Antenna work? Perhaps they're finally moving to the Tenleytown tower?

WETA is fine on Comcast QAM, all channels at 7:50 pm.
Earlier there was a message at the bottom of the screen noting that antenna work was keeping WETA off the air, but this did not affect the cable signal.

You guys have 4 weta channels on comcast? Here in frederick, I only get one weta, and all my HD channels are on 1.1 .... anyone know how to make them go back to their original (81.1 etc.)?

4 channels with three being SD which I will never watch. I only have 2% of the SD channels available progammed into the channel guide.

CBS audio/video of yesterday's GU-UNC game on WUSA was riddled with pixelation, splotches, and dropped audio volume on DirecTV. Did anyone else have this problem? When they were back in the studio, things looked fine, so I don't think its my setup. CBS seems to be far worse when it comes to HD video quality during sporting events than anyone else.

High-definition TV still elusive for O's games on MASN

Baltimore Business Journal - March 23, 2007by Ryan SharrowStaff

With the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network gearing up to air more than 150 Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals games this upcoming season, officials are still not sure whether it will provide viewers with high-definition broadcasts.

Fewer than 10 days from the start of the 2007 season, officials from the young network say they have not yet ruled out the possibility of high-definition, commonly known as HD, coverage. MASN, however, is still sorting through a number of technical issues related to airing programming in HD, said network spokesman Todd Webster.

MASN opting to not air Orioles and Nats game in HD would be a blow to the increasing number of fans and bar owners who have made the investment in high-tech televisions, analysts say.

HD experts say broadcasting sporting events in HD gives a boost to the sport, its fans and -- perhaps most importantly for a fledgling television network -- advertisers.

And MASN has a competitive reason to consider high-definition broadcasting: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, its top competitor for regional sports programming, annually broadcasts more than 200 live sporting events in HD, including games played by the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals. Last year, the station broadcast around 90 Orioles games, including more than 50 in HD.

A program produced in HD quality displays higher resolution and images on HD televisions, and is also capable of sound that rivals movie theater quality.

MASN, owned primarily by the Orioles, broadcasts in 4.8 million households on 16 different cable and satellite providers ranging from Harrisburg, Pa., to Charlotte, N.C.

Producing a baseball telecast in HD, including transmission expenses, can double the cost for networks, industry experts say, from about $35,000 for standard TV to $70,000 for HD, depending on the market.

Production costs have decreased in the last several years, however, as equipment prices continue to drop, said Dale E. Cripps, founder and co-publisher of HDTV Magazine, an online publication focusing on developments in HD.

"Baseball is a big shot in the arm with HD," he said. "In standard definition, unless you're a die-hard fan, [the game] can grow tedious. It's just more captivating" in high definition.

Scott Langerman, vice president of business development for Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, said the investment in HD can serve as a boost when it comes to landing new advertisers.

HD is "very compelling when you're doing a sales presentation," he said, noting that HD viewers tend to be young and affluent. "It's a demographic that advertisers are going to want to hit."


Comcast SportsNet began producing live coverage of sporting events in HD in February 2003. It took network engineers nine months to build a production truck with HD capabilities.

If MASN, which began airing round-the-clock programming in August, chose not to provide viewers coverage of Orioles games in HD, it would be one of the few regional sports networks across the country to do so, network executives say.

Both the New England Sports Network, home to the Boston Red Sox, and the Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network provide live HD coverage of games to their viewers over the course of the season. Fox SportsNet, which airs Major League Baseball on 18 of its regional sports networks, also provides viewers in 16 of those markets with HD coverage throughout the season, said Chris Bellitti, a spokesman for FSN.

As high-definition televisions become more common, producing in HD will enable networks to easily rebroadcast games -- something regional sports networks already feature on the programming -- down the road, Cripps said.

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2007/03/26/story2.html?page=2&b=1174881600^1436249

CBS audio/video of yesterday's GU-UNC game on WUSA was riddled with pixelation, splotches, and dropped audio volume on DirecTV. Did anyone else have this problem? When they were back in the studio, things looked fine, so I don't think its my setup. CBS seems to be far worse when it comes to HD video quality during sporting events than anyone else.Had the same problem and was wondering myself if it was my setup or the channel.

High-definition TV still elusive for O's games on MASN

Baltimore Business Journal - March 23, 2007by Ryan SharrowStaff

With the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network gearing up to air more than 150 Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals games ......Yes, they are not ruling it out, but I very much doubt they will add an HD channel mid season. To think about it, for the O's games, it shouldn't be that hard at all since CSN had games in HD last year.

WETA is fine on Comcast QAM, all channels at 7:50 pm.
Earlier there was a message at the bottom of the screen noting that antenna work was keeping WETA off the air, but this did not affect the cable signal.
All 4 DT chs were out both cable and OTA. The analog was still available. I hope they get all this right before 2/09. :rolleyes:

If MASN had the capability to provide an HD broadcast, Comcast could show it on 229. That channel hasn't had anything on it since the NFL season ended.

If MASN had the capability to provide an HD broadcast, Comcast could show it on 229. That channel hasn't had anything on it since the NFL season ended.

Channel 229 isn't an actual channel. It is a virtual channel. During football season, the cable company probably offers less PPV choices on Sunday afternoon to make bandwidth available for its additional NFL programming. I doubt it would be willing to give up that much PPV capacity to MASN for 300 or HDTV so baseball games a season.

I have An HD special events channel that Comcast has been using for UFC PPV about once a month. They could use that bandwidth for MASN games.

I have An HD special events channel that Comcast has been using for UFC PPV about once a month. They could use that bandwidth for MASN games.

I'm still skeptical. Your HD special event channel. like all digital channels, is a virtual channel. It may be using no bandwidth except during the intervals when it is used fo UFC.

Fewer than 10 days from the start of the 2007 season, officials from the young network say they have not yet ruled out the possibility of high-definition, commonly known as HD, coverage. MASN, however, is still sorting through a number of technical issues related to airing programming in HD, said network spokesman Todd Webster.
If MASN is still wavering on whether to offer HD for baseball games this season, they must have HD capable studios and production equipment ready to go. This is not the sort of thing that is done on short notice. If they brought all new equipment as part of starting up a new regional sports network last year, it would make sense that they would get HD cameras and HD capable studio equipment. I assume they rent the production trucks for the games?

These articles on MASN not sure whether they will offer HD this year or not this close to the start of the season are just odd. This smacks of the indecisiveness and backtracking that you see constantly with the O's in deciding whether to make a trade or tries to sign one of their players to a long term contract because of Peter Angelos. Just how closely involved is Peter Angelos with the business decision process at MASN?

Besides the cost issue, the obvious bottleneck is getting the local cable companies to add another HD channel. With two baseball teams, they will have to find a way to offer a 2nd game in HD, although Comcast can use INHD (soon to be Mojo) for the 2nd games. All very complicated, especially with Comcast being the dominant cable company in the area and likely still very unhappy about losing the O's games for CSN-MA. This is the year that the HD bandwidth crunch really hits for the cable companies.

This could offer an opportunity to Verizon and/or DirecTV to offer to add MASN-HD the day it goes live to try to draw some customers away from Comcast. I hope Verizon would already have put in a land line or the equipment necessary for a MASN-HD channel from MASN. I don't know if DirecTV has the bandwidth available on their local HD spot beam or would have to wait until the new satellite goes up.

That's a morality issue - do you fess up and tell them that? Eventually the cable cos will find out about this and fix it. Yet another reason they're going to a mostly encrypted QAM lineup.

If he just got a new box, chances are that the premium channels will disappear in a day or two. New boxes don't block anything for the first day or two. Even after that it will still be preferable to to QAM since he'll still likely get ESPN HD, TNT HD, Discovery HD, etc.

Channel 229 isn't an actual channel. It is a virtual channel. During football season, the cable company probably offers less PPV choices on Sunday afternoon to make bandwidth available for its additional NFL programming. I doubt it would be willing to give up that much PPV capacity to MASN for 300 or HDTV so baseball games a season.

Kind of a mute point to discuss if a cable company will carry it until MASN decides to produce it.

GoIrish

I'm still skeptical. Your HD special event channel. like all digital channels, is a virtual channel. It may be using no bandwidth except during the intervals when it is used fo UFC.

And when there is no UFC they could show MASN games.

Well, if they followed the CSN model, they would have home games in HD which would be more like 150 games (max 162).

Seems like a good time to override Mojo.

Does anyone really think that MASN is actually contemplating HD this season????

C'mon, be realistic. This is just their way of deflecting any flack they would get by stating their actual intentions, NO HD FOR YOU.

Remember, this is Angelos. Where is the $$$ in HD for the Nats/O's?

NBC Nightly News is in HD on WBAL.

NBC Nightly News is in HD on WBAL.

Yeah, looks pretty spiffy... :)

I don't usually watch the network news... is the 7:00 news on WRC a seperate newscast, or a rerun of the 6:30 newscast?

Also HD on WRC. It's the same newscast.

Of course WUSA's local news looks much better.

And now, a Random Thought(TM):

Local OTA HD, weekdays:

5:00-7:00 WUSA news
7:00-10:00 Today Show

11:00-12:00 The View
12:00-12:30 WUSA news
12:30-1:30 The Young and the Restless

5:00-6:30 WUSA news
6:30-7:00 NBC News
7:00-7:30 Jeopardy
7:30-8:00 Wheel of Fortune
8:00-11:00 network primetime
11:00-11:35 WUSA news
11:35-12:35 Letterman
12:35-1:35 Conan

3:05-4:00 Leno

So this is the first HD broadcast for NBC Nightly News? I'll have to set up a season pass for it. He just made a comment about going to HD not being as big a deal as going from B&W to color. Probably not but going to HD is a big deal for me. If I had my way all SD would disappear immediately.

And now, a Random Thought(TM):

Local OTA HD, weekdays:

5:00-7:00 WUSA news
7:00-10:00 Today Show

11:00-12:00 The View
12:00-12:30 WUSA news
12:30-1:30 The Young and the Restless

5:00-6:30 WUSA news
6:30-7:00 NBC News
7:00-7:30 Jeopardy
7:30-8:00 Wheel of Fortune
8:00-11:00 network primetime
11:00-11:35 WUSA news
11:35-12:35 Letterman
12:35-1:35 Conan

3:05-4:00 Leno

We haven't come as far as I would like during the last 5.5 years since I went HD. But hopefully the conversion will happen very quickly over the next couple of years.

3:05-4:00 Leno
The second Leno showing is HD?
And is it a week-old show, or the same as the night before?

Kind of a mute point to discuss if a cable company will carry it until MASN decides to produce it.

GoIrish
The mute point is right next to the volume control. :)
I think you mean moot point.

I have to agree with Eric... they aren't serious about HD, this is just their attempt at spin control.

AFA Comcast bandwidth - isn't PPV IP-based? I'd tend to think so because PPV is community-based... and I can't imagine a separate dedicated HD pipe to every distribution point.

High-definition TV still elusive for O's games on MASN

Baltimore Business Journal - March 23, 2007by Ryan SharrowStaff

If MASN, which began airing round-the-clock programming in August, chose not to provide viewers coverage of Orioles games in HD, it would be one of the few regional sports networks across the country to do so, network executives say.


http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2007/03/26/story2.html?page=2&b=1174881600^1436249


What, the Orioles in HD and the Nationals in SD?

ne else getting a&e QAM on Comcast DC but not through the cable box?

http://www.tvpredictions.com/wizards032607.htm

Directv already has Comcast Sports Net in HD in D.C. I hope maybe it is in Baltimore?

What, the Orioles in HD and the Nationals in SD?

Elusive not exclusive.

What, the Orioles in HD and the Nationals in SD?

No, thanks to MASN getting the Orioles in 2007, neither the O's or the Nats will have any HD games at all. None. MASN didn't want to spend the money to have an HD channel.

What a rip.

It is a shame because MASN did do a good job getting lots of quality College basketball games this winter, albeit all in SD.

Rich N.

http://www.tvpredictions.com/wizards032607.htm

Directv already has Comcast Sports Net in HD in D.C. I hope maybe it is in Baltimore?
Whats up with that story, hasn't D* had CSN-HD for several months now? I had to double and then triple check the date of that story to make sure I wasn't missing something.

I noticed over the weekend that Comcast has added 2 new HD channels to my line-up: A&E and NG. FYI: I'm in Charles County MD.

Whats up with that story, hasn't D* had CSN-HD for several months now? I had to double and then triple check the date of that story to make sure I wasn't missing something.

He probably saw it on http://DCRTV.com and decided to run with it...

And why do people read that site? All it is is news pulled from other sites that he contributes to himself.

Local OTA HD, weekdays:
7:00-7:30 Jeopardy
7:30-8:00 Wheel of Fortune

Not in DC - where cheap WJLA/Allbritton refuses to buy the equipment to record the shows in HD. I would bet we are the largest market now airing these shows in SD.

We haven't come as far as I would like during the last 5.5 years since I went HD. But hopefully the conversion will happen very quickly over the next couple of years.
I would have thought a lot more syndicated shows like Oprah, Live With Regis & Kelly and Millionaire would have made the jump by now.

