Palm Springs Locals to launch 1/16/08 on DIRECTV

[Stuart Sweet]

I have it on extremely good authority that Palm Springs, CA locals will be available on DIRECTV in January 16, 2008.

I have no further details as to exactly which stations or whether they will be HD or SD, but they are forthcoming.

[Stuart Sweet]

The previous thread was split out so we can discuss Palm Springs locals. All right all you out there in KESQ, KDFX, and KMIR land... this one's for you!

[spreggin]

excited... but not holding my breath.

[ricksterinps]

Looking at a thread on Satelliteguys.us, it shows that the channels include ABC, FOX, PBS, NBC, TNO, and MNT. So the CW, which I believe is owned by KESQ and CBS2 isn't going to be available. So I will still have to have OTA in order to view those channels.

Oh, I understand that MNT is MyTV, which is on channel 13, but what is TNO? I couldn't find any information.

[Phouchg]

As far as I know, the CW and CBS will be availabe. I will check on this and return and report.

TNO=Telemundo, which airs on KUNA ch 15.

CW and CBS are on low power stations (ch. 2 and 38 respectively). KCWQ-LP has a pretty good signal, but KPSP-LP has a very weak signal.

[StephenK]

Do Palm Springs guys get LA locals too?

(Just out of curiosity)

[Jon Ellis]

ABC and NBC are the only full-power stations in the market. All of the other stations are low-power or class A, so DIRECTV doesn't have to carry them...though several of the stations are run by the ABC and NBC affiliates, which could require the LP stations to be carried as part of their retransmission agreement. The NBC affiliate runs FOX, CW, and Telemundo, and the ABC affiliate is buying MNT.

[ricksterinps]

I was just poking around and found a link that went to the blog of the General Manager of Gulf-California Broadcast Company, who operates several television and radio stations in the Palm Springs, California, area. He states the following on his November 6, 2007 blog. Interesting that he knew more than anyone else. Wasn't the CSR's still saying Nov. 14th? Read below and you will see what I am talking about.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Taken from
kesq3.blogspot.com/2007/11/directv-announces-new-date-for-palm.html

DirecTV just informed me that they have a new launch date for local station services. A spokesman says the new date is January 16, 2008. DirecTV has been delayed by technical challenges at its new, state-of-the-art local receive facility located at our studios. A spokesman said the new facility uses new technology which requires more adjustments before they are ready to go.
Many DirecTV customers were disappointed when DirecTV previously announced they would begin carrying the Palm Springs stations on October 19th, and then the service didn't launch.
DirecTV will join Echostar's Dish Network, which has been carrying the Palm Springs stations since mid-2007.

[ricksterinps]

The general manager also stated on a blog in August that "From what I can tell, DirecTV will initially offer ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, Telemundo, and Univision network programming. They appear to have made provisions for CW network programming and for KESQ-DT. DirecTV hasn't contacted us yet to talk about carrying our high definition digital signal. When they do we'll work out an agreement and local DirecTV viewers will then get our ABC signal in HD."

This can be found here as well.
http://kesq3.blogspot.com/2007/08/more-competition-for-palm-springs-cable.html

[ricksterinps]

As far as I know, the CW and CBS will be availabe. I will check on this and return and report.

TNO=Telemundo, which airs on KUNA ch 15.

CW and CBS are on low power stations (ch. 2 and 38 respectively). KCWQ-LP has a pretty good signal, but KPSP-LP has a very weak signal.

Did you ever find out if the CW and CBS will be included in this rollout?

Thanks

[spreggin]

top....... 2 days and we shall see..... sigh!!!!!

[Stuart Sweet]

T - 1...

[spreggin]

tease....

[ricksterinps]

So are we all counting down the minutes??? :)

[Crystal Pepsi Ball]

http://directv.com/DTVAPP/packProg/localChannels.jsp?_requestid=1736674

TMO KUNA 15
FOX KDFX 33
NBC KMIR 36
CBS KPSP 38
ABC KESQ 42
PBS PBS 384

Standard Local Channels: You can receive these local channels using a DIRECTV® HD Receiver - MPEG-4 Capable. So sign up now for a package that includes local channels!

[ricksterinps]

Yes!! They're on. Although the CSR had a problem with getting them on initially (something to do with the HD DVR PLUS package), they eventually were able to figure it out.

