nope. Came home and had the D* logo recording....oh well
got to catch part of it on the SD feed which looked blah but worked.
got to catch part of it on the SD feed which looked blah but worked.
Center Ice Standard Def? in 2011? what?
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Reviving a bit of an old thread here..
I'm interested in switching to DirecTV for more HD NHL Center Ice games than I currently get with my cable company.
I'm primarily interested in the Canadian teams, and I'm just learning about the issues around the HD feeds from there.
One thing I'm wondering: Is DirecTV getting HD feeds of Hockey Night in Canada on Saturdays so far this season? I see in their Center Ice lineup guide that the games appear to be scheduled on HD channels, but I had also heard some folks saying that even games that were scheduled were not showing up when it came time to the game.
Any experience with this, guys? Thanks.
I'm interested in switching to DirecTV for more HD NHL Center Ice games than I currently get with my cable company.
I'm primarily interested in the Canadian teams, and I'm just learning about the issues around the HD feeds from there.
One thing I'm wondering: Is DirecTV getting HD feeds of Hockey Night in Canada on Saturdays so far this season? I see in their Center Ice lineup guide that the games appear to be scheduled on HD channels, but I had also heard some folks saying that even games that were scheduled were not showing up when it came time to the game.
Any experience with this, guys? Thanks.
I moved your post off of an old thread ot the more current one
We have not had a HNIC feed on the NHL CI channels in HD yet. Ones from the NHL Net yes but not NHL CI
Also **most** games featuring two Canadian teams will only have a SD feed. Last weeks Flames/Habs game from TSN WAS in HD but that is more the exception than the norm. If a Canadian team plays a US team there will be a HD feed from the US RSN (but the opponents announcers)
examples tonight
-Leafs/Bruins
-Habs/Pens
-Jets/Sens
-Rangers/Flames
-Wild/Oilers
-Preds/Canucks
All have one feed in the guide and in HD...so it will be the US team feed
Jets/Sens right now shows in HD...but we've seen that before and never got it in HD
-Leafs/Bruins
-Habs/Pens
-Jets/Sens
-Rangers/Flames
-Wild/Oilers
-Preds/Canucks
All have one feed in the guide and in HD...so it will be the US team feed
Jets/Sens right now shows in HD...but we've seen that before and never got it in HD
Thanks, this helps clarify and I'm glad I'm not the only person interested in this 
Would be good to keep getting updates from you guys who have DirecTV on whether you start to see any increase in the HD games for Canadian teams, especially in the cases where it's listed in the guide (and doesn't end up being unavailable).
It's interesting that you're seeing the odd game show up randomly (like the TSN-HD Flames one).
Has anyone actually called DirecTV and gotten ahold of someone who knows what they are talking about in the programming department that can help explain what arrangement they have, and why they might be getting some games from Canadian broadcasters but not others?
Would be good to keep getting updates from you guys who have DirecTV on whether you start to see any increase in the HD games for Canadian teams, especially in the cases where it's listed in the guide (and doesn't end up being unavailable).
It's interesting that you're seeing the odd game show up randomly (like the TSN-HD Flames one).
Has anyone actually called DirecTV and gotten ahold of someone who knows what they are talking about in the programming department that can help explain what arrangement they have, and why they might be getting some games from Canadian broadcasters but not others?
If this is the case, who is carrying 9? I have FIOS and after signing up with CI I realized only up to TWO games were in HD per night but usually only one so I quickly canceled before I was billed and the season started. This is the case with cable. If anybody carries more than two in the cable world please let us know.
The better option, which I am doing, is Gamcenter Live on the website. ALL games are HD and you can watch it on your phone, computer, tablet, or many other devices such as the Playstation 3. The price is $20 a month for 8 months or straight up $160... so that works out to about the same as Center Ice.
Now this is ironic....
Saturday's HNIC games (the main ones) are showing in guide as HD
Leafs/Habs & Rangers/Oilers shows HD
Flames/Sens/Jets all play early game against US team and only one HD feed for those games (opponent feed)
Saturday's HNIC games (the main ones) are showing in guide as HD
Leafs/Habs & Rangers/Oilers shows HD
Flames/Sens/Jets all play early game against US team and only one HD feed for those games (opponent feed)
I don't know who has nine feeds currently but I've been told that Verizon does plan to expand CI to include them. I've also read that some Time Warner systems have been upgraded. Take it all with a grain of salt since I can't verify it myself.
Will be very interesting to see if those actually end up coming through in HD with the CBC feed...
I guess Jets-Senators game is giving Directv trouble tonight. Both the SD & HD channel is saying they are having technical difficulties. They are probably trying to figure out how they are going to get that HD feed to show up..lol
I was all set to pull the trigger on switching to DirecTV to fulfil my dream of getting all Canadian hockey in HD here in Seattle, but now I'm not so sure.. I record a lot of east coast games on DVR while I'm at work, and I'd be worried about recording an HD feed and just ending up with a blank screen to watch when I get home.