He probably saw it on http://DCRTV.com and decided to run with it...

And why do people read that site? All it is is news pulled from other sites that he contributes to himself.


It was on tv predictions before it was on DCRTV.com

It was on tv predictions before it was on DCRTV.com

Well, good for Swanni...Now how bout he post some NEWs.

No, thanks to MASN getting the Orioles in 2007, neither the O's or the Nats will have any HD games at all. None.....

That is not true at all. You will still be able to watch some Nats and Orioles games in HD, the only difference is the channel. ESPN, InHD(or MoJoTV), and Fox will have nationally televised HD games. Some of them are exclusive so MASN doesn't even have the right to air those games which means no black outs.

And now, a Random Thought(TM):

Local OTA HD, weekdays:

5:00-7:00 WUSA news
7:00-10:00 Today Show

11:00-12:00 The View
12:00-12:30 WUSA news
12:30-1:30 The Young and the Restless

5:00-6:30 WUSA news
6:30-7:00 NBC News
7:00-7:30 Jeopardy
7:30-8:00 Wheel of Fortune
8:00-11:00 network primetime
11:00-11:35 WUSA news
11:35-12:35 Letterman
12:35-1:35 Conan

3:05-4:00 Leno

You forgot
7:00-9:00 Good Morning America
9:00-10:00 Morning Show with Mike & Juliet(?)

Although the second one may not last too long

You forgot
7:00-9:00 Good Morning America
9:00-10:00 Morning Show with Mike & Juliet(?)

Although the second one may not last too long

I was covering the time slots, not trying to name each HD show. I also didn't include the 11:35 Leno episode or NBC news on WRC.

That is not true at all. You will still be able to watch some Nats and Orioles games in HD, the only difference is the channel. ESPN, InHD(or MoJoTV), and Fox will have nationally televised HD games. Some of them are exclusive so MASN doesn't even have the right to air those games which means no black outs.

True, national games could be in HD, but I wasn't considering those because the issue was local Comcast Sportsnet, which won't have the Orioles but had home HD games when they did, and MASN, which has all the non-national games for the Orioles and Nationals (2 channels) and has no HD. Sorry if I was unclear.

Rich N.

Orioles games are televised exclusively by MASN, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Viewers in Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia, Delaware, North Carolina and Pennsylvania can find their MASN and MASN2 channel numbers by visiting www.masnsports.com .

Viewers in Baltimore will be able to watch 25 over-the-air games via "MASN on WJZ." WJZ-TV in Baltimore will serve as MASN's Baltimore affiliate and will simulcast these select games. However, all games aired outside of Baltimore can only be seen on MASN.

http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/schedule/broadcast.jsp?c_id=bal

Ok I went to the first post and saw that D* added CSN-HD to its Lineup on 8/1/2006. (I knew I kept all of the previous items around for a reason).

It is like Christmas today in Howard County.

NGCHD turned on and Vs.HD has guide data!

That is not true at all. You will still be able to watch some Nats and Orioles games in HD, the only difference is the channel. ESPN, InHD(or MoJoTV), and Fox will have nationally televised HD games. Some of them are exclusive so MASN doesn't even have the right to air those games which means no black outs.

Doubtful.

Based on last year (yes, I know contracts have changed) but unless the ESPN game was Sunday night, it was blacked out locally. Also, Fox Saturday games were not in HD. They were widescreen SD. And InHD (Mojo) was blacked out for Orioles and Nats last year.

I don't know the details of ESPN, TBS and Fox contracts....

Edit: Fox says no Orioles games. And one Nats game (July 21)

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6524072

Based on last year (yes, I know contracts have changed) but unless the ESPN game was Sunday night, it was blacked out locally. Also, Fox Saturday games were not in HD. They were widescreen SD. And InHD (Mojo) was blacked out for Orioles and Nats last year.

I don't know the details of ESPN, TBS and Fox contracts....

Edit: Fox says no Orioles games. And one Nats game (July 21)
IIRC, Fox announced a while back that many (most?) Saturday afternoon games this year will be in true HD, not the (lousy looking) SD widescreen they did last year. But, yea, unless either the Nats or the Os suddenly become competitive and are in the hunt for the playoffs, they are not going to show up on the ESPN Sunday night or Fox Saturday games very often. They might make some of the weeknight ESPN2-HD games, but I suspect those will be blacked out if MASN is carrying the game.

Maybe we should have a pool for when MASN will stop it's Hamlet act and announce they will be adding a HD channel. Have a 2nd set for when MASN-HD will go live and for when the various local service providers - Comcast, Cox, RSN, Verizon - will actually add the channeL :D

I noticed over the weekend that Comcast has added 2 new HD channels to my line-up: A&E and NG. FYI: I'm in Charles County MD.
Got a voice mail from CC yesterday that they would be adding those two in Anne Arundel tomorrow.... but they're already there. (Ch. 223 & 224)

Doubtful.

Based on last year (yes, I know contracts have changed) but unless the ESPN game was Sunday night, it was blacked out locally. Also, Fox Saturday games were not in HD. They were widescreen SD. And InHD (Mojo) was blacked out for Orioles and Nats last year.

I don't know the details of ESPN, TBS and Fox contracts....

Edit: Fox says no Orioles games. And one Nats game (July 21)

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6524072 Out of the 162 games, you will see that MASN has the right to about 140 close to 150 of those. That means that some other station will have the rest, and most probably in HD. I watched the Nats in HD last year on ESPN.

After watching some of the Nats Game last night on MASN, I can't see myself watching many games. The Production just plain stinks and it always looks like it's cloudy and raining. To put it plainly, the channel just stinks...

After watching some of the Nats Game last night on MASN, I can't see myself watching many games. The Production just plain stinks and it always looks like it's cloudy and raining. To put it plainly, the channel just stinks...

Thank you for that post, Joe. Everytime I watch MASN, I'm stunned at the poor picture quality. I thought that perhaps I'm getting spoiled by HD but maybe it's really MASN!

You are far enough away from the broadcast towers that a pre-amp should not overload the front end of the ATSC tuner as can be a problem if some stations are too close. .

What happens if you 'overload the front end of the ATSC tuner'?

Also if I want to split the anntenna should I use a powered splitter such as the Terrestrial Digital DA2 Dual Output Distribution Amplifier?

And does that need a pre-amp with it? Would that be better to place near the TVs or near the antenna?

I am going to get an OTV HD tuner to use with MCE.

thanks

What happens if you 'overload the front end of the ATSC tuner'?

Also if I want to split the anntenna should I use a powered splitter such as the Terrestrial Digital DA2 Dual Output Distribution Amplifier?

And does that need a pre-amp with it? Would that be better to place near the TVs or near the antenna?

I am going to get an OTV HD tuner to use with MCE.

thanks

It's one of the fun things with digital reception - if you put too much signal into an ATSC tuner, you get no picture or sound. It's as bad as not having enough signal.

If you are far enough away from the transmitters, you could probably use an amplifier. You put the amplifier as close to the antenna as you can, so that you are amplifying the signals, not the noise that you pick up on the antenna line.

If I were putting in your system, I would use a separate amplifier and splitter. If the amplifier fails for some reason (which they do, occasionally), it would be cheaper to replace than the whole amplified splitter. Also, the splitter can be anywhere in the house but, as mentioned above, the amplifier should be as close to the antenna as possible.

Cheers!

Mark

Out of the 162 games, you will see that MASN has the right to about 140 close to 150 of those. That means that some other station will have the rest, and most probably in HD. I watched the Nats in HD last year on ESPN.

A Sunday night game? Or a special game? All my local games (O's or Nats) are blacked out on ESPN unless they are Sunday night games or Opening Day.

I've asked this question before, but I no one has posted a solution so I'll ask it again (please bear with me)...

In Frederick, Comcast (formerly Adelphia) moved all of my QAM channels from (81.1 etc) to 1.1. I was told this was a virtual number, and that the actual numbers (ie 81.1) should still work... but they don't.... does anyone know how I can move them back to their original numbers?

Also, does anyone know if I buy a digital box off ebay, will I be able to use the guide feature (even though I'm only subscribed to analog)?

[QUOTE=gr8one626] In Frederick, Comcast (formerly Adelphia) moved all of my QAM channels from (81.1 etc) to 1.1. I was told this was a virtual number, and that the actual numbers (ie 81.1) should still work... but they don't.... does anyone know how I can move them back to their original numbers? [QUOTE]

Have you tried to manually tune those old channel numbers? I can do that on my Sony... go to the channel like 81.1 and "add" channel manually even if it isn't caught in an automatic scan.

If you need a list of the QAM I get from non-cablecard, non-STB in Frederick let me know and I will post it later tonight. And BTW, except for WETA, my QAM are still at the adelphia channel numbers not 1.1... WETA is at both the Adelphia channel and a new channel of 1.1 same content at the same time.

It is like Christmas today in Howard County.

NGCHD turned on and Vs.HD has guide data!

Tell Santa to make a stop at Loudoun County. he dropped off the unwanted VS earlier, but forgot to leave me NGCHD and UniHD :(

Not in DC - where cheap WJLA/Allbritton refuses to buy the equipment to record the shows in HD. I would bet we are the largest market now airing these shows in SD.


I would have thought a lot more syndicated shows like Oprah, Live With Regis & Kelly and Millionaire would have made the jump by now.

I thought that the ability to show syndicated shows in HD was very rare, and that only a handful of stations in the country could do it.

One step closer to having MASN on Dish Network..

Earlier today a source emailed me to say that channel 421 (TEMP9) has uplinked video from MASN. Previously the channel only had EPG guide data. Of course the channel is not available to subscribers and is only in "testing" mode. It could or could not go live at any time.

WETA-DT out again. :rolleyes:

Antenna moving time?

I thought that the ability to show syndicated shows in HD was very rare, and that only a handful of stations in the country could do it.
It not that rare anymore. Someone posted last fall a list of the stations that were providing Jeopardy & Wheel of Fortune in HD to the "Wheel Of Fortune and Jeopardy in HD" thread in the HDTV programming forum. Out of curiosity, several weeks ago I did a search of other local threads covering the top 30 DMAs that were not on that list. I also posted inquiries to the threads that were not clear on whether Jeopardy and Wheel were in HD in their market. Using the power of avsforum to get information! The updated list is here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9960860&&#post9960860.

As it currently stands, stations in 8 out of the top 10 DMAs, 16 out the top 20, and 20 out of the top 25 are broadcasting Jeopardy & Wheel in HD. More than I think most people on avsforum realize. The only station in the top 10 DMAs other than WJLA (DMA #8) not in HD is WSBK in Boston (DMA #7). The station engineer for WSBK has posted to the Boston OTA thread that they are acquiring the equipment to be able to broadcast those two syndicated shows in HD. When that happens, this will leave WJLA-DT as the only station in the top 13 DMAs not broadcasting Jeopardy and Wheel in HD with KOMO in Seattle (DMA #14) as the next smaller market not in HD. I realize that WJLA does not have the deeper pockets of the network O&O stations, but they are falling behind the curve. The number of stations offering the local news in HD in the major cities is going to jump significantly this year as well with WRC and WTTG likely to join that list.

Wheel and Jeopardy were the trail blazers for regularly scheduled syndicated programming in HD. Reports are that Oprah will go HD later in 2007. It will take a while, but once the HD distribution system is in place and enough stations have the equipment, you can expect the higher budgeted syndicated programs to go HD over the next several years.

does anyone know if the SD version of MASN/MASN2 is analog or digital or encrypted digital for comcast around elkridge, MD?

WJLA was late to the game in broadcasting HD and then 5.1
They will eventuallly get the equipment for it. It is a business and the purpose it to make money.
It not that rare anymore. Someone posted last fall a list of the stations that were providing Jeopardy & Wheel of Fortune in HD to the "Wheel Of Fortune and Jeopardy in HD" thread in the HDTV programming forum. Out of curiosity, several weeks ago I did a search of other local threads covering the top 30 DMAs that were not on that list. I also posted inquiries to the threads that were not clear on whether Jeopardy and Wheel were in HD in their market. Using the power of avsforum to get information! The updated list is here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9960860&&#post9960860.

As it currently stands, stations in 8 out of the top 10 DMAs, 16 out the top 20, and 20 out of the top 25 are broadcasting Jeopardy & Wheel in HD. More than I think most people on avsforum realize. The only station in the top 10 DMAs other than WJLA (DMA #8) not in HD is WSBK in Boston (DMA #7). The station engineer for WSBK has posted to the Boston OTA thread that they are acquiring the equipment to be able to broadcast those two syndicated shows in HD. When that happens, this will leave WJLA-DT as the only station in the top 13 DMAs not broadcasting Jeopardy and Wheel in HD with KOMO in Seattle (DMA #14) as the next smaller market not in HD. I realize that WJLA does not have the deeper pockets of the network O&O stations, but they are falling behind the curve. The number of stations offering the local news in HD in the major cities is going to jump significantly this year as well with WRC and WTTG likely to join that list.

