Satellite Waivers....fact and fiction

The Desert Sun seems to be going out of its way to publish letters from unhappy viewers who say they can't get a "waiver" so they can watch out-of-town network affiliates.

I don't know where the fiction originated that somehow people were entitled to "waivers" which literally means a stations "waives" its legal right to provide network service to a viewer. We have processed requests for thousands of waivers from people who were glibly told by satellite companies and unscrupulous independent contractors who sell and install satellite dishes that they could get out of town stations easily simply by asking for a "waiver."

Federal law states that the only satellite subscribers legally entitled to receive distant network service are the ones who are in so-called "white areas." This is an area where the subscriber can't receive an over-the-air signal with an outdoor antenna. There is only one "white area" in the Coachella Valley. That's the La Quinta cove area which is behind the Santa Rosa mountains. Subscribers in that area AUTOMATICALLY get distant network service. The satellite company uses very powerful computer models to determine who can't get a signal and they are seldom wrong.

I have to laugh when somebody tells me that "got a waiver from the Fox affiliate" so why can't they get one from our ABC affiliate? We operate both stations and we process waiver requests for both networks. Needless to say, the lie doesn't work.

The local CBS affiliate is a low power TV station with a very weak signal. In their case viewers all over the Valley are legally entitled to receive CBS from an out-of-town station because they really CAN'T get an over the air signal. No waiver is required.

Fortunately, all this discussion is becoming moot. Dish Network and DirecTV now offer local stations to their subscribers. Virtually all local satellite subscribers now have the option of receiving the local affiliates. Those people who have been legitimately receiving distant signals are given the choice of keeping their distant service or switching to the local stations. Once that happens the subscriber will not be able to go back to the distant station.

We still get waiver requests, no doubt from people who somehow have been led to believe they can get both local and distant stations. We deny them because the law doesn't allow it.

Got other questions? Post them here and I'll answer them.

Bob