Nesn HD and other RSN Info

[Jimbo]

Why arent you happy? At no point did D* state it would.

Hey we took a shot on a rumor and it didnt pan out bfd.

NO NO No,

I have no problem..
I am not happy because Stevie Y has retired.
No problem with D*

Actually I should be happy, but I would have liked to see him one more year.

Jimbo

 

[Jimbo]

Just to let everyone know in Atlanta our RSN TunerSouthHD is on Channel 96 right now live showing the Braves game!!!! PQ is just like OTA! AMAZING!!!

Looks pretty da*n good on ESPN HD as well.
and winning too !!!

Jimbo

 

[boston area dtv]

Looks pretty da*n good on ESPN HD as well.
and winning too !!!

Jimbo

Well its going to happen little by little the RSNs in HD are coming to D*

 

[Questioner]

Why arent you happy? At no point did D* state it would.

Hey we took a shot on a rumor and it didnt pan out bfd.

It panned out pretty well for everyone else on the list!

 

[dan8379]

So I'm in Atlanta and have this on 96 also....how does this work? Will those in other markets see different games scheduled on 96? What does someone not in Atlanta see on 96 right now?

 

[boston area dtv]

Dont fret Questioner..it didnt work out for me either. While a few months ago I thought we wouldnt be getting NESN for a long time I now think by the end of the month it is a definite posiblity.

 

[Questioner]

Well for people in the red sox zone we dont even have a channel 96.

 

[dan8379]

Unfortunately, I'm not an Atlantan originally, so I don't even really like the Braves. But it's still nice having more HD sports options!

 

[hancox]

Well its going to happen little by little the RSNs in HD are coming to D*

Good post. This has always been our understanding, as well.

 

[Questioner]

Good post. This has always been our understanding, as well.

Well according to the info, nesn was supposed to launch july 1st, and every other rsn did to my knowledge, albeit partime, just not all had games on saturday. That leaves an unsettling feeling.

 

[boston area dtv]

Good post. This has always been our understanding, as well.

Maybe I will take it one step more into conspiracy theory land. I think D* knew that E* was going to kick their HD a$$ in the interim until D* launches the new sats in 07.

To prevent or disuade people from jumping ship D* came up with the two year commitment. I know the word is they did it to defray the expense of losing the HD equipment if a sub cancels service but I think there is more to it.

I think that D* used the 2 year commitment as a way of holding onto its customers until it will be able to compete.

Now E* knows it has an advantage and that D* is lagging so its putting on a full court press to bury D* while it can. Adding station after station of HD content.

D* has to respond this summer and fall. Sooner than it wanted to. But it has to respond. The place that makes sense is to ad local RSNs in HD.

Lets face it if E* gets NESN HD and YES HD first ...game set match E* can start doin' donuts in the infield.

 

[bgilga]

In order for E* to get YES HD, they have to get YES. I don't think that is going to happen anytime soon.

 

[SF Bay Area]

FSN Bay Area HD now on ch 96

Last Night, the Oakland-Detroit baseball game was on ch 96 in full HD resolution for the first time. The picture was great but there was no sound. Still some bugs to work out. My H20 mpeg 4 receiver was able to pick up the broadcast but not my mpeg 2 receivers, so the downlink definitely came from the 103 ka sat by spotbeam which also has the LIL networks in HD for the San Francisco Bay Area. Ch 96 is not in use this morning as it only comes on if there is an HD broadcast. I wonder how many other RSN's are now on spotbeam ch 96 if the game is in HD?

 

[keenan]

Last Night, the Oakland-Detroit baseball game was on ch 96 in full HD resolution for the first time. The picture was great but there was no sound. Still some bugs to work out. My H20 mpeg 4 receiver was able to pick up the broadcast but not my mpeg 2 receivers, so the downlink definitely came from the 103 ka sat by spotbeam which also has the LIL networks in HD for the San Francisco Bay Area. Ch 96 is not in use this morning as it only comes on if there is an HD broadcast. I wonder how many other RSN's are now on spotbeam ch 96 if the game is in HD?

