What happened to Buck-Rockets HD?

[Scott]

I noted that Direct TV had on channel 84 the Bucks-Rockets game in HD today.

As an NBA league pass subscriber, I figured I would get the game.  Of course then I tune in, and find out "program not available in your area"

Did anyone else experience this?   I was still able (or forced to) watch Paaschke and McGlockin on Fox ch642.

I assume that the HD broadcast was being done by the Houston locals, and our area had to watch the Milwaukee local Fox Sports Midwest feed which was not HD.

I thought this was a ripoff since I paid for both the HD channels and league pass with Direct TV.  Its frustrating with the premium price you pay and the few NBA HD games that there are that you can't watch them.

Anyone have any thoughts here?

BTW, I flipped to Xavier-Duke and noted that was in SD not HD.  Seems to me a game of that magnitude would be in HD.

[tbarney]

TWC has Fox Sports HD and the game was on here.  NBA tv was picking up the game and showing it in HD on INHD on cable.  The INHD game was blacked out on TWC, but was looking good on FOX Sports HD!

[Mags]

I figured that the HD broadcast would be blacked out for NBA TV in Milwaukee, as Fox Sports HD had the rights to the game...

But as a D* subscriber, it is very frustrating.  I would pay for Fox Sports HD in a heartbeat, but cannot as D* chooses not to offer it.  Since that is the case, they should allow us to watch the NBA TV in HD, since we don't have a choice to watch the FOX broadcast.

I guess the answer is to carry Fox Sports HD... if they choose not to do so, it may be time to go back to (gulp) TWC...

[qawsed]

I'm in the same position.  Apparently NBA TV takes the FSN HD feed and adds their own commercials.  That's why Directv blacks it out in Milwaukee.  Pretty weak if you ask me.  It will be interesting to see what Directv does with the Brewers FSN games.

I tried switching back to TWC last year and was quickly reminded of why I left them in the first place.  But I have to admit, if they get a HD PVR and ESPN HD, it would be tempting.

[Scott]

If Direct TV does offer Fox Sports Net HD, don't they really have a lot of bandwidth issues because they would need to offer all the Fox Sports Affiliates around the country in HD?

Is Time Warner going to offer an HD PVR this summer as part of their decoder box package?

What are your options with Direct TV for a PVR?  Any help there from them with PVR or HD PVR?   I only ask because I spent the money to buy a box and 3 LNB dish about a year ago, and then read here about some $99 deal for and HD box and dish with Direct TV.

[summerfun]

Originally posted by Scott
Is Time Warner going to offer an HD PVR this summer as part of their decoder box package?

Yes, is in beta test right now and should be out soon. It is the SA8000HD.

[qawsed]

Scott,

Call D* at 800-600-8977.  This is a direct line to customer retention at D*.  This is who you have to talk to to get the $99 HD deal.

Explain that you bought a HD receiver before they were offering the $99 deal, and ask if there is anything they can do for you.  I did, and they gave me a $150 credit, no questions asked.  Took all of 30 seconds.

[Scott]

Do any of you Direct TV guys have any idea who to call on this issue of Bucks HD games?

Tonight the Bucks-Pacers is on ch84 in HD as the NBA channel game.  But again, I can't get it, since Fox Sports has the Milwaukee market exclusive and Direct TV doesn't carry Fox Sports Midwest in HD.  So my ch. 84 is blacked out once again

Who do we call.....Direct TV, the Bucks, the NBA??

This is nuts....I pay that obscene price for the Direct TV HD package AND the NBA league pass yet I can't get this?

[Mags]

I don't know who else to call... but give 'em hell - if you can get an email, I will gladly follow up with a complaint email...

[Mags]

I called Directv tonite and did get an explanation - one that I understood, although was obviously not happy with.....

The Bucks game tonite was an NBA-TV game.... and is shown as part of the NBA season ticket (if you have it)...  The NBA season ticket can only show us out of market games... that is why the Bucks' game is blacked out in the channel # 700's..... and that is why the HD is blacked out... but we see the SD version on Channel 642 - it is our regional Fox network, so we have access..

The way I understand it, if they showed the FOX HD version of the game on channel 84 (which they do not have a contract to do), we would see it.

I told them they need to get this added soon - as even though they have ESPN-HD, local fans want to see their local teams in HD... he put in a channel request, which I'm sure goes into the circular file (garbage can)...

We are out of luck - I guess we need to be happy with ESPN-HD and of course, Sunday Ticket HD!

[Scott]

Mags...I called Direct TV tonight as well.  I went through two different people and pushed hard for the name or number of someone to contact.

All I got was this: "Why don't you write to Direct TV, P.O. Box 92600, Los Angeles, CA 90009.....the people there do read the letters"

That doesn't help at all.  Your comment from the Direct TV rep about tonights game not being a fox sports net game doesn't ring true, since Sundays Rockets game was a Fox Sports Net game, and we didn't get that one either.  

Of course, they will probably say that both Sunday's game and tonights were done HD with feeds from non-Milwaukee announcers, and they need to "preserve" the Milwaukee Fox Sports team exclusive here.

Why can't Direct TV or Time Warner (with no ESPN HD and analog chs 1-99) get their act together and get a good complete package for the consumer??  Uggh....

[qawsed]

Both Sunday's game and tonight's game were Fox Sports Net games.  However, NBA TV takes the FSN feed and adds their own commercials to it.  This is why D* blacks out the game here in Milwaukee.

We need to get D* to give us the straight FSN feed, not the NBA TV version.  The good news is, there is no "NBA TV" type channel for baseball, so hopefully the Brewers games will not be blacked out here.