HD Locals: Tri Cities, TN-VA

[Doug Brott]

Please post broadcast issues with DIRECTV satellite delivered HD Local Channels only

DMA: Tri Cities, TN-VA
Established: 9/17/2008
Rank: 117

HD Locals available in this DMA

CBS - WJHL (11)
NBC - WCYB (5)
FOX - WEMT (39)
PBS - WSBN (47)


For instructions, please visit this thread (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=137643)

[JLester]

Guide shows several other channels in this DMA as HD, but they are not (yet?).

Jason

[vfr781rider]

I got notification last week via a post card that my HD DNS was going to be cut off in December since we now have HD locals. Reckon they'll do that even if all the stations aren't carried in HD yet?

[uga009]

Any ETA on when Fox 39 WEMT, NBC 5 WCYB, or ABC WKPT will be broadcast in HD?

A network technician told me 3-4 weeks, but that was 3-4 weeks ago:eek2:

Would like to be able to catch the Super Bowl, NCAA BCS Bowl games, and 24 in HD !

Any inside information would be greatly information... helps when planning football parties !!! :D

Thanks for the info...

[Lanthom]

I've been wondering the same thing. It does seem kind of odd that the guide has the little HD logo next to programs that are actually showing in SD because D* is not transmitting the HD version of that channel.

[LameLefty]

I've been wondering the same thing. It does seem kind of odd that the guide has the little HD logo next to programs that are actually showing in SD because D* is not transmitting the HD version of that channel.

That's most likely your local's fault for not providing Directv an HD feed at their HD pickup location. I have had that happen in Nashville, but not in a real long while. Usually that indicates problems with the local's own HD signal or in the way they are providing it to Direcv. If your receiver is tuned to the station call letters channel on your receiver, it's CAPABLE of being HD. But Directv does not originate any of those signals.

[Lanthom]

That's most likely your local's fault for not providing Directv an HD feed at their HD pickup location. I have had that happen in Nashville, but not in a real long while. Usually that indicates problems with the local's own HD signal or in the way they are providing it to Direcv. If your receiver is tuned to the station call letters channel on your receiver, it's CAPABLE of being HD. But Directv does not originate any of those signals.

That's what is so weird. NBC actally says NBC not the call letters but the shows have the HD symbol next to them. Its something weird with Tri-Cities who if you look at the list doesn't even show as having HD locals available. It's such a weird situation, almost like we don't exist :)

[vfr781rider]

Looks like our HD DNS feeds will continue until Jan. 16 now http://customerinfo.directv.com/directv/?UwqwCGs4YsM9YCtPfJbvJL3kEADsjsgUU. I suppose that's now a good target date for having the rest of the Tri-Cities stations available in HD.

[tonypitt]

I gather from the posts here that some of you were able to get distant networks activated for HD channels. I'd love to be able to see the SuperBowl in HD. I submitted a DNS request via the DirecTV web site over 3 weeks ago and it still shows the status of the request as "pending".

Those of you that have DNS, how long did that process take? Anyone have any insight on expediting this? (Where I am located, a non-satellite antenna is not an option.)

[vfr781rider]

I've had DNS since before we had locals available. Back in those days, it was a lot easier. All networks approved my request except for NBC, so I've had the other 3 for maybe 5 years. I contacted WCYB directly a couple of times with pictures and additional requests and they still would not budge. They're a bunch of jerks as far as I'm concerned. Fortunately, the HD signal we get from them is fine (I'm out near Butler). The SD signal had quite a few sparklies and some double imaging.

I filed another request for NBC waivers through the DirecTV site a couple of months ago just to see if maybe I'd get lucky. Nope. It took just over a month before the status changed from pending to rejected.

Since the Superbowl is on NBC, I can guarantee you that you will not get waivers for that network. What you may get now from the other networks I don't know, but since HD from DirecTV is emminent, I'd say near zero. The good news is the HD for all networks should be up and running in plenty of time for the game, at least with the news we know of now.

Good luck!

