I started with Primestar, went to Direct when it bought out Primestar and have now had Dish for many years. And I ain't switching again neither! And there's no cable out here in the woods so that's not an option.
The National Association of Broadcasters, (NAB) the wired ones, (cable) and local stations, who are really just an extension of the NAB have been screwing this up for years, while they could have been reaping financial, political, and customer service rewards, they have instead been playing hardball with the american public especially the ones who do not have access to local television stations except through satellite carriers.
I am fortunate that I live close enough to a town with all networks, not that I love network television, but it does give access not just to dumb tv, but things going on that the public might be interested in. It is a joke to watch these folks attempt to protect their so-called turf by playing the game devised by the NAB. The game: You can't get local because you are only able to get it through our arch ememy the satellite dish.
Anyone take a look at a network stations dish farm lately. The local channels would be laughed out of town, without their arch enemy, the satellite dish. They get much of their content via satellite, but that really isn't the issue, they have taken it upon themselves to invoke the law of the affiliate, which allows only one network station in a given area never mind the major metro areas that overlap coverage to the tune of numerous like networks in cities in the east.
There used to be a waiver option, that would allow the local station to sign off your access via satellite. You could tell who the good guys (customer concerned) were by who in town would sign the waver and let you have their local via satellite. The only option for some who met the hardline networks, was to put up in many cases a 40 foot tower and an antenna. That isn't cheap for one local channel but that was the only option, other than no local.
As we see from this little tidbit it isn't over yet and now the idiots from DTV are fighting Dishnetwork because Dish has more networks available than DTV and now HD is in the mix. You would think that local stations, instead of trying to deny service, would figure a way to make this a big plus for them rather than a boxing match or all out war. It makes no sense at all to the folks who can't get local on an antenna or a satellite dish. All they are producing are enemies.