Posted on 01/18/2012 10:00:34 AM PST by raccoonradio
More than 200,000 DirecTV customers in Greater Boston have been cut off from channels 7 and 56 since Saturday, and they might miss the Super Bowl unless the satellite provider settles its dispute with the stations’ owner. Disputes over fees paid by cable and satellite providers to TV networks and stations have sometimes resulted in temporary blackouts. Consumers lose access to programs until an agreement is reached.
Florida-based Sunbeam Television Corp. - owner of WHDH-TV (Channel 7), WLVI-TV (Channel 56), and a sister Fox affiliate in Miami - blacked out its stations on the DirecTV service as it seeks an increase in “retransmission consent fees,’’ which are negotiated between TV stations and cable and satellite companies.
The Four’s bar and grill in downtown Boston has 44 televisions set to DirecTV’s subscription plan, which provides such sports channels as ESPN and Comcast SportsNet. When owner Peter Colton tuned into WHDH yesterday, he was greeted with this message: “The owner of this station has unfortunately forced DirecTV to temporarily remove it from your lineup despite our repeated attempts to keep the station up.’’
Colton was counting on WHDH to bring in a crowd for the Super Bowl on Feb. 5. If the blackout lasts long, it “would definitely hurt us, especially if the Patriots are playing,’’ he said. The Super Bowl will be broadcast on NBC, the network of WHDH.
Jim Catalano of Salem saw the DirecTV message on Saturday, when he and his girlfriend tried to tune into WHDH’s morning newscast. “The consumer is being left in the dark,’’ Catalano said. “I feel terrible about it. If this thing drags on for Super Bowl Sunday, it will have a tremendous impact on me. ’’
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Am guessing this eventually gets settled but if not, rabbit ears, Dish network, and cable TV (Comcast etc) are options.
From Ch 7 website
http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/12006428502796/directv-and-sunbeam-fail-to-reach-renewal/
DTV owners use CH392 NYC
Do what I did a year ago. Rip out the cable/satellite and get a decent digital antenna. I live in the boonies and I still get about 70-80 channels.
METV and AntennaTV are great channels if you’re into 40’s - 70’s TV like I am.
Typical.. Someone must be trying to use customer leverage to broker their deal. Happened to us in NC a few years back. The local station blamed the cable company because they are easy targets... I blamed them both and picked up my rabbit ears provided free by the cable company. I wasn’t crazy about waiting in the ling line, but rabbit ears were sold out at stores.
11TH HOUR ALWAYS GETS SETTLED.... NOT TO WORRY.
Correct, every HDTV has an ATSC digital tuner, if not, converter boxes are still available. Also, you can get a DirecTV AM21 digital tuner to integrate OTA signals into your DirectTV guide.
The only drawback with the AM21 is that it does not scan but goes with a preset number of channels based on your ZIP code. You can put in two ZIP codes if you can get signals from more than one market. However since it does not scan you may not get a few stations that the TVs built in scanner can pick up.
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