Purchase Different Time Zones

[rbaron]

Hi All,

Does DTV let you purchase different time zones?

I live in the Central Time Zone and I am soon moving to the Eastern Time Zone. I would like to see the Eastern Time Zone Programs AND have the option to switch to the Central Time Zone. Kind of got use to watching TV in the Central Zone.

Thanks much.....

[Mike Bertelson]

Hi All,

Does DTV let you purchase different time zones?

I live in the Central Time Zone and I am soon moving to the Eastern Time Zone. I would like to see the Eastern Time Zone Programs AND have the option to switch to the Central Time Zone. Kind of got use to watching TV in the Central Zone.

Thanks much.....

You will most likely get the locals in your DMA.

You probably won't be able to get distant locals.

Either way you can't have both.

Sorry. :grin:

Mike

[Stuart Sweet]

There is one loophole... in the LA market you can buy NY SD locals but just the one or two of the major networks as they're all corporately owned.

And of course it's SD.

[boba]

Hi All,

Does DTV let you purchase different time zones?

I live in the Central Time Zone and I am soon moving to the Eastern Time Zone. I would like to see the Eastern Time Zone Programs AND have the option to switch to the Central Time Zone. Kind of got use to watching TV in the Central Zone.

Thanks much.....
Quick answer NO you get where your resdential address is.

[Doug Brott]

Hi All,

Does DTV let you purchase different time zones?

I live in the Central Time Zone and I am soon moving to the Eastern Time Zone. I would like to see the Eastern Time Zone Programs AND have the option to switch to the Central Time Zone. Kind of got use to watching TV in the Central Zone.

Thanks much.....

It seems you are talking about local TV and folks have responded well here.

If you are talking about seen TV @ 7pm vs. 8pm, then .. well Eastern 8pm is Central 7pm and I believe they pretty much use the exact same broadcast. So there is no way to see something at 7pm Eastern because it will not have been broadcast by anyone yet.

[litzdog911]

Of course, a DirecTV Digital Video Recorder (DVR) would let you watch those shows whenever you want.

[bobcnn]

For the most part if you could get Central Time Zone Shows in the Eastern Time Zone, shows would still come on at the same time. Prime Time might start at 7pm CT, that is still 8pm et. Only the morning shows and network news would come on at a slightly different time.

[ercjncprdtv]

Hi All,

Does DTV let you purchase different time zones?

I live in the Central Time Zone and I am soon moving to the Eastern Time Zone. I would like to see the Eastern Time Zone Programs AND have the option to switch to the Central Time Zone. Kind of got use to watching TV in the Central Zone.

Thanks much.....

It's only one hour difference, so what is the problem? Besides you can record it for reception at a more convenient time

[Bob Coxner]

For the most part if you could get Central Time Zone Shows in the Eastern Time Zone, shows would still come on at the same time. Prime Time might start at 7pm CT, that is still 8pm et. Only the morning shows and network news would come on at a slightly different time.

Network news is the same. 6:30pm EDT, 5:30pm CDT. I haven't bothered to compare the morning shows but I believe they are the same in both time zones as well. Prime Time does start at 7pm in all of the parts of Central Time that I'm familiar with, meaning it's the same as Eastern starting at 8pm.

[bobcnn]

Network news is the same. 6:30pm EDT, 5:30pm CDT. I haven't bothered to compare the morning shows but I believe they are the same in both time zones as well. Prime Time does start at 7pm in all of the parts of Central Time that I'm familiar with, meaning it's the same as Eastern starting at 8pm.

For most markets in the Central time zone, the network morning shows are all delayed by one hour. So they start everywhere at 7am.

[spiderman865]

For most markets in the Central time zone, the network morning shows are all delayed by one hour. So they start everywhere at 7am.

What is your point you are trying to make?:confused:

[bobcnn]

"I haven't bothered to compare the morning shows but I believe they are the same in both time zones as well."


Just saying that the Network morning shows are 1 hour tape delayed in the Central time zones.

[Grentz]

If you look at the TV Guide lisitings, Today, Good Morning America, etc. start at 7 am in both EST and CST.