Wheel and Jeopardy were the trail blazers for regularly scheduled syndicated programming in HD. Reports are that Oprah will go HD later in 2007. It will take a while, but once the HD distribution system is in place and enough stations have the equipment, you can expect the higher budgeted syndicated programs to go HD over the next several years.

Has anyone archived HBO recordings from Comcast to D-VHS? I have the Star Wars movies on my Motorola 3416.

Just thought we'd have a little game over here, after reading the takeover of "Is Your Local News in HD?" by some DC people:
Hedge your bets!
Will WDCW be as HD as they can be BEFORE WJLA?

For WDCW, this means:
Being able to playback and record HD
Having promos in HD
The ABILITY to show syndicated content in HD

Does anyone know the Comcast QAM channels for Prince Georges County / Bowie, MD?
I get alot of channels in the 100s that go from 100.1 - like 100.50 and then 101.1 - 101.50.

The only channels I was able to find was TNT and CW.

Just thought we'd have a little game over here, after reading the takeover of "Is Your Local News in HD?" by some DC people:
Hedge your bets!
Will WDCW be as HD as they can be BEFORE WJLA?

For WDCW, this means:
Being able to playback and record HD
Having promos in HD
The ABILITY to show syndicated content in HD

I'm more interesting in when the rumored Fox5, NBC4, & WJZ13 are going to get their news in HD. It seems like its been a year since the "news" of these three going HD started to float around.

[QUOTE=gr8one626] In Frederick, Comcast (formerly Adelphia) moved all of my QAM channels from (81.1 etc) to 1.1. I was told this was a virtual number, and that the actual numbers (ie 81.1) should still work... but they don't.... does anyone know how I can move them back to their original numbers? [QUOTE]

Have you tried to manually tune those old channel numbers? I can do that on my Sony... go to the channel like 81.1 and "add" channel manually even if it isn't caught in an automatic scan.

If you need a list of the QAM I get from non-cablecard, non-STB in Frederick let me know and I will post it later tonight. And BTW, except for WETA, my QAM are still at the adelphia channel numbers not 1.1... WETA is at both the Adelphia channel and a new channel of 1.1 same content at the same time.


Even when I manually tune to the channels, nothing appears...

can you please post your channels? Thanks!

Out of the 162 games, you will see that MASN has the right to about 140 close to 150 of those. That means that some other station will have the rest, and most probably in HD. I watched the Nats in HD last year on ESPN.

I just saw an ad for MASN that said every game for both the O's and Nats will be on MASN/MASN2. I don't know how MASN can make that claim, but there it was.

Too bad the picture quality is so bad.

Rich N.

Does anyone know the Comcast QAM channels for Prince Georges County / Bowie, MD?
I get alot of channels in the 100s that go from 100.1 - like 100.50 and then 101.1 - 101.50.

The only channels I was able to find was TNT and CW.

Assuming you're in the same Comcast region as I am in P. G., the HD locals start
at 122 through 125. There are also some more above 125 beyond the range of my
SIR-T451.

In addition, I've found these SD stations:
102.7 - CNN
83.13 - CW50
93.7,8 - MHZ
106.11 - MHZ
106.12 - ShopNBC
117-10 Religious programming

So, where did you find TNT?

TNT was close to CW I believe. And it was showing ER in HD. I am going to have to scan again and flip through all the channels because I lost the page were I wrote them down.

As it currently stands, stations in 8 out of the top 10 DMAs, 16 out the top 20, and 20 out of the top 25 are broadcasting Jeopardy & Wheel in HD. More than I think most people on avsforum realize. The only station in the top 10 DMAs other than WJLA (DMA #8) not in HD is WSBK in Boston (DMA #7). The station engineer for WSBK has posted to the Boston OTA thread that they are acquiring the equipment to be able to broadcast those two syndicated shows in HD. When that happens, this will leave WJLA-DT as the only station in the top 13 DMAs not broadcasting Jeopardy and Wheel in HD with KOMO in Seattle (DMA #14) as the next smaller market not in HD.

That's more than I thought would be showing these two shows in HD.
I sent WJLA an e-mail with this page and the J!/WOF HD list. Perhaps a few more pre-emptions of network shows for moldy movies, extra commercials (where they should not be during Oprah and J!) and the like will bring in the added revenue needed to buy the blasted equipment. They will really look bad once WTTG and WRC make the switch to HD news.

If enough pressure was applied, perhaps they'd open up their wallets.

Hedge your bets!
Will WDCW be as HD as they can be BEFORE WJLA?
My bet is on CW 50.

And of course, eagerly awaiting WRC and WTTG's HD local news conversions as well.

That's more than I thought would be showing these two shows in HD.
I sent WJLA an e-mail with this page and the J!/WOF HD list. Perhaps a few more pre-emptions of network shows for moldy movies, extra commercials (where they should not be during Oprah and J!) and the like will bring in the added revenue needed to buy the blasted equipment. They will really look even worse than they are now bad once WTTG and WRC make the switch to HD news.

If enough pressure was applied, perhaps they'd open up their wallets.

FIXED!

It will take a while, but once the HD distribution system is in place and enough stations have the equipment, you can expect the higher budgeted syndicated programs to go HD over the next several years.

I'm going to pray that "Cheaters" goes HD soon. I'd love to see Joey Greco get stabbed in 1080i.

Has anyone else noticed that the sound is way too low on Fox 5 when they air the shows 'Til Death and The War at Home? I think the problem may be with Fox and not the local affiliate (WTTG).

The same sort of thing occurs with "24".

Assuming you're in the same Comcast region as I am in P. G., the HD locals start
at 122 through 125. There are also some more above 125 beyond the range of my
SIR-T451.

In addition, I've found these SD stations:
102.7 - CNN
83.13 - CW50
93.7,8 - MHZ
106.11 - MHZ
106.12 - ShopNBC
117-10 Religious programming

So, where did you find TNT?

Would also like to know where you found TNT? I also have CW50 on 83.13 and NFL Network on 86.4

I just saw an ad for MASN that said every game for both the O's and Nats will be on MASN/MASN2. I don't know how MASN can make that claim, but there it was.

Too bad the picture quality is so bad.

Rich N.

Indeed, MASN (and 2) have 161 Nats games and 162 Orioles games. The only possibility for an Orioles game on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball is July 1, but they can select between three games for that night. The Nationals are also one of three candidates for an ESPN2 Sunday game on Sept. 2.

However, some Monday nights (and possibly Opening Day afternoon) ESPN will be co-existing with the local telecast, so if they are doing and Orioles or Nationals in HD it should be available on ESPN. (They can co-exist without blackouts three times per team this year)

Essentially, that gives a maximum total of about 3-5 HD games for both teams combined, down from 40- or 60ish (mostly Orioles home games) last year.

Can anyone post the available qam channels in Frederick (comcast, formerly adelphia) and what channel number they are? thx.

Update for Howard County/Elkridge area with Comcast Digital / Elllicott City as the provider:

On a QAM in the clear tuner on my HDTV, I just this past week started getting TNT HD and National Geographic HD in as sub-channels of channel 97, and the Fox HD and CW HD channels now seem to consistently be there as sub-channels in the low 80 range (sorry, can't remember the exact # while I'm posting here from work). The FOX thing still burns me up since it wasn't "in the clear" back during college/pro football when I really wanted it!

does anyone know if the SD version of MASN/MASN2 is analog or digital or encrypted digital for comcast around elkridge, MD?

Didn't see anyone answer this.

They should be analog (and digital encrypted).

MASN is on 44 and MASN2 is going to be on 16 (17?) which are sent out in analog (and are also sent out digital encrypted? for the digital STBs).

WASHINGTON - Beginning Friday (March 30), Verizon FiOS TV subscribers in the Washington metro area will be able to tune to a new local television channel, FiOS1, a one-stop shop for local weather, traffic, news, sports and community features. FiOS1 is Verizon's first owned-and-operated television channel in the United States, and the company expects to launch similar channels in other markets this year....

...FiOS1 is on Channel 1 in the FiOS TV channel lineup and is available at no extra cost to FiOS TV digital subscribers in Northern Virginia and parts of Maryland.

http://newscenter.verizon.com/press-releases/verizon/2007/fios1-verizons-first-local.html

The same sort of thing occurs with "24".
That's what the volume knob is for. I only have to turn mine up a little for 24. For CBS shows I need to turn it down some since those are too loud. WRC and WJLA seem to be just right. But either way, it's nothing the volume control can't fix.

Would also like to know where you found TNT? I also have CW50 on 83.13 and NFL Network on 86.4

127.1 is TNT. The NBA game is in HD.

I am in Bowie and they have a separate franchise agreement. I do not know if that makes any difference.

The golf channel 130.2 (was broadcasting some Shell golf match in HD)
134.1 CW (HD)
134.4 FOX45 (HD)

Didn't see anyone answer this.

They should be analog (and digital encrypted).

MASN is on 44 and MASN2 is going to be on 16 (17?) which are sent out in analog (and are also sent out digital encrypted? for the digital STBs).
so, without a stb, just the plain old ntsc tuner in my tv should be able to tune MASN/MASN2, but if i get the box i can watch it in SD-digital?

Mildly amusing:

One of FOX 5's HD plasmas has a bad case of burn-in. The video showing the tornado had a ghost of the FOX 5 logo on it.

Mildly amusing:

One of FOX 5's HD plasmas has a bad case of burn-in. The video showing the tornado had a ghost of the FOX 5 logo on it.Saw that one too and was afraid that it was my TV acting up.

My bet is on CW 50.

And of course, eagerly awaiting WRC and WTTG's HD local news conversions as well.

Same here, I can't wait to see WTTG and WRC news in HD.

As for WJLA, I think that Fairfax County Public Schools channel 21 will be full-time HD before WJLA.

.....
As for WJLA, I think that Fairfax County Public Schools channel 21 will be full-time HD before WJLA.

That's cold!

That's cold!They've already got the HD editing systems:
http://avid.com/profiles/060731_fairfaxcounty_adrenaline.asp?featureID=1008&marketID=1

And I would assume Fairfax County Public School's $2+ Billion budget pretty easily dwarfs WJLA's.

They've already got the HD editing systems:
http://avid.com/profiles/060731_fairfaxcounty_adrenaline.asp?featureID=1008&marketID=1

And I would assume Fairfax County Public School's $2+ Billion budget pretty easily dwarfs WJLA's.
I would hope that equipment was donated and they didn't waste the taxpayers money on an HD capable system that they've only been using for Sd editing. Prices are dropping very quickly and it would be a waste of taxpayer money to purchase it without using it for HD. When if they waited they could probably get a better and less expensive system when they're ready to actually perform HD editing.

I would assume Fairfax County Public School's $2+ Billion budget pretty easily dwarfs WJLA's.I wonder how much of the county $$$ goes to engineering vs. WJLA. I suspect that WJLA gets a little more.
_______________________

Speaking of WJLA, within the past day, I had a eureka moment involving a concept to news set design that they could use for when they go HD. If it were implemented properly, I can imagine it bypassing the current HD set leader in my eyes (WRC, to refresh your memory) for overall design.

First, a backstory. The current WJLA broadcast center is in the same building as the old Newseum. I went there on a few occasions, and the one thing I best remember is this multi-story-high wall at one end of the building. On the bottom level was an area where people could view the front pages of most every major paper in America. Above it was a wall of screens that aired various programming to those on the second and third floors, and people would hear the sound coming from the program that was on the screen directly in front of them.

If at least some of that area were still around, it would be great for the implementation of a WJLA-HD set.

So was the area dismantled for office space? Or, is there still some, or even all, of that space left for use? If not, is there any other area in that building that's two, preferably three, or more stories high that's just empty space, and would be large enough for a news set, even if there was only one story available for use?

First, a backstory. The current WJLA broadcast center is in the same building as the old Newseum.

We are across the street from the old location of The Newseum, which will be torn down soon. Also, the TV set inside Te Newseum was pretty small.

Speaking of WJLA, within the past day, I had a eureka moment involving a concept to news set design that they could use for when they go HD
Save that eureka for around 2010 at the rate that station is going. They are more obsessed with how many times they can plug Oprah and the local news (enough of Tim Brandt) each day. Only WJLA would pre-empt ABC shows like Grey's Anatomy for twenty-year old movies and infomercials posing as "Extreme Makeover" wanna bes.

Robert,
Are the posts here swaying WJLA station management at all (do they read this page or dcrtv.com)? Their "business logic" defies explanation. Will it take Oprah syndicating her show in HD to finally get them to cough up the dough? Allison Starling in HD should be enough reason alone!

so, without a stb, just the plain old ntsc tuner in my tv should be able to tune MASN/MASN2, but if i get the box i can watch it in SD-digital?

Yes. The pic quality will be slightly better with the stb but MASN picture still stinks either way.

Yes. The pic quality will be slightly better with the stb but MASN picture still stinks either way.
it's past stink, more towards RANCID...
I could not watch the game Tuesday Night vs the Mets because it was just terrible and rancid...

it's past stink, more towards RANCID...
I could not watch the game Tuesday Night vs the Mets because it was just terrible and rancid...

