# Confused about Dish Network Local HD



## Crackofdawn (May 10, 2007)

I am currently using Charter Cable in Greenville South Carolina. I moved here recently and let me tell you Charter has the worst HD service I've ever seen. I have an HD DVR and when I tell it to record series on high definition channels, it will record the first show in HD, then all subsequent shows on the standard def channel, which results in me having to record everything manually if I want to see it in HD. Aside from that it cuts off the last couple minutes of shows constantly, has a horrible user interface, and Charters selection of HD channels is pathetic at best (really the only HD channels I get are the 4 major networks and showtime).

I was thinking of switching to D* or Dish, and after reading a lot about HR20 problems with D* I'm leaning towards Dish Network. Heres my problem - I can't figure out which network channels will be HD. Does Dish automatically give Fox, ABC, CBS, and NBC in HD to everyone directly over the satellite (in east/west like D* does?) Practically the only television I watch is HD shows on those 4 networks so if I can't get all 4 without using an OTA I'm not interested in service at all. Unfortunately Dish's website is very very unclear about how that works. On the D* website it specifically says you will get ABC, FOX, NBC, CBS east and west over satellite so I'm HOPING dish is the same way. I could care less about actual local channels, I'm just interested in the national channels so I can record 24, American Idol, and things of that sort.

So hopefully someone has an answer for me. Assuming I can get those channels then it looks like Dish is definitely a winner for me. I have 1 HDTV that needs a DVR, 1 SD TV that needs a DVR, and 3 other TVs that just need a standard box, so hopefully I can do that with Dish without getting charged an arm and a leg. Any help would be appreciated!

Mike


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## Rob Glasser (Feb 22, 2005)

Unless I'm missing something Dish Network does not transmit Greenville, SC locals in HD, only SD. It looks like DirecTV just added them at the end of March. If/When Dish Network starts offering them it would probably only be the big 4 networks, ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX. This has been standard practice for them so far. The same goes for DirecTV.

With either service you can always add an OTA antenna and integrate those channels into your HD DVR, if you can get them via OTA.


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## Crackofdawn (May 10, 2007)

Rob Glasser said:


> Unless I'm missing something Dish Network does not transmit Greenville, SC locals in HD, only SD. It looks like DirecTV just added them at the end of March. If/When Dish Network starts offering them it would probably only be the big 4 networks, ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX. This has been standard practice for them so far. The same goes for DirecTV.
> 
> With either service you can always add an OTA antenna and integrate those channels into your HD DVR, if you can get them via OTA.


Gotcha...so its not even possible to get the national broadcast channels (NBC, FOX, ABC, CBS, not their local affiliates) over Dish, regardless of where you're located?


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## dennispap (Feb 1, 2007)

Crackofdawn said:


> Heres my problem - I can't figure out which network channels will be HD. Does Dish automatically give Fox, ABC, CBS, and NBC in HD to everyone directly over the satellite (in east/west like D* does?)
> Mike


I dont think D* gives everyone HD feeds of east coast and west coast.
Please post the link on their website where it lists that. If i could get east and west hd network feeds from D*, i would switch from E*.


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## Rob Glasser (Feb 22, 2005)

Crackofdawn said:


> Gotcha...so its not even possible to get the national broadcast channels (NBC, FOX, ABC, CBS, not their local affiliates) over Dish, regardless of where you're located?


No, not at all anymore. Dish shut off all distant networks at the end of last year. I don't believe DirecTV even offers them unless you live out of market. I don't think anyone can call up and ask for distant networks on DirecTV, let me know if I'm wrong though.


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## Crackofdawn (May 10, 2007)

dennispap said:


> I dont think D* gives everyone HD feeds of east coast and west coast.
> Please post the link on their website where it lists that. If i could get east and west hd network feeds from D*, i would switch from E*.


When I go to D*'s website and click BUY NOW, then choose PLUS HD DVR "More Info", at the bottom it says:

HD CHANNELS:
Discovery HD Theater
ESPN HD
ESPN2 HD
HD Special Events
HDNet
HDNet Movies
The 101™
TNT
Universal HD

HD LOCALS:
ABC HDTV (WABC - East)
ABC HDTV (KABC - West)
CBS HDTV (WCBS - East)
CBS HDTV (KCBS - West)
FOX HD (WNYW - East)
FOX HD (KTTV - West)
NBC HDTV (WNBC - East)
NBC HDTV (KNBC - West)

I assumed this meant it broadcasted those local channels to everyone regardless of where you were, but maybe I read it completely wrong?


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## Rob Glasser (Feb 22, 2005)

That is probably all the national channels they offer, it doesn't necessarily mean you'll qualify for them. My guess is your only get the channels they offer for your local market.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Crackofdawn said:


> I assumed this meant it broadcasted those local channels to everyone regardless of where you were, but maybe I read it completely wrong?


The implication is that nationals are available to you through D*, but that's not the case. IFF you subscribe to locals, you'll get:
WLOS 13
WSPA 7
WYFF 4
WHNS 21
DirecTV does not offer distants where locals are available; even if they don't carry all the networks.

It is anyone's guess when Greenville will light up on Dish Network, so if you can't get locals via an antenna, E* is not your service at this time.


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## booger (Nov 1, 2005)

COD,
I live in the Upstate of SC and I just picked up an HD TV..finally! I chose E* because I felt that the picture quality is better than D* and it's a hell of a lot better than Charter, that's SD and HD. The only reason I even thought about getting D* was the NFL package but to be honest, I think it's too expensive. With the 250 package from E* I get plenty of College football anyway.

The HD locals are available for D* in the upstate now but I am holding my breath for E* to make them available for us as well. I think (pure speculation) that it will come by years end. We've been on E*'s HD Local's list for some time.

