I don't know what to say. Last year I was not fulltime yet so I had not yet contacted DishNetwork and completed the waiver. I setup my dish in Mt. Rushmore, Devils Tower and Montana. At all locations I received my normal NYC local programming on 2 (CBS), 4 (NBC), 5 (FOX) and 7 (ABC) as I do at home.

Maybe their NYC spot beam is more like a giant flood light.

My locals come out of the Greenville, SC and Asheville, NC area, maybe it's more of a 'pencil point' beam than the NYC locals?

We're just a bunch of hicks here in the backwoods of NC and our money won't get us the same services as money spent in a major metropolitan area. It's only $5 a month so I really don't expect a lot for it.

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Originally posted by K-Star:
I setup my dish in Mt. Rushmore, Devils Tower and Montana. At all locations I received my normal NYC local programming on 2 (CBS), 4 (NBC), 5 (FOX) and 7 (ABC) as I do at home.

That's because New York isn't spot beamed. New York, along with Los Angeles, are the two cities from which you get network programming when you complete the RV Waiver with DirecTV.

With Dish Network, when you complete the RV Waiver (with a 3rd-party company, not Dish), you'll get Atlanta and San Francisco, so any one whose "locals" are these two cities will probably also be able to receive them anywhere in the country.

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Originally posted by LindaH:
That's because New York isn't spot beamed.

So why would the law require the geographical area I live in to be spot beam while allowing another area (New York) not to be spot beamed?

All areas are spot beamed or will be, except for the 2 cities for DirecTV, and 2 for Dish.

Those exceptions are for nationwide reception for those who have a RV declaration, and I believe those who have fixed dwellings out in the boonies beyond the over the air range of any TV station.

Not all spot beams are the same.

Actually the NYC and San Francisco areas are nationally beamed and if you have an RV Wavier you will get one or the other.

I think also if your normal service address is NYS or San Fran' you will receive in the RV what you get at home !!

When we winter in Florida, I change the service address to our Florida Zip code so I get the Tampa locals.

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if you have an RV Wavier you will get one or the other.

Many of us have both east and west coast feeds for CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox. PBS is just 1 feed, and HD will be east OR west depending on your service address.

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So why would the law require the geographical area I live in to be spot beam while allowing another area (New York) not to be spot beamed?

The reasoning is entirely financially motivated. The local Chicago car dealer pays for his advertising based upon the number of people he can expect to see his ad. If everyone in FL is subscribed to Chicago the advertising would have to pay an even higher rate only to have his ads viewed by folks in FL who will never visit his business.
By allowing only 1 East and 1 West Network feed Nationally they can easily back out those users as RVer, Trucker and non-served households (the Boonies folks mentioned above) and keep the advertising rates in line.
Not every area has been fully spot-beamed and some spot beams are much larger than others. Additionally, if you have a NY or LA billing address you can only get one or the other and not both like those of us with DNS can and once they leave the area they also lose the "lesser" networks that are available in that area and receive only ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox like the rest of us.

Bill thanks for your explanation...you clearly said it right !!

I always "try" to help. My answers are not always welcome, but they are as accurate as I can make them.
Thanks for the Thanks!