MASN's PQ is horrendous. Also the lighting, it always looks like it is midnight (even at 6 or 7 o'clock) and that only half of the stadium lights work. I have been to the ballpark and it is not as bad as it looks on MASN.

Verizon has added their new Fios1 local news channel to channel 1 today. It is an SD channel and I assume only on the digital tier. So we have one new channel from Verizon Fios, but no sign yet of any additional national HD channels such as FoodHD or HGTV-HD.

No sign of Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD either, but Verizon today added the NESN-HD (New England Sports Net) up in MA and SNY-HD in northern NJ areas. So Verizon is making some progress with the regional sports nets in HD. I assume Comcast is stalling Verizon on the contract for CSN MA - HD until the basketball & hockey seasons are over and there is little HD programming of value on CSN MA-HD until the Wizards & Caps start up in the fall.

Verizon has added their new Fios1 local news channel to channel 1 today. It is an SD channel and I assume only on the digital tier.

I saw in the paper where FiOS will carry MASN 2 on Channel 1 as well.

Originally Posted by JoeInNVa
it's past stink, more towards RANCID...
I could not watch the game Tuesday Night vs the Mets because it was just terrible and rancid...
It is so bad it makes WJLA look state of the art. MASN is probably using hand-me-down everything Angelos bought at a garage sale someplace outside of Baltimore.

And when the "squeezebox" sports ticker appears, it is totaly unwatchabale. Why can't the Lerners kick in for some new equipment?

We are across the street from the old location of The Newseum, which will be torn down soon. Also, the TV set inside Te Newseum was pretty small.

Robert,

Cory showed me the "new" Newseum under construction. Set is going to be pretty cool with the Capital building as a backdrop.

We are across the street from the old location of The Newseum, which will be torn down soon.Gotcha. Does Allbritton have control of what will get built there? If so, is it possible to build the multi-story high area as previously described + maybe an HD control room? Is that kind of thing possible anywhere in your current building?

(Note: A fiber connection can be installed between the new set area and the main engineering studio, sort of like how NBC Nightly News is being broadcast from the 3-A studio at 30 Rock, yet uses the 1-A control room, located at 10 Rock(efeller Center), because it's HD-capable.)

For anyone interested, coverage maps for the local OTA transmitters have been posted in this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10127219&&#post10127219).

Best regards,
Andy

Would also like to know where you found TNT? I also have CW50 on 83.13 and NFL Network on 86.4

I rescanned all the cable channels again and now CW is 83.7. Last night it was 83.13, why would it change?

Also would I be picking up my neighbor's On Demand feed?
This evening I was getting 87.4 which said it is TLC On Demand but now nothing is coming in on that channel.
Also There was some movie channels earlier but now do not come in.

I have Basic 1-26 analog cable in Bowie, MD (Prince George's County)

This is the list of channel I found. 83.7 CW - 87.1, 87.2, 87.3 Movie - 87.4 TLC on demand - 87.5 Discovery HD Theatre ON Demand - 88.1, 88.3 ? - 90.7 CNN - 92.1, 93.1 PPV ads - 93.7, 93.8, 116.11, 116.3 MHZ - 106.12 Shop NBC - 107.xx Music - 117.10 ? - 118.12 cspan2 - 119.1 national geographic - 119.2 ? - 119.5 ewtn? - 119.8 GAC - 120.11 ABC2 Weather - 127.1 TNT - 128.1 A+E - 130.2 Golf Channel - 131.5 SHopNBC - 131.9 Zee TV? - 134.1 CW - 134.2 ? - 134.4 Fox45

I rescanned all the cable channels again and now CW is 83.7. Last night it was 83.13, why would it change?Cable cos. can change frequency positions of QAM channels at any time, and their boxes will instantly pick up on it, yet non-Comcast boxes like yours won't. So they might change frequencies to attempt to compel people to get their STBs (or at least cable cards).
Also would I be picking up my neighbor's On Demand feed?
This evening I was getting 87.4 which said it is TLC On Demand but now nothing is coming in on that channel.On Demand feeds are unencrypted and ever-changing in location and programming type. You'll never know what'll come next, if it comes at all. And yes, your neighbor may have a love for TLC -- and you got some side care as a result. :)
Also There was some movie channels earlier but now do not come in.Either they were also On Demand feeds, or Comcast encrypted the feeds.

For anyone interested, coverage maps for the local OTA transmitters have been posted in this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10127219&&#post10127219).

Best regards,
Andy
This is possibly the coolest thing that I've seen posted here in the last 3 years. I did something similar (http://home.comcast.net/~cyclone.gt40/dtv_map.gif) with some "tiger" U.S. Geological site.

Its cool that this guy did DC. Someone be sure to get screenshots. :D

I went to CJ's Crabhouse in Owings Mills tonight. The have several HDTVs and were showing the Final Four in HD.

This is possibly the coolest thing that I've seen posted here in the last 3 years. I did something similar (http://home.comcast.net/~cyclone.gt40/dtv_map.gif) with some "tiger" U.S. Geological site.

Its cool that this guy did DC. Someone be sure to get screenshots. :D
His database is missing some DC and Baltimore digital stations which I pointed out in his thread, so I hope he will update it. But the combination of the color reception maps with Google Earth is very cool indeed. I can zoom in on my neighborhood, switch between the various stations, and watch the color map change. The map shows the weak spots with poorer reception because of shadowing by the terrain. The distant ridges with the purple reception zones stand out.

Anyone who has trouble getting WETA-DT 26 (27) might want to give the reception maps a look. You need Google Earth and also uTorrent to download the kmz files. The database only has the current location for WETA-DT antenna in Arlington. Would be interesting to compare to the new location in NW DC which will boost the power to 90 kW and add 70+ meters to the antenna height.

I hope he updates the kmz file with the current power levels and height for WUTB-DT 24 in Baltimore. I'm curious to see the map for a 530 watt station. :D

Holy crap, I'm able to get WUTB-DT 24.1 down here in Ashburn this morning! :eek:

Coming in at 80% strength on my TiVo S3!



april fools!

Okay so I just got my TV with QAM.. how can I see whether nor not my RCN is letting me access HD channels (like FOX, ABC, etc)??

Okay so I just got my TV with QAM.. how can I see whether nor not my RCN is letting me access HD channels (like FOX, ABC, etc)??
do a channel scan and then you'll probably have to go through all the channels manually, unless they map properly using PSIP data, if you're lucky your tv will identify which ones are unencrypted, also if the PSIP data works correctly they might appear on the same channel #'s that they'd show up on with your cable-box, you should probably also ask for someone else in your area who already knows the clear-qam channels to post what they've found

Anyone in Silver Spring know the channels? Right now I just have RCN coming in through the cable (no box yet), and no antenna, so not sure if I can get anything via QAM or not...?

edit: I did the channel scan, but still just seem to have the same channels as before.. if for example I can pickup ABC-HD.. would it replace the standard ABC channel number (ie channel 7) or would it appear as a totally new channel (ie. 92?)

Was wondering if anyone was having some issues with TNT HD on Fios this weekend. Seems like the audio and picture are out of sync by a second or less...it is happening on both my cable boxes, so it is not an issue with one of the boxes. Anyone else having this problem on TNT HD (Channel 825)? Other HD channels seem to be in sync.

Was wondering if anyone was having some issues with TNT HD on Fios this weekend. Seems like the audio and picture are out of sync by a second or less...it is happening on both my cable boxes, so it is not an issue with one of the boxes. Anyone else having this problem on TNT HD (Channel 825)? Other HD channels seem to be in sync.Nothing here, I watched the channel for a couple of hours with no problems.

Was wondering if anyone was having some issues with TNT HD on Fios this weekend. Seems like the audio and picture are out of sync by a second or less...it is happening on both my cable boxes, so it is not an issue with one of the boxes. Anyone else having this problem on TNT HD (Channel 825)? Other HD channels seem to be in sync.
This is not a problem with Fios, but with TNT-HD on a national level. They have been having lip sync issues for some programs for weeks which has been the topic of discussion in this thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=815243. TNT-HD's lip sync can get so bad, it is like watching a badly dubbed asian martial arts movie.

Anyone else experiencing issues with WRC-DT1 last night/today?

It's like macroblocking hell.

D* HR20/WRC-DT/Through D*

FIXED!


Does this mean WJLA is/will be broadcasting J/WOF in HD?

Does this mean WJLA is/will be broadcasting J/WOF in HD?NOPE

IS wjla broadcasting j/wof in HD? NO, not to my knowledge.

WILL wjla broadcast j/wof in HD? Sure, but then again I bet CSPAN has plans for broadcasting in HD. WHEN is the real question, and for WJLA, it doesn't look like it is going to be anytime soon.

Anyone else experiencing issues with WRC-DT1 last night/today?

It's like macroblocking hell.

D* HR20/WRC-DT/Through D*

Yup, noticed this yesterday. Looks horrible!

I've lost OTA WJZ DT 13 this past weekend and it was my strongest Baltimore station. Does anyone know what happened?

FIXED!
Does this mean WJLA is/will be broadcasting J/WOF in HD?
I am not sure what JoeInNova's Fixed comment meant to my post.

CSPAN 2 will go HD before WJLA does for their news and syndicated programming as Joe L Allbritton continues to count his pennies. We are so blessed to have a small-town owner run a big-town station. Ol' Joe wouldn't air Jimmy Kimmel for the first year or so either until he got his way with the network for the lost ad revenue.

Ghost Dad was on one of the HD movie channels over the weekend, isn't it time for another airing in primetime?

It is safe to say Mr. Angelos will ensure ESPN2 HD will be backed out so we can see his lovely MASN coverage in SD.

Blacked out on 72 - thanks for nothing

Who is tighter with the dough, Angelos or Allbritton?

No MASN2 on Verizon TV? I'm in JHoward County, and masn.tv lists MASN2 as channel 1. But I don't get channel 1 on any of my boxes. So is the O's game tomorrow not going to be broadcast here?

MASN really needs to get their act together. No HD, no second channel. They suck.

I am not sure what JoeInNova's Fixed comment meant to my post.

CSPAN 2 will go HD before WJLA does for their news and syndicated programming as Joe L Allbritton continues to count his pennies. We are so blessed to have a small-town owner run a big-town station. Ol' Joe wouldn't air Jimmy Kimmel for the first year or so either until he got his way with the network for the lost ad revenue.

Ghost Dad was on one of the HD movie channels over the weekend, isn't it time for another airing in primetime?

Read what I quoted and you will see what was fixed.

It is safe to say Mr. Angelos will ensure ESPN2 HD will be backed out so we can see his lovely MASN coverage in SD. Who is tighter with the dough, Angelos or Allbritton?

Yes. According to ESPN's website (http://hd.espn.com/hd/detail.jsp?epNumber=12942168), our only HD game of the year will be blacked out. Fantastic.

I've lost OTA WJZ DT 13 this past weekend and it was my strongest Baltimore station. Does anyone know what happened?

I flipped thru channel 13 OTA last night at home, and it was good there.

Could be that it's spring, and the foliage is blocking out the signal. You might have to move the antenna around a bit.

Mark

No MASN2 on Verizon TV? I'm in JHoward County, and masn.tv lists MASN2 as channel 1. But I don't get channel 1 on any of my boxes. So is the O's game tomorrow not going to be broadcast here?

MASN really needs to get their act together. No HD, no second channel. They suck.
Have they added the Fios1 local news (and infomercial) channel to channel 1 yet in the Howard - Anne Arundel region? It was added to the Washington Metro line-up on Friday. Verizon will use this as the extra channel for MASN2. If they have not added Fios1 in your area, I would still check channel 1 during the game to see if the game is on there because they may just activate the channel for the game.

OTOH, perhaps Verizon plans a different Fios1 for the Baltimore market and they may simply be skipping the 2nd game until the Baltimore Fios1 is up and running. You can always call the CSR and ask. Just don't expect a quick and accurate answer.

Anyone else with RCN in montgomery county?? I'm trying to identify all my QAM channels..

It is safe to say Mr. Angelos will ensure ESPN2 HD will be backed out so we can see his lovely MASN coverage in SD. Who is tighter with the dough, Angelos or Allbritton? And the award goes to......drum roll...Allbritton. WJLA makes a lot more money in ads revenue because of the type of programming it airs. MASN is mainly a RSN and as of right now, can only carry the O's and Nats games. Still, that is no excuse for MASN to not have HD broadcast when you cover not one but TWO major league teams.

I flipped thru channel 13 OTA last night at home, and it was good there.

Could be that it's spring, and the foliage is blocking out the signal. You might have to move the antenna around a bit.

Mark

Thanks..... I think I'll do a tuner reset since it's only that one BAL station. The rest of them have the same signal strength before I lost 13.1.

