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Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy; I can get a DSS dish!
Posted by Ergin Guney [IP: 165.117.55.57] on May 27, 1999 at 12:57:25 In Reply to: Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy; I can get a DSS dish! posted by Tim S. on May 26, 1999 at 23:22:16: I am a Dish Network subscriber and I've been following the recent legislative changes concerning satellite broadcasting of local channels fairly closely. Here's the situation: Apparently, ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox have passed a court order this February that prevents satellite broadcasters from broadcasting local channels from any city to any subscriber unless the subscriber can't receive a satisfactory over-the-air signal from his own local broadcasters. Dish Network had been broadcasting one feed from each coast of each of the four broadcast networks, plus they were broadcasting all the local channels of 13 specific cities from a separate satellite. DirecTV has been doing the former but I'm not sure whether they were doing the latter yet. The problem with this is that the standard of "satisfactory" is very out-of-date and includes very unwatchable signals. So it effectively means the end of most of this satellite broadcasting of local channels. It appears that DirecTV has reached a deal with the networks that enables it to keep broadcasting local channels to "most" subscribers until June 30, and to "some" subscribers even until the end of the year. This gives them time to work on new legislation to reverse that court order. This probably applies to Dish Network in the same way. The new legislation is on the way. A bill granting satellite companies certain rights to broadcast local channels has already been approved by the House, and a slightly different version of it has been approved by the Senate this past Thursday. What will happen now is a conference to reconcile these two bills with each other and obtain a single bill. This will then have to be signed by Clinton to become law. For most practical purposes, this is being seen as a done deal. Now for your hardware questions... I don't know much about DirecTV hardware since I'm a Dish Network subscriber. It is conceivable that you really may need a special model of their receivers to be able to receive local channels together with their regular line-up in an integrated manner. I can tell you this much though: the same does not apply to Dish Network. All of Dish Network's receivers can receive their pair of east/west feeds for each broadcast network. Plus, most of their receivers (any one with dual antenna inputs) can accomodate the second dish that you need to receive the full local lineup of the 13 cities I mentioned. So you don't need a second receiver. The second dish is necessary because those are broadcast from a separate satellite in a different position. I don't know how DirecTV handles this if they do the same type of multiple-city local lineup broadcast. About your question as to whether your investment will be obsolete shortly, the only way that could happen (unless you make a terribly bad receiver model choice with respect to local programming) is with the introduction of HDTV broadcasts. Both DirecTV and Dish Network will be beginning HDTV broadcasts this year. Actually their test signals are on the air as we speak (sorry, "write"). I doubt that DirecTV's current receivers can handle these new HDTV broadcasts of theirs. Neither can Dish Network's current receivers. However, Dish Network's current receiver model 5000 can be upgraded to receive Dish Network's HDTV broadcasts with a $300 converter box. The 5000 model can be had by new subscribers for $100 after rebate. Their broadcasts are scheduled to begin this September. This is literally the cheapest way by far to start receiving HDTV signals right now ($400, excluding the cost of the HDTV display). Another factor to keep in mind is some other new functionality that is coming up. DirecTV has purchased (or merged with, I forget which it was) with TiVo, a "tapeless VCR" producer. They will be coming out with a receiver (or an add on) with a built-in hard disk drive that can record video. This will give you capability to "pause" and "resume" the channel you're watching, and maybe also to record to disk with full digital quality. Dish Network is also about to launch a similar model (7100). The one from Dish Network only has pause capability, no recording. (I was guessing about DirecTV's recording capability anyway, theirs may be the same.) But Dish Network's model also integrates WebTV Plus into the receiver. That's basically Internet access on your TV merged with an ultra-advanced programming guide. One last factor that you are probably already aware of is Dolby Digital output. Both companies have some receivers that have Dolby Digital (/PCM) outputs and both are currently airing some pay-per-view movies with Dolby Digital. I don't know whether you automatically thought of DirecTV when you thought of DSS or you actually did a careful comparison of the two companies, but Dish Network can be an excellent choice too. Until fairly recently, Dish Network was the cheaper one of the two and the one with the better channel lineup. I'm not sure how they compare in that respect right now. Until recently, Dish Network was also the one with the worse picture quality. But that has been completely reversed in the past year. I wouldn't be surprised if Dish Network has better quality than DirecTV right now. (But I didn't make a side-by-side comparison, so I can't say for sure.) And Dish Network is the one to get if you are interested in international channels. On the other hand, I think DirecTV may have a better movie and sports channel lineup and definitely has more staying power and market clout as a company (7+ millions subscribers versus Dish Network's <3 million). Oh, and by the way, I am not affiliated with Dish Network (or DirecTV) in any way. :-)
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