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DIRECTV Dropping Madison Stations In Adams County
In less than a month, some viewers will no longer be able to see our broadcast.
Reporter: Barclay Pollak Email Address: bpollak@nbc15.com |
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Posted Sunday, November 22, 2009 4:45 p.m.
And there's little they can do about it. If you live in Adams County and use DIRECTV then next month you won't be able to see Madison T.V. stations.
Instead your local news, weather and sports will come out of the Wausau-Rhinelander market.
For the last decade Madison has been Fred Goodwin's home market.
" That's where our public service announcements come from, our weather bulletins, school closings, all of our information we need."
Goodwin, a DIRECTV customer and southern Adams County resident--says about two months ago he got a letter from the satellite company saying they were switching him to the Rhinelander/Wausau market...more than 100-miles away.
Goodwin says, " Rhinelander/Wausau does not cover Adams County for local weather or news, school closings...if the Wisconsin Dells School District calls the radio and television to say school's closed because of severe weather it's not going to call Wausau."
The reason for the switch is because satellite companies assign markets based on viewership in a county.
More people in Adams County watch T.V. out of the Rhinelander/Wausau market than out of Madison.
WMTV Chief Engineer Tom Weeden says, " In the case of Adams County a lot of the population is in the north part of the county and they watch the Wausau/Rhinelander T.V. stations. As opposed to in the southern part of the county in the Wisconsin Dells and Westfield they tend to watch Madison channels. "
The big switch is suppose to happen on December 16th and if you still want to get local Madison stations you'll have to use an antenna.
Goodwin does have an antenna. But he doesn't like getting his signal over the air.
"Picture quality is not near as good because we're on the fringe of a digital transmission."
Here at NBC 15 we have received several e-mails and calls about the issue.
We have forwarded those comments and concerns to our corporate office and they are working to see if there is a solution.
Latest Comments
I also have been informed that my service will change. The original letter from DIRECTV said this change was ZIP code based. My ZIP code,mailing address, electric power service and telephone service are out of Westfield. Unfortunately, our property is on the county line and I live on the Adams side of the county line and someone, in their great wisdom, decided to use county lines instead of ZIP codes. I babysit for my 2 young grandchildren who attend school in Westfield and I will no longer know of any school delays, early releases or closings. No one east of the line is affected, just those of us on the "wrong side of the tracks". In this case the county line. I am sure even the Madison local advertisers are upset. I often shop in Madison but NEVER go to Wausau or Rhinelander.
I have DirecTV and have never been able to receive the Madison stations. However, the guy is incorrect in his statement in the article. The Wausau stations DO post school closures for A-F and the Dells. They also show weather alerts for Adams County. There may not be as much variety or diversity in Wausau, but we like the CBS station, WSAW. Just wish we could get Madison news, too.
I prefer Dish Network because for only six bucks I can get The Red zone Channel and save $300 for Sunday Ticket.
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