Tuesday, September 27, 2011

FCC rules keep near-local stations off satellite

Some Dish Network or Direct TV subscribers living in rural counties do not have access to nearby television stations, often making them the last to know when breaking weather alerts or school closings happen.

When satellite companies broadcast local channels, they chose which stations to broadcast in which places based upon designated marketing areas that are determined by Nielsenand its ratings. The Federal Communications Commission prohibits satellite companies from broadcasting local TV signals outside those Designated Market Areas. This leaves residents in some counties receiving news from larger stations that often don't feature news about their local area.

Jenna Mink of the Bowling Green Daily News in Kentucky reports that people living in Logan County do not receive signal from WBKO-TV, the station located in Bowling Green, about 12 miles from their county, because they are part of the Nashville DMA. The station manager for WBKO told Mink that residents would only be able to watch their local news with the use of an antenna, which most residents got rid of when the FCC mandated digital TV in 2009. (Read more)

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