Dish Network announced today that, as of June 3, 2010, they will offer local channels in the 29 local markets they don’t currently serve.  As of that date, they will provide local channels in all 210 television markets in the United States.     The final 29 markets are:

Alpena, MI; Biloxi-Gulfport, MS; Binghamton, NY; Bluefield-Beckley, WV; Bowling Green, KY; Columbus, GA; Elmira, NY; Eureka, CA; Glendive, MT; Greenwood-Greenville, MS; Harrisonburg, VA; Hattiesburg-Laurel, MS; Jackson, TN; Jonesboro, AR; Lafayette, IN; Lake Charles, LA; Mankato, MN; North Platte, NE; Ottumwa-Kirksville, IA & MO; Parkersburg, WV; Presque Isle, ME; Salisbury, MD; Springfield-Holyoke, MA; St. Joseph, MO; Utica, NY; Victoria, TX; Watertown, NY; Wheeling-Steubenville, WV & OH; and Zanesville, OH.  (Source:  Dish Network press release).

The last time we checked, Dish offered HD channels in 157 of the 210 markets.   To see whether HD locals are available in your market (and to compare to the offerings of DIRECTV), visit our local channel lookup page.    By contrast, DIRECTV offered locals in about 155 markets, HD in 138 of those.   These numbers are likely a bit higher now.   In any case, HD local channels are available to the vast majority of Americans on both satellite providers.

When MyRatePlan began its side-by-side comparison of Dish Network and DIRECTV back in 2003, the two providers were just starting to carry local channels and the carriage at that time was limited to just the largest markets.   This was one area that the cable companies had satellite beat.  However, over the next few years, local channels were added to most markets, followed by the HD version of local channels in most locations.

Let’s start with the bottom line here:    Don’t take out a loan or advance on the tax refund that you are expecting.   Period.  End of story.   If you want your money quickly, just file electronically and tell the IRS to direct deposit your refund to your bank account.  If you made $56,000 or less in 2008, you may qualify to file your federal taxes for free.  If you do direct deposit, and there aren’t any issues, you’ll have your refund in two weeks or less — it may take another week or so if the IRS mails your check.   After you file, you can check the status of your refund online.

So, if you take out a refund anticipation loan, you are borrowing against money you’ll see within about one to three weeks.   For that privilege, you’ll pay a very high cost.  We won’t go into the math here, because fees and rates vary wildly across preparers, but the effective APR (all the costs of the loan annualized for a full year) is often north of 100%. It may not seem like the cost is that high, because you only are actually borrowing for a couple weeks, but maybe this example will help:

Let’s say you get a $1,000 loan for two weeks and it costs you $50 in fees and interest.    If you were to put that money in a bank account earning 2% interest (a pretty good rate right now), you would earn about 77 cents.   So, basically, someone is charging you $50 for money that is costing them less than $1.00.

About 8.7 million people took out these loans in 2007.  Don’t be one of them in 2009.   For more information, read this release from the Consumer Federation of America & National Consumer Law Center.

Save $240 ($20/month for 12 months) on most packages, plus get 30 premium movie channels free for 3 months.  This is probably one of the most attractive DIRECTV offers ever, so if you’ve been thinking about DIRECTV, now might be a good time to act.  This offer ends January 31.

Don Imus will return on December 3rd, broadcasting his morning show on WABC-AM in New York. Eventually, Citadel Broadcasting, the owners of WABC, will likely syndicate the show to other radio stations around the country.

Imus is also returning to TV on December 3rd. His radio show, formerly simulcast on MSNBC, will now be on RFD-TV. Self-billed as “Rural America’s Most Important Network”, RFD serves up a variety of programming related to farming, ranching and other interests of rural America.

RFD-TV is currently available to 30 million households, mostly through the two satellite TV companies, Dish Network & DIRECTV. If you want to see Imus on December 3rd, chances are you’ll need satellite TV to see him.

Interested in ditching your cable company and upgrading to satellite to see Imus? Both Dish Network & DIRECTV have attractive promotions right now, including free systems and installation, discounted programming for up to a year, free premium channels and free DVR or HD upgrades. For more information, visit our Consumer Guide to Satellite TV.