Raleigh HD locals...no FOX..no CBS

[netPOSER]

WRAL and WRAZ will not grant you a waiver...period. They are independently owned by Capital Broadcasting, thus not held to the agreements that D* has with stations owned by the networks. Granting waivers simply isn't their best interest, as it reduces their negotiating power and takes advertising revenue out of their pockets.

That said, they both generate the absolute best local HD signal and you should have no troubel locking in on them with a decent OTA. You will be happier anyway as the OTA picture is noticably better than D*'s compressed signal.

I tried to ask the D CSR if this was a waist of time or not. She kept on stating we had to go the waiver route. I asked her if anyone has been granted a waiver from WRAL/WRAZ and she wouldn't answer the question.

I'll wait and catch up with these girls on HDNet

 

[theANTIcable]

Send an email to the following address (wral-tvengineeringinfo@wral.com), tell them you have D* and want to be able to see WRAL and WRAZ in HD and WRAL will do a location study based on your zip code and send you a FREE OTA antenna.
Here is the text of the message they sent to me:

>It is true...WRAL is giving antennas away to viewers who've purchased
>HDTVs or receivers.
>
>In order to participate in the giveaway, I need the following:
>
>1. Copy of the sales receipt for an HDTV or receiver
>2. Your home address (must be a street address...no PO Box numbers)
>
>3. Home telephone number (for delivery purposes only...no one will
>call unless there's a problem with delivery)
>
>You can send me this information via email, fax, or regular mail. The
>email address is wral-tvengineeringinfo@wral.com
>
>The fax number is 919-821-8679. And our mailing address is:
>
>WRAL-TV Antenna Giveaway
>PO Box 12000
>Raleigh, NC 27605
>
>Once I receive your proof of purchase information, I will forward it to
>Matt Brandes, our Transmitter Supervisor. He will run a terrain study,
>and then email me with the antenna model number that will work best for
>your location. I will order that particular model for you from the
>manufacturer, and they will ship it directly to you at the address you
>provide, at no cost to you.
>
>Hope this information is helpful.
>

 

[Pakbackr]

You are correct; WRAL sent me my HD OTA for free! I paid $120 for a Square-shooter" HD antenna and it simply couldn't pull in the signals from where I live. I sent an email to the WRAL folks, and they sent me a much nicer one and ever since, my reception has been great. Matt Brandes is da man! He came to my house in Holly Springs and did a signal test, and helped me lock in on the best OTA signal. Its hard to find any fault with how WRAL handles their HD customer issues!

 

[netPOSER]

Thanks for the info.

I just sent the email with attached D* receipt (PDF).

Let's see what happens.

 

[Hoopty]

Thanks for the info! What kind of antenna did WRAL send you? Did you have to install it yourself?

 

[Pakbackr]

Thanks for the info! What kind of antenna did WRAL send you? Did you have to install it yourself?

Honestly, I can't remember. I want to say it was a ChannelMaster, but I may be wrong on that. I do know it is a "directional" as opposed to a multi-directional. I am 30 miles away from WRAL's tower and I suppose they felt this is what I needed to zero in on their signal. Bad news is that I cannot pick up the PBS signals in Chapel Hill.

 

[jpn]

You are correct; WRAL sent me my HD OTA for free! I paid $120 for a Square-shooter" HD antenna and it simply couldn't pull in the signals from where I live. I sent an email to the WRAL folks, and they sent me a much nicer one and ever since, my reception has been great. Matt Brandes is da man! He came to my house in Holly Springs and did a signal test, and helped me lock in on the best OTA signal. Its hard to find any fault with how WRAL handles their HD customer issues!

Good deal!

The SquareShooter is a great little antenna... if your signal-source is close and unobstructed. You should try to sell it on eBay, or in the satguys classifieds. I would think that an enterprising installer might like to pick one up on the cheap, and turn a small profit for the right customer.

 

[Pakbackr]

The SquareShooter is a great little antenna... if your signal-source is close and unobstructed. You should try to sell it on eBay, or in the satguys classifieds.

Me, being the nice guy I am, gave it to a friend in my Sunday School class. He lives much closer to the towers and its working great for him!

