Dish Network forces metro news on local residents

Why do Dish Network program executives force Dallas/Fort Worth area news and weather down the throats of their customers living in the East Texas area?

Doing so makes no sense whatsoever!

Some have rumored the primary reason for this illogical programming is money. They say Dish executives are humoring Dallas/Fort Worth area merchants, who want their commercials seen by East Texas viewers. To them, news programs are merely conduits for advertising. These merchants are hoping to entice East Texans to travel to the DFW area to shop.

This sounds feasible, but who knows?

What Dish programmers do not realize is these news programs play an integral part in many East Texans’ lives. Many rely on the weather forecasts to plan their days or even their weeks, not to mention keeping informed on local current events.

Tyler is home to three local television stations—CBS 19; KETK 56, an NBC affiliate; and KLTV 7, an ABC affiliate—and has become the media hub of the East Texas area. So with all of these stations in close proximity, how does news and weather information of North Texas, which is much farther away, benefit East Texans? The answer is not very much.

More importantly, East Texans want to know about EAST TEXAS.

This situation is frustrating and infuriating to thousands of loyal viewers. Unless they have installed antennas to pick up reception of local stations, viewers must find alternate means of keeping up with local news events, such as the Internet, radio or newspapers. This works for some viewers, but many prefer the old-fashioned way of watching TV for this information.

As for the weather, viewers can catch local forecasts on “The Weather Channel,” if it is included in their programming packages. One drawback to TWC meteorologists’ forecasts is that they are rather general in nature since they cover a larger geographic area. Also, they are broadcast on “the eights,” an extraordinarily unorthodox time slot to say the least.

In the meantime, viewers are wondering if programmers ever will resolve this issue. More than likely, programmers probably do not regard this issue as a problem.

But, what ever happened to good ol’ customer satisfaction a.k.a. customer service? Surely, this is not a thing of the past. Let’s hope not.

Finally, for those who are stuck with Dish as their only means of TV reception, this truly sucks.

Visit “Hattie’s Recipe Box” online to find a delicious dish called “Dirt Cake.”