[BSGman]

Anybody catch that the descriptions in the guide changed for WCYB, WKPT, WEMT, CYB-WB last night? Does this means the others are finally joining WJHL going HD?

[tonypitt]

Anybody catch that the descriptions in the guide changed for WCYB, WKPT, WEMT, CYB-WB last night? Does this means the others are finally joining WJHL going HD?

How did the guide change? I'm not noticing anything different.

I continue to hope that HD is coming soon...

[BSGman]

Go in to edit the channel list in one of your favorite settings. There are still 2 of WCYB, WKPT, CW, WAPK but the 1st listings now have different codes out by them. They're the same codes the single WJHL one has that is HD.

[vfr781rider]

I did notice the audio sync was terrible on Two and a Half Men last night. Really, REALLY bad.

[tonypitt]

I wonder if the January 16 date you cited previously has any significance. I'm really tired of watching shows that could be in HD on low quality SD. Wish we had a better idea of if/when this is going to be transitioned.

[BSGman]

I hope so. I even notice Sunday night while flipping around channels that Blue Ridge PBS had an HD logo on it, but it wasn't an HD signal yet. If we just get the major ones (WCYB, WKPT & WEMT) would be great. Does Charter or BVU carry CW or WAPK in HD? Are they even available in HD broadcast?

[BSGman]

WCYB's website has posted this on thier websites.
http://wcyb.com/DirecTV-May-Remove-This-Station-From-Their-Service/3650951

Any updates on this?

[tonypitt]

Wow. Thanks for bring that to my/our attention BSGman. I don't know what good it will do, but I plan to email DirecTV right now. The page you noted is dated today, so this seems like it may be a "new" thing. (?)

When I lived in Florida I recall a similar situation involving a cable company. The local TV station went to rather significant measures (crawls during shows, commercials, etc.) to let people know what the situation was. I surprised these stations are not doing something similiar.

[cparay@gmail.com]

What can we do. I have a waiver on the HD, get my network from 390 and up. Will the plug be pulled on that on jan 16

[tonypitt]

In case people don't see the reply to a message a posted about this in another subforum here, Satelliteracer has indicated that this matter has been settled. We won't be losing service. I'm guessing that this was ironed out just recently.

Hopefully HD was a part of the negotiation and we'll be getting that sometime soon.

[BSGman]

I didn't see SatRacer's posting earlier about it being settled. I did call D* support and the CSR said that WCYB or anything else was on a list to not be carried. WCYB has removed the link from their site too. The banner is still there, but it directs to a holiday troop greeting. Hopefully Case Closed.

[uga009]

So.... Should we expect to see locals in HD in the near future ???

[vfr781rider]

Looks like our HD DNS feeds will continue until Jan. 16 now http://customerinfo.directv.com/directv/?UwqwCGs4YsM9YCtPfJbvJL3kEADsjsgUU. I suppose that's now a good target date for having the rest of the Tri-Cities stations available in HD.

Well, according to the Web page, today is still D-day, yet HD DNS is still available. Good thing since local HD is still not in place.

[rebel7254]

Still no HD for anything besides WJHL.

[tonypitt]

I applied for DNS Waivers awhile back. Received a post card saying my request was denied.

I don't know that it will do any good, but I sent an email to station management at WCYB and WKPT asking what their plans were for HD transmission on DirecTV and telling them that lack of HD signal has caused me to not watch their stations as much as I typically might. If I hear anything back, I'll post back.

[uga009]

I don't know that it will do any good, but I sent an email to station management at WCYB and WKPT asking what their plans were for HD transmission on DirecTV and telling them that lack of HD signal has caused me to not watch their stations as much as I typically might. If I hear anything back, I'll post back.


I sent an email to station management of WCYB as well... Will keep you posted on what I hear as well.

[vfr781rider]

Been there, done that. Multiple times and when I honestly had a crappy CD signal from them. Let me strike down any hope you may have right now :nono: Those guys are a-holes and won't have any part of it. Fortunately, my HD signal is acceptable.

[tonypitt]

I applied for DNS Waivers awhile back. Received a post card saying my request was denied.