 

[dogbreath]

Buy the dish (value electronics) and install it yourself. It does not take a genius to set up the 5 lnb dish.

 

[netPOSER]

I got the dreaded "Denied" postcard in the mail last week denying my request for the NY/LA affiliates for CBS and FOX. WRAL put the hammer down. But a day later I got an email from WRAL stating they put in an order to the HD Antenna manufacturer form my OTA HD Antenna--sweet.

 

[ejdowden]

I just thought of something. I live in Chapel Hill zip code 27516 and for my SD locals, I get the Raleigh locals plus CBS 2 and FOX 8 from Greensboro. But for HD locals, I only get the raleigh locals minus WRAL and WRAZ. Does anyone know why D* does not have the neighboring locals for HD like they do for SD? If they did, this would resolve the CBS, FOX issues for some of us.

 

[jpn]

I just thought of something. I live in Chapel Hill zip code 27516 and for my SD locals, I get the Raleigh locals plus CBS 2 and FOX 8 from Greensboro. But for HD locals, I only get the raleigh locals minus WRAL and WRAZ. Does anyone know why D* does not have the neighboring locals for HD like they do for SD? If they did, this would resolve the CBS, FOX issues for some of us.

WRAL and WRAZ haven't authorized D* to carry their HD signals in the Raleigh DMA. Why would they authorize D* to show them in neighboring DMA's?

It's not about D*, it's about WRAL and WRAZ restricting retransmit of their HD signal.

 

[ejdowden]

What I am trying to say is that if D* offered me Neighboring HD locals (CBS 2 and FOX 8) like they do for SD, then I would not need WRAL or WRAZ.

 

[jpn]

What I am trying to say is that if D* offered me Neighboring HD locals (CBS 2 and FOX 8) like they do for SD, then I would not need WRAL or WRAZ.

Okay, I understand better now.

But the same principle applies: why would WRAZ or WRAL allow the Greensboro HD signals to be sent into their DMA? They aren't stupid, I've got to believe that it's still WRAL and WRAZ playing hardball and just getting in the way of potential HD viewers. I think that if D* legally could, they would.

Nonetheless, I still don't understand why WRAL and WRAZ are doing any of this. The demographics still show that HD viewers tend to have more money to spend, so why not maximize that lucrative viewing audience?

 

[ejdowden]

Does anyone know why D* does not offer Neighboring Local channels for HD like they do for SD?

 

[cdecourt]

WRAL-HD, WRAZ-HD, DirecTV

Capitol Broadcasting Company is pleased to announce that DirecTV, WRAL-HD, and WRAZ-HD have reached an agreement that allows DirecTV to provide WRAL-HD and WRAZ-HD signals to their paying subscribers.

As most of you are aware, DirecTV’s current spot beam only covers 75% of the TV house holds in the Raleigh market. According to DirecTV if you live in one of the listed zip codes below you may be apart of the 25% of the market that is affected. While this coverage is not optimum for either party, DirecTV is working aggressively to resolve this technical issue and they hope to have a new spot beam in place to cover the entire market by the end of the year.

There is more good news for DirecTV HD-DVR owners. Approximately 30 days ago DirecTV started pushing updates to the HD-DVRs to fix the off air tuner problem. If this was an issue for you I suggest you check out your HD-DVR and see if the update has been downloaded to your device. Please remember that the over-the-air HD signal is still far superior to the HD signal provided by DirecTV and you will also be able to see the additional standard definition signals that all of the local stations include in their HD streams.

Here are the effected zip codes:

23915
24529
27302
27537
27565
27581
27844
28361
23917
24580
27305
27537
27565
27582
27850
28370
23919
24598
27325
27541
27570
27583
27850
28373
23920
27209
27341
27541
27572
27583
27870
28374
23924
27231
27343
27551
27572
27584
27887
28376
23927
27242
27356
27553
27572
27586
27890
28377
23950
27243
27376
27553
27572
27589
28315
28386
23964
27278
27507
27556
27573
27594
28315
28387
23968
27281
27507
27563
27574
27823
28327
28388
23970
27291
27536
27565
27574
27839
28357



While DirecTV and Capitol Broadcasting realize this is not a perfect solution for the entire market, it is the best that both parties can do at this juncture. We sincerely appreciate your patience as DirecTV and Capitol Broadcasting have worked to provide you with the best possible solution to see both WRAL-HD and WRAZ-HD via DirecTV or over-the-air

Dish Update: Capitol Broadcasting is still waiting for a counter offer from Dish. We started negotiations in October and are hopeful to regain momentum soon. If you are a Dish subscriber and have not yet taken advantage of our free over-the-air antenna giveaway program, please follow this link to participate. http://www.wral.com/wral-tv/story/1180307/

 

[grydlok]

Nice


Can this make the front page? or it is still reserved for dish.