I'm in PA, so the leaves are not out yet. :rolleyes: I'm not looking forward to losing some signal strength as I'm on the edge now.

hello.

i'm now using (as of yesterday) xmltv and BladeRunnerPro 3.5 to import guide listings into MCE 2005. i'm doing this because, as you may know, MCE does not provide the guide information for OTA digital tv subchannels.

the impetus to make me actually do this was that i finally was managing to get WETA-DT and the programming looked very interesting so i wanted to be able to know what was going on on all the subchannels so i could record stuff. on the subchannel front i am successful. i get nice guide listings for the 3 WETA subchannels, 26.2, 26.3, and 26.4.

However, the guide listing i get for 26.1 seems to be inaccurate. But i do see that if i go to www.zap2it.com and look at the WETA programming zap2it IS accurate. So zap2it does have accurate listings, i guess i'm just not retrieving the right listings. In fact, it seems to me that the listings i am retrieving match the programming zap2it displays on its webpage for 22.2 WMPT-DT2.

so finally my questions:

the channel id i'm using (found from the original ChannelInfo.xml file created by xmltv upon downloading guide listings) for the main WETA-DT channel is "I19581.labs.zap2it.com".

1) is that the same id you are using for 26.1?
2) if yes, are you getting the correct guide listings?
3) if no, what channel id are you using?
4) is that the same id any of you are using for 22.2?


thanks for any help. :)

Was anyone else watching Brothers and Sisters last night on ABC? It seems someone at the station was playing a prank, because five times during the show, a still image of Eva Longoria in a bra came up. The first time it was for about 10 seconds, than after that only one or two, then after the show ended it came up and stayed for about 30 seconds. I quickly changed channels to non-hd ABC, and it wasn't there, it only happened on the HD channel.

hello.

i'm now using (as of yesterday) xmltv and BladeRunnerPro 3.5 to import guide listings into MCE 2005. i'm doing this because, as you may know, MCE does not provide the guide information for OTA digital tv subchannels.

the impetus to make me actually do this was that i finally was managing to get WETA-DT and the programming looked very interesting so i wanted to be able to know what was going on on all the subchannels so i could record stuff. on the subchannel front i am successful. i get nice guide listings for the 3 WETA subchannels, 26.2, 26.3, and 26.4.

However, the guide listing i get for 26.1 seems to be inaccurate. But i do see that if i go to www.zap2it.com and look at the WETA programming zap2it IS accurate. So zap2it does have accurate listings, i guess i'm just not retrieving the right listings. In fact, it seems to me that the listings i am retrieving match the programming zap2it displays on its webpage for 22.2 WMPT-DT2.

so finally my questions:

the channel id i'm using (found from the original ChannelInfo.xml file created by xmltv upon downloading guide listings) for the main WETA-DT channel is "I19581.labs.zap2it.com".

1) is that the same id you are using for 26.1?
2) if yes, are you getting the correct guide listings?
3) if no, what channel id are you using?
4) is that the same id any of you are using for 22.2?


thanks for any help. :)


Zap2It is a Tribune Website - they report precisely what the station send them. PBS DC is obviously sending them a bunch of gobbledygook, and it shows when I try to play a nice HD recording of Nature on my Series 3 HT TiVo (they get guide info via Tribune) and instead some nonsensical Opera starts up. Sigh.

Between this and their immensely awful overcompression of the "HD" signal they broadcast, I've ive up on teh channel altogether and get my fix from Discovery DH instead.

Where should we complain - what's the WETA contact info?

Anybody in Loudoun sign up for the Comcast Triple Play yet? I am wondering if 16mbps is indeed available from Comcast. Also, what is the latest DVR that Comcast Loudoun has? Are they still on the 6412's? I have had the same two 6412s for at least a couple years now. I don't think mine are even the III series. Is it easy to swap out if newer gear is available? I'd be interested in the 160gb 6416.

The only thing WETA is really good about: endless mailers shilling for money.

I know everyone has probably already discussed this, but I am so completely disgusted by the quality of the MASN picture. I was getting all ready to watch the O's opener in HD on ESPN2 and I guess it is blacked out because it is being shown on MASNin sub SD quality. I would probably watch 90% of the O's game if they would transmit a decent signal but it is so painful to watch that I don't know if I will even watch half. I am utterly depressed.

I know everyone has probably already discussed this, but I am so completely disgusted by the quality of the MASN picture. I was getting all ready to watch the O's opener in HD on ESPN2 and I guess it is blacked out because it is being shown on MASNin sub SD quality. I would probably watch 90% of the O's game if they would transmit a decent signal but it is so painful to watch that I don't know if I will even watch half. I am utterly depressed.
I agree.
And has anyone SEEN that poor excuse for a studio?! The anchors are STANDING behind a desk, the picture makes WJLA look like WUSA, and the set must not be bigger than a janitor's closet.

Have they added the Fios1 local news (and infomercial) channel to channel 1 yet in the Howard - Anne Arundel region? It was added to the Washington Metro line-up on Friday. Verizon will use this as the extra channel for MASN2. If they have not added Fios1 in your area, I would still check channel 1 during the game to see if the game is on there because they may just activate the channel for the game.

OTOH, perhaps Verizon plans a different Fios1 for the Baltimore market and they may simply be skipping the 2nd game until the Baltimore Fios1 is up and running. You can always call the CSR and ask. Just don't expect a quick and accurate answer.
Heck no... not here in AA anyway. I fear the same... that Baltimore would (eventually) have its own channel, and they don't want use to get hooked on the DC version. Boo hiss for many AA and Howard residents who work or play in DC... which is easily 50% of our neighborhood.

I agree the MASN picture is TERRIBLE. The pre game stuff is HORRIBLE. It makes me think of old WCW programming on TBS, except the WCW product is better...

Anyone else with RCN in montgomery county?? I'm trying to identify all my QAM channels..

Allo??

There is no doubt that the 26-1 HD sub-channel for WETA is very soft with all the SD sub-channels they have on all day long now... Just no wow, HD! to either channel anymore.

I should compare WFPT OTA, MPT via Verizon Fios (not sure which MPT station they are getting their HD signal from), and WETA when WETA and MPT are showing the same true HD programming.The only thing WETA is really good about: endless mailers shilling for money.Please send your observations to WETA here (http://www.weta.org/contact.php) (be polite) Maybe if they get enough feedback they will up the datarate.
I finally got a response to my very polite observations on the low-bandwidth and resulting poor quality of WETA-HD... :(
Thanks for watching WETA, and for taking the time to write. I'm sorry for the delayed response. Our Engineering Department has been quite busy with some changes happening with our digital broadcasts and I have only recently been able to gather more information for an informative response.

WETA and most other television broadcasters began multicasting several years ago. If you were an early adopter of the medium, you may have a first or second generation HD television. By the third generation of HD TVs, multicasting had become the norm and the PSIP (Program System Protocol) within the newly-manufactured televisions changed. From the third generation forward, one should see no difference in the quality of the HD signal even while a station is multicasting. However, if you have a first or second generation set with an older PSIP that was not designed with multicasting in mind, the quality of the picture may indeed suffer.

If you have a third generation or newer set and still receive a dimished signal, we would not be able to determine why. We are not showing any diminished quality from our end, and other viewers do say they get a crystal clear picture from us. I hope this helps to provide some insight into the difficulty you have been experiencing.

Thank you again for watching WETA.

Best,

Daniel P. McCoy
Audience Services Coordinator
WETA :rolleyes:

Should I send Mr McCoy a .ts file from WETA OTA, QAM, and/or HD DVR compared to the same program from a decent PBS station?

DC is PBS's Headquarters! Do they even watch their own broadcasts? :mad:

I agree.
And has anyone SEEN that poor excuse for a studio?! The anchors are STANDING behind a desk, the picture makes WJLA look like WUSA, and the set must not be bigger than a janitor's closet.You know what makes it look really cheap, I don't know if anyone watched the post game Xtra, but the little 22 inch LCDs were showing commercial of the channels like TBS as well as the game. This is stupid, it shows that MASN probably subscribed to MLB EI and is not editing anything.

Was anyone else watching Brothers and Sisters last night on ABC? It seems someone at the station was playing a prank, because five times during the show, a still image of Eva Longoria in a bra came up. The first time it was for about 10 seconds, than after that only one or two, then after the show ended it came up and stayed for about 30 seconds. I quickly changed channels to non-hd ABC, and it wasn't there, it only happened on the HD channel.

This happened to me when watching Desperate Housewives on WJLA 7.1 in Maryland. I was amazed since I had just spent an hour adjusting the antenna to maximize the signal from WJLA 7.1 to 90-92 on my DirecTV HR10-250 HD Tivo STB. WJLA in DC seems to be plagued with problems periodically.

Is audio cutting out for about 1-2 seconds every 60-90 seconds for anyone else? I'm watching on Comcast in Frederick. The game looks good except but the audio breaks are annoying.. thanks.

...Should I send Mr McCoy a .ts file from WETA OTA, QAM, and/or HD DVR compared to the same program from a decent PBS station?...


Yeah, Tell him it's The Real McCoy.

Trivia question (don't look it up): Who played Luke McCoy?

How does MASN look on D*? Is it as bad as it is on Comcast?

The only thing WETA is really good about: endless mailers shilling for money.

When I get the envelopes asking for money from WETA, I write a little note that I will contribute money when they get a decent HD pic on 26-1. I then enclose a copy of the canceled check I sent to MPT (and I live in Haymarket, VA!).

Jim

Yeah, Tell him it's The Real McCoy.

Trivia question (don't look it up): Who played Luke McCoy?


richard crenna -- a very good actor.

Heck no... not here in AA anyway. I fear the same... that Baltimore would (eventually) have its own channel, and they don't want use to get hooked on the DC version. Boo hiss for many AA and Howard residents who work or play in DC... which is easily 50% of our neighborhood.

i just called verizon to ask about this...and they are supposed to have one of their folks call me back with an answer about fios1 in howard/ann arundel counties. if i get an answer. i'll post it here.

I finally got a response to my very polite observations on the low-bandwidth and resulting poor quality of WETA-HD... :(
:rolleyes:

Should I send Mr McCoy a .ts file from WETA OTA, QAM, and/or HD DVR compared to the same program from a decent PBS station?

DC is PBS's Headquarters! Do they even watch their own broadcasts? :mad:

Perhaps they ONLY watch their own broadcasts, and have nothing to compare them to...

I kinda feel sorry for the guy - he's getting technical info, but either it's the wrong information, or he's misunderstanding it. PSIP actually stands for Program and System INFORMATION Protocol, and is information that we, the broadcasters send out, and is data about the broadcasts, not something that would effect the picture quality. Here's a pretty good explanation about it: http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/info.aspx?page=FAQ#_Ref28770294

He is correct that later "televisions" (actually, they started out as external boxes since the official standard was not set for a while) were better than the early ones, but only in the fact that they are able to lock on to the signal better. That really didn't effect the quality of the picture - just how it was received.

I expect that television manufacturers have been, and still are, working on making the picture better with less data, but I've found that the quality of the video that the viewer sees really depends on the amount of video data that you are sending out and, to a lesser extent, the encoder that you are using. The more data, the more quick movements and finer detail the viewer sees (up to a point - where the viewer sees the full resolution of the video).

If there is too much movement, or not enough video data, you start to see blocks in the picture. It's not because of the television that you are watching, but the fact that there isn't enough data to fill in all of the picture. If there's no movement the picture resolution would eventually fill in, pretty much no matter what data rate you're sending out. You would see big blocks first, then smaller and smaller ones until you saw the full resolution (but who wants to watch a test pattern?).

The trick with multicasting is to find the data rate that fills in the resolution in a reasonable amount of time, and still leaves you enough data "bandwidth" for another channel. There are a couple of things that help - statistical multiplexing, for example, lets you steal data "bandwidth" from your lower resolution channel(s) when it doesn't (they don't) need it, so that you can use it for your HD channel. Also, newer encoders are better at compressing the video, so that you don't need as much data to send the same resolution. I have no idea how that works, but some forum members probably remember that we (WNUV) did a test last year with 2 HD channels and one SD channel with new loaner encoders and statistical multiplexing, and the feedback that I got was that it looked pretty good. I don't know if I would want to do that during basketball season, but for the programming we were sending, it worked OK.

Well, I gotta get to work -

Cheers!

Mark

This happened to me when watching Desperate Housewives on WJLA 7.1 in Maryland. I was amazed since I had just spent an hour adjusting the antenna to maximize the signal from WJLA 7.1 to 90-92 on my DirecTV HR10-250 HD Tivo STB. WJLA in DC seems to be plagued with problems periodically.

I saw it too, on a E* re-broadcast of the 7.1 signal. I thought it was a glitch in my DVR recording since I was watching it about 10 minutes delayed.

-Chris

Was wondering if anyone was having some issues with TNT HD on Fios this weekend. Seems like the audio and picture are out of sync by a second or less...it is happening on both my cable boxes, so it is not an issue with one of the boxes. Anyone else having this problem on TNT HD (Channel 825)? Other HD channels seem to be in sync.


It's TNT not the provider. It happened with Comcast. Now it happens with FIOS. I think the problem is mostly with Law and Order but I could be wrong.

This is over 24 hours old but I did not get a chance to post before. Opening night broadcast: audio would drop for a second or 2 randomly. Did anybody notice this?

