Audio/video satellite broadcast network

A method of providing satellite broadcast services over an on-site network, said method comprising the steps of:

• receiving, from an antenna, satellite broadcast signals at a plurality of master receivers, wherein each of said plurality of master receivers comprises a hard drive utilized to perform digital recording functions;
• processing said satellite broadcast signals at at least one of said master receivers with a tuner-and-demodulator card, wherein each of said plurality of master receivers comprises a tuner-and-demodulator card;
• communicating said satellite broadcast signals to a first television;
• providing a plurality of slave clients in communication with each of said master receivers to receive said satellite broadcast signals from said master receivers, wherein said plurality of slave clients are configured without a hard drive and share resources and the digital recording features from the hard drive on each of the master receivers;
• and
• allowing a plurality of additional televisions respectively associated with said slave clients to have access to said satellite broadcast signals processed at each of said master receivers;
• and
• wherein:
• each of said plurality of master receivers is configured to share resources with any other master receiver and the plurality of slave clients;
• there are more of the plurality of slave clients than the plurality of master receivers are able to support simultaneously;
• upon an unavailability of a resource, used for the satellite broadcast services, in the plurality of master receivers, one or more of the plurality of master receivers is configured to send a message to the plurality of slave clients informing a user of the unavailability;
• and
• in response to the message, the user is presented with one or more options for overcoming the availability, wherein the one or more options include turning off one or more of the plurality of slave clients.

An on-site satellite network system comprising:

• a plurality of master receivers operable to communicate with an antenna unit for receiving satellite broadcast signals and also displaying them on a plurality of first televisions associated with said master receivers, each of said master receivers having a tuner-and-demodulator card for processing the satellite broadcast signals received from said antenna unit, and each of said master receivers having a hard drive utilized to perform digital recording functions;
• and
• a plurality of slave clients operable to communicate with each of said master receivers through home networking technology for receiving said satellite broadcast signals from each of said master receivers, wherein said plurality of slave clients are configured without a hard drive and share resources and the digital recording features from the hard drive on the master receiver;
• and
• wherein:
• each of said plurality of master receivers is configured to share resources with any other master receiver and the plurality of slave clients;
• there are more of the plurality of slave clients than the plurality of master receivers are able to support simultaneously;
• upon an unavailability of a resource, used for the satellite broadcast services, in the plurality of master receivers, one or more of the plurality of master receivers is configured to send a message to the plurality of slave clients informing a user of the unavailability;
• and
• in response to the message, the user is presented with one or more options for overcoming the availability, wherein the one or more options include turning off one or more of the plurality of slave clients.