Other shows are usually on at the same time and thus we see the 8 EST, 7 CST ads and such. It is the same broadcast to both areas at the same time, and thus having a "CST" account while living in "EST" makes no difference if you get what I mean.

National Channels like Animal Planet, Discovery, Disney, etc. are the same broadcast accross the entire country. Thus no matter where you are (what time zone), shows play at the exact same GST time. So for example a show on Disney at 7 am CST will be on at 5 am PST.

There is only one feed for the national channels, news and locals are the exception!

[trainman]

National Channels like Animal Planet, Discovery, Disney, etc. are the same broadcast accross the entire country. Thus no matter where you are (what time zone), shows play at the exact same GST time. So for example a show on Disney at 7 am CST will be on at 5 am PST.

There is only one feed for the national channels, news and locals are the exception!

Actually, many national channels also have a 3-hours-later "Pacific" feed. Out here on the West Coast, the cable systems tend to carry the "Pacific" feed for all the channels where there's one available. DirecTV, though, only has the "Eastern" version of most channels -- which means I can watch many shows 3 hours earlier than my friends who have cable.

Animal Planet, Discovery, and Disney are examples of channels that do have a "Pacific" feed -- and, in fact, Disney is one of the few channels for which DirecTV carries both feeds (Eastern on 290, Pacific on 291).

[SamC]

Networks feed their affiliates their primetime programming three times per day. At 8 ET - 11 ET for the Eastern and Central time zones (which is 7-10 Central), then again an hour later at 9 ET-12 ET for the Mountain time zone (which is 7-10 Mountain), then two hours later than that at 11 - 2 the next day ET for the Pacific time zone (which is 8-11 Pacific).

[dcowboy7]

why does central (and i guess mountain too) have to start primetime at 7:00 local ?
why cant the nets just delay it to 8:00 local like east/west coast does.

[Bob Coxner]

why does central (and i guess mountain too) have to start primetime at 7:00 local ?
why cant the nets just delay it to 8:00 local like east/west coast does.

Tradition. We Central folk were (and are) considered to be hick farmers that go to bed when it gets dark. Or, another explanation from the Net makes some sense:


Given their demonstrated love of the buck, if there were no other problems to worry about, the networks might well end up running prime time programming from 7 until 11 all across the country, with news at 6 and 11. But there is one big problem: the time zone differential. Broadcasters first had to deal with this in the early days of network radio. Recording devices were quite primitive then, and there was also some philosophical opposition to recording, which many felt deceived listeners somehow. As a result, all network shows, including the news, were broadcast live. An 8 PM broadcast in New York was thus heard in Chicago at 7. 5 PM was too early for California, though, so the folks in New York did every show all over again three hours later specifically for the West Coast, updating news programs where appropriate. This enabled the West Coast to operate on the "normal" (i.e., New York) schedule. When regular TV news broadcasting began in the 40s, voice recording was no longer a problem, but videotaping hadn't been perfected yet, so the idea of simultaneous broadcasting to the Eastern and Central zones, with a rebroadcast for the Pacific zone, was retained, with some modifications. Today the early feeds for the evening network newscast are transmitted at 6:30 PM and 7 PM Eastern time. (The two feeds are for the convenience of the local stations, which can pick the one they want to use.) A later feed is sent to the West Coast, where it's kept in the can until broadcast time, which is either 6:30 or 7 PM Pacific time. Network correspondents are kept on hand in case there's any late-breaking stories.

In our advanced age, of course, it would be possible for Chicago to record the New York transmissions and delay them for an hour, as Mountain zone stations do now (they generally broadcast the network news at 5:30 or 6 local time). At the same time, New York could start broadcasting the network news at 6 local time, making possible a four-hour prime time schedule. But the feeling is that people are used to the current schedule, and trying to re-educate them would be more trouble than it was worth. Beyond that, the more recording and rebroadcasting you do, the greater the chances that some fumblethumbs is going to erase the tape or something. Besides, those guys in New York probably figure that people in the Central and Mountain zones are simple folk who like to rack out early after a hard day of mowing the alfalfa. In any case, we're probably going to be stuck with the present system for the foreseeable future.


