Or more precisely your parent company Sunbeam.
First some background for those who aren't DirecTV subscribers. WHDH Channel 7 and WLVI are currently blacked out on DirecTV because of a failure by Sunbeam, their owner, and DirecTV to come to an agreement on terms for renewal of their broadcast deal. I'm guessing the negotiations are stuck on money. Everything always comes down to money. Sunbeam is currently telling people who bother to look that they can get both channels over the open air waves or by switching to a cable company. DirecTV has a splash page that simply says that they expect to resolve the issue in a few days. Reuters has a brief write up.
Here's the deal Sunbeam. You hit the nail on the head. WHDH and WLVI are both available over the air waves at no additional cost to me. I know you see cable and sattelite subscribers as a cash cow. Why should I pay additional charges to receive your product that you give away by broadcasting over the air? I'm paying for your product by watching ads when I watch over the air. I'm paying for it twice when I watch it on DirecTV by watching ads and by the increased subscription prices I have to pay DirecTV. Now you want to increase my subscription price so that I have the option of viewing your product. Here's the further deal there are other stations in Boston that I can watch while you deal with your desire to milk the cable cow and its subscribers. I don't even watch NBC and whatever network WLVI is attached. I just don't watch your channels, so why should I pay for the ability to not watch your channels? Get over yourselves.
To DirecTV. I'm just in the Boston market for television, so my next statement is focused on Boston but I'm sure it applies to your other markets. I get plenty of Boston stations right now. I don't really need channel 7. Having access to NBC is a nice option to have even if I don't currently watch their programming. So tell Sunbeam to take a hike and start broadcasting NBC from another market. I wouln't mind having a New York station or maybe Chicago. As for WLVI how about replacing it with WPIX out of New York. When I was a kid our local cable system had WPIX as an option and I watched that a lot of times over the local Boston station. I think WPIX and WLVI are even affiliates of the same network.
So DirecTV there's the solution to your problem. Replace both with channels you already have agreements with. WPIX and whatever you want would work for me.
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4 comments:
Jim, I have Dish Network and I used to pay extra for local channels. It was only a handful, but it was convenient to get everything coming into my satellite receiver, which is also a PVR.
When the U.S. switched over to digital broadcast signals, most of the over-the-air channels started sub-channels. Some channels now broadcast as many as 4 signals where only 1 was available on the analog broadcast.
However, Dish Network's "locals" package didn't carry subchannels, just the original one. So I started doing some homework. I'm not far from you -- I'm on the Worcester/Leicester line. I put up two antennas, strapped to my chimney. One is for UHF, one for VHF. With the digital signals, you now need a converter box, unless you have one of the newer TVs. I don't, so I bought a converter box with a built-in PVR.
I now get 78 over-the-air channels from MA, RI & NH, which blew me away. A handful of these have dodgy reception, so I rarely look at them. Of the rest, about half are of some interest to me -- perhaps 30+ of them, which is way more than Dish Network was giving me, and these are free but for the cost of the antennas & converter. The amount I'm saving each month in "locals" fees from Dish Network means the investment eventually pays itself off, and I'm left with far better selection of local channels.
Since my converter box is also a PVR, I can now record shows on these new channels to watch at my convenience.
You're probably only a couple of miles from where I am, so you could probably do the same. I got the antennas from Stark Electronics on Franklin St., and the converter/PVR on eBay. If you want the brands/model numbers,let me know, or do some homework of your own.
It mightn't be something you want to tackle in the winter, depending on how high your roof is, but consider it in the spring.
Your solution works for me. Seven's news is really crap. My email and response from WHDH:
"Let your parent company know that pulling the signal is unforgivable. I'm not going to watch your station while other NBC affiliates are available to me."
Thank you for writing to us to express your concern. We are working hard to reach an agreement with DirecTV so that you can receive our signal again. We have been able to negotiate deals with several other providers. We are seeking fair market value for the transmission of our signal. We appreciate your viewership and hope to be back on DirecTV as soon as possible.
Carol Burns
Assistant News Director
7 Bulfinch Place
Boston, MA 02114
CnaG: I knew you could do the over the air reception since that was one of the original selling points of HDTV. Clear broadcast signals. I hadn't thought of a switch box. It's not something I've used since the early days of PCs.
zed: that's the thing. Tell me what fair market value is for something freely broadcast over the air waves. The additional charge is for content. The only local content WHDH has is news. They practically read The Globe. We would still have four other Boston stations all doing more or less the same local content. Broadcasters need to learn that it isn't about the medium of transmission, it's about the content transmitted.
Depending on how old your TV is, you may not need a switch -- I don't. I have Dish Network going to the TV on channel 3 via coaxial from the receiver, while the OTA channels come in via an RCA cable from its receiver -- RCA cables have three plugs (red, white & yellow). To access these shows, I change the TV from channel 3 to "Component 1". Assuming your DirectTV remote is also a universal remote, this could probably all be handled from the same remote without leaving your chair.
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