[tbackus]

Last month, when talking to a very helpful CSR, I was told that they would put in a request for a waiver so I could recieve either the east or west coast affliates of NBC, CBS, FOX, and ABC. This would allow me to get HD on those channels.

Has anyone had luck in getting this waiver? How long does it take?

 

[Tom Robertson]

I have in the past and normally it could take up to 4-6 weeks. If the local station manager is quick, you can get some within a week.

At least it used to be that way. With more locals going up in HD via Directv, station managers might not be willing to allow it for the "short" time it will take to get your locals via satellite.

I am curious how the process goes these days. Please post with your experiences. Thanks,

Cheers,
Tom

 

[boba]

It can take upto 45 days for the waiver request to be answered. Most don't take that long because most are refused.

 

[Sneezy]

It can take upto 45 days for the waiver request to be answered. Most don't take that long because most are refused.

My local CBS refused within 3 days.

The question is do you QUALIFY for a waiver?

At my house I live behind a hill and cannot see the TV towers at all. When I signed up for Dish I was grandfathered a waiver for NBC, FOX & ABC because thier signals are a b grade or less quality. I ahd to fight with our local CBS and prove to them I could not get thier grade A signal. Heck, I'm lucky to pick up anything on the radio! I had to get an antenna (provided to me by a local guy jdspencer here) and run tests. They accepted my word and gave me a waiver. When I signed up for Directv I simply faxed them my CBS waiver and was granted the rest by the grandfathered waiver.

 

[tbackus]

I really do hope I can get the waiver. When I bought the HR-20 I didn't do much research on my own. I was told by guys at my local BB and the installer that HD locals were online and coming to D* by December. Well Dec. came and i called them, they have no timeframe whatsoever. I live in the number 64 DMA, and right now d* has almost all up to 40 and few after that.... so who knows. I do know it won't be soon and i'm thinking probably 2008 at earliest. I really don't want to have to go buy an antannae and set it up myself, but it may be my only option.

I'm gonna give it another week, then call D* and see if they have any progress.

 

[paulman182]

I really do hope I can get the waiver. When I bought the HR-20 I didn't do much research on my own. I was told by guys at my local BB and the installer that HD locals were online and coming to D* by December. Well Dec. came and i called them, they have no timeframe whatsoever. I live in the number 64 DMA, and right now d* has almost all up to 40 and few after that.... so who knows. I do know it won't be soon and i'm thinking probably 2008 at earliest. I really don't want to have to go buy an antannae and set it up myself, but it may be my only option.
I'm gonna give it another week, then call D* and see if they have any progress.

If you can get them with an antenna, you probably won't get waivers. If you can get them OTA, you will get more channels and better picture quality than satellit.

If you are in a weak signal area, go here: http://directvdnseligibility.decisionmark.com/app/AddressForm.aspx
and enter your zip code.

If you qualify, call D* and ask for the HD DNS Eligibility Department. Tell them your results and your waivers will be automatic--IF you qualified, according to the web page.

 

[tbackus]

Thanks.... looks like it is OTA for me...

Much appreciated guys!

 

[TRStot]

I live 90 miles away from the stations and allI got was Fox and NBC, CBS and ABC refused. I did go back and got a waiver from CBS but then D* told me I had to get another waiver from the CBS station that is 165 miles from my house. Like I can recieve them OTA?? At least I have NBC and FOX. 24 starts up soon!!!!

Good luck, I was told to that in 6 months you can request another wavier. Our locals were suppoed to have been turned on by the end of '06 but looks like maybe never now.

 

[Tom Robertson]

I live 90 miles away from the stations and allI got was Fox and NBC, CBS and ABC refused. I did go back and got a waiver from CBS but then D* told me I had to get another waiver from the CBS station that is 165 miles from my house. Like I can recieve them OTA?? At least I have NBC and FOX. 24 starts up soon!!!!

Good luck, I was told to that in 6 months you can request another wavier. Our locals were suppoed to have been turned on by the end of '06 but looks like maybe never now.

Alas, you've likely run into one of two problems. A very large area code or bad data in the database the directv relies upon (they do not create it, but many companies rely on the same company.) Either way, you can usually get D* to fax the waiver request to the tv station and, after they stop laughing about getting the request, they will fax it back.

Good luck,
Tom

 

[Sharkie_Fan]

Last month, when talking to a very helpful CSR, I was told that they would put in a request for a waiver so I could recieve either the east or west coast affliates of NBC, CBS, FOX, and ABC. This would allow me to get HD on those channels.

Has anyone had luck in getting this waiver? How long does it take?

I got denials from all 3 networks within a week here! We don't have ABC, so when I activated I asked about getting ABC by satellite, and he said "you automatically qualify for that, so we'll turn that on and while I"m at it I"ll send in waivers for your other networks".

Alas, they denied them.

Of course, with an el cheapo RCA antenna sitting on the top of my AV rack, I get the 3 networks in HD OTA, so It's not surprising they denied it.

We're in a semi-rural area though and there are places in the county that because of landscape cannot get OTA signals, and I've heard that the local stations here have a policy to deny all waiver requests, regardless of their validity. At that point, it's up to you to PROVE that you cannot receive the signal, which is a royal PITA, and so nobody bothers... I guess for the stations here it's just easier to say no to everything than to look at every request and determine it's validity and give a decision based on that...

 

[RAD]

One way that's helped is to first contact the local stations engineer and let him know that you'd like a waiver and why. I've found that if you have a good reason that many times they're agreeable to the request, unless their corporate parent has a bug up their a** about waivers and tells their stations to never grant them. Then when D* does submit the waiver request the engineer knows your situation vs. just a request with no justification. Good luck.