Dish Network has given a favorable reply to providing Birmingham TV to Randolph County. Dish Network has also reserved the right to potentially increase the raters for the services if necessary. Interestingly, DirecTV has not yet given a favorable letter to Randolph County yet, and supporters are intending to resubmit the request to DirecTV authorities. It is reported that if the second attempt also fail, the effort will be moved forward without DirecTV and with Dish Network only.

State Rep. Bob Fincher, Lance Ward, Wedowee Mayor Tim Coe, Ken Conaway, and Barry Smith met in Birmingham with Sharon Tinsley, who is the president of Alabama Broadcasters, and general managers for all the important Birmingham TV stations like CBS, ABC, FOX, PBS, and NBC. The meeting was a productive one and the bottom line was that all of the stations support Randolph County obtaining Alabama television.

All the owners of the stations also support the cause. The only problem is the complexities of the Designated Market Area (DMA) contracts with shows. The attorney for the Alabama Broadcasters also attended the meeting and supports Birmingham TV stations serving the Randolph County.

As per the attorney for the broadcasters, once Randolph County becomes successful, viewers will continue to receive Atlanta TV, as Randolph County will remain in Atlanta DMA. In addition to that, they will also receive all the Birmingham TV stations that are okay to serve the region. Nevertheless, if these stations plan to charge DirecTV and Dish a fee for serving the Randolph County, then the charge might be passed through to the Randolph County customer.

It is reported that at least three counties, one in Colorado and two in Wisconsin, are ahead of the Randolph County in the process. These counties have received their certification from in-state television stations and have filed their applications with the FCC. Local supporters of the initiative are watching the applications closely and they will be in touch with the counties to understand how they solved the syndicated show issue.

It seems that the delegation still feels positive that Birmingham TV will happen. The only problem is that they do not know how long it will take.