Written by: Tom Rieland
Date: October 27, 2011
I know a portion of our audience watches WOSU TV on the DISH Network. You should know what your satellite TV provider is doing.
DISH has requested the U.S. Supreme Court review the Congressional mandate to carry noncommercial stations, like WOSU, in high definition (HDTV). Last March, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld Section 207 of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act of 2010 (STELA), which mandates HD carriage of public television stations on satellite.
Wow. I would think the Supreme Court would have bigger issues to tackle, but also that the DISH Network would understand this means they are blatantly discriminating against local public stations by refusing to carry these stations in the same markets where all commercial broadcasters (ABC, NBC, CBS) are provided in high definition.
As you know, each month 170 million Americans depend on public broadcasting to receive a variety of noncommercial, mission-driven programming from PBS Kids to NOVA to local programs provided in HD, such as our Emmy Award winning Columbus Neighborhoods documentaries.
Subscribers to DISH deserve full access to all public television station HD programs!