WMAR's SD subchannel 2-2 is out of sync. The sound is ahead of the video.

Anybody in Loudoun sign up for the Comcast Triple Play yet? I am wondering if 16mbps is indeed available from Comcast. Also, what is the latest DVR that Comcast Loudoun has? Are they still on the 6412's? I have had the same two 6412s for at least a couple years now. I don't think mine are even the III series. Is it easy to swap out if newer gear is available? I'd be interested in the 160gb 6416.

I've been wondering about this as well - I intend to call them this weekend and make sure 16/1 or 16/2 is REALLY available, and let them know that without those speeds, I plan to wait for FiOS (should be a short wait ... but I've been saying that for over 10 months now!)

From teh broadbandreports disucssion you also posted in, it seems they offer higher speeds ONLY after FiOS is confirmed to be available. Oh well.

As for your 64xx questions - I picked up a 6412 Phase III over 10 months ago - wroks fine, but it's a real dog (features, reliability et al are inferior - that's a given, but even PQ is bad!) compared to my Series 3 HD TiVo. I'm holding on to it because I can't afford a second S3 yet (only one HDTV and no MRV yet too!), and I'm hoping the TiVo software on the 6412 shows up soon.

I finally got a response to my very polite observations on the low-bandwidth and resulting poor quality of WETA-HD... :(
:rolleyes:

Should I send Mr McCoy a .ts file from WETA OTA, QAM, and/or HD DVR compared to the same program from a decent PBS station?

DC is PBS's Headquarters! Do they even watch their own broadcasts? :mad:


Thanks for posting that! I'll write to him as well to skew their whole "customers love our fecal matter" stand!

(<edit> Done.)

markbulla, thanks for the addon and explanations!

http://www.tvpredictions.com/baseballhd040307.htm

Is there something in the water here that makes our RSN and three of the big four locals not to fully use HD (or use it at all)?

And DCRTV is reporting more morale sinking over at WJLA - the VHS tape look is out, Joe, despite some of the star news talent you have.
http://www.3io.com/~dcrtv/

Mark,
Any chance you could come down to Alexandria and show the "experts" at WETA a few things?

I've been wondering about this as well - I intend to call them this weekend and make sure 16/1 or 16/2 is REALLY available, and let them know that without those speeds, I plan to wait for FiOS (should be a short wait ... but I've been saying that for over 10 months now!)

From teh broadbandreports disucssion you also posted in, it seems they offer higher speeds ONLY after FiOS is confirmed to be available. Oh well.

As for your 64xx questions - I picked up a 6412 Phase III over 10 months ago - wroks fine, but it's a real dog (features, reliability et al are inferior - that's a given, but even PQ is bad!) compared to my Series 3 HD TiVo. I'm holding on to it because I can't afford a second S3 yet (only one HDTV and no MRV yet too!), and I'm hoping the TiVo software on the 6412 shows up soon.

It's not availabe yet in Alexandria. No matter how many times I keep rebooting my Cable Modem thinking it will be there, it isn't. :(

i just called verizon to ask about this...and they are supposed to have one of their folks call me back with an answer about fios1 in howard/ann arundel counties. if i get an answer. i'll post it here.
No one knows.

MASN insists it is on Channel 1 for zip 21045 (Howard County). 1-877-469-6276 and 410-625-7100

Verizon CSR says no Channel 1 in Howard County. 1-888-553-1555

Does anyone know WTF is going on? Heads up their @sses!

Did Comcast get MASN2 yet?

-John

No one knows.

MASN insists it is on Channel 1 for zip 21045 (Howard County). 1-877-469-6276 and 410-625-7100

Verizon CSR says no Channel 1 in Howard County. 1-888-553-1555

Does anyone know WTF is going on? Heads up their @sses!

Did Comcast get MASN2 yet?

-John

Yeah, it pushes CSPAN2 off the air when they air something on it.

No one knows.

MASN insists it is on Channel 1 for zip 21045 (Howard County). 1-877-469-6276 and 410-625-7100

Verizon CSR says no Channel 1 in Howard County. 1-888-553-1555

Does anyone know WTF is going on? Heads up their @sses!

Did Comcast get MASN2 yet?

-John
Comcast launched MASN 2 earlier this month. In Howard it shares time with CSPAN2, ch 16. This way it's not a blank channel when games aren't on. They also dup CSPAN 2 on ch 104 to keep the CSPAN fans happy.

GoIrish

I finally got a response to my very polite observations on the low-bandwidth and resulting poor quality of WETA-HD... :(
:rolleyes:
Agreed that he is either passing on wrong information that he simply doesn't understand or he has only seen a WETA HDTV show that is connected via cable directly to the control room or something.

I have a six-months old seventh-generation Pioneer plasma so I should meet their requirments for receiving a quality broadcast. WETA is reliably unwatchable by me for any program with movement in it. This is via OTA or cable.

As noted in this forum before, the series "American Ballroom Dancing Championships" (or something very close to that name) was painful for me to watch and elicited comments by my lovely bride on its poor quality and she normally doesn't care one way or another if a show is in color or black and white, much less get wound up about digital quality. For her to comment on a TV broadcast's quality is stunning to me and while I realize that WETA doesn't know me or my wife and they probably have lots of balls in the air trying to please all sorts of masters, they are really burying their heads in the sand on this subject ...

I live in MoCo but was visiting Howard County last night. My friend flipped by Deal Or No Deal and it was in HD on the Baltimore/NBC station. In DC, it's not in HD. Or was I imagining it due to matzah overload?

I live in MoCo but was visiting Howard County last night. My friend flipped by Deal Or No Deal and it was in HD on the Baltimore/NBC station. In DC, it's not in HD. Or was I imagining it due to matzvah overload?
This is an easy question to answer. Deal or No Deal is NOT in HD. NBC does not spend the money to have this show done in HD. What you presumably saw on WBAL-DT NBC 11 was a stretched SD version because WBAL likes to stretch 4:3 SD programming to a 14:9 or 15:9 aspect ratio because management at the station decided a while back that was the way to go. It looks stupid, but that is what they (and TNT-HD) do.

I can guarantee you that if NBC decided to go HD for Deal or No Deal, there would be a busy thread on this in the HDTV programming forum.

Thank you afiggatt.

Mark,
Any chance you could come down to Alexandria and show the "experts" at WETA a few things?

Believe it or not, I actually applied for the chief engineer position there four or so years ago.

I never heard a thing from them.

Actually, I'm kinda happy about it - I don't think my jeans and flannel shirts (in the winter) would go over too well among all of the jackets and ties...

Mark

How does MASN look on D*? Is it as bad as it is on Comcast?

Complete crap. Has been since Day 1 (even on my SD TV which doesn't show up as much as my HD).

As with almost any channel I get on both Comcast and D*, one may be better than the other each day.

But MASN looks like they got all their equipment as a surplus store.....

WMAR's SD subchannel 2-2 is out of sync. The sound is ahead of the video.

Why are you watching that waste of bandwidth? Everything is on 2-1 and even SD is clearer.

When I get the envelopes asking for money from WETA, I write a little note that I will contribute money when they get a decent HD pic on 26-1. I then enclose a copy of the canceled check I sent to MPT (and I live in Haymarket, VA!).

Jim
LOL! I'm gonna steal your idea the next time I get one of those WETA begging letters. I started to open up my checkbook to write a donation when they put classical music back on WETA-FM, but at the time 26.1 was experiencing sound sync problems in addition to the horrible PQ, so I snapped the checkbook closed. No point in rewarding them for their inept OTA signal.

no masn2 in howard county tonight, so no oriole's game (at least we get the nats on masn1)...verizon says it's a "technical" issue. :-(


the masn folks said that i can go on their web site and register a complaint. i'm sure that would do a lot of good.

How does MASN look on D*? Is it as bad as it is on Comcast?

Yes, its terrible. I can understand Peter Angelos not caring, but why the Lerners put up with this is a mystery to me. I guess if you have an owners box, you really don't care what the commoners see (you're supposed to be at the game anyway). Clearly no one connected with either team watches, we know none of them owns an HDTV.

The Nats are in limbo this year on the field, why not on TV? I'll bet they will demand HD for their glorious movement to the new ballpark.

The Nats are in limbo this year on the field, why not on TV? I'll bet they will demand HD for their glorious movement to the new ballpark.

Only because those wonderful suites will have HDTVs next to the bidets

Yes, its terrible. I can understand Peter Angelos not caring, but why the Lerners put up with this is a mystery to me. I guess if you have an owners box, you really don't care what the commoners see (you're supposed to be at the game anyway). Clearly no one connected with either team watches, we know none of them owns an HDTV.
The Lerners don't have much leverage with the MASN situation. MLB & DC made the deal with Peter Angelos to give the TV rights to the Washington Nats to MASN to make him happy about the Nats infringing on what he saw as his market well before Lerners were in the picture. IIRC, the Lerners have a minority piece of the TV deal, so they may be trying to improve things behind the scenes. We can only hope so.

As for MASN, the picture quality for both SD channels was poor tonight (Verizon Fios). I saw fringing effects and poor edge definition. The color was not very good either. Perhaps, the real TV engineers can answer this, but MASN looks to be using low quality composite video hookups. I compared MASN with the other SD sport channels: CSN MA and the ESPN channels. They all looked better than the MASN live coverage. The commercials on MASN had better picture quality so it is the live hookup that looks lousy.

And just how much money did they spend on that studio?? Good grief. The good news is that it can only get better from here. Maybe. :eek:

BTW, who are local broadcast stations for Nats and Os games this year? There must be a few OTA games, right?

Interesting news. From DCRTV (http://www.dcrtv.com):

Morale Sinks At 7 As Lord Tries To Boost News Numbers - 4/3 - From a mole at Channel 7: "As if morale at WJLA couldn't get any lower, management is planning a major shakeup over the next few weeks in an attempt to boost ratings after a disappointing February sweeps. The ABC station was down across the board, even coming in a distant fourth in two of its newscasts. Just six months ago they held the number two spot. WJLA veterans blame the drop in ratings on the influx of inexperienced reporters, and rotating anchors in the evening since the departure of Kathleen Matthews last fall. Now everyone is seeing their schedules juggled as management tries to beef up their morning and late shows... Insiders say if the ratings don't improve during May, news veep Bill Lord will be looking for a new job".....Time to take it to the HD streets? Or is this ratings drop happening for reasons beyond lack of HD (as is usual at WUSA and other stations)?

I wonder where 7's viewers went? Channel 9 because it's HD? Nah, probably 5 and 4. Still, can anybody please post sweeps data? Thanks in advance.
BTW, who are local broadcast stations for Nats and Os games this year? There must be a few OTA games, right?I think there will be some Nats games on My20, and the O's will have games on 50 and WJZ. Of course, none will be in HD.

The Lerners don't have much leverage with the MASN situation. MLB & DC made the deal with Peter Angelos to give the TV rights to the Washington Nats to MASN to make him happy about the Nats infringing on what he saw as his market well before Lerners were in the picture. IIRC, the Lerners have a minority piece of the TV deal, so they may be trying to improve things behind the scenes. We can only hope so.

BTW, who are local broadcast stations for Nats and Os games this year? There must be a few OTA games, right?

Not many and they won't be in HD. I know the official line is the deal was done before the Nationals sale, but I can't believe at the price the Lerners paid in the larger market, they didn't have leverage. They simply don't care.

I think it is a shame that they just don't really care about the product on the field this season. The Nationals will be awful this year and all we keep hearing about is wait until we get the new stadium next year! It is going to be a long painful season in the Washington area.

As for MASN, the picture quality for both SD channels was poor tonight (Verizon Fios). I saw fringing effects and poor edge definition. The color was not very good either. Perhaps, the real TV engineers can answer this, but MASN looks to be using low quality composite video hookups. I compared MASN with the other SD sport channels: CSN MA and the ESPN channels. They all looked better than the MASN live coverage. The commercials on MASN had better picture quality so it is the live hookup that looks lousy.


Oddly, the PQ on the highlights from MASN on ESPN looked good.

Comcast launched MASN 2 earlier this month. In Howard it shares time with CSPAN2, ch 16. This way it's not a blank channel when games aren't on. They also dup CSPAN 2 on ch 104 to keep the CSPAN fans happy.
Thats cool. I might have to switch back.

Finally dipped a toe into the 720p era last nite with a TV purchase.
Hope you all could answer some local questions:

1) The new TV has a built in QAM tuner. Can it get HD from the Comcast analog signal (no stb) for the local HD stations (free stations) or is it all SD?

2) If I get the limited expanded basic (no stb), channels > 20 I believe, will I also be able to get ESPN-HD or TNT-HD? Or does that have to be "turned on" by Comcast?

3) Briefly read about the moving channel numbers/assignments? Why is that happening?

4) How is Comcast service in this area specifically Loudoun Cty?

Thanks for any advice or info!

Why are you watching that waste of bandwidth? Everything is on 2-1 and even SD is clearer.

Was watching just for the news and I wanted the full screen without the black bars on the sides.