 

[netPOSER]

Capitol Broadcasting Company is pleased to announce that DirecTV, WRAL-HD, and WRAZ-HD have reached an agreement that allows DirecTV to provide WRAL-HD and WRAZ-HD signals to their paying subscribers.

As most of you are aware, DirecTV’s current spot beam only covers 75% of the TV house holds in the Raleigh market. According to DirecTV if you live in one of the listed zip codes below you may be apart of the 25% of the market that is affected. While this coverage is not optimum for either party, DirecTV is working aggressively to resolve this technical issue and they hope to have a new spot beam in place to cover the entire market by the end of the year.

There is more good news for DirecTV HD-DVR owners. Approximately 30 days ago DirecTV started pushing updates to the HD-DVRs to fix the off air tuner problem. If this was an issue for you I suggest you check out your HD-DVR and see if the update has been downloaded to your device. Please remember that the over-the-air HD signal is still far superior to the HD signal provided by DirecTV and you will also be able to see the additional standard definition signals that all of the local stations include in their HD streams.

Here are the effected zip codes:

23915
24529
27302
27537
27565
27581
27844
28361
23917
24580
27305
27537
27565
27582
27850
28370
23919
24598
27325
27541
27570
27583
27850
28373
23920
27209
27341
27541
27572
27583
27870
28374
23924
27231
27343
27551
27572
27584
27887
28376
23927
27242
27356
27553
27572
27586
27890
28377
23950
27243
27376
27553
27572
27589
28315
28386
23964
27278
27507
27556
27573
27594
28315
28387
23968
27281
27507
27563
27574
27823
28327
28388
23970
27291
27536
27565
27574
27839
28357



While DirecTV and Capitol Broadcasting realize this is not a perfect solution for the entire market, it is the best that both parties can do at this juncture. We sincerely appreciate your patience as DirecTV and Capitol Broadcasting have worked to provide you with the best possible solution to see both WRAL-HD and WRAZ-HD via DirecTV or over-the-air

Dish Update: Capitol Broadcasting is still waiting for a counter offer from Dish. We started negotiations in October and are hopeful to regain momentum soon. If you are a Dish subscriber and have not yet taken advantage of our free over-the-air antenna giveaway program, please follow this link to participate. http://www.wral.com/wral-tv/story/1180307/

I got the same email but I'm not sure what they are saying.

Are they saying that Channel 5 and 50 on my DirecTV will be in HD if, and only if, your zip code is listed?

I just installed the HD OTA antenna yesterday. No biggie since it's just sitting on the ground outside my window.

 

[jpn]

I got the same email but I'm not sure what they are saying.

Are they saying that Channel 5 and 50 on my DirecTV will be in HD if, and only if, your zip code is listed?

I just installed the HD OTA antenna yesterday. No biggie since it's just sitting on the ground outside my window.

I don't think that zip code list is entirely correct. My zip (27587) is in the spotbeam, but not in the list. I get the rest of the Raleigh locals, it only makes sense that I'm in the spotbeam.

I have been unable to confirm this story via any official source (WRAL, WRAZ, or DirecTV). I'd expect at least one of the participants to have a press release posted somewhere.

 

[grydlok]

I don't think that zip code list is entirely correct. My zip (27587) is in the spotbeam, but not in the list. I get the rest of the Raleigh locals, it only makes sense that I'm in the spotbeam.

I have been unable to confirm this story via any official source (WRAL, WRAZ, or DirecTV). I'd expect at least one of the participants to have a press release posted somewhere.

Story broke on DBStalk and avs yesterday.