I've had an HDTV for at least 5 years. I had to buy an expensive DirecTV tuner in order to properly enjoy it, but enjoy it I did. A few years ago I moved to Charter, because DirecTV wasn't keeping up with HDTV offerings. One glaring omission in Charter's HDTV line-up is our local ABC affiliate (KDNL), due to a fee dispute. Fine, whatever, I can get by without one local channel.

This month they did the same thing with our local CBS affiliate (KMOV). This means Charter subscribers cannot watch the Super Bowl in HD, unless their TV is capable of picking up the signal over the airwaves. My TV is not one of these TVs. Fortunately, I still had my old DirecTV box, and it did offer its local channels by picking them up over the air.

But this is an enormous pain in the ass. Note to KDNL and KMOV: I watch your channels far less than any other local channels as a result of these disputes. Note to Charter: When I do decide to watch KDNL or KMOV, I do not do so through your cable service.

Is this going to end? Will other local channels follow suit and demand fees as well? Will Charter drop them too? This eliminates the very reason I went with Charter in the first place. If I have to jump through hoops to change channels, depending on which ones are or are not disputing fees with Charter, I'm going to discontinue my HDTV service.

And people wonder why HD hasn't caught on quickly in the US. We are so backwards and obnoxious sometimes it's appalling!