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DirecTV called LAist on the phone and left us a message. The recorded voice said that DirecTV had worked out a deal with WNBC in NY that allowed certain zipcodes in LA the ability to get the east coast channel for just $6 a month.
The benefit would be that we in LA would be able to get late night shows like Saturday Night Live and Conan O'Brien at 9:30pm instead of at 12:30am.
Because LAist is a little obsessive about television and we have pretty much every channel that the satellite provider delivers, we immediately called back last week when we heard the offer. Unfortunately no one at the 1800-DIRECTV knew what the fark we were talking about. They promised to call back the next day, but never did.
So we called back yesterday, the lady had no clue what we were referring to, rambled on about how there was a federal law against people getting local channels that weren't in their local markets (or nearby), and then tried to transfer us to a higher level of support, but sent us to New Customers. We were then transfered back down to the first level of customer service who then sent us to CIS(!) who saw the offer on the screen but couldn't figure out how to hook us up. 15 minutes later she had figured it out and we were watching Last Comic Standing three hours before we were supposed to.
So we identified ourselves as LAist and we asked if it was okay for us to share this special with our friends in LA who might also subscribe to DirecTV and wouldn't mind paying a little extra to get Conan at a reasonable hour on channel 382.
The woman said that it was fine to talk about it. She said that people should ask for the "NBC in NY only in LA" promotion. If your customer service rep seems to have no idea what you're talking about, ask to be transfered to CIS, or ask to be transfered to a supervisor.
The price of $5.99 a month does seem a little steep when compared to other premium packages where one can get 7 HBO channels or 9 Showtime channels for $12, but if you like Conan or local NY news, six bucks is a pittance. One less splurge at the valet a month.
There seems to be zero information about this special on the DirecTV site - maybe this does break some federal laws (whoops) - but the TiVo message board seemed to have a few members who experienced what we did when trying to sign up for the offer. So, who knows, maybe this is another in a long line of LAist scoops.
Whatevs. All we know is it's 2:25pm and we have Live at Five bustin on the second tuner with My Name is Earl ready to start recording at 5pm. Life is grand.
Lets hope this is the first step in the inevitable of all channels available for all Americans... at a price.
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This promotion sounds crazy to me. I work in TV research, and this sounds like a violation of the "must carry" law.
Normally you need a waiver to allow you to receive satelite or dish coverage from another time zone, or from any other market, for that matter. The reasoning behind the law is that local stations want local customers to see their ads, not to be watching local ads from some other market. I know most of you probably don't care about the ads, but remember, these ads pay for the station to run. That's why broadcast TV is still free.
Tony, if you want to keep your NY stations you should stop publicizing this, because when word gets out I suspect it will be shut down in short order. Although as a journalist, you might be able to get a waiver.
as a journalist, i am obliged to spread this news, arent i?
At first, I thought, "Wasn't the east coast feed always available?" Then, I remembered that my DirecTV was bootlegged. Ah, the good old days.
Tony, I guess you're obliged. I understand the urge to spread the news. It is your job. I'm just saying, if you really want to keep your east coast feed you might wanna be selfish in this case and keep it quiet.
So I guess this is one of those things that Canada actually got BEFORE the US for once? Time shifting the US channels (we normally get Detroit or Rochester) is one of the main reasons people buy digital cable or satellite here in Vancouver. On some of the carriers you can get every local version of every local major market Canadian channel plus the East Coast and West Coast Feeds of the big 5 US channels. So are you only able to timeshift channels like HBO then?
hc,
id never be selfish when it comes to the news. even if it ends up hurting me personally. isnt that what good neighbors do?
matt,
directv users in the US get eastcoast feeds of MTV, E!, Comedy Central, HBO, and a few others.
this would not only let people here in LA get an eastcoast NBC feed, but also keep our westcoast feed. only HBO, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and a few other movie channels allow for two feeds, a west and an east coast.
but probably the best part of this east coast feed of NBC is the ability to get NY local news. so if something happens in ny, theres no need to go to CNN and hope they cover it, it will probably get Team Coverage on wnbc.