Good Bye Time Warner. Finally

[Stuart Sweet]

I feel ya, rickster... if you're a long time desert rat I'm sure you've had your fill of Time Warner. I sure did back in 1995.

[spreggin]

well how about that.... a few minutes with cs and boom.... of course, no CW or HD but it is a good start fer sure!!!

[lwilli201]

MPEG4 SD locals. Very interesting. If they are on a new MPEG4 spot beam, I wonder why they are not HD, at least the big 4. I must be missing something.

[ricksterinps]

I feel ya, rickster... if you're a long time desert rat I'm sure you've had your fill of Time Warner. I sure did back in 1995.

If I remember right, it was AT&T MediaOne for a while there. I was in the Palm Desert area and that was the provider there. I can't remember if they covered Palm Springs or if that has always been Time Warner. Either way, I am tired of the outages and then no way to get a hold of anyone.

I don't really care if the channels are HD or not at this point. I use captioning and the captioning on the local HD channels on Time Warner never worked right, or were 30 seconds behind, so I always watched the local channels on the SD side.

[DesertFlyer]

Yes! This is a great announcement for me as I spend a lot of time in Palm Springs. I just moved out of my mom's house last year to go to college, but obviously since she is still there, I spend a lot of time watching TV there. No more do we have the lie about our address. :)

Any LA locals included? I could have sworn my Grandpa on TW gets two NBCs.

[texasbrit]

MPEG4 SD locals. Very interesting. If they are on a new MPEG4 spot beam, I wonder why they are not HD, at least the big 4. I must be missing something.


All the new SD LILs (there have been a couple of cities already) are on DirecTV10 in MPEG-4.

[SAVERITELIQ]

I live in LA, and vacation in Palm Springs. Everytime I go to Palm Springs, i take my DirTV DVR with me, and hook into the facility's Directv antenna. I've been getting all the channels that I get in LA.
Great news - now i won't need to carry that DVR to Palm Springs any more.:

[desertbriez]

TMO KUNA 15
FOX KDFX 33
NBC KMIR 36
CBS KPSP 38
ABC KESQ 42
PBS PBS 384



will these be in addition to or a replacement of the LA channels?

and how far out are they going distance wise? only palm spings/palm desert etc? or will this extend to the high desert? that is the main thing i missed when i switched from cable to satellite: not having the palm springs (kesq) channel to watch for local news and weather... however i much prefer LA for watching my network shows...

of course this may be moot for me since i'm in the high desert (but PS is still waaaaay closer than LA!)

(i'll be getting my HD DVR on saturday! yay!)

[Stuart Sweet]

I do not believe you can get LA locals in Palm Springs if your service address is in the Palm Springs DMA. Oh, and :welcome_s to DBSTalk!

[desertbriez]

i'm not in palm springs..... it's about an hour away.... however LA is 3 hours away and they have better locals... so if i only have to get one.... then i prefer the LA locals!

and thanx for the welcome! i'm learning lots of stuff here!

[ricksterinps]

I just got an email back from the General Manager of KESQ, who also owns the CW channel here in the desert. Here is his reply.

----------------------------------------------------
Hello:

Thanks for your inquiry about the CW on DirecTV. We have offered the signal of KCWQ-LP, the local CW affiliate, to DirecTV. However, we have been unable to reach an agreement through which they’d carry the signal on their local tier. We do have an agreement with Dish network, and that’s why it’s on their satellite system.

We hope that we will be able to reach agreement with DirecTV in the future, but I can’t give you a definite timeline.

Best regards,

Bob Allen
Executive Vice President and General Manager
Gulf-California Broadcast Co.
42-650 Melanie Place
Palm Desert, CA 92211

------------------------------------------------------

Who do I contact in Directv to inquire? Isn't it said, "he who screams the loudest gets his way?"

Thanks

[dgreyesq]

Any further info on the CW? Also, does anyone know if or when the Palm Spring locals will be in HD?

regards, David

I just got an email back from the General Manager of KESQ, who also owns the CW channel here in the desert. Here is his reply.

----------------------------------------------------
Hello:

Thanks for your inquiry about the CW on DirecTV. We have offered the signal of KCWQ-LP, the local CW affiliate, to DirecTV. However, we have been unable to reach an agreement through which they’d carry the signal on their local tier. We do have an agreement with Dish network, and that’s why it’s on their satellite system.

We hope that we will be able to reach agreement with DirecTV in the future, but I can’t give you a definite timeline.

