was Dish's tailgater. We RV and thought the tailgater would be a more affordable alternative to the Winegard or VuCube antennas required with DirecTV. I guess we'll just pay a couple hundred more for a antenna and give up on Dish.:bang
Welcome to DBSTalk... and sorry for your frustration... but the others are right on this issue... Dish can only give you the locals for the DMA you are in.
DirecTV and cable should be under the same restrictions... IF there is a difference, then that is something you'd have to take up with the FCC and see who isn't giving your proper locals OR who is giving something they should not.
DirecTV and cable should be under the same restrictions... IF there is a difference, then that is something you'd have to take up with the FCC and see who isn't giving your proper locals OR who is giving something they should not.
I too have issues with locals, and as it was stated above, Dish cannot do anything about it. In my case, I live in PA about 20 miles east of Scranton, my locals are NYC and a good 2 hours drive. OTA was my answer as well, two points I have to make on this is 1. two sets, do not pay for one (saves money over local cable). 2. I have channels that Dish and Direct do not carry and local cable co's have in high tiers (again, saving a lot of money).
Dish possibly more than Direct does check on what locals you should get based on past problems. There are people who post that had one set of locals, but an internal check by Dish showed they were the wrong locals and they were changed.
You can help yourself instead of just telling them - show them. If you are certain you are being given the wrong locals get the facts of what DMA you are in, not what some other provider is giving you. It's not impossible Dish has it wrong, but if what they rely on tells them other than what you are, you need to prove it to them. But it's equally not impossible that Direct TV is wrong.
You can help yourself instead of just telling them - show them. If you are certain you are being given the wrong locals get the facts of what DMA you are in, not what some other provider is giving you. It's not impossible Dish has it wrong, but if what they rely on tells them other than what you are, you need to prove it to them. But it's equally not impossible that Direct TV is wrong.
Ton of people like myself hate the rules regarding local stations. I live in WI. I am a resident of WI. I would prefer to get news and local programming that is pertinent to my state. Unfortunately I live near the WI/MN border and have to watch MN news and local programming. This is where the regulations leave people in the dust. I understand your frustration but Dish is not the culprit here. Just a total lack of common sense on the part of our lawmakers as usual.
One thing I didn't mention in my original post was that the NBC station that Dish would offer me as a local is from Kansas City over 200 miles from where I live. What really upset me was not once did they ever offer to forward my question on to the appropiate people at Dish for further investigation or confirmation that they were in fact correct. Doesn't matter to me, we're happy with DirecTV so we'll just stay with them and pay a little more. We went through the local thing on C-band as well. A local Fox affilate protested our service and the carrier shut that channel off. This is something people really should fight to get changed. Imagine if you were required to buy your new Ford or Chevy from the closest dealer. What's the difference? Thanks for all of the replies.jdskycaster said:Ton of people like myself hate the rules regarding local stations. I live in WI. I am a resident of WI. I would prefer to get news and local programming that is pertinent to my state. Unfortunately I live near the WI/MN border and have to watch MN news and local programming. This is where the regulations leave people in the dust. I understand your frustration but Dish is not the culprit here. Just a total lack of common sense on the part of our lawmakers as usual.
Did either DirecTV or Dish add significantly viewed local channels in any markets when the law was changed.
Cable doesn't play by the exact same rules, does it? I thought headend location made a difgerence.
Cable doesn't play by the exact same rules, does it? I thought headend location made a difgerence.
You don't have to get a Winegard or VuCube unless you want something that auto aims or allows you to watch while you drive.Geeze said:If you ever gotten frustrated trying to reason with a large company then you know how I feel right now. I swear there isn't one person with Dish that knows how to do anything but give scripted answers and send form letter e-mail replies to potential customers. Here's my story. We've been with DirecTV about 8 years but after several price increases decided to take a look at Dish. Programing packages are comparable as is equiptment so it came down to local channels. We live on the boundry between two markets, Dish has us in the market to our South which we have never watched. DirecTV splits up our zip code by county and offers us the locals we have watched all of our lives to our North. I have sent numerous e-mails and called Dish a couple times trying to get them to take another look at their channel assignments for our location. All we get are scripted answers and form letter e-mail responses. Another reason we were looking to switch was Dish's tailgater. We RV and thought the tailgater would be a more affordable alternative to the Winegard or VuCube antennas required with DirecTV. I guess we'll just pay a couple hundred more for a antenna and give up on Dish.:bang
Really was looking at switching to get the Tailgater. I'm tired of aiming in the dish when we camp and I don't want to deal with over the air antennas to get my locals. There is a big price advantage going with the Tailgater vs the Winegard or VuCube.Shades228 said:You don't have to get a Winegard or VuCube unless you want something that auto aims or allows you to watch while you drive.
If you're typical, it appears that most people won't.Geeze said:Doesn't matter to me, we're happy with DirecTV so we'll just stay with them and pay a little more.
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This is something people really should fight to get changed.
There is nothing I hate more than a company or a person for that matter saying, "nothing we can do about it, that's the way it's always been". If it ain't right, at least try and do something about it. That's a message to Dish by the way. But we can all take a position. Don't just accept, make your voice heard. I'm done. Preacher out.
In my area I'm between two cities,cable offers both cities in their locals offerings,satellite cannot offer both cities they have to only give you one.:nono2:dstout said:Did either DirecTV or Dish add significantly viewed local channels in any markets when the law was changed.
Cable doesn't play by the exact same rules, does it? I thought headend location made a difgerence.
That's one area where cable has it over satellite.Also cable is starting to offer subchannels.
Cable co's have old rules to abide by, satellite go by newer rules. You would think both would follow the same rules, but they don't and I don't see that anyone that can facilitate changes in these rules are in any hurry to do so.
DISH added some significantly viewed and some distant stations - all channels of their choosing - to fill out local markets that were short a network.dstout said:Did either DirecTV or Dish add significantly viewed local channels in any markets when the law was changed.
I don't know of any significantly viewed on DirecTV ... they rely on national distants for their short markets.
In some cases the cable rules are opposite of satellite rules. I wish it were a more level playing field. (See previous rants.)Cable doesn't play by the exact same rules, does it? I thought headend location made a difgerence.
As for the issue at the head of this thread ... Whether DISH is right or wrong depends on exactly where the potential customer lives. We have seen examples in the past of where a zip code straddles a DMA boundry and the customer ended up in a market due to their zip code and not their county. DISH bases their DMAs on zip codes. In the past I have looked at DirecTV for specific zip codes and been asked the county. DirecTV seems to be dividing zip codes between county lines.
So there may be instances where locals based only on zip codes will put you in the wrong county or in the right county. One does not get to choose their locals ... they are based on their location.
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