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Comments on news posted 2014-02-04 12:16:08: Los Angeles area Time Warner Cable customers were more than a little annoyed over the weekend when the cable company's feed of the Super Bowl suddenly went dark during the end of the second quarter, and stayed out for more than an hour. ..

pacojoebob
join:2004-05-03
Azusa, CA

pacojoebob

Member

Only on SD

Where I was at there was no issue on the HD channel that we were watching on. The only reason I heard about the outage was a neighbor called to ask if ours was out.
pb2k
join:2005-05-30
Calgary, AB

pb2k

Member

The SD feed- does anyone actually care?

Seriously, who watches anything in SD anymore? I'm sure it would have been fixed a lot quicker had the HD feed gone down, as all the techs capable of fixing it would have been impacted too, thus providing a tiny bit of motivation.

Mike
Mod
join:2000-09-17
Pittsburgh, PA

2 recommendations

Mike

Mod

Re: The SD feed- does anyone actually care?

Grandma is very upset she couldn't see Bruno Mars.
Rekrul
join:2007-04-21
Milford, CT

Rekrul to pb2k

Member

to pb2k
People whose cable company charges more for HD channels/box and they don't want to pay extra on top of the $150 a month they already pay for cable service. Or maybe they can't spare the $700-800 for a giant flatscreen TV.
Happydude32
Premium Member
join:2005-07-16

Happydude32

Premium Member

Re: The SD feed- does anyone actually care?

Time Warner doesn't charge a penny more if you have an HD set top terminal versus a SD set top box. Cisco and Samsung don't even make SD boxes anymore.
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT

BiggA to pb2k

Premium Member

to pb2k
Exactly. I saw the headline and was like "HOLY ****", then I saw it was SD only, and realize that NO ONE CARES. Such a non-story. I bet the people in the old people's home were upset LOL.

Eddy120876
join:2009-02-16
Bronx, NY

Eddy120876

Member

Bloodsucker Superbowl commercial LOL

Really TWC on the biggest day for TV watching your SD signal craps out? LOL better invest that money on more safety systems instead of putting vamps,P-ddidy,cruz,Jimmy Fallon,Duck Dynasty on a commercial. LOL

Kidtemp
@myvzw.com

Kidtemp

Anon

Really

This is the one day a year that every headend,uplink center, wherever has every possible feed (hd,sd, analog)being proactively monitored. Guess TWC didnt wanna pay an day overtime or their techs were busy watching porn.
smcallah
join:2004-08-05
Home

smcallah

Member

Re: Really

It was fixed in an hour, that's not exactly a long turnaround time for an outage. Depending on what was broken about it.

Especially when the story doesn't offer up what was broken that they had to fix. But it's so fun to make assumptions and pretend than an hour is a long time.
jjeffeory
jjeffeory
join:2002-12-04
Bloomington, IN

jjeffeory

Member

Re: Really

I bet those companies who payed millions of dollars to put their commercials in front of eyes during that outage feel differently.

ohreally
@threembb.co.uk

ohreally

Anon

Re: Really

The advertisers choosing to advertise is not TWC's problem, they aren't paid to carry those ads and there obviously isn't any guarantee or SLA on retransmission. If anything they have to pay the TV stations for the privilege of carrying those adverts.

So who cares what the advertisers think?

Eddy120876
join:2009-02-16
Bronx, NY

Eddy120876 to smcallah

Member

to smcallah
An hour lost during the Super Bowl equals to billions of dollars lost down the road. Remember when the Ravens vs 49 electric issues and how much money some of the companies lost.
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

4 recommendations

elray

Member

You can lead a horse...

But you can't get them to punch in an HD channel number.

I shudder every time I see someone's huge flat screen tuned to an SD channel, then I realize that the content they're choosing isn't even worthy of Netflix, so I shrug and wander off muttering something about free will, cheap anesthesia, and the catastrophic consequences of the government monopoly on public education.

Meanwhile, the press and populist blogs enjoy another week of cable-bashing.

Hall
MVM
join:2000-04-28
Germantown, OH

Hall

MVM

Re: You can lead a horse...

said by elray:

But you can't get them to punch in an HD channel number.

Dish took care of that as their different generations of HD receivers came along. On the previous generation, the SD and HD channels were duplicated side-by-side (ch 140 SD and 140 HD, for ESPN, were right next to one another). The "real" HD channel was way up high in the 9000 range as well. You also had a setting to show "only SD", "only HD", or both. On the latest generation, i.e. the Hopper, out of the box they have it defaulted to "only HD".

Oh, you forgot to mention that SD channel on their huge flat screen being stretched to fill the screen !!
Skippy25
join:2000-09-13
Hazelwood, MO

Skippy25

Member

Re: You can lead a horse...

In all of AT&T's wisdom you have to tune to the 1000 channels for HD on uVerse.

