# What's a Spot Beam?



## inazsully (Oct 3, 2006)

This question was last asked in 2007 so I was wondering if during the last 4 years or so they have been used and how? It was suggested earlier that spot beams may be the answer to RSN's in HD more often but it was suggested that Dish for some reason does not want to do this.


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## [email protected] Network (Jan 5, 2011)

A Spot Beam is a signal that is focused on a specific area to broadcast the satellite signal to an intended reception area, mainly used to bring in locals to a specific area. This allows only a few frequencies of signal to be used without different data interfering with each other, and allows for more local channels to be carried, since the same frequency can be used in several regions. If I understand, the RSN's in HD is decided by the provider of the channel and if they're filming it in HD.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

RSNs in HD on spotbeams would limit the RSN carriage to the spotbeam's coverage area. If the spotbeam is large enough it would work for some RSNs ... but would not provide that RSN in HD to the entire US (for use in the Multi-Sport or season ticket packages).

Finding spotbeam space would be a challenge. Locals in HD are vying for the same spotbeam space and DISH has FCC deadlines to meet in delivering ALL HD signals in the markets where they carry any HD signals. As of February 15th DISH must be able to carry all locals in HD in 30% of the markets they carry any local in HD. That includes setting aside space in those markets "just in case" a SD channel converts to HD. I believe DISH has reached the threshold for 2011 ... but by February 15th, 2012, the threshold rises to 60% ... which means more HD markets must get all their channels in HD within the next year. That doesn't leave a lot of space for "non required" services.

If added HD RSNs will likely go to ConUS locations where they can cover their entire region without worrying about spot beam size AND be used for MultiSport and the HBA/NHL packages. BTW: DISH's "Part Time" HD RSNs currently consume 12 channels worth of ConUS space.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

inazsully said:


> This question was last asked in 2007 so I was wondering if during the last 4 years or so they have been used and how? It was suggested earlier that spot beams may be the answer to RSN's in HD more often but it was suggested that Dish for some reason does not want to do this.


The answer now is the same as it has been.

Spotbeams have the advantage of targeting a smaller area, which means multiple spotbeams from the same satellite can share the same frequency and be used to broadcast more channels BUT each channel only goes to the location that the spotbeam covers.

So... if you have a choice of 1 CONUS beam vs 5 spotbeams... on a given transponder (just random numbers here) and you could put 4 channels on that transponder... then you could either:

1. Put up 4 national channels

OR

2. Put up 4 region-specific channels in 5 different regions.

So it depends on your goal... For local channels, it just makes good sense to spotbeam because you know you only need those channels to go to those DMAs.

For national channels, you need/want a CONUS beam so you don't have to duplicate things.

As for putting RSNs on spotbeams...

IF you did that... yes, you could carry more full-time RSNs BUT they would be region-specific... so people couldn't buy multi-sport and get out of market RSNs. I know a lot of pro sports is blacked out, but college isn't...

Also, Dish has been using their RSN feeds to feed the packages like League Pass... so you have to have those feeds available CONUS to reach everyone who might subscribe.

Basically... I don't think Dish gains as much as they would lose by trying to move RSNs to spotbeams.


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## inazsully (Oct 3, 2006)

Good stuff. So what does Dish need to do to offer 24/7 HD for all the RSN's? Without sacrificing something else will it require another satellite? Does "D" have more satellites than "E"? How do the cable companies do it? Sorry for so many questions.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

inazsully said:


> Good stuff. So what does Dish need to do to offer 24/7 HD for all the RSN's? Without sacrificing something else will it require another satellite? Does "D" have more satellites than "E"? How do the cable companies do it? Sorry for so many questions.


You participated in the thread:

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=186111&highlight=rsn

...where we discussed this exact same subject already. Nothing has changed in the last couple of months.


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## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

inazsully said:


> Good stuff. So what does Dish need to do to offer 24/7 HD for all the RSN's? Without sacrificing something else will it require another satellite? Does "D" have more satellites than "E"? How do the cable companies do it? Sorry for so many questions.


DirecTV has a bit more transponder space than Dish has (if you limit Dish's "count" to one arc or the other; Dish has much more total space, but necessary duplication of content on 2 arcs effectively reduces the total nearly in half). DirecTV has full-time RSNs simply because sports is their focus, and they've chosen to use much of their limited capacity for sports. That's the main (but not only) reason why they don't carry a number of national TV channels that Dish carries.

Dish, on the other hand, chose to use their limited capacity for more national channels and fewer RSNs. They choose to cater more to the "movie/TV" folks instead of the "sports" folks.

The problem is that, with currently-approved technology, there is no more DBS satellite space available to either company. Both are looking into "BSS" tech, but none has actually been approved by the FCC yet. So neither company can simply "get more satellites" to expand their offerings. Both have to make decisions how to use the bandwidth they have, and the two companies have made different decisions.

That's actually to the benefit of the consumer, as each consumer can decide which company fits his needs best.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

BattleZone said:


> Both are looking into "BSS" tech, but none has actually been approved by the FCC yet. So neither company can simply "get more satellites" to expand their offerings.


Both DIRECTV and DISH have BSS capacity. Neither is using it effectively for services to the US public.


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