This is talking about the evening news, but Prime Time starts just after the local news plus a syndicated show, which starts just after the evening news

There was a station in San Francisco that was playing around with Prime Time, starting it a 7pm, but I don't recall if they stuck with it or how the experiment worked in terms of ratings.

[dcowboy7]

Tradition. We Central folk were (and are) considered to be hick farmers that go to bed when it gets dark.


oh ok that would also explain the "spring forward, fall back" clock moves every 6 months as well. :D

[brockley]

The local CBS affiliate in Sacramento starts prime time at 7 pm PST. It is so they can have their local news at 10 as opposed to 11.

[sbl]

DirecTV cannot legally offer you locals from a different market unless they get waivers from your local stations and certify that you cannot receive the local channel OTA.

[SamC]

The basic reason that Central Time is 7-10 is geographical. The area along which the E and C time zones border is a populated area. If CT had its own 8-11 CT feed, there would be places that would still see their network TV from 7-10, because they would be CT residents getting broadcast TV from an ET city. And there would be people not getting their TV until 9, being ET residents getting a CT city's stations.

The border areas between CT and MT, and between MT and PT are pretty much unpopulated areas. Note also that Canada, which has all of its time zone borders in less populated areas, has a different feed for all five of its time zones (excepting the weird half-hour off isle of Newfoundland).

[jacksonm30354]

Networks feed their affiliates their primetime programming three times per day. At 8 ET - 11 ET for the Eastern and Central time zones (which is 7-10 Central), then again an hour later at 9 ET-12 ET for the Mountain time zone (which is 7-10 Mountain), then two hours later than that at 11 - 2 the next day ET for the Pacific time zone (which is 8-11 Pacific).

Actually, the is usually just 2 feeds. 8PM-11PM Eastern which is aired live to Central stations as well 7PM-11PM. Mountain tapes and delays these shows 1 hour so they air 7PM-11PM locally. Then there is a separate Pacific feed 8PM-11PM locally.

The earlier times in CT and MT are not because of geography. It is because all TV at one point used to be Live. So an 8PM Eastern broadcast would be seen at 7PM in the Central time zone, 6PM in MT and 5PM in Pacific. So that things aired in the West at a more reasonable hour, they had a separate broadcast to air at 8PM locally. Mountain time was kind of a step child as the area was not heavily populated. When video tape came along, MT would tape the Eastern feed and air an hour later. Today, it would make more sense to have the 2 feeds now be ET/CT and MT/PT (and maybe a 3rd AT/HT) but things have stuck the way they are.

Per the Sacramento station that airs prime time at 7PM. There was an experiment to see if the early Prime time would increase viewership. They were going to offer all markets in the Pacific and Eastern time zone the option if it was successful, EXCEPT for markets that were on a time zone border. (That would mean my hometown market Columbus, GA would not be able to go to the early schedule as half the market is in AL in Central time and they did not want Prime to begin for the earlier time zone to begin before 7PM.) Not many markets have a significant portion in another time zone so would not have been a problem for most.

[trainman]

The basic reason that Central Time is 7-10 is geographical. The area along which the E and C time zones border is a populated area. If CT had its own 8-11 CT feed, there would be places that would still see their network TV from 7-10, because they would be CT residents getting broadcast TV from an ET city. And there would be people not getting their TV until 9, being ET residents getting a CT city's stations.

The time zone boundaries are deliberately placed so that metropolitan areas are not split between two time zones -- which means there are very few examples of people in one time zone only being able to receive TV stations from a different time zone, even along the Eastern/Central boundary.

It's much more common for people to be able to receive a number TV stations from two different metropolitan areas, in two different time zones, either via OTA or cable. I have personal experience with that in both Michigan City, Indiana (TV stations from both South Bend, Eastern, and Chicago, Central) and Tucumcari, New Mexico (TV stations from both Amarillo, Central, and Albuquerque, Mountain), and I know there are plenty of other examples. Yes, this means people in Tucumcari, which is in the Mountain time zone, can indeed get network TV an hour earlier than they're "supposed to" -- I watched David Letterman on the Amarillo CBS affiliate at 9:35 P.M.