Dual RSN HD area question

[mobbo]

I am having DirecTV installed tomorrow. Before I called I did some investigating about which RSN's I will get. I am a die hard Astros fan living in Ft. Worth, so I fall into the local market for both the Astros and the Rangers. Therefore I believe I will be getting FSN Southwest, which also has a sub-feed of FSN Houston. FSN Houston breaks away from FSN Southwest whenever a Rangers game is on FSN Southwest.

My questions to DFW area DirecTV subscribers are:

- Does DirecTV show both FSN Southwest AND FSN Houston in our area?
- Do they only show Rangers games in HD on channel 96 or do they show both Astros and Rangers... specifically if both teams are playing at the same time, as it was last night.

For example, tonight there was an HD Rangers game on channel 96. At the same time there was an Astros game on FSN Houston, but on the D* online channel guide I did not see a listing for the Astros game on a 90's HD channel but the Rangers game was shown on that online TV guide on 96. This makes me think they don't show Astros in HD here when the Rangers are playing in HD at the same time.

On D*'s website when I put in my Ft. Worth zip code (76104), they say I get these teams on my RSN:

FSN Southwest (Ch. 643)
Dallas Mavericks
Dallas Mavericks
Dallas Stars (HD Available)
Dallas Stars
FC Dallas
FC Dallas
Houston Astros
Texas Rangers (HD Available)

When I put in my old Houston ZIP (77040), it's the same thing except it says "(HD Available)" next to Houston Astros... instead of the Texas Rangers. I really want to get Astros games in HD and since I am in the local market for the Astros, I should. But things rarely work out for me :( Which is why I left Charter.

[compnurd]

Looks like you will only get the Rangers in HD but someone in the market may know better

[cariera]

Both the Rangers and Astros are carried by FSN Southwest. I would expect that it works similiar to FSN Bay Area, where both the Giants and As call home. If the games are on at the same time there is usually an alternate for one of the teams.

Looking at the schedule for tomorrow, 7/3, channel 639 (FSN Houston) has the Astros game, and 643 (FSN SW) has the Rangers game. Both games will be on during the same time.

So based on your zip code you should be able to get both games in SD.

HD carriage of the RSNs coincides with the HD local channel carriage for your zip code, because these channels are currently spot beamed. So it looks like you will only get the Rangers in HD on channel 96.

Who knows what will happen when Direct puts up the new sat. There have been rumors that the RSNs will be available in HD across the entire country (CONUS not spot beamed). If that is the case then I would expect you to receive HD Astros games if they are being broadcast in HD from FSN Houston.

Good luck!

[mobbo]

Yay... HD in September. Just in time for the end of the season :(

[JLucPicard]

Yay... HD in September. Just in time for the end of the season :(
But the beginning of THE season - NFL baby! :)

[Bob Coxner]

You only get HD if you are located in the DMA of the team. For Ft. Worth that means you get the Rangers in HD but not the Astros. Just because you're in Fox Southwest territory doesn't guarantee any specific HD. For example, I'm in Fox Southwest but outside the Dallas and Houston DMAs. I get the Rangers and Astros in SD but never in HD. This is due to DirecTV limiting HD to the local DMA spotbeam. You can't get the Houston spotbeam in Ft. Worth.

This will all change in September, when the new satellite is in operation. Everyone in Fox Southwest (including me) will get all the HD available. All of the Fox franchises will be CONUS rather than spotbeam. If you sub to the Sports Pack you'll even get out-of-market HD (if it's not blacked out).

Patience Grasshopper and we'll all be happy soon!

[mobbo]

Thanks Bob. That's the answer I was looking for. At least I will get reliable Astros game programming, though not in HD, so it's not a total loss. I currently have Charter Communications and they go so far as to tease me with scheduling an Astros game in HD on a seperate feed, then not showing it at all! Even funnier is they don't care to fix such an easy problem and even send TECHS out to my place... even though it's a problem at the head-end.

[garn9173]

Thanks Bob. That's the answer I was looking for. At least I will get reliable Astros game programming, though not in HD, so it's not a total loss. I currently have Charter Communications and they go so far as to tease me with scheduling an Astros game in HD on a seperate feed, then not showing it at all! Even funnier is they don't care to fix such an easy problem and even send TECHS out to my place... even though it's a problem at the head-end.

Try living in an area that's claimed by 6 MLB teams and not getting a single game in HD. September cann't get here soon enough (and that's for more than one reason ;) )

[mobbo]

Sucks. I just called and cancelled. The main reason I wanted to switch was to get Astros games in HD. But if it isn't going to ultimately be until next season, it's not worth the install/contract hassle. Maybe next season.