CONGRESSMAN BOUCHER ANNOUNCES LOCAL CHANNELS IN PATRICK COUNTY FOR ECHOSTAR DISH NETWORK CUSTOMERS

(Washington, D.C.) - U.S. Representative Rick Boucher announced today that, at his urging, satellite television provider EchoStar will be providing ‘local into local' service, through which local broadcast stations are uplinked to the satellite and then retransmitted to satellite television customers in Patrick County. The service will begin on Wednesday evening, October 4.

"Currently, Patrick County residents who subscribe to EchoStar's DISH Network satellite television service receive local broadcast transmissions from Greensboro, North Carolina even though the broadcast stations in Roanoke provide more localized newscasts for Patrick County. Earlier I submitted legislation which was approved by the Congress to enable Patrick residents to receive local television broadcasts from Virginia," Boucher said." The service will now be launched.

Congressman Boucher secured passage of legislation to enable satellite television subscribers in Patrick County to receive Roanoke broadcast station service via satellite. Under the legislation, satellite television providers may broadcast stations in Patrick County which are deemed to be "significantly viewed," as determined by existing FCC regulations. The NBC (WSLS, Channel 10) and CBS (WDBJ, Channel 7) stations from Roanoke meet this requirement in Patrick County. As a result, satellite television customers in Patrick County will now receive Roanoke NBC and CBS broadcasts.

"Local Virginia-based broadcasts are tremendously beneficial to Patrick County residents, and I am pleased that DISH Network customers in Patrick County will now have the capability to receive broadcasts from both the NBC and CBS stations in Roanoke," Boucher concluded.

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