Dispute with TEGNA

@Juniper @Trekappa - OTA/Antenna ISN'T ALWAYS A VALID OPTION and it will cost you time, effort and money to find out if it is a valid option.  You will need to buy an OTA antenna and then hope you have the line of sight necessary for that antenna to work.  Aside from line of sight you will also be affected by weather and potential interference from within your home . Last but not least if recording is important to you .... dig deeper and good luck.

I have two OTA antenna's.  One is powered and the other is not.  According to one of the web sites that tells me what OTA channels I should be able to get..... I should be able to get ABC.  After moving those two antennas all over my house and property I can get ABC but its pixelated and cuts out constantly. Its not all bad though....I can watch all the old black and white TV shows I can stand.

@Juniper - Do you have an OTA Antenna?

@BBrower 

I am not saying it is valid option for everyone. But for those that can use it but absolutely refuse to use it because they think it was only valid in the '80s or such are a bit 'entitled' in my book.

For me I use regular antenna more for the sub-channels that have some content that are not on my pay TV channels. Nice to have as a backup for carriage negotiations, though the main locals don't have much for me (hence why I went to pay TV to begin with).

Haven't come across any B&W shows on the locals themselves. Though perhaps the one station that has some recent classic Science Fiction shows might have some older ones in the mix. I'd have to check the schedule. But perhaps your area values the older content more than mine.

I respect if antenna is not feasible for you. It is only suggested for those that can use it, because how it works does not change depending on what TV provider you have or what negotiations they are going through. If someone is desperate for the locals then they can try it. If within a reasonable time it doesn't work then understandable and just return it within the refund time frame.

As for line of sigh and weather concerns, that affects satellite as well. You are getting signal from geosynchronous orbit after all. It is not immune. Just has the benefit of being installed outside. Perhaps after winter I'll see about an outdoor antenna to pick up a couple outlying channels that I'm more on the fringe of the broadcast.

Sometimes I wish I had the old AM21 so I could record to my HDDVR and not have to change inputs, but that is not critical for me.

So to my point earlier, if it is a valid option for an individual (within good signal range) but they REFUSE to use it because they are apparently disgusted it is not the 'latest and greatest' tech, then they really don't care about the channels are are more complaining because of an undue sense of entitlement. If you can't use it, then fair enough. If you don't want to use it (regardless of reason) that is your choice but then just watch something else until the channels return.

I’m lobbying for the FCC to require tegna to stream for free their content (modernize the methods that require Over The Air broadcasting)

We never had cable or any other content provider till we moved up into the Colorado mountains

for $35 a month ATT now provided access to Denver content for us

I am not tooo happy with how my bill keeps going up while the very content we signed up for is not available We now pay over $85 a month  ... without any notice over the last 5 years  ... and the suggestions I get are buy more services  ... which will surely go through their own struggles with station owners  ... and increase rates again

in fact it’s this exact scenario we’re one streaming service agrees to a new rate setting precedent to existing services to step up or step out

there is no pretty end to this  ... and I’m really not gonna like DirecTv passing more cost to me using this and other levers for generating cash

its time that the FCC takes the spirit and intent of the current OTA regs and modernize that to require streaming FREE

The FCC created this long ago when they allowed the corporations that own these local channels to charge retransmission fees. 

@cbboyle 

Local channels have lobbied the current rules. Internet is still an optional paid service not available to all (or at least to the point to rely on streaming). So for now, the locals cannot be forced to give away their content for free beyond the traditional over-the-air (OTA) broadcast.

In the last 5 years notice has been give about an price adjustments. The annual price adjustment is in January with notices sent in December. Though this last one was 2 months early, which I hope is just a one-off and not the norm. And any discounts you might receiver are listed on the bill counting down such as $10 off for 12, 1 of 12 (2 of 12, 3 of 12, etc.).

DirecTV has been offering a one-time credit of $10 because of the Tegna situation. You can use that towards a streaming service of your choice, a regular antenna if one will work for you, or just to your pocket for the inconvenience. How you use the benefit of it is up to you. Log onto your account online or call them to take advantage of it.

As long as channel owners (Tegna, Mission, Nexstar, etc.) keep raising costs to TV providers, like other national networks do, then TV providers have to raise base costs to keep up with. Simple economics, operating costs go up then so do our bills. They cannot just eat all the increases every time, no business could.

In the end, these local channels are not something we are entitled to. Just because they have the OTA broadcast doesn't mean we have a pure right to these channels. That is what I feel some people don't understand, that there is no obligation we get those channels in the first place. It is not a right of life.

I’m not proposing removing the OTA regs  ... just requiring streaming also

the government has made promises to insure internet coverage exists  to all regions... two years ago those grants brought us fiber 

internet access for all is a key tenet for our society 

if these people had not gotten so greedy this Idea would have never come up  ... blackmailing providers by withholding content needs to be busted up

then if directv wants to deliver local content they can charge whatever they want without us being used as collateral 

Cause we’ll have a new free option

can you support breaking up this model?

To be direct  ... regarding this train of thought, and what some lack to grasp

Re: “In the end, these local channels are not something we are entitled to”

then “why am I required” to get content from a tegna affiliate?

How about the FCC caps the retransmission fees then has annual increases? Of course the corporate lobbing will not allow that.  

We are not entitled to locals.

But if we want locals then by the rules we can only get what is in our Designated Market Area (DMA).

Local affiliate owner (Tegna) doesn't have to give it for free.

So who we are allowed to get it through does not change that it is not something entitled to us in the first place.

I've got my eye on a YouTubeTV free trial.  Its a couple dollars less than what I'm paying now and there's no charge for unlimited DVR. If it works as well or better than what I've got now.....it might take all of 5 minutes to set it up with my smart TV and Roku boxes.

I understand YouTube could get hit with the same issue for local stations so I may have to do this all again.  Not my first choice but I will relish the move showing that the customer isn't captive.

What we should be doing is moving towards resolving this  ... not defending these two turkeys

we should discuss ways to fix this

not why we are where we are and sit back and take it

what can “we” (forum participants) do to move this along

Fcc involvement (my complaint is already registered)

shareholder “voting”?

contracts with price caps?

reducing black mail strategies - content withheld must be released on other formats ?

we need ideas not explanations why we are currently helpless

Please reply if you have some ideas on how to push for a resolution 

You where not a captive, you could have chosen another TV provider at anytime.

All ready have provide suggestions.  The FCC can also require that the locals channels be provided during negotiations.

Complaints have been brought to the FCC and they have just stayed the course.

Since locals are not something we are required to have (by any right of life, The Constitution, etc.), then Tegna is not obligated to provide a free alternative at their cost.

Until something gigantic changes the entire TV industry, which is locked in by heavy lobbying by the locals and Federal regulations, then there is nothing we can do. Not saying anything wrong with wanting other options, just there is no feasible way for this to change right now.

DirecTV doesn't want to pay what they want then Tegna doesn't have to provide it. Not so much blackmail but how any transaction works. You don't want to pay for it then you don't get it is the simplicity of it. It is just unfortunate for us customers because we either wait long for negotiations to complete or we accept the higher price rate that DirecTV caves to.

The only way to get locals that are free from any negotiation is with regular antenna. That is the only method where you cannot be restricted without the entire station shutting down. Any other method, including internet, can validate if you are permitted to receive it.

I do prefer when a channel owner allows the feed to continue through negotiations (an extension if you prefer), but they own it so it is up to them. And in recent years locals are playing hardball to really push for those higher rates.

Again, there is nothing wrong with wanting a different solution that serves us the customer. I am simply pointing out the reality that we do not have any inherent right or the like to those channels. In the end, they are optional entertainment.