I thought you would be interested. Still snowing here and schools closed for another day.

Steve

If I was the local cable company or Direct tv .. I run saturation ads that say you cannot get the Fisher station except with those carriers ...
Dish would be put into a vulnerable situation as their carriage would be incomplete and their user base would most likely have grounds for immediate cancellation of service.

7 to 5 the lawsuit would be settled quickly and out of court.

But then I'm not a lawyer .. so what do I know?

As far as I am concerned, they can drop KOMO 4 in Seattle for good. Let Dish give us ABC from say Seattle, just about anywhere in PST.

I'm a Dish customer caught in this ridiculous Catch 22. With FCC rules the only ABC station that can be broadcast in the Seattle market is Fisher Broadcastings KOMO 4 Station. The strategy of the combatants seems to be to pit the consumer against the other party in the conflict and try to use them to bring pressure to bear to make a deal. The fact there is now a $1,000,000 lawsuit by Fisher against Dish for another dispute pretty much assures us that there will be no ABC channels available on DISH in the area in the immediate future. A few months ago, I signed a contract to get updated equipment from Dish and am obligated for the remainder of a 2 year contract if I leave them. They basically charge a $10 per month remaining cancellation fee so I'd be out $170 bucks to move somewhere else. I've been in communication with both Dish and KOMO and have received a response from the Fisher CEO that was specific to my concerns. My basic point was, you've got business issues to work out but don't screw the consumers. They offer their condolences but no solutions. I fear this will end up being expensive to many who have to opt out of the Dish contract to get the ABC programming. I've contacted the FCC and complained, asking for some sort of variance to bring any other ABC coverage into this market but it ain't going to happen. Guess the only other option would be the Attorney General's office. I truly believe any provider in a market has an obligation to provide the primary channels as part of their suite of products and when they advertise that they carry local channels they need to carry these. If they aren't able to comply, they should not be allowed to offer their services in the market.

This whole issue seems to me like a power play and a little silly. I have Directv and love it. I have had it for 13 years. The costs have gone up but they have for everything. I have enjoyed the opportunity to observe both DishTV and Directv and I think Directv is much better. Maybe because I am more accustomed to it.
I would advise everyone to switch as soon as it becomes affordable to do so. I don't have cable as I have a vacation cabin where satellite TV is the only option. I can take my receiver back and forth and have rception in both places. I could also take a receiver along in a RV that is wired for it and have TV anywhere I want. Works for me.

I have been a loyal DISH customer for several years. I had been very happy with DISH until last December when we lost ABC. My favorite television show is Jeopardy. Which was lost with Dish's cessation of broadcasting ABC. (I actually missed watching the son of a friend who was on the the Jeopardy Tournament of Champions.) At this point it is silly to lay blame. It is very clear the Charlie Ergen, Colleen Brown and Phelps Fisher are a group of egocentric meglomaniacs who do not give a "Rats Rear" about the people that their organizations serve. Fisher broadcasting is cheating their advertisers out of exposure to the thousands of DISH viewers who do not see their ads and Charlier Ergen is cheating the DISH viewership of what they are paying him for. My advice to all of the DISH Viewers in the affected areas is switch to whatever other system is availible to them.

Joseph B. Walker
Seattle

I have tried for several years to get a decent signal from channel 2, to no avail. We live in the yellow zone on antennaweb.com and have had fine reception of all other Portland stations on several different antennas for years, but 2 was always a poor picture. Now they are coming up with this "Wonderful new technology" called digital, and we can't get a picture AT ALL!! We bought an expensive amplified indoor antenna, and it won't even pull in 2. Personally, I don't care if Dish ever carries 2 again, and I can live very nicely without their broken digital signal over the air. Maybe if they don't start putting out a better signal, and negotiate with Dish network, someone else will get to take over carying ABC who will provide beter service to their viewers. Channel 2 KATU will have a hard time continuing to broadcast when they can't get advertizers due to viewer dissatisfaction!
Mike McBride

This is like two little boys saying he said you said and throwing rocks at each other.I have been with Dish net work over ten years,I am leaning towards changing to Direct as I prefer watching channel 4 news,the only drawback is if the same thing happens at Direct as soon as there is a settlement with Fisher.

I lost my signal with many stations lately, including channel 4 with my rooftop antenna (connected to a digital box) . I am looking to find a good provider...I thought Dish would be the least expensive way to go, but if I can't get 4, then I might go with Direct. Anyone have any other thoughts?
Lost signals in Sea-tac.

As soon as I get a few trees cut down (for line of site with Direct TV Satelites) at my house in the country I am getting Direct TV. But getting rid of DISH that I suffer with now is much more simple than that. I have never signed, much less read, any agreement with Dish. Dish has never kept one verbal agreement with me. They are not giving me ABC on Channel 4 but giving me the FIX News channel and making me pay extra for MSNBC.
So, as soon as I can get Direct TV I will be done with DISH and they can take thier receiver back or I'll throw it away. I'll simply disput any claim for payments DISH will make on the rest of my broken verbal agreement.