HD locals over satellite: check the contract
Consider this a friendly consumer alert in case you've missed the locals over satellite strategy that is slowly progressing; too slowly as one Toledo consumer found out. After spending hard earned dollars on a high-def set, Carolyn Peabody was persuaded to couple that set with a new satellite TV service. Peabody specifically asked if she would get the same HD programming that she currently had with cable and was told she would. Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!
Although Dish and DIRECTV are making strides to have local HD coverage, they have only recently started the roll out. There simply isn't enough bandwidth available on their satellites to blanket the country with local HD in every market. In order to do this, both companies are adopting a change over from the MPEG-2 compression standard to the MPEG-4 standard which will require new hardware and more time. Looking for locals in HD? Your cable company is a better bet at this point and free over-the-air HD locals are an option if you're close enough to catch a signal.