Finally dipped a toe into the 720p era last nite with a TV purchase.
Hope you all could answer some local questions:

1) The new TV has a built in QAM tuner. Can it get HD from the Comcast analog signal (no stb) for the local HD stations (free stations) or is it all SD?

2) If I get the limited expanded basic (no stb), channels > 20 I believe, will I also be able to get ESPN-HD or TNT-HD? Or does that have to be "turned on" by Comcast?

3) Briefly read about the moving channel numbers/assignments? Why is that happening?

4) How is Comcast service in this area specifically Loudoun Cty?

Thanks for any advice or info!

1. Yup. All the locals, PBS, all the MusicChoice channels, and snippets of free pr0n as folks VOD through it
2. Not sure. Back in Adelphia-era, you *could*, but now they may require you to be on a digital tier 9and pay a buttload extra and rent a box). And in ANY case, your TV won't be able to tune those - they ARE blocked in our area. You'll need a (mythical) HD box. Mycthical because they'll force an HD DVR down your gullet.

3. Because they can. So they can force you to rent their boxes.

4. Excellent - barring their anticompetitveness and inept hardware. My work-around - I use a Series 3 HD TiVO with two Comcast Motorola CableCards :)

You'll need a (mythical) HD box. Mycthical because they'll force an HD DVR down your gullet.

I have a Moto 5100 which I got from the office on Red Rum (back when they were still Adelphia) after I turned in my 6412 DVR to them. I really should get rid of it, since I think I'm paying something like $12/month for it, and I really only use it once in a while to watch OnDemand or verify a problem is not limited to just my TiVo/CableCards.

Not sure if they still stock them or not, but I would assume they have SOME type of non-DVR HD box. Go into the office and ask, the CSRs there are very friendly and if you know what you want, they won't try to upsell you to crap you don't need.

BTW, anyone on Adelphicast in Loudoun able to sign up for the $99 Triple Play? I got the $159.99 offer in the mail, and the 16 Mb internet would be nice, but I really don't need the premium movie channels (and I'm not sure what the "Sports Entertainment Pack" is, but I probably don't want it either). Heck, I don't even want their phone service, but $99/mo is still cheaper than what I'm paying now for just digital cable / internet.

Was watching just for the news and I wanted the full screen without the black bars on the sides.

I take it your TV cannot stretch or crop/zoom 16x9 pictures.

I'm new to the area and have my MythTV machine setup on Adelphicast (I like that term BTW we're not Adelphia but not yet fully integrated to Comcast) in Sterling, VA. Things are going well getting HDTV over QAM via an HDHomeRun however WETA-HD seems to have bad programming data. Zap2it's programming matches with my Mythtv however that doesn't match up to what is on Titantv.

PS. I wish they had Smart Travels in HD up here. I miss that from my Roanoke, VA station.

IIRC, the Lerners have a minority piece of the TV deal, so they may be trying to improve things behind the scenes. We can only hope so.
The Lerners have a 10% stake in MASN and it will eventually increase to 33%.

ps - the Nats OTA station is channel 20.

Is anyone having issues with OTA NBC out of DC (4.1)? My signal keeps going from 70's to 0 to 70's to 20's etc etc. My signal for 4.1 has always been weaker (out by Gainesville, Va) but I haven't had problems like this.

Randy

Is anyone having issues with OTA NBC out of DC (4.1)? My signal keeps going from 70's to 0 to 70's to 20's etc etc. My signal for 4.1 has always been weaker (out by Gainesville, Va) but I haven't had problems like this.
No problems with WRC-DT 4 from here in Sterling. It is very windy tonight, so you may getting interference from trees and leaves moving around. What antenna and setup are you using?

I had a problem. It's from the wind. The leaves are starting to grow and with the wind blowing it affects the signal on 4.1. All the other stations are always solid for me but when the foilage comes back I always have problems with 4.1. I guess I'll need to change my NBC season passes to WRC from Comcast.

Checking to see if anyone knows if WUSA 9 will be showing the Masters in HD at 4pm today? Would much rather watch it OTA for best quality then watch it on Universal HD 74. It is not showing on my guide for USA9 but CBSE is showing it scheduled. If no one on here is sure- who can I email- call for confirmation- thanks. :)

The HD Sports Guide lists the following:

The Masters -- 1st round - Augusta National 4:00 PM CBS (1080i)
The Masters -- 1st round - Augusta National 4:00 PM UniversalHD (1080i)

Channel 9's program guide shows Millionaire and Inside Edition. Om this CBS page http://www.sportsline.com/cbssports/schedules/page/golf it does not show any 4pm coverage.

Emailed WUSA about the issue.

Hopefully, we'll get a response before 4PM.

New to the area: what local stations are HD?
from the posts above it seems slim & none?

New to the area: what local stations are HD?
from the posts above it seems slim & none?

They all are...Well, all the ones you would want to watch...

New to the area: what local stations are HD?
from the posts above it seems slim & none?
You are in a major metropolitan area with two cities with a full set of the broadcast networks in both cities. Of course, there are a lot of HD broadcast stations. Check the 1st post of this thread for a list of the local stations and which ones broadcast in HD.

What can hd fans do that want baseball in hd? It's pretty pathetic that 27 out of 30 baseball markets broadcast in hd (next year it will be 28 out of 30) and masn may not even go hd next year. Total BS if you ask me. The terrible sd pq only rubs salt in the wound.

It's ok that the o's don't spend $$$ on quality players (pitchers especially) but at least let us watch the damn game in hd! I only hope that penny-wise and pound foolish decisions eventually catches up with that (those) cheap $#&^%$#s!

New to the area: what local stations are HD?
from the posts above it seems slim & none?
If you're talking about news, WUSA 9 (CBS DC) does fantastic HD news. They're actually streaming in HD over the internet (wusa9.com) right now.

It's kind of well-known that WTTG 5 (FOX DC) WRC (NBC DC) and WJZ (CBS Baltimore) will go HD sometime soon.

Channel 9's program guide shows Millionaire and Inside Edition. Om this CBS page http://www.sportsline.com/cbssports/schedules/page/golf it does not show any 4pm coverage.


No coverage on 9-1 but it is on 13-1.

What can hd fans do that want baseball in hd? It's pretty pathetic that 27 out of 30 baseball markets broadcast in hd (next year it will be 28 out of 30) and masn may not even go hd next year. Total BS if you ask me. The terrible sd pq only rubs salt in the wound.

It's ok that the o's don't spend $$$ on quality players (pitchers especially) but at least let us watch the damn game in hd! I only hope that penny-wise and pound foolish decisions eventually catches up with that (those) cheap $#&^%$#s!

Complain to MASN I would expect. Thay are the ones that will decide when we can get HD games. And I'm with you on this. Going from 60 + games last year on Sportsnet to 0 on MASN is pretty hard to swallow.

GoIrish

If a MASN-HD comes to fruition, is Comcast even going to carry it? After the pissing contest last year, it wouldn't surprise me if they don't.

If a MASN-HD comes to fruition, is Comcast even going to carry it? After the pissing contest last year, it wouldn't surprise me if they don't.

Last year there wasn't a contract with MASN. This year there is no contract issues to work through so I believe they would.

GoIrish

Complain to MASN I would expect. Thay are the ones that will decide when we can get HD games. And I'm with you on this. Going from 60 + games last year on Sportsnet to 0 on MASN is pretty hard to swallow.

GoIrish


Actually I have and I encourage EVERYONE that feels screwed to do the same.

Here is the link: http://www.masnsports.com/contactus/Index.cfm


There is strength in numbers so please take 2 minutes and let masn know how you feel!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you're talking about news, WUSA 9 (CBS DC) does fantastic HD news. They're actually streaming in HD over the internet (wusa9.com) right now.

It's kind of well-known that WTTG 5 (FOX DC) WRC (NBC DC) and WJZ (CBS Baltimore) will go HD sometime soon.

And that leaves WJLA (ABC/DC) as the lone SD holdout later this year. The VHS look went out years ago. Between Allbritton and MASN...

I am trying to watch MASN on DirecTV and have noticed the sound of the ball hitting the catcher's glove occurs 1/2 to 1 second before we see the ball in the mitt. Bad enough they are losing again.
MASN:
Mr Angelos' ****** Network

http://www.masnsports.com/contactus/Index.cfm

The Yankees are on in HD on 731 (MLB Extra Innings Free Preview), the hell with MASN

I am trying to watch MASN on DirecTV and have noticed the sound of the ball hitting the catcher's glove occurs 1/2 to 1 second before we see the ball in the mitt. Bad enough they are losing again.
MASN:
Mr Angelos' ****** Network

http://www.masnsports.com/contactus/Index.cfm

The Yankees are on in HD on 731 (MLB Extra Innings Free Preview), the hell with MASN
if i was a knicks fan i'd cling to the yankmees too ;)

What can hd fans do that want baseball in hd? It's pretty pathetic that 27 out of 30 baseball markets broadcast in hd (next year it will be 28 out of 30) and masn may not even go hd next year. Total BS if you ask me. The terrible sd pq only rubs salt in the wound.
I think that that MASN will almost certainly offer a HD channel by next year. Given the the news stories that they are thinking of offering a HD channel this year, they must have most of the equipment they need. My read is that the problem was getting carriage of the HD channels with their late start by enough service providers to make it worthwhile.

By next season, DirecTV should have their new satellites up with all the new HD channels and the capacity to carry MASN HD and the part time MASN2 HD channel. Comcast has to have a plan to add a lot more HD capacity by 2008 in order to keep up with DirecTV and Verizon. My best is that Comcast will make a big push to move some analog channels to the digital tier only by next winter to free up bandwidth. By 2008, Verizon Fios will have wider availability and should have enough customers in the MASN market to matter. I have not kept up with what E* is planning to do to expand HD capacity.

But for 2007, we can hope that MASN will at least try to improve the SD picture quality. But beyond some tweaks, I doubt it.

I know there aren't HD games on Comcast as part of Extra Innings, but I though there was a free preview for the SD games. i can't find them in my guide on Baltimore County Comcast. What channels should I be looking for?

I know there aren't HD games on Comcast as part of Extra Innings, but I though there was a free preview for the SD games. i can't find them in my guide on Baltimore County Comcast. What channels should I be looking for?


My guess is that they will be on the NHL Center Ice channels (I think they traditionally have shared those channels in the past with MLBEI) because those channels were all available tonight.

You are in a major metropolitan area with two cities with a full set of the broadcast networks in both cities. Of course, there are a lot of HD broadcast stations. Check the 1st post of this thread for a list of the local stations and which ones broadcast in HD.

Duh. The 1 place I didn't read. Thanks!

I think that that MASN will almost certainly offer a HD channel by next year. Given the the news stories that they are thinking of offering a HD channel this year, they must have most of the equipment they need. My read is that the problem was getting carriage of the HD channels with their late start by enough service providers to make it worthwhile.

By next season, DirecTV should have their new satellites up with all the new HD channels and the capacity to carry MASN HD and the part time MASN2 HD channel. Comcast has to have a plan to add a lot more HD capacity by 2008 in order to keep up with DirecTV and Verizon. My best is that Comcast will make a big push to move some analog channels to the digital tier only by next winter to free up bandwidth. By 2008, Verizon Fios will have wider availability and should have enough customers in the MASN market to matter. I have not kept up with what E* is planning to do to expand HD capacity.

But for 2007, we can hope that MASN will at least try to improve the SD picture quality. But beyond some tweaks, I doubt it.

That they may be prepared to offer HD by 08 may indeed be correct. That they are not offering it because of carriage constraints with cable and satellite outlets is absolutely not correct.

Right now MASN does not offer HD because they are not prepared to. That may change within the season, but is the case at the moment.

This has nothing to do with D*, Comcast or anyone else as MASN hasn't offered HD game carriage to anyone.

GoIrish

I know this topic somewhat spans different threads but I figured I would start with the folks here since this is somehwat of a local issue:
1. Can the folks who live in AA county (or actually any of the areas on this thread) that have switched from Comcast to FIOS give me their opionions on whether they made the right choice? Verizon stopped by the other night and made an offer that would save me some money but I do not know if it is worth the hassle of switching over.
2. If I kept my Comcast service, did a side by side comparison after the install, and decide that I liked Comcast better, will Verizon let me out of the contract? Is there a grace period or is it that once the install is complete you're stuck?
2. The one thing about FIOS that bothers me a little is that they do not offer HD VOD. Has anyone heard whether this is in the works or not? We love the Discovery channel HD VOD and would hope that Verizon woul do something similar.

There are many pros and cons for switching and I am trying to weigh them; however, since FIOS TV is so new, I do not know anyone that has switched from Comcast to Verizon and I have not been able to see it in action.

if i was a knicks fan i'd cling to the yankmees too
34 years and still waiting for another championship (old enough to remember the good old days of 1970 and 1973). The Wizards have a pretty long dry spell too. :(

No coverage on 9-1 but it is on 13-1.
Got an answer back yesterday.
No coverage on 9.1 today either.

Just a reminder:
USA Network and Universal HD will be carrying this.

