Rant #1,708: Pass the Dish

This has kind of fallen under the radar, but Dish Network subscribers in the New York metropolitan area and other areas are being blacked out of the Tribune group of stations because of another rate impasse between the satellite TV provider and these stations' parent company.

In New York, that means that WPIX-TV, the local Channel 11, has been blacked out by Dish Network. This has been going on for nearly a month, and neither side seems to want to give in.

Of course, each side accuses the other of some type of un-amicable moves that forced this blackout, but of course, the only one who really feels it is the consumer.

Other local channels have been blacked out on Dish Network in the recent past, including WCBS-TV here in New York (yes, the same station I wrote about yesterday), but this is the first time in my memory that a local station has been blacked out for so long.

It doesn't really matter who is right and who is wrong in this dispute, but I personally think that it is wrong--very wrong--to black out a local channel.

Can we live without WGN? Sure we can. There are several other channels that subscribers aren't receiving now during the dispute, but for New Yorkers, Channel 11 is the linchpin of this dispute.

It carries local programming, local news, and numerous games of both the New York Yankees and New York Mets.

The reason why you haven't heard an uproar is that percentage-wise, so few people have Dish Network in the New York metropolitan area, in particular compared with Direct TV or Verizon or Cablevision or Time Warner.

I have both Dish Network and Verizon--don't ask--so it doesn't really affect me very much.

I don't have the percentages in front of me, but I remember complaining sometime back when Dish Network decided to take a pass on the Yankees' YES Network. I was literally told by one of Dish's operators that the East and West lean toward Direct TV when it comes to satellite TV, while the middle of the country is really Dish's prime territory.

You can get Dish Network in the East and West, but most people go for the other satellite provider.

So in New York, the dropping of Channel 11 hasn't really gotten people upset and threatening Dish Network by unsubscribing, because, quite frankly, so few people, percentage-wise, use Dish Network for their programming in this area.

The whole thing is wrong no matter where you sit, and with each side throwing garbage at the other, who knows when--or if--this dispute will be settled anytime soon.

Right now, if I want to watch Channel 11--I do it so rarely now, only to watch Yankees games and occasionally the news--then I watch it on Verizon.

Other people do not have that choice, but I do, so I use it.

But again, blacking out local stations because of disputes over money is not right, and I do wish some of our legislators would look into this.

It doesn't impact me that much, but it does impact others greatly, and again, it just isn't right.