I don't know that it will do any good, but I sent an email to station management at WCYB and WKPT asking what their plans were for HD transmission on DirecTV and telling them that lack of HD signal has caused me to not watch their stations as much as I typically might. If I hear anything back, I'll post back.

Well, it's been over a week. No reply. Nice to know the local stations are so responsive to viewer email. :(

[tonypitt]

I flipped on the TV this morning and unless I'm crazy it looks like WCYB NBC is in HD. The ABC affiliate WKPT is not in HD. I cannot tell about WEMT Fox since their currently running an infomercial which was shot in SD.

A SuperBowl treat?

[tonypitt]

I was right, everything except ABC is now in HD!

http://dtv.client.shareholder.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=362058

[BSGman]

Sweet!. I didn't check it this morning. Hopefully WKPT will follow soon. I sent the emails to the stations too. Never heard from WCYB, but WKPT wrote back stating they were "We are in negotiations with DirecTV and are awaiting Direct's response to our latest proposal." Also, does anybody know if CW & MyNetwork is even available in HD? Does Charter or BVU offer them? I don't think Comcast did when I was on them.

[Doug Brott]

Added NBC - WCYB (5), FOX - WEMT (39) and PBS - WSBN (47) to the lineup

[battery]

Here is an email that I got back from WKPT 19 about HD transmission.

We contacted DirecTv's negotiator shortly after they launched WJHL in HD back in late summer. They showed little or no interest in even talking to us until the end of last year. At that time they rejected all of our requests including carriage of WAPK in HD and carriage of our Retro Network Channel. We also asked for a modest increase on our current per subscriber payment that would get us back to what they used to pay us for WAPK when it was a UPN affiliate. They said no. They said that since they have the standard def version under contract, they do not feel they have to have the HD. We feel we should be fairly compensated.

The only thing that will get them back to the table will be the demands of their subscribers for ABC-HD.

ABC 19 WKPT & MY Tri-Cities WAPK
& RTN Tri-Cities
222 Commerce Street
Kingsport, TN 37660


I just hope that they can work out something soon, since ABC is the only major network that isn't carried in the Tri-Cities DMA.

[tonypitt]

Here is an email that I got back from WKPT 19 about HD transmission.

We contacted DirecTv's negotiator shortly after they launched WJHL in HD back in late summer. They showed little or no interest in even talking to us until the end of last year. At that time they rejected all of our requests including carriage of WAPK in HD and carriage of our Retro Network Channel. We also asked for a modest increase on our current per subscriber payment that would get us back to what they used to pay us for WAPK when it was a UPN affiliate. They said no. They said that since they have the standard def version under contract, they do not feel they have to have the HD. We feel we should be fairly compensated.

The only thing that will get them back to the table will be the demands of their subscribers for ABC-HD.

ABC 19 WKPT & MY Tri-Cities WAPK
& RTN Tri-Cities
222 Commerce Street
Kingsport, TN 37660


I just hope that they can work out something soon, since ABC is the only major network that isn't carried in the Tri-Cities DMA.

Wow, you got a much more detailed reply than I did. What follows is the reply I received in its entirety:

We are currently in negotiations with DirecTV regarding our HD signal.

[JLester]

I got basically the same response as "battery". I for one do not really care if DirecTV carries the other two channels. I can see why they would not agree to pay for those two channels in order to get WKPT in HD. I think as a small company, they probably do not really have much negotiating power.

[battery]

This is the thing that kills me about these TV stations. They broadcast this HD signal over the air for FREE! but they want D*, Dish, Cable companies to pay to RE-TRANSMIT it. I know I know.... it's their copyrighted material, but if they transmit it over the air for FREE i just dont get it. As long as D* doesn't change the commericals then the TV station isn't losing any money from the ads, but thats just my thinking. I think i'll email them back stating that i'm going to stop watching WKPT if it's not in HD.

[wakeup360]

At that time they rejected all of our requests including carriage of WAPK in HD and carriage of our Retro Network Channel.

Is WAPK even in HD? I get it over the air and I've never seen any HD programming on it.