All,
In addition to sending comments to MASN about their lack of HD coverage there is also an on-line petition that you can sign up for. Here is the link
http://www.**************.com/masninhd/

Comcast To Go All-Digital in Chicago, Room For "120 HD Channels"

Since Comcast is a major cable company in the Balt-Wash area, I thought this article and thread in the HDTV Programming would be of interest: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=830402.

Appears that Comcast is using Chicago as the test location for going all digital, except for a small number of local analog channels (which would be digital simulcast). Given the likely high percentages of customers with digital STBs already in this area (compared to a national average of 52%), Comcast may start this conversion for the more up to date franchise systems in our area sooner than many people would have expected.

34 years and still waiting for another championship (old enough to remember the good old days of 1970 and 1973). The Wizards have a pretty long dry spell too. :(

I grew up and still am a Cubs fan....99 years and counting since the last world series win, but, I'll always be loyal.

GoIrish

I know this topic somewhat spans different threads but I figured I would start with the folks here since this is somehwat of a local issue:
1. Can the folks who live in AA county (or actually any of the areas on this thread) that have switched from Comcast to FIOS give me their opionions on whether they made the right choice? Verizon stopped by the other night and made an offer that would save me some money but I do not know if it is worth the hassle of switching over.
2. If I kept my Comcast service, did a side by side comparison after the install, and decide that I liked Comcast better, will Verizon let me out of the contract? Is there a grace period or is it that once the install is complete you're stuck?
2. The one thing about FIOS that bothers me a little is that they do not offer HD VOD. Has anyone heard whether this is in the works or not? We love the Discovery channel HD VOD and would hope that Verizon woul do something similar.

There are many pros and cons for switching and I am trying to weigh them; however, since FIOS TV is so new, I do not know anyone that has switched from Comcast to Verizon and I have not been able to see it in action.

I can't contrast the products side by side but am sure someone here can for you.

I don't believe the contract has a grace period though beyond what's required under law which I think is only a few days from when you sign up.

I do recommend calling your current provider and letting them know you are evaluating Verizon and see what offers they can make you. From what I have read the VZ and Comcast packages are very similar in price and a package option from Comcast is probably available.

Once you know that number and have the other input from the members here about their experiences, you can make an informed decision.

GoIrish

I ask for WUSA viewers to do the same thing I did: I sent an email off to Sue Baldwin at WUSA Programming (sbaldwin@wusa9.com), asking to remove the subchannel on WUSA for the Masters.

Here's what I wrote:

The Masters is considered by many to be the best-looking HD there is. However, the combination of heavy motion at times, and the additional amounts of green in the picture (which is a more difficult color than usual to encode without macroblocking and/or pixelization) may cause more artifacting or macroblocking than usual with the one radar subchannel. Since no heavy precipitation is forecast for Sunday (and Saturday afternoon), please make sure that at least Sunday's, and preferably also Saturday's, coverage of the heavily-watched Masters is subchannel-free.

Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,
Mike B. / [my hometown]I should have added the term "9-2" in there somewhere, somehow (referring to the subchannel). You guys can add that in.

Maybe if enough of you e-mail her, this will get done.

When is CSN-HD going to be available on Comcast? It was posted earlier that it would come Feb. 12th. The company's name is COMCAST isn't it. You would think this would be the first HD channel added :confused:

I may be the last to figure this out, but Baltimore WJZ (13.1) has the second round of the Masters on OTA in HD even though all the online TV schedules show WJZ broadcasting regular programming ...

Even though they're probably not the hot ticket in town anymore without Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler, I guess that the Wizards will be in HD tonight on ESPN-HD and Comcast SportsNet. For those who get both channels, it might be interesting to compare the two broadcasts for picture quality.

When is CSN-HD going to be available on Comcast? It was posted earlier that it would come Feb. 12th. The company's name is COMCAST isn't it. You would think this would be the first HD channel added :confused:

I believe the issue is a fiber connection to Frederick County. Sportsnet HD comes via fiber, not satellite. Adelphia never had it so there was no connectivity between them.

Unfortunately, those things don't happen right away. I would have to think it's in their plans.

GoIrish

Any idea why all my Comcast (formerly Adelphia) Frederick HD's are now showing on 1.1/1.3? How can I move them back to their native channels (81.1 etc..)..

Also, sometimes on the 1.1/1.3, I get a "poor signal strength" error, which I never used to get on the natives... PLEASE HELP!

although i live in LA, i have just seen MASN2 through mlb.tv and it looks WAY chittier than any of the other streams i've seen so far...i feel your pain

MASN 2 on DirecTV 671 is blacked out here in Loudoun County! Perhaps this is a blessing. DirecTV screws up again

MASN:
Mr Angelos' ****** Network

MASN 2 on DirecTV 671 is blacked out here in Loudoun County! Perhaps this is a blessing. DirecTV screws up again

MASN:
Mr Angelos' ****** Network
maybe you should've just gone to the game, then you could see the nat's get blown out in person! ;)

MASN 2 on DirecTV 671 is blacked out here in Loudoun County! Perhaps this is a blessing. DirecTV screws up again

MASN:
Mr Angelos' ****** Network

I'm in Loudoun, have D* and MASN2 is blacked out also. I'm on the phone w/ CSR now. Says that it's b/c a local cable company bought the rights for the game. ??? I've never heard of that. I've asked for written documentation and am still on hold (33 min total length of call).

Anyone have any idea what this is about?

MASN 2 on DirecTV 671 is blacked out here in Loudoun County! Perhaps this is a blessing. DirecTV screws up again

MASN:
Mr Angelos' ****** Network
Same here.
My dad's on the phone with a CSR that's trying to fix it.
DirecTV Level 2 Support
888-713-7772

LOL - Ted Lerner is still at the RFK gate shilling for customers.. Sit downstairs for 1/2 price adn I will throw in a stale hot dog.

And the YES HD feed is also blacked out. Thanks Mr. Angelos

I'm in Loudoun, have D* and MASN2 is blacked out also. I'm on the phone w/ CSR now. Says that it's b/c a local cable company bought the rights for the game.

Is that what the kindly CSR said (most likely based in Bangalore, INDIA)!! "Amazing. It is a "incorrectly applied sports blackout"

MASN:
Mr Angelos' ****** Networks

Is that what the kindly CSR said (most likely based in Bangalore, INDIA)!! "Amazing. It is a "incorrectly applied sports blackout"
Really, there's no need for that. I'm really amazed nobody's just skipped to L2 CSRs, they can actually help.

Are there any non-DirecTV customers that can check the game, please?

Really, there's no need for that. I'm really amazed nobody's just skipped to L2 CSRs, they can actually help.

Are there any non-DirecTV customers that can check the game, please?

I'm at the supervisor level know. Still sticking to the same story. I'm asking for any written documentation. 46 min now....

It's on Comcast here. Time for you to get cable. I'll be dumping DirecTV completely very soon. I'm keeping it for now because of the HDNet channels.

I heard this is going to be a story in the Washington Post tomorrow.

You baseball guys really go crazy when you can't see the games. The Iraq War had just about as much drama as the MASN vs Comcast issue of 2006.

This MASN2 channel looks pretty bad, even for SD. How can anyone watch this?

I heard this is going to be a story in the Washington Post tomorrow.

So this blackout is legit, not just a screw-up?

I've had Sunday Ticket football blacked out b4 when they weren't supposed to be, partly my fault, b/c I hadn't hooked the reciever up in a while. When I called, they could fix it. I thought that's what this was, but maybe it really is a blackout.

I got $10 off my basic pkg for 6 months and $25 credit for MLB extra innings. Have fun!

We're now being told it's a MASN issue (in that MASN is having problems with DirecTV, like they did with Comcast the other day), and that the MASN people are aware of it and are trying to fix it.

So this blackout is legit, not just a screw-up?

It is a screw up. Other providers in DC are carrying MASN2 without a problem and have been since the beginning of the pre-game show.

you would hope that this is the type of thing that MLB would stick their nose in, but i'm sure MLB doesn't give a f*ck if their product is not properly distributed, as long as the check from MASN and D* doesn't bounce

It's Back
It will be a glorious day when Comcast SportsNet finally buys out MASN.

It's Back
It will be a glorious day when Comcast SportsNet finally buys out MASN.
Directv could just as easily screw up blackout rules with CSN as it did with MASN tonight. Any experienced Directv customer knows that it frequently messes up blackouts.

Directv could just as easily screw up blackout rules with CSN as it did with MASN tonight. Any experienced Directv customer knows that it frequently messes up blackouts.
...that cares about sports. I've had D* for 7 years.

CSN would at least get the games in HD, and wouldn't have a studio that makes WJLA's look state of the art.

Any idea why all my Comcast (formerly Adelphia) Frederick HD's are now showing on 1.1/1.3? How can I move them back to their native channels (81.1 etc..)..

Also, sometimes on the 1.1/1.3, I get a "poor signal strength" error, which I never used to get on the natives... PLEASE HELP!
This is very odd. I assume you have done multiple re-scans with whatever you are using for a QAM tuner. Have you disconnected the cable line, done a full re-scan to clear the channel line-up, then re-connected the cable, and done a scan? If there is a hidden reset option for the tuner, you should try that as well. But if Comcast is messing up the PSIP info rather than passing it through or stripping some of it off, then you need to somehow get pass the CSRs to someone at Comcast who can determine what the cause is. Good luck in dealing with Comcast, because you will need it.

It's Back

I got mine back too.

Where do they come up with this stuff, "A Local Cable company bought the rights to the game?" Do they train them to tell the customers lies?

At least I got $85 out of the stupid CSR's.

The Wizards are on Comcast SportsNet and ESPN. No blackout.

I got mine back too.

Where do they come up with this stuff, "A Local Cable company bought the rights to the game?" Do they train them to tell the customers lies?

At least I got $85 out of the stupid CSR's.
That's why you always use the L2 support. The L1 is for stuff like "where did my favorites go?", "what's HD?", and "how do I set up a season pass?"
I never heard that excuse, it must have been a misconception among the L1 CSRs.

How did you get money out of that? I'm jealous. :D

If it's not already there, we should put that phone number at the beginning of the thread. It's also in the first page of "Hot Off the Press" in HD Programming.

This arrived tonight in my e-mail (even though I am a DirecTV customer):

We wanted you to be the first to know that Dish has agreed to carry MASN - effective immediately.

Sincerely,

Your friends at MASN

As for my comment above regarding India, my experience with DirecTV reps has been less than satisfying since they outsourced their call center there. Sorry - I am also in the IT profession which has been ravaged by offshoring.

And another Nats loss :(

Yeah, Dish has both MASN & MASN2. You just beat me to the post. :D

They have ESPN News running on now. BTW: Did you know that Scott Van Pelt went to Sherwood High School in Sandy Spring MD? Class of 84 I think.

For anyone interested, coverage maps for the local OTA transmitters have been posted in this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10127219&&#post10127219).

Best regards,
Andy
Andy has generated an updated transmitter file for the DC and Baltimore area in the sticky thread in the reception forum. It now includes all the DC stations, the stations in Hagerstown and Martinsburg, and the low power and translator stations out in the northern end of the Shenandoah & WV pan handle. I have downloaded the file and it is really neat looking at the coverage maps using Google Earth down to a neighborhood level for all these stations. These maps should be of high interest to those who live well away from DC in the further fringes of the DC reception area. I may post a couple of small snapshots tomorrow.

That's why you always use the L2 support. The L1 is for stuff like "where did my favorites go?", "what's HD?", and "how do I set up a season pass?".

I never heard that excuse, it must have been a misconception among the L1 CSRs.

How did you get money out of that? I'm jealous. :D

If it's not already there, we should put that phone number at the beginning of the thread. It's also in the first page of "Hot Off the Press" in HD Programming.

I got a card w/ a support # from D* saying I was a preferred customer and the # they were giving me was only for preferred customers and the wait would be less. I'm a sucker I guess. Anyway, I always know where that card is for the frantic dials at 1:00pm in the fall when they have blocked NFL games they shouldn't have. I usually get right through and I'm pretty sure those times are very busy for them with idiots calling saying they can't find their games in the ST pkg when they are on the locals. I dialed b4 I came on here and found the L2 #. I'll know better next time.

I had never heard of that excuse either. I couldn't find anything to substantiate it on their site or the web. This was what their site said (no mention of local cable companies buying the rights and blocking D*): http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/contentPage.jsp?assetId=1100045
She said that was what it said in their system and she couldn't provide me any documentation.

I have an HD Tivo, Reg Tivo and 2 Reg receivers. The 2 reg recievers I really only use during the fall for ST when I set up 3 TV's in my family room. I HATE calling them and so I still had the 2 reg recs active from the fall. I had her de-activate the 2 reg recs, told her that if local cable had better coverage of the Nats then I would have to consider moving to cable (she didn't know I'm hopelessly addicted to ST) and if I couldn't get my local team then they should upgrade my Extra Innings pkg to SuperFan. She said they couldn't do that but could give me $10 off for 6 mos and $25 off Extra Innings. At that point, I'd been on the phone over an hour and thought it was better than nothing so I took it.