Great to see the dialog though - you guys have a lot of valuable info on this for prospective customers.
I record a lot of east coast games on DVR while I'm at work, and I'd be worried about recording an HD feed and just ending up with a blank screen to watch when I get home.Great to see the dialog though - you guys have a lot of valuable info on this for prospective customers.
Would be really interesting to know if any subscribers have talked to someone up high enough in their sports programming department to understand what the technical/legal/whatever issues are with the Canadian HD feeds. Since it seems like they appear "sometimes", it can't be a one-size-fits-all answer...
On TWC we are getting the HNIC and Rogers Sportsnet games in HD,; but only get the TSN games in HD if they are on the NHL Network.
I emailed the NHL programming department about this and received no response, twice. There's no rhyme or reason for some Canadian HD games being available and some not. D* does have the channel capacity. I don't get why HNIC is in HD on NHL net and not when NHL preempts HNIC for some USA teams. Then there is the TSN thing... I found a game the other night that blacked out the commercials but the game was in HD.
Very strange. We do pay a pretty penny for this package. They need to get their head out of their rear and put the games up in HD. Is it Directv's fault or the NHL? Some claim both. That's where we begin to solve this idiotic chaos.
I have Dish and all most US feeds have not just one HD feed but they have two feeds, both teams.
I have NEVER seen any HD feeds from ANY Canadian teams unless they are on NHL Network .
It seems that this year the NHL Network is nolonger doing HNIC feeds on Saterday like they did in the last few years.
This week they have the Wings game on. They do carry the HNIC pre game half hour at 6:30 .
I did look in on TW cable last year and they told me that they had only ONE HD feed and that one was shared with the NBA!
Interesting. It's amazing that neither NHL nor D* can give a clear cut answer on what the policy is, an what limitations they have
Directv seems to have some TSN raw feeds now + SNET-O.
They also have MSG-B, MSG and MSG+ HD (remaps).
In demand does not have ANY TSN HD or MSG HD they seem to have CSN Philly + most of the rogers feeds (but do not make full use of them) + CBC HD.
In demand also has Kdoc HD but only WGN SD and plan to have WGN SD and not sportsnet oilers SD.
Now how hard will it be for D* to mirror WGN HD to a main beam spot? Also that same feed can be used for NBA LP and maybe even to have the WGN and maybe also the WCIU games (bulls, sox , cubs) open to people in the teams area but not in the Chicago DMA? MLB EI also can use a WGN HD feed.
They also have MSG-B, MSG and MSG+ HD (remaps).
In demand does not have ANY TSN HD or MSG HD they seem to have CSN Philly + most of the rogers feeds (but do not make full use of them) + CBC HD.
In demand also has Kdoc HD but only WGN SD and plan to have WGN SD and not sportsnet oilers SD.
Now how hard will it be for D* to mirror WGN HD to a main beam spot? Also that same feed can be used for NBA LP and maybe even to have the WGN and maybe also the WCIU games (bulls, sox , cubs) open to people in the teams area but not in the Chicago DMA? MLB EI also can use a WGN HD feed.
It's more of a regional anomaly based on where you're located. The TWC cable system in NY actually carries CBC because that market is close enough to the border that many folks in the Buffalo area can pick it up OTA, and so TWC has worked out broadcast rights to carry CBC in HD. Since they already have the feed, they map it into Center Ice. It's the same deal with Rogers SportsNet -- TWC has worked out broadcast rights because of the large population of Blue Jays fans along the border.
That TWC also carries MSG as the regular RSN is also another reason why you get more games in HD on Center Ice than cable systems in the rest of the country. Since TWC already gets the HD broadcasts from MSG directly, they can add them to their CI package without relying solely on the 2 channels produced by InDemand.
There are a myriad of reasons that are both contractual and technical. The NHL can't comment definitively because they don't have control over the technical limitations of their broadcast partners (ie, 2 channel HD limit for most InDemand cable systems, Dish's HD channel limits), and DirecTV likely won't comment because the CSR staff isn't going to be privy to the contracts that have been negotiated for carriage rights.
The NHL produces a set of feeds to be used by pay TV providers in both the US and Canada so they have a feed to use in the event they don't already have carriage rights for the network airing the game. Last year the satellite distributed feeds from the NHL were 100% SD; that may have changed this year, but it's unlikely it has changed much. If the feed cuts from commercials to an NHL splash screen or NHL highlights, then you're watching an NHL produced channel. If you get real commercials, then it's a network for which direct redistribution rights have been negotiated.
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