[battery]

Ok, I talked to one of my friends at work and he said that they have ABC in HD!! I told him that he shouldnt have it, to make sure that it was HD not SD. He came back a few days later and said that it was HD. I then asked him if he got the DNS ABC or something. He said no, it was channel 19 and it was HD!! He told me that his wife called D* and told them they didnt have it and they turned it on. I know he knows the differance in SD and HD. But this just makes me mad if he's got ABC HD and I don't with us both being in the same DMA. Something just isnt right. Every one in the Tri-Cities DMA needs to call D* and get them on the ball about getting WKPT ABC in HD.

[BSGman]

Anybody else experience a signal loss & extreme pixels last night around 11:00? It started right before the news and by the end, everything was gone. just wanted to know if it's my prob or something in the area.

[BSGman]

Here are 2 emails that I received from WKPT & CW4 about having their signal in HD on DirectTV. One may be encouraging, the other, not so much.

We started negotiations with DirecTV, but they haven't responded to any of our recent communications. Dish Network has our dignal in hi def. Perhaps if you let DirecTV know, you'd like to have us in HD, it would help.

Thanks for your inquiry.

George DeVault
President
HOLSTON VALLEY BROADCASTING

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

We don't have plans to provide our HD CW4 to DirecTV at this time.

Doug Chaulk
Assistant Chief Engineer

[battery]

BSGman,
If you dont care for me asking, when did you send/receive those emails about WKPT/CW4? I would hope that they are still trying to get WKPT in HD. I could care less about CW4. Since CW4 is owned by the same company that owns WCYB & WEMT, you would think it would have came at the same time we got WCYB & WEMT. But on to WKPT, it's the one I want to be HD the most right now. LOST in HD is awesome! Then when football start up this year, it needs to be HD! As I said in a earlier post EVERY ONE in the Tri-Cities DMA needs to call D* and tell them they want WKPT/ABC in HD :grin: please.

[JLester]

I contacted DirecTV this morning and made sure to mention that DISH has it now.

Jason

[BSGman]

BSGman,
If you dont care for me asking, when did you send/receive those emails about WKPT/CW4? I would hope that they are still trying to get WKPT in HD. I could care less about CW4. Since CW4 is owned by the same company that owns WCYB & WEMT, you would think it would have came at the same time we got WCYB & WEMT. But on to WKPT, it's the one I want to be HD the most right now. LOST in HD is awesome! Then when football start up this year, it needs to be HD! As I said in a earlier post EVERY ONE in the Tri-Cities DMA needs to call D* and tell them they want WKPT/ABC in HD :grin: please.

The CW4 one was Wednesday. The WKPT one was yesterday.

[BSGman]

I contacted DirecTV this morning and made sure to mention that DISH has it now.

Jason

Any luck with that response?

[battery]

Any luck with that response?

I just checked Dish network's site to see what locals they have in HD.............. they have all four major Networks :mad: maybe this will light a fire under D*'s bum, if alot of people call D* and tell them that Dish has all of them :D

[battery]

has any1 heard anything about D* getting ABC in HD???? Close,maybe,not going to happen, soon, never? Any thing?

[vfr781rider]

There is a waiver in place so that you can get the ABC NY HD feed. Call Direct and tell them to check for you.

[tonypitt]

There is a waiver in place so that you can get the ABC NY HD feed. Call Direct and tell them to check for you.

I previously submitted a waiver request (right before we wound up getting HD from other networks). Ironically when I check the status of those requests on the DirecTV web site it indicates that my FOX and NBC waiver was granted but my ABC waiver was denied.

Are you indicating there's a solution to this?

[vfr781rider]

Yes. When I called them to ask about ABC not being in HD, they said there may be a waiver in effect for it. They checked while I was on the phone and said yes, we can hook you up with HD out of NYC. Turned it on and all is well!

[BSGman]

2 Quick Questions:

1. Do you get to keep the local feed as well as get the HD one out of NY?

2. Are their waivers in place for the CW & MyNetwork TV as well?

[vfr781rider]

Yes, you keep the local feed, too.

