What's up with Channel 5?

[irman]

Originally Posted by Katzpur

After talking to my husband, we've decided to do just that. We've been spending $113 a month for hundreds of channels we never even watch. My biggest concern right now is this: Is there any way that, without cable, we could still record stuff to watch later on?

Yes, but it all depends on your set-up.

I have a *dumb* TV, but I have a *smart* DVD/CD player.
All inputs, whether from some APP on my DVD player or from the TV tuner (OTA stuff) in the Player, goes to the dumb TV for actual viewing. The TV does have a TV tuner ! I have a cheepy 200 dollar laptop that is dedicated to the TV. AND I have a super good internet download speed. Just keep complaining about the cost and those internet providers will give you discounts left and right ! (you get what you pay for)
I can record the output of the DVD player, or from the dumb TV, on my laptop for later viewing.

All by all still cheaper than cable or Satellite !

[kaytidid]

Originally Posted by Katzpur

Nice! I can definitely live with that... at least for a while. Thanks for the advice, kaytidid!

Another option you might want to consider is a Tivo

https://www.tivo.com/shop/ota-detail

[irman]

Originally Posted by kaytidid

Another option you might want to consider is a Tivo

https://www.tivo.com/shop/ota-detail

Pricey but in 3 years you have it all paid for with the *savings* of not using cable ...
So yes, a good *option* if you do not know how to do it otherwise !
Simple set up !

[kaytidid]

Originally Posted by irman

I do understand since you must have had several old ones ?

<<<If anybody still has their old antenna on their roof, hook it back up>>>

3 years?! No way! I pay approximately $50 a month for my Dish service. The TiVo I posted is $400. That means in 8 months I will have it paid for.

[irman]

Originally Posted by kaytidid

3 years?! No way! I pay approximately $50 a month for my Dish service. The TiVo I posted is $400. That means in 8 months I will have it paid for.

oops ... you right Kayti !

Whatever *savings* Katz would get, I wonder how much actually.
We were able to *save* 82 dollars a month, I know for sure because that was what it *was*, that many years ago.

[mlb]

We have Dish Network and my bill is $39.00

With this Channel 5 kerfluffle - my spouse called Dish Network and complained - and they gave us HBO and another subscription movie channel for free until the situation is resolved.

[CCSLC]

Originally Posted by Katzpur

We have Dish Network and aren't able to get Channel 5 (NBC) any more. I'm sure somebody here knows the situation better than I do. Could you help me understand what's going on. Is this going to last indefinitely?

Late to the discussion, but here's what's going on:

Local affiliates (KSL-TV, in this case) own the exclusive right to air network (NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, etc.) programming within their designated market area (DMA). This originally related only to over-the-air tranmissions and existed because the national networks needed a local transmitter to broadcast their content, but as cable and satellite television came into being, the agreements were written to include newer methods of transmission as well.

So, KSL-TV (really its parent company Bonneville) controls the transmission of NBC content to all of Utah and parts of Wyoming and Nevada (the Utah DMA is the largest in the country geographically). Cable and satelline companies like DirecTV, Dish, Comcast, etc. aren't allowed to just pick up the free over-the-air transmission and retransmit to their paying subscribers (making money off KSL's and NBC's product). So they negotiate payment to KSL for the right to rebroadcast the content.

Dish doesn't want to pay KSL as much for their content---both NBC and local KSL content---so they've stopped carrying it completely. Dish can't work with NBC directly because KSL has already negotiated the right to show the NBC product to people in this geographic area (KSL doesn't exactly pay NBC for their affiliate agreement... it's more of a negotiation about how much advertising time will remain network and how much KSL will be able to place as local ads; NBC still needs KSL in many respects, both to get their entertainment product to over-the-air homes here in Utah and to bring local news to them nationally when appropriate [think Elizabeth Smart, SLC 2002 Olympics, etc.]).

But, other rebroadcasters like Comcast and DirecTV are still paying what KSL wants (or wanted at the time of last negotiation), so the content is still available there (for now). And KSL is still broadcasting over-the-air (only the FCC can prevent them from doing that, and it would take a lot to stop that!), so if you hook up an antenna to your television and tune it to "5," you'll be able to see all KSL and NBC programming. This is, of course, easier to do if you have another television to make your "NBC/KSL television" rather than switching between Dish for most programming and then going to an antenna for just one channel.

[Katzpur]

We did end up getting rid of Dish and are watching TV now without any satellite coverage. There are still issues, of course. The biggie is not being able to record programs I'm going to miss. I was able to catch up on "This is Us" before last night's episode by watching it on my computer directly through NBC's website, but not everything I'd typically watch is available. We had a professional do all of the hookups, so I know they're done right. Our Netflix streaming doesn't work as well as it did when we had satellite coverage, either. But we will be saving $128 a month, and we really weren't using 99% or more of the channels we were getting.

[irman]

Originally Posted by Katzpur

We did end up getting rid of Dish and are watching TV now without any satellite coverage. There are still issues, of course. The biggie is not being able to record programs I'm going to miss. I was able to catch up on "This is Us" before last night's episode by watching it on my computer directly through NBC's website, but not everything I'd typically watch is available. We had a professional do all of the hookups, so I know they're done right. Our Netflix streaming doesn't work as well as it did when we had satellite coverage, either. But we will be saving $128 a month, and we really weren't using 99% or more of the channels we were getting.

Katz, with that much savings, why not spend some of that money saved on a better internet speed.
Your Netflix Streaming is dependent on a good internet connection and speed !

We (as always the squeeky wheel gets greased) complained, and got a very high speed (one step below the highest possible) and our Netflix and other streaming stuff over the Net is great. We also watch stuff via Amazon, and ROKU ...
Note: depending on where you live, you may never get a good download speed ! So check and find out !