I plan to pick up an OTA antenna until then. The advise I've been given is to use an outdoor antenna and one that is rated well. I have a friend who had D* when their were no local HD channels, and his OTA was very spotty. It didn't work half the time.

I'll let you know once I have my antenna up and running. I just don't understand why Fox is not available OTA.

Sorry, I just noticed that you are not interested in OTA. I hate to send anyone to D* but I think that will suit you best. They have our locals. My brother has D* with locals and they look decent, better than SD but not what I expected. He had a hell of a time with the placement of his Dish. I think it's a 5LNB dish.

Good luck.


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## dennispap (Feb 1, 2007)

Crackofdawn said:


> When I go to D*'s website and click BUY NOW, then choose PLUS HD DVR "More Info", at the bottom it says:
> 
> HD CHANNELS:
> Discovery HD Theater
> ...


I agree with you, it looks(and i would think the same thing also) as if those are the channels you would be getting, but i dont think that is the case.
When i do the same for New orleans , it shows all of my locals in SD,
and only cbs,nbc, and abc locals in HD. It doesnt show any of those New York/ Los Angeles stations you listed.That is misleading or outright lying.


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## booger (Nov 1, 2005)

Just an FYI: I live between Anderson and Greenville and with a Phillips indoor antenna I picked up at CC, I am able to clearly pick up NBC, ABC, Fox, the WB and I believe it's local channel 40.

Fox has the best picture. I'm getting a signal rating between 70 and 83. 83 is for Fox. I was able to watch the Yankees and Mets in HD. It was very nice!

I can certainly live with this until Dish offers our locals in HD. I also like the fact that I can plug in an indoor antenna (super simple setup) into my 622 that displays a guide, etc.

I'm happy.

booger


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## Wu-Infinite (Mar 24, 2007)

a lot of people think OTA antennas are the worst thing, i got a very small philips antenna maybe about 4" wide and 10" tall that I installed on my roof, E* doesn't offer our locals in hd yet, but I can honestly say that's ok cause the picture quality you get from OTA is so much better than any hd channel you will find on a satellite. with OTA you get the full picture, don't be fooled by D* or E* hd channels they are not 100% hd, but HD lite. 

I have E* and I love it, when I added my ota antenna to my vip receiver it was awesome, the OTA info is automatically in the guide and is almost like you are receiving the channels straight from Dish. I can record all the hd shows I want from the OTA channels, and I don't lose any of the features that the receiver has like extending the record time so shows don't get cut off, I told it to record the George Lopez show every new episode, and every wednesday night it recorded it from the hd ota channel without any problems.


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## Crackofdawn (May 10, 2007)

Well thanks for all the help guys. I'm a little scared by some of the comments about OTA broadcasting looking much better than the actual HD broadcasting by directv and dish. Even though charter sucks, their HD broadcasting is absolutely gorgeous, its definitely full 1080i HD. No artifacts, no fuzzyness, just crystal clear picture and dolby digital sound. I think I'll probably keep charter for now and then when Dish has broadcasted HD Locals in my area I'll sign up at that time. Thanks for the help everyone!


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## booger (Nov 1, 2005)

Crackofdawn said:


> Well thanks for all the help guys. I'm a little scared by some of the comments about OTA broadcasting looking much better than the actual HD broadcasting by directv and dish. Even though charter sucks, their HD broadcasting is absolutely gorgeous, its definitely full 1080i HD. No artifacts, no fuzzyness, just crystal clear picture and dolby digital sound. I think I'll probably keep charter for now and then when Dish has broadcasted HD Locals in my area I'll sign up at that time. Thanks for the help everyone!


Run down to CC or Wally World and pick a small HD antenna, you'll see the difference. I have a neighbor up the road that has Charter HD. I was not impressed.

You still missing out on a better picture IMO.


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## Charise (Jan 25, 2004)

The nice thing about using OTA is that you can then record 3 things (all in HD) at the same time (1 OTA and 2 satellite). I use that frequently--all the good shows seem to be on at the same time  --with excellent results.


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## TomH (Jun 11, 2005)

booger said:


> Run down to CC or Wally World and pick a small HD antenna, you'll see the difference. I have a neighbor up the road that has Charter HD. I was not impressed.
> 
> You still missing out on a better picture IMO.


Also, be aware that an "HD antenna" is nothing more than regular old fashion UHF antenna with a bigger price tag.

People think they need an "HD antenna" to receive an HD signal. "Digital TV" is broadcast in the same freq range as the older UHF broadcast TV. A radio signal is a radio signal regardless if it's a UHF broadcast or a digital TV broadcast so the same antenna will work equally well on either signal. Don't let the sales people tell you you have to have an "HD antenna" to receive HD content.


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## jakexxl (Nov 29, 2005)

Crackofdawn said:


> Well thanks for all the help guys. I'm a little scared by some of the comments about OTA broadcasting looking much better than the actual HD broadcasting by directv and dish. Even though charter sucks, their HD broadcasting is absolutely gorgeous, its definitely full 1080i HD. No artifacts, no fuzzyness, just crystal clear picture and dolby digital sound. I think I'll probably keep charter for now and then when Dish has broadcasted HD Locals in my area I'll sign up at that time. Thanks for the help everyone!


Just an FYI -- I wouldn't necessarily hold your breath waiting on Dish to turn on HD locals in the Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville DMA. I live in the Clemson/Anderson area and E* has been claiming that we are on the "upcoming" list since fall of 2005. In early 2006, they went as far as to declare that we would be one of the DMAs to be added by the end of that same year ... still waiting.

I would also add though that I have a very small cheapo antenna in the attic that does a pretty good job of picking up the channels OTA -- somewhat surprising, considering I live as far away as I do from the Greenville/Spartanburg area. Very easy to set up and use with the 622.


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