Channel 96 is a different signal/transponder in different markets. The designator "96" is just a local channel mapping number. For example, in Atlanta Ch 96 is probably carrying a Braves game while 96 in SF is showing the Giants, two completely different signals, sources and transponders.

 

[games2K5]

Ditto Keenan - I live in the Hartford, CT area and have seen the upper 90 block range run with games out of my area. Still to date my channel guide doesn't show a channle 96 am I doing something wrong? IF I manually goto 96 the channle flips to 'Lifetime'?!

 

[mazter17]

Just got this email from D*

Thanks for writing. We are currently showing Red Sox games in HD on NESN and we often add programming based on customer requests. I have forwarded your request to offer the whole NESN channel in HD our programming department.

DIRECTV is committed to providing the best in HDTV programming. To do so, we're in constant discussions with various program providers to increase the number of high definition channels and programs we offer.

Also, you are important to us and we certainly want to keep you as a customer. We know you have a choice in providers, and we must continually earn your business.

A service specialist will call you in the next few days to discuss what we can do to meet your needs.

Thank you for your patience, and for giving us the chance to respond to your concerns.

Sincerely,

Agnes
DIRECTV Customer Service

 

[Questioner]

More inaccurate info from customer service. They are not showing nesn games in hd even parttime.

 

[Jimbo]

Maybe I will take it one step more into conspiracy theory land. I think D* knew that E* was going to kick their HD a$$ in the interim until D* launches the new sats in 07.

To prevent or disuade people from jumping ship D* came up with the two year commitment. I know the word is they did it to defray the expense of losing the HD equipment if a sub cancels service but I think there is more to it.

I think that D* used the 2 year commitment as a way of holding onto its customers until it will be able to compete.

Now E* knows it has an advantage and that D* is lagging so its putting on a full court press to bury D* while it can. Adding station after station of HD content.

D* has to respond this summer and fall. Sooner than it wanted to. But it has to respond. The place that makes sense is to ad local RSNs in HD.

Lets face it if E* gets NESN HD and YES HD first ...game set match E* can start doin' donuts in the infield.

I am sure everything you mentioned was in the back of D*'s mind when they started this project, they knew DISH would do thier best to jump ahead.
When I started, DISH was not way ahead...

D* knows waht they are doing (the CSR's may not) but the people making desigins do

Jimbo

 

[bgilga]

The question I have is this. When MSG, SNY, FSNY, and YES all go to HD this fall, will I be getting the HD feeds here in PA. Those are my RSN's according to D*. I know I will need the new dish, but I should be getting that by September.

 

[SF Bay Area]

Ch 96 RSN is spotbeam

Channel 96 is a different signal/transponder in different markets. The designator "96" is just a local channel mapping number. For example, in Atlanta Ch 96 is probably carrying a Braves game while 96 in SF is showing the Giants, two completely different signals, sources and transponders.

Sorry to disagree with part of your explanation. The Regional Sports Networks seen on ch 96 are downlinked using spotbeam. It is true that the San Francisco RSN and the Atlanta RSN may be using different transponders on the Satellite. However, Spot Beam technology allows Direct TV and Echostar to transmit to multiple cities as long as the spotbeam does not overlap and the transponder has available bandwith. A theoretic example could be, the HD Locals for New York, Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles could be spot beamed using the same transponder since the spotbeams would not overlap. Likewise, Seattle, Las Vegas, Atlanta and Boston could be downlinked using the same transponder. Currently, Direct TV is using a different transponder for each new city that is added in HD. Eventually, they will reach a point where they will have to use an individual transponder for multiple cities. Each Ka Satellite has 48 transponders compared with 32 transponders on the Ku birds. Obviously, there are more than 96 (2 ka sats) markets, so there has to be be multiple DMA's on the same spot beam.

The important issue here is that Direct TV broadcasting RSN's in HD will prevent people from dumping Satellite and moving to Cable. Comcast has been broadcasting local RSN's in HD for several months now and sports are the real benefit of HD Technology. Ch 96 will retain a lot of viewers who would have jumped to cable.