I don't know if there any other waivers in effect. Since ABC was the only one not in HD, that's the only one I inquired about. If you find there are others available, please let me know!

[battery]

I have a couple questions myself:

1. Did they turn it on right on the spot when you called? i thought it took weeks for a waiver to go through.

2. How much are you paying for the NYC ABCHD?

Thanks

[vfr781rider]

Yes, they turned it on immediately. The waiver is not for me in particular, it is a blanket waiver for all of us that do not get ABC HD via Direct or OTA.

I was already paying for DNS for ABC, CBS, and FOX from waivers I got long ago. They just turned off the HD part of that last month. So, I am not paying any more for it, but I do not know if they would charge you more or not. Worst case, it'd be $3.50 a month.

[battery]

Has anyone heard any thing on ABC HD coming to the local channels for us in the Tri-Cities market? Sure would be nice with the College Football about to start.

[battery]

I turned the channel to ABC tonight and it was in HD!!! I'm hoping the is not just for the CMA awards show, but D* wouldnt do that just for one show, right? I think this would be permanet. If so this is cool since LOST starts soon, and any more football that I would like to watch on ABC would be in HD.

[vfr781rider]

Keep me posted please. We were up there this weekend for the first time in half a year and I was disappointed to see ABC was still in SD. I thought about calling Direct for another waiver, but if they now have full time HD, that is just as well.

Thanks!

[battery]

vfr781rider, this is the 2nd day and it's still in HD :D So it looks like it is permanent! :hurah:

[George_T]

Just discovered the HD feed for ABC tonight when I got home. Funny thing is that about a week and a half ago, I called customer service and requested an HD feed waiver for ABC because WKPT was still in SD. Nice surprise tonight...guess I won't be getting that HD waiver.;)

[George_T]

Hey everyone, did anyone else have a lot of pixilization this weekend while watching the Tri-Cities HD feeds? I watched both the UT/UK basketball game on WJHL/11, as well as the Gold Medal Hockey Game on WCYB/5 over the weekend, and I got A LOT of pixilization through both games, esp. when action was moving quickly.

I did not have any pixilization in any of my national HD feeds, and when I called D* and they had me check my signal strength. The local HD signal strengths were in the 90's, so it wasn't a dish-pointing or cabling issue.

If you had a pixilization issue this weekend on the Tri-Cities' HD Locals, would you please call D* and speak to Technical Support about this, so that the techs will check out this issue. They filed a report about this on my behalf, but the more reports the better so that this issue won't get overlooked.

Thanks in advance!

[wakeup360]

Hey everyone, did anyone else have a lot of pixilization this weekend while watching the Tri-Cities HD feeds? I watched both the UT/UK basketball game on WJHL/11, as well as the Gold Medal Hockey Game on WCYB/5 over the weekend, and I got A LOT of pixilization through both games, esp. when action was moving quickly.

I did not have any pixilization in any of my national HD feeds, and when I called D* and they had me check my signal strength, the local HD signal strengths were in the 90's, so it wasn't a dish-pointing or cabling issue.

If you had a pixilization issue this weekend on the Tri-Cities' HD Locals, would you please call D* and speak to Technical Support about this, so that the techs will check out this issue. They filed a report about this on my behalf, but the more reports the better so that this issue won't get overlooked.

Thanks in advance!

I have the exact same issues. I called last night to complain and they also had me check my signal strength. I had 85%-92% on 103°(c) transponders, so yep it wasn't a dish-pointing or cabling issue. I hope they get it fixed soon.

[JLester]

Yes, same problems here too. CBS was really bad tonight as well.

[George_T]

Thanks for the responses. Hopefully the more complaints the quicker this issue will be resolved. I'd hate to think I'd be having pixilization issues for March Madness, NBA/NHL Playoffs, etc on major networks. If you haven't called tech support, please do so.

[wakeup360]

Mine appears to be fixed now. No issues with WCYB last night, or WKPT Tuesday & Wednesday nights.

[George_T]

Mine seems to be doing better as well.