We're 90+ days into the Digital TV (only) era, and I'm wondering if my years ago prediction is coming true.

A very simple question: Do your local Digital TV stations get 'PSIP' right?

PSIP is the part of the Digital TV system that provides, among other things:

Time
Station Virtual Channel Number (AKA legacy analog station channel number)
Station Call Letters
Program Names
Program Descriptions
Program 'TV Parental Guidelines'

Here in Detroit most stations have it right most of the time. Any problems are fixed quickly and the problems are usually quite minor.

While in the earlier days of digital broadcasting this might not have been the case...

Problems are fairly rare here now. Most stations get it right most, indeed almost all of the time.

Washington DC, Baltimore MD, and Annapolis MD all seem to have it right, all the time.

Unless you count the "NTSC/ATSC" number which shows up in TSreader but doesn't show up on screen. Many stations still have their pre-transition number up for ATSC, and nobody should be listing an NTSC number anymore, no? :)

In Orlando, Tampa, Gainesville and Jax the major network channels all have program info and the correct time, the rest of the stations like rel and spa are all missing guide info and sending the wrong time, and one of the pbs major affiliates reports the old pretransition digital channel they were on in tsreader.

Good news though, in another month their times will be closer to correct again!

Good news though, in another month their times will be closer to correct again!
Is that like the old broken watch joke? At least it's right twice a day.....

Keep in mind that if you're referring to the info supplied along with the TSID, I think that's a very, very old internal list and is not something being transmitted. Don't quote me on that though, but in some cases, it lists channels that stations never transmitted on. (See KPLC.)

As far as I can tell, the Charlottesville locals seem to do a pretty good job of keeping their PSIP straight, though I admit to not checking the clocks and not being able to receive WVPT to check it.

I'll check over the Roanoke locals again when I get home, but they're pretty good too. WDRL is missing guide data and their PSIP computer likes locking up, but that's about it. Oh, and WBRA 15-2 says "DTV Program" a lot of times when I look at it, but it's identical to 15-1 anyway.

- Trip

Here in Albuquerque's TV market, is pretty good on most of local stations except for LD stations KRTN-LD ch. 39.1 and KTVS-LD ch. 36.1.

KRTN-LD is testing, and KTVS-LD has no informations at it all on EPG.

9-28-09

Washington DC, Baltimore MD, and Annapolis MD all seem to have it right, all the time.

Unless you count the "NTSC/ATSC" number which shows up in TSreader but doesn't show up on screen. Many stations still have their pre-transition number up for ATSC, and nobody should be listing an NTSC number anymore, no? :)

WHUT is a notable exemption to this. Their time is REALLY off, for example. WTTG had no EPG information earlier this week, but that's a rare occurrence.

Washington DC, Baltimore MD, and Annapolis MD all seem to have it right, all the time.

Unless you count the "NTSC/ATSC" number which shows up in TSreader but doesn't show up on screen. Many stations still have their pre-transition number up for ATSC, and nobody should be listing an NTSC number anymore, no? :)

I'm pretty sure that TSReader pulls the NTSC/ATSC number out of it's own database. It looks it up based on the TSID.

For example, WXXV in Biloxi has their TSID set to the wrong value. (http://www.rabbitears.info/screencaps/ms-lox/53517-0_0.htm) This causes TSReader to pull up the data for the channel who's TSID they're incorrectly transmitting, in Anchorage, AK! ;)

Do you consider time as part of PSIP? For example, it's 8:30 PM here but WPWR says it's 9:05

Here in Los Angeles: often no program name, seldom a program description. CC usually is nonexistent; however KVEA 52-1 has CC in English on CC2 for some of their programs (which are all in Spanish). A few sometimes have alternate audio (usually in Spanish and main audio in English). Many of these stations could do a lot better, but, we OTA types are what? about 30% of their audience? the rest get it by cable or satellite. I'd like to think they truly care, they sure kept telling us during the 1st half of this year we'd need to get with it because of the Analog Shutoff. Having said all that, I wouldn't go back to the way it was before, I have many more viewing choices than I used to have.

Do you consider time as part of PSIP?Of course. That's how it's sent.

Of course. That's how it's sent.I only inquired because I didn't see where anyone from Chicago had noticed or reported that WPWR PSIP time was incorrect.

here in Macon, GA WMGT channels 41.1 (NBC) and 41.2 (MyNet) never had a working PSIP info, both channels still to this day have "WMGT, Program Event 1 or 2"; even after the switch on February 17 they never fixed it.

and just a few days WPGA-TV 58.1 (ABC) is showing the same thing "WPGA Program Event 1", some say that they may have rebooted their computer that was handling the PSIP info thus showing the name.

WGNM channel 45.1 (like WMGT) also never had a accurate working PSIP, then again they are a CTN affilate...

and finally WMAZ channel 13.1 (CBS), they have a accurate working PSIP but on some occasions they would show nothing for a few hours to a day or two then they would start showing their PSIP info again.

and finally, our Fox affilate WGXA channel 24.1 and PBS station WMUM channels 29.1 to 3...as far as i know never had issues with their PSIP data.

I only inquired because I didn't see where anyone from Chicago had noticed or reported that WPWR PSIP time was incorrect.I'm in the Chicago market, but I'm not currently using any of my tuners with PSIP guides, so I hadn't noticed.

I do know from our local OTA thread that the WCIU subchannels have often been screwing up their programming info a lot lately.

For those with TSreader, take a look at the GPS offset value in STT. The correct value is 15 for 2009. I see many stations have it set to 14 which was correct from 2006 to 2008 (I think) or even 13.

Another thing to look for is the number of Event Informaqtion tables (EIT). The FCC mandates the use of at least 4 (I think) which will give you 12 hours of program listings. ATSC provides for up to 128. One station I get provides 56 EITs (7 full days), some provide 8 (up to 24 hours), but most provide the minimum.

Seattle here, OTA stations look fine.

Comcast fails to pass OTA Program Descriptions.

FIOS passes nothing - and seems to have malformed data as well (widely reported elsewhere). One of my three QAM tuners will lock up part way through the scan for FIOS Clear QAM.

Does the FCC mandate PSIP pass through for cable/sat/telco providers?

Does the FCC mandate PSIP pass through for cable/sat/telco providers?

No.

A sampling of some of our local OTA channels PSIP:
KYTV Correct times & program info.
KFSM Correct times & program info.
KAFT Clock 1 hour ahead. Program info correct.
KHOG Correct times & program info.
KPBI Correct time - no program info.
KXUN Correct time - no program info.
KNWA Clock 10 minutes slow. No program info.

It varies widely on any given day or channel.