Best regards,

Bob Allen
Executive Vice President and General Manager
Gulf-California Broadcast Co.
42-650 Melanie Place
Palm Desert, CA 92211

------------------------------------------------------

Who do I contact in Directv to inquire? Isn't it said, "he who screams the loudest gets his way?"

Thanks

[ricksterinps]

I didn't ever hear anything back from D. All I got from them was the generic email saying thank you for your email. It also said I could get more info from directv.com. No I can't, but oh well. I am going to keep pestering them. Hopefully it will happen fast.

[dgreyesq]

I also emailed Bob Allen. Here is my email and his response:

David, I don’t know offhand who to write to at DirecTV to get them to include HD and the CW in their Palm Springs offerings. If I find out I will contact you. The HD part of the issue is related to the satellite company’s bandwidth limitations. In Feb. of 2009 all analog TV broadcasting will cease, so I suspect we will have this discussion with DirecTV sometime soon!

Bob Allen

From: David M Grey
Sent: Monday, February 04, 2008 11:40 AM
To: Bob Allen
Subject: DIRECTV

Bob,

I am a DIRECTV subscriber, and recently “upgraded” my equipment to receive among other things HD and local stations. My new HD equipment does not have OTA tuners. I am disappointed to discover that DTV doesn’t carry CW (I enjoy Reaper) and that the Palm Springs locals are only SD, not HD. While I know that it is possible to get OTA HD signals, and of course, CW, it is hard enough for my family members to figure out how to use the new TV without throwing another receiver into the mix. I do not like Time Warner, and I don’t want even more wiring, so that is not an acceptable option.

I have seen your blog entries, and I wonder if there is any chance of you reaching an agreement with DTV on CW, and/or carrying local stations in HD? Also, if there is anyone to write to (other than you) on these issues, who should I contact?

Thanks in advance for your help.
Regards, David

[psmap85]

I live in Palm Springs and thinking about going to directv. I am just wondering if I will be able to get the cw from LA (KTLA).

[dgreyesq]

I live in Palm Springs and thinking about going to directv. I am just wondering if I will be able to get the cw from LA (KTLA).

I do not receive the CW/KTLA. Thus, no CW at this time. I have not tried for a waiver, but you can get receive the local CW OTA if you get one of the DTV receivers with OTA tuners. The DTV locals have had spotty service, as far as I can tell because of the spotty nature of the local analog broadcasts. An engineer for one of the local stations told me that 90% of their listeners get the signal via cabel, so fixing the broadcast is not a giant priority when there are problems with the transmitter.

My unscientific conclusion from reading other threads is that after a successful launch and implementation of the new DTV satellite, and the impending switch to all digital signals, PS locals should improve to include HD and the addition of the CW, but I may be overly optomistic.

[mlcdorgan]

How does one seem to find out there locals are coming in HD ahead of time? I check the zip code thing constantly but to no avail. cities around us have got HD locals but not Shreveport,La. dma.

[ricksterinps]

I emailed D again about the CW and here is their response. I guess we need to just keep bugging them about it.

--------------------------------
Subject
KCWQ-LP

Discussion Thread
Response (Warren) 03/12/2008 09:55 AM
Dear ,

Thanks for writing. Unfortunately, we do not carry a CW affiliate in the Palm Springs CA area. We’re looking at possibilities for making one available to you in the future, but we can’t provide a regional CW feed in your area at this time.

Thanks again for writing and stay tuned to directv.com for the latest news and information about our services.

Sincerely,

Warren A.
Employee ID XXXXXXXXXXX
DIRECTV Customer Service

[Earl Bonovich]

1) Please do not post Employee ID numbers
2) Be sure to also bug your CW affiliate... as they are part of the equation as well.


I emailed D again about the CW and here is their response. I guess we need to just keep bugging them about it.

--------------------------------
Subject
KCWQ-LP

Discussion Thread
Response (Warren) 03/12/2008 09:55 AM
Dear ,

Thanks for writing. Unfortunately, we do not carry a CW affiliate in the Palm Springs CA area. We’re looking at possibilities for making one available to you in the future, but we can’t provide a regional CW feed in your area at this time.

Thanks again for writing and stay tuned to directv.com for the latest news and information about our services.

Sincerely,

Warren A.
Employee ID XXXXXXXXXXX
DIRECTV Customer Service

[ricksterinps]

Sorry about that ##. Will remember that in the future. :)