More than likely, this is only legal because DirecTV is not relying on the "Local into Local" copyright-exemption law to deliver WNBC - but instead, they have a private contract with NBC Universal itself. As long as NBC approves it, and the local affiliate (KNBC, owned by NBC) approves as well, there is no problem with receiving WNBC in LA. Now if the other networks would get on board. Virtually all networks have many O&O affiliates (Owned & Operated by the network itself). For a while, anyone living in a CBS O&O affiliate market could get WCBS / KCBS HD on Dish Network.
excellent insight Johnathan! thank you!
only the zipcodes in the los angeles area are eligible
ask for the 'wnbc ny available in la'
I still don't understand why networks don't utilize bittorrent to distribute. Millions of people all over the world are already downloading these shows, so they don't have to wait for directTV to get through stupid laws like these.
download tv:
http://sharetv.org/shows
your comparing apples and machine guns, itcdr.
for those of us in LA to be able to get tonight's Conan at 9:30pm, is much different than waiting for someone to capture it, upload it, and then waiting to download it.
theres nothing better than having it on tv, immediately. when you and your millions can beat the network in delivering their tv shows, then we'll talk.
I subscribe to DirecTV, and have for about 11 or 12 years now. I get all the East Coast (NY) and West Coast (LA) network channels. These are channels 380 to 389. They are WCBS, KCBS, WNBC, KNBC, WABC, KABC, and whatever the FOX ones are. Back in the day, only the NBC ones (WNBC & KNBC) were from New York and LA. The rest were from other smaller cities in those time zones. For example, I think we got ABC from North Carolina. Being from New York, it doesn't bother me at all that my channels are my local NY channels. I'm sure that if I wasn't in NY, I'd want my local channels and not the East Coast/West Coast (NY/LA) thing that I've got now. I'm pretty sure I also get "local" channels, but I'm not sure.
How would they know if you just take your receiver from the East Coast and move it to the West Coast?
If you don't tell them you moved, do you keep getting the channels from your former location?
@ Anon
I too have had the east coast feed of NY for several years, the 380-389. Unfortunately when I upgraded to HD last year, I wasn't allowed receive the east coast HD feed on channels 80, 82, 86, 88.
although it probably violates a bunch of FCC regs, the only station that would complain is KNBC, which of course, is an NBC O&O. so they probably won't be complaining.
yo, tony what channel is it on directv?
channel 382
my ip is 69.133.46.104
i approve of the designated hitter rule
and i would vote for w again if only i could
$6 a month is a little steep for one channel. If it where ALL the network east-coast feeds, it would be a much better deal. I think this idiotic price point just sets up this 'trial balloon' for failure.
My guess is that the NY and LA NBC stations are both O&O, there is no loss of eyballs when it comes to national commercials. Having a second feed of NBC in the #2 TV market allows the 4th place NBC a second shot at viewers.
I too hope that this is a step in the direction of offering more 'feeds' of network programming. Digital TV signals have all of those subcarrier channels, they'd just need permission from the network to re-purpose the prime-time lineup in other hours of the day. Sort of like a linear version of 'on demand'.
This isn't new..... I signed up for DirecTV in 2000, and never changed my package. I lived at the time on the east coast, and in an area with no OTA coverage (mountains). So, DirecTV gave me not just the NY, but the LA feeds of ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, all for $1.50 each a month.
Today, 7 years later, I live in Utah, and still get all my "local" channels from the East/West Network feeds. Channel 380-389 are the NY/LA Network feeds. Granted I'll never change my package, since if I do I will lose this. I also get NESN here so I can keep up with my Red Sox.
Local Utah TV sucks anyway.
One day, when the urge to get HD is overwhelming, I'll breakdown and switch.
I as well have received the channels 381-389 in both LA & OC since 98. It's what makes Dirtectv the best! It benefits all the networks as I am able to record 2 EC shows at once via Tivo and catch the other 2 WC shows later so I can watch all 4 network 8 pm shows at my own convenience. It's also great for shows like SNL or live shows that might have some outrageous event (The View) and watch it before it gets edited for WC. As someone that grew up in NJ, this is a great way to keep up on local NJ news and still watch /live the LA news too.
I think the best example was during 9/11 when I was able to watch the NY news on the events and aftermath that was not covered here in LA.
I should say, I only get ABC & NBC East Coast, while my mom who lives in a Mobile Home Park, can't get ABC/NBC but gets CBS & FOX. At least 2 are better than none. On my bill it reads "Network from NYC" and is $1.50 for each of the 2 channels, and well worth it.