You would think all of these morons would make it so HD settings on the receiver only = HD channels coming from it (when available). If I set the receiver to do 1080 widescreen, then I clearly dont want to see your 480 crap boxed up on my screen.
raybrett
join:2001-02-20
Saint Louis, MO

raybrett

Member

Re: You can lead a horse...

Skippy, you are welcome to your opinion. Just don't try to force your option on me. I choose whether I watch SD or HD and I would not want to be forced to watch HD just because I happened to set my receiver to 1080 widescreen.
Skippy25
join:2000-09-13
Hazelwood, MO

Skippy25

Member

Re: You can lead a horse...

I am not forcing crap on anyone, but if you set up your TV for HD then you would expect HD by default and conveniently available.

If you are the 1 out of 1,000,000 people that set your HD TV up and want SD on it then too bad. Why should the other 99,999,999 deal with that stupidity for the one.

And I will say, if you choose to watch SD when HD is available to you for the same content on an HD TV, then you either A.) Are an idiot or B.) Just being a PITA to be a PITA (yes I am judging) as there is no logical argument you could possibly make to choose SD over HD on an HD tv.
smcallah
join:2004-08-05
Home

smcallah to Hall

Member

to Hall
TWC boxes also tune to the HD channel now if it is available and you're using an HD box, it's been that way for a while.

The people that had this outage were either using an SD only box, a TiVo, or some other tuner.
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray

Member

Re: You can lead a horse...

said by smcallah:

TWC boxes also tune to the HD channel now if it is available and you're using an HD box, it's been that way for a while.

The people that had this outage were either using an SD only box, a TiVo, or some other tuner.

Not in Los Angeles.

Anonymous_
Anonymous
Premium Member
join:2004-06-21
127.0.0.1

Anonymous_ to Hall

Premium Member

to Hall
said by Hall:

said by elray:

But you can't get them to punch in an HD channel number.

Dish took care of that as their different generations of HD receivers came along. On the previous generation, the SD and HD channels were duplicated side-by-side (ch 140 SD and 140 HD, for ESPN, were right next to one another). The "real" HD channel was way up high in the 9000 range as well. You also had a setting to show "only SD", "only HD", or both. On the latest generation, i.e. the Hopper, out of the box they have it defaulted to "only HD".

Oh, you forgot to mention that SD channel on their huge flat screen being stretched to fill the screen !!

my grandpa only has SD boxes I tell him to call for the credit....
Rekrul
join:2007-04-21
Milford, CT

Rekrul to elray

Member

to elray
Not every one has a huge flat screen. I know a guy who can just barely afford to pay for cable each month. After food and bills, he doesn't have much left over, so he's still using his old CRT TV rather than going out and buying an expensive flat screen TV.
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

1 edit

elray

Member

Re: You can lead a horse...

If you can "barely afford to pay for cable", then you shouldn't have it at all - for you surely aren't managing your finances properly, and you are unprepared for the next fiscal crisis that will cross your path.

Every person I know in the aforementioned category you brought up, has more than one flat-screen TV, and those are second-generation purchases.

My fellow miserly friends I know who still have tubes, simply don't see the point of HD, and are waiting for their CRT's to die before they spend their hard-earned money on a replacement, though I still question their desire for cable. Most of them have HD STB's, which down-convert the HD signal to composite, the result of last year's $1 DVR special. But even though they are wise enough to know to watch the HD channels, I don't think any care for spectator sports.

OneTen
@207.237.90.x

2 recommendations

OneTen

Anon

so naive

did it occur to you that there are very poor people that need a tv cause they cant afford a pc or tablet and use tv as a primary means of cheap entertainment and information like when the next wild fire or drought hits LA. just because one is poor doesnt mean he doesnt deserve to watch the biggest sporting event of the year. there are places in the world where a village gathers around a TV to watch the super bowl. just cause u may live in a more affluent community like santa monica, you're clearly forgetting those in poor areas of the city/county. whatever the case time warner screwed up big time on this one.
said by elray:

If you can "barely afford to pay for cable", then you shouldn't have it at all - for you surely aren't managing your finances properly, and you are unprepared for the next fiscal crisis that will cross your path.

Every person I know in the aforementioned category you brought up, has more than one flat-screen TV, and those are second-generation purchases.

My fellow miserly friends I know who still have tubes, simply don't see the point of HD, and are waiting for their CRT's to die before they spend money on a replacement. Most of them have HD STB's, which down-convert the HD signal to composite, the result of last year's $1 DVR special. But even though they are wise enough to know to watch the HD channels, I don't think any care for spectator sports.

elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray

Member

Re: so naive

Access to information about wild fires and droughts does not require cable TV.

If you're "very poor", you do not need cable.

We are not affluent, nor do we live in an affluent neighborhood. Nice try. We just don't live above our means.

I work with the poor on a near-daily basis. Most are victims of public "education", after which it is a major battle to train them the fundamentals of personal finance and household budgeting, but we reach a few of them.

