Minneapolis, MN - OTA - Page 57

 

If they're really that bad, I wouldn't even contact TiVo first, or even the host station there - I'd call the main, Weigel-owned channel (WCIU, who also owns, runs and carries the This, That and MeTV subchannels) here in Chicago. They've always kept on top of them to keep things straight (both here and in Milwaukee, from what I saw when I used to be able to get them out of there, too).

 

Weigel is neither too big nor too small not to care or do anything. They're a fairly big, well-run, reasonably high-powered, decades old, local independent channel, that shows some local pro sports and is generally receptive to the public. I'm pretty sure you'll get a real live person (at least a receptionist). In fact, now that I think of it, you can just come over to our local OTA thread first, and give a shout out to "hvs10trak", who works there, and he might be able to do something about it.

Edited by Rammitinski - 9/9/12 at 7:30am

Why would you call WCIU? WCIU is not commonly owned or controlled with Tribune, TiVO, Bounce TV, or Fox Television Stations. Why would they have any control over the situation?

And, for the record, I read every e-mail we get to the main e-mail address at RTV, as well as the main Luken e-mail address. You'd be surprised how many people cannot tell the difference between us and Me-TV or Antenna TV.

- Trip

Before I even saw your response, I took out the "rinky-dink" description because I thought it might be taken wrong by someone else. 

 

I still stand by it, though, comparatively speaking, in this market.

 

Some is the fault of WPVN's shoddy engineering, but you can sure tell the difference between Retro and those others here. It looks considerably worse - but to be fair, WPVN does appear to be using really old encoders. But the programming they show is mostly very old, worn-out prints. And that's Retro's doing.

 

As for WCIU, why not? They own ThisTV, and I figure it can't hurt to at least try, if it's really as bad as he says, and no one can get anywhere with the others. 

Edited by Rammitinski - 9/9/12 at 9:04pm

What does This TV have to do with Tribune, TiVO, Bounce TV, or Fox Television Stations? Why would Weigel be interested in helping you watch one of their competitors, Bounce TV and/or Fox, outside of the two markets in which they, themselves, carry it? In Chicago and Milwaukee, they would benefit from you watching Bounce since they are affiliated with it and have local advertising on it, I would assume. In Minneapolis, it would only take viewers away from This TV and Me-TV on KSTC.

If you e-mailed RTV asking for help with this problem, we would direct you to Tribune, TiVO, Bounce TV, and/or Fox Television Stations--people who can actually do something about it. I mean, sure, it can't hurt to e-mail us, but it also wouldn't get him any closer to a resolution.

(Discussion of WPVN and RTV is off-subject for this thread, where neither WPVN nor RTV are available, so I will decline to discuss them.)

- Trip

Back to the topic at hand, for the record I have contacted both Tribune and Tivo (Tivo several times.) Tribune responded with an email that contained in part: I received that response two weeks ago and the problem is still unresolved as of this posting. There's no reason a company whose job it is to be on top of this stuff should create such a problem in the first place, let alone take this long to catch and resolve it after they have been notified of its existence from at least two sources (and likely three, since I know KMSP contacted them several times during the eight months or so that it took Tribune to update the mapping after the initial change.)

Does anybody here watch KMSP news on their webpage? I enjoy having that option and I would love to see WCCO, KSTP, and KARE offer that as well.

I regularly watch KMSP at 10pm and occasionally 9pm but I've never streamed it. When streaming can you chose the time you want to watch and does it have commercials? Lastly what is the quality of the streaming? I really like it now that KMSP has went HD for local news, I'd hate to go backwards.....To me the picture quality is almost as important as the news quality which is why I just can't watch KSTP but even though WCCO is probably the sharpest broadcast I'm just not a regular watcher. KARE seems to have the best of both worlds with KMSP now a close second IMO.

I know I won't have a chance to call again for quite a while, so I called Tivo again today and was on the phone for over an hour (including wait time) trying to get the 9-2 and 29-2 issues resolved along with some other minor things I had previously called about.

I got a really patient and thorough representative who had me walk through the virtual channel numbers, call letters and frequency assignments repeatedly. He really seemed to understand the source of the problem and said it would be escalated for someone to directly communicate with Tribune about the issue. This is more than anyone else has done, so I actually think there's a chance now that it will be straightened out reasonably soon.

I think that's about the full extent of the time and energy that I can expend on getting things updated for two minor subchannels that only really have value for those with reception issues or limited recording space. If it doesn't get fixed in the next week or so, anyone who's still bothered by the problems will have to start calling or emailing instead.

No, you watch it in real time. They do NOT air commercial advertisements, however. The insert a screen stating FOX 9 News will return shortly or something to that effect. The quality is fine by me. I like it because occasionally I might be at work and have access to a computer, but not be near a TV. I suppose I could email WCCO, KSTP, and KARE, but I rather doubt that there is much incentive for them to do this.

