Satellite : Satellite Supports TV Choice

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Satellite Supports TV Choice

Scott Greczkowski

April 21, 2009

If you’re a satellite customer you might know that getting your locals via satellite is not like getting your locals via cable television. For example, while you might live in Southern Arkansas the locals you get via satellite might be from Louisiana. Major portions of Wyoming can’t watch Wyoming television stations via satellite.
It’s not the satellite companies who have made these rules, it’s the government and both Dish Network and DirecTV are trying to get these rules fixed.
The Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act (SHVERA) is up for renewal this year and could give the satellite companies a chance of correcting this outdated rules.
However it seems that those who do not want this change are the broadcasters themselves. They feel if the rules are changes that the loss in viewers to their stations will hurt their bottom lines.
Currently satellite viewers can only view the broadcast stations in their DMA as assigned by Nielson. For some these channels are honest to goodness in state channels, but for many others they are not. The customer has no choice here as the satellite companies can only give them the locals that they are told they can give them.
Is your local news really local when it comes from over 300 miles away? (And there are other stations closer in the viewers local areas?) Again this is why satellite companies will be working together to try changing the rules to bring real local television to their customers.
I fully support the satellite companies on this one and hope they work to expand things so that satellite companies can also offer channels from neighboring markets. For example where I live my cable system carries Hartford, CT locals and Springfield, Mass locals as well. But under the rules I am not allowed to get the Springfield locals via satellite. I feel satellite should be allowed to give customers exactly what cable customers in any given area can get.
I am sure this is going to be a long fight, but again its one I fully support. I am happy both satellite companies are coming together for TV choice for their customers.

Musical Satellites
It time for the engineers at Echostar to get ready to play musical satellites. The final payload was moved off of the Echostar 5 satellite onto the new CIEL 2 satellite which was launched back in December 10th.
For months most the payload was moved over to the CIEL 2 from Echostar 5 except for the signals that were housed on Transponder 5 of the new satellite. Rumors indicated that a software glitch was preventing the Echostar engineers from using transponder 5 on the new satellite. Whatever the software glitch was it is fixed now and all Dish Network programming coming from the 129 west orbital location is now all coming from the new CIEL 2 satellite.
With the satellite freed up it will soon be time for Echostar engineers to play musical chairs with their satellites. The plan is to move the Echostar 5 satellite for the 148 degree orbital location. Echostar 1 (which launched in 1995) is being moved to the 77 degree orbital location. A new satellite called “Quetzsat 1” will replace Eventualy Echostar 1 at 77 degrees. Quetzast will service North America, Central America and Mexico. Quetzsat 1 is scheduled for launch in 2011.
Let the game of musical satellites commence!