There are some mighty unhappy DirecTV customers in Adams County, Wisconsin, and it’s not even DirecTV’s fault! The satellite provider is being forced to discontinue local programming from the Madison area in favor of local programming from the Wausau/Rhinelander  area.

Who would do such a thing? Not surprisingly, it’s the feds. Sticking their noses in where they don’t belong as usual. Seems that Congress  passed a law back in 2004 which mandated the local programming that satellite broadcasters could provide to all of the counties in the country and left it up to Nielsen Media Research to figure out which local channels each county should be allowed to receive.

For whatever reason, now is the time that DirecTV is being forced to act in Adams County and a lot of the residents do not agree with Nielsen’s conclusion. It appears that Adams County lies pretty close to being in between Madison and Wausau, but I don’t live in Wisconsin and don’t pretend to know what’s best for viewers in Adams County.

It’s not as if these subscribers are asking to receive local channels from Los Angeles or something, so why should they not be able to choose which market they want to receive local channels from? It appears that they are local to both market.

I presume the government, in their infinite wisdom, had the answer. I just don’t expect it to make much sense.

For more details, see WiscNews.

DISH Network customers in six different TV markets can now enjoy more local HD programming as a result of the company’s efforts to expand it’s HD offerings and compete with rival DirecTV and the cable television industry.

Here is a breakdown of the new channels recently added and the markets they were added to:

WTVC (ABC) Ch. 9 in Chattanooga, TN; WBNS (CBS) Ch. 10 in Columbus, OH; WICU (NBC) Ch. 12 in Erie, PA; WWMT (CBS) Ch. 3 in Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, MI; WTHR (NBC) Ch. 13 in Indianapolis, IN; and WPEC (CBS) Ch. 12 in West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, FL.

Subscribers who live in those areas and already have an HD-capable receiver or DVR and subscribe to HD programming will receive the new programming at no additional cost.

These new additions bring DISH Network’s local HD offerings to 152 markets nationwide.

Here’s a quick rundown of DISH Network’s current package deals. Keep in mind, these deals may expire or be changed at any time.

DISH Family: This package is a great choice for  "family-friendly" programming. Featuring more than 55 channels of sports, news, children’s programming and more. This package is currently being offered for $24.99 per month.

Classic Bronze 100: This very reasonable-priced package has something for every member of the family. This package offers the best in entertainment, sports, news and children’s programming and includes local programming. All for $24.99 a month.

Classic Bronze 100+: This package includes everything from the Classic Bronze 100 package above but adds your local sports channels to the deal as well. A decent bargain at $29.99 per month.

Classic Silver 200: The is one of DISH Network’s most popular package deals. This one features in excess of  220 channels of the best entertainment you can find, including all the programming content from the Classic Bronze 100 package plus a variety of great channels like Bravo, MSNBC, SPEED, Animal Planet and a lot more. This one is just $37.99 per month.

Classic Gold 250: This is the plan I personally have right now and it has just about everything I want. You get more than 250 channels, including SIRIUS music. I had the Classic Silver 200 package for quite a while, but got sick of hearing other people tell me about programs on other channels like National Geographic, The Military Channel and Fox Reality Channel that I did not have, so I upgraded. This plan is listed for $62.99 right now. I also have an HD DVR, 80 or so HD channels, an extra receiver for my son’s room as well as my local channels and I currently pay about $82 a month. Compare that to the $75 a month I am paying Comcast just for high-speed internet alone!

America’s Everything Pak: This is the top-of-the-line package and includes all the programming that the  Classic Gold 250 offers and also includes HBO, Showtime, Starz, Cinemax and NBA TV. The current price for this package is $102.98.

HD channels can be added to each package for $10 more per month and the number of HD channels varies depending on the package.

To get all the information and details on these packages, head on over to the DISH Network website.

With the switch to digital TV, it seems that the ability to get local channels from your cable or satellite TV provider is more important than ever. Obviously, not everyone’s experience with digital TV compares with mine, but so far, I have found digital TV to be a bit less wonderful than all those commercials leading up to the switch-over indicated.

The main problem I have with DTV is its sporadic reliability where I live. One day I will get a beautiful clear picture and strong signal and the next day I may not be able to watch it at all due to poor signal strength. I don’t know if this is because digital television is more susceptible to interference from atmospheric or weather conditions, but that seems like a possibility.

Thankfully, DISH Network has been adding some new local channels recently, which should be quite helpful for DISH customers who have not had good luck with DTV.

The satellite broadcaster has recently added local channels in the following markets: South Bend/Elkhart, Indiana; Lima, OH; Columbus/Tupelo, MS; Springfield, MO and Alexandria, LA.

Reports indicate that the addition of these new stations mean that DISH Network is offering channels in 97% of the nation’s local markets.

Viewers in the Eau Claire, Wisconsin area will finally have the option of receiving local ABC affiliate WQOW via DISH Network when the station is added to the local programming package for that area. This will be a nice plus for people who want to switch from cable to satellite or are having problems receiving the new digital TV signals.

Here in New Hampshire, I sometimes have problems receiving the digital TV signals from Boston despite a good roof-top TV antenna and a nice elevated location which gives us pretty decent reception from the Boston area most of the time. However, I am noticing that digital TV seems to be susceptible to weather-related problems.

Just this morning I was watching the Fox station out of Boston and lost my signal for a short time. I know there is some inclement weather in the area, so my best guess is that the problems I experienced were weather-related.

Fortunately, we have the local channel programming package for the Boston area as part of our DISH Network service, so we are able to watch the local stations (including the ABC affiliate in Manchester, NH) off the satellite, which works out nicely.

For those of you waiting to see WQOW on DISH Network, word is that the station is scheduled to be added no later than October 1st.

According to a report on the Upper Michigan’s Source, DISH Network is poised to add local channels to their line-up, giving UP residents access to local stations such as TV 6.

According to the report, the local channels will be available for DISH Network customers to order tonight starting at 7:00 p.m. EDT.

Photo: takomabibelot

Comments in response to the news from Upper Michigan’s Source seem to indicate that some UP residents have had problems receiving their local TV channels since the cutover to digital TV. Something I can relate to here at my home since DTV seems to be a bit less “stable” than the old reliable analog signals that served us well for many decades.

I signed up for the local channel package from DISH Network a while back, mainly to receive our local ABC affiliate that is located in Manchester, NH. The terrain between our home and the stations transmission tower make it impossible to receive a reliable signal these days following the DTV transition, although we could usually count on a snowy, but watchable signal when they were broadcasting an analog signal.

Residents of the UP who are not already DISH Network customers and who would like to sign up or learn more about DISH Network can visit the DISH Network website by clicking here for all the latest information on programming packages and pricing.