As a side note, I miss the days when KSTP would re-broadcast their local news. (Unless they are still doing that and I just haven't tuned it at the right time.)

As do I! It was the only time I really watched KSTP and I watched it quite a bit. I was OK watching their SD newscast on a SD channel, just don't care to watch it on a HD channel on a large screen.
I keep hoping the blank 5. channel will come back with Rewind but I'm not holding my breath.
Both my parents also watched Rewind so I know you and I aren't the only ones who regularly watched it......

It looks like they may have gotten 1/2 the job done -- 9-2 now appears correct on my Tivo, but 29-2 is still the same.

Same here. 9-2 now has the right listings and RF assignment (and is viewable now) while 29-2 is still mapped wrong and not tunable.There was no message about the change on my Tivo. It's interesting that 9-2 still has the wrong call letters assigned to it, but that's not a big deal as long as the guide information is correct and the channel is working properly. Hopefully fixing 29-2 will follow soon.

not a big thing but Daystar hasnt been on for last couple days
channel 62 (RF31)

dont know what happened...

its back on today

I'm not getting picture or sound yet, but my TV is getting a signal on 29-3 (UHF29) and says that I Spy is supposed to be on at the moment. Looks like WFTC is in the process of launching BounceTV

On page 6 of the October issue of TPT Magazine, there's an article about changes coming to TPT Life, including this bit of information: The article doesn't mention if it'll be 720p or 1080i, but either way it's great that they'll finally be making full use of the bandwidth available to 2-3 and we'll no longer be stuck watching HD content shrunk down to windowboxed SD. The new programming schedule is supposed to start October 1st, so let's hope the change to HD will happen then as well!

Edit: The October issue of TPT Magazine can be downloaded in PDF form here

BounceTV is now live on 29-3 (UHF29)

Yep, getting it too. Note the first time I typed in 29.3 I just got a duplicate of 29.1 but the second time Bounce came in....Not sure how often I'll watch it but since 29 is only 720p it should be able to spare a few bits
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bounce_TV\

Rant: Watched KSTP's DWTS last night and it just about made my stomach turn KSTP is so darn bit starved anytime their was fast motion or particularly during the two live music acts it looked absolutely terrible The picture would macroblock to where I could hardly see the picture, it almost looked like a bad special effect! If this is the future of HD it's really sad! I have a fairly nice HDTV but it's only 46", I can only imagine what something like DWTS would look like on a 65" or larger display
KSTP seems to be running <5GBs/hr.(about the size of a single layer DVD which can barely hold 1hr. of quality MPEG2 SD) IMO is WAY to much compression. Nice for the DVR since it can hold almost twice as much KSTP as WCCO but I'll take WCCO any day, its HD puts KSTP to shame Of course I like KSTPs sub channels(Antenna and Me in particular, IMO Livewell is a waste of bandwidth) but it would be nice if they put the majority of the subs along with KSTC(ch 45) and left KSTP alone or maybe with 1 sub(and get rid of the bandwidth robbing 7mbps of MDTV). Their current setup is really awful IMO

Does anyone know if I purchased a HD FTA dish and receiver would I be able to get better ABC HD or would that be scrambled?
Edited by jjeff - 9/26/12 at 1:31pm

yup came up after noon or so

it is free (in the clear) but it requires a 8 foot dish or greater (Its on C-Band)

Great news! I wish the same was being done for the Minnesota channel but I'll take what I can get. I guess my only reasoning for that one would be to watch the BSU hockey games in HD.

LiveWell doesnt take much bandwidth and the rest are on 45 (well RF45)

blame that stupid (my opinion) mobile DTV crap for the picture looking like hell

very cool. That will be nice for it to be HD

So it wouldn't be on the smaller FTA dish? I think the FTA is <1 meter and might be doable, no way a 8' dish would fly

positive
I've worked with free to air for about 9 years now so yeah the only ABC feeds are on C-Band (6 foot and larger but ABC requires an 8 footer)
There are news feeds on KU (which requires a 30"-39" dish) but no network feeds....

hopefully they figure out the bandwidth...it is VERY bit starved. Watched Fat Albert and it was very pixelated/blurry when the program panned

looks worse that what I see on PBJ (on Free to air)

I assume you're referring to the PBJ Ku feed, not the C-band feeds.

- Trip

yes on the KU feed

The C-Band one isnt as bad

ABC affiliate KETV in Omaha is regularly on Ku during the evening hours, but only in SD and with messed up audio if the source program airs in 5.1 surround. If I'm in the mood for out-of-market news, though, I'll sometimes watch the 10 PM newscasts, which look and sound fine.

and thats why I didnt mention that. I figured the poster wanted HD feed not compressed SD