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

Re: so naive

The public schools here are broken, if I had kids, I'd send them to Catholic school.

There is no way I'd send my kids to the public schools here in Springfield.
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray

Member

Re: so naive

My friends who work for the government all send their kids to private schools, yet claim they're underpaid as state employees, and whine for every tax increase.

When it comes time to pay their tremendous property taxes, they ask me: "Where does it go?"

When I ask them why they don't send their children to the local public school, they do their best hand-wringing dance, and mumble something about culture.

The public schools aren't "broken". That would imply they can be fixed. They need to be closed, to hold a "going out of business" sale, and we should simply contract their function to private firms, and let parents decide where their kids go to school. It won't solve every problem, but it will go a long way towards actually educating, not indoctrinating the children, so they might have a chance at an economic future.

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

Re: so naive

Our schools here have tenured teachers that care more about their paychecks than the success of their students.

I went through the public school system in Iowa and at the time, Iowa had one of the lowest pay rates for teachers in the country but one of the best educational systems in the country. So I can tell you first hand that by not having high teacher pay you weed out the teacher that want a fat paycheck because they'll look towards other career paths instead of teaching in that state. I had some wonderful teachers going through school, I can count the rattlesnakes I've had on one hand.

I remember one dedicated teacher that helped me catch up on spelling and language arts which I was falling behind on. Ever find those dedicated teachers in corrupt school districts in big cities like Springfield (MA) and Boston. This teacher was in the College Community School District, which is a very good public school system in Iowa. I ended up graduating with honors from the Cedar Rapids Community School District and with a high GPA. But there was a point where I was falling behind and they intervened. But those big city school systems would just let a kid like me fall further and further behind and the only option would be to drop out, no wonder these school systems are dropout factories. Money doesn't fix schools, accountability does. Teachers need to be made terminable at will allowing them to be terminated for any reason or no reason at all.
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT
·Frontier FiberOp..
Asus RT-AC68

BiggA

Premium Member

Re: so naive

It depends where you are. Some teachers are really dedicated, some aren't. Some aren't very dedicated, and still do a good job teaching (I've had a couple of those, although they're not that common). Some school systems are excellent, some aren't. Not all public schools are a mess, but many are. The city schools are getting screwed the most with charter schools, but that's a whole different story. What we should have is more uniformity, both in the curriculum and standards, and in the per student funding. Some places have way better funding than others.
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray

Member

Re: so naive

LA Schools spend $30K per student and yet, "graduates" only 65%, and many are functionally illiterate. It isn't a matter of money or standards.

Its the fact that it is run by the government, which has no interest in the outcome, only perpetuating government.

Sure, there are a good number of dedicated teachers, but they aren't allowed to teach, because that isn't the purpose of public school.

We'd all be much better off, junking the entire public system, and replacing it with vouchers, wherein parents could choose where their children attend, and give them a wide breadth of private options, including online, home schooling, and trade schools. Good teachers have nothing to fear.
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT

BiggA

Premium Member

Re: so naive

God no. We need a system that works, not to get rid of the system. The systems should be state run, like Texas. Just not exactly like Texas, since they do some pretty whacky sh*t with our textbooks.
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray

Member

Re: so naive

Ours is much far wackier, but on the other side of the spectrum that schools have no business "teaching".

You admit that the state-run school is out of control, but you still want to cede your sovereignty to the government and roll the dice with your kids' education?

We've had generations of "reform", and it only gets worse with each passing year. There is no "fix".

•••••••••

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy to elray

Premium Member

to elray

Re: You can lead a horse...

I still use a SD tube TV in my living room (Toshiba 27"), I have my DirecTV Genie hooked up to it and it tunes to the HD channels by default. I just deal with the letter boxing that comes with the widescreen programming on an older set. As long as it works, just use it until it dies. I have two other TVs, both of them HD.

I have older gaming systems I like to play. I just don't get to play them right now with grandma in the living room and with the carpal tunnel.

djrobx
Premium Member
join:2000-05-31
Reno, NV

djrobx to elray

Premium Member

to elray

If you can "barely afford to pay for cable", then you shouldn't have it at all - for you surely aren't managing your finances properly, and you are unprepared for the next fiscal crisis that will cross your path.

As much as people love to bitch about their cable bills, cable is still a very cheap form of entertainment, relative to the cost of food, housing, and other vices folks might involve themselves in when they're bored.
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray

Member

Re: You can lead a horse...

Indeed, it is, for the average household.

But not for the very poor.

That idle time would be better spent on education and a second or third job.

kevinds
Premium Member
join:2003-05-01
Calgary, AB

kevinds

Premium Member

Re: You can lead a horse...

Everybody needs some idle-time...

I still have and use a CRT TV, yes it looks bad - colours are going, and it is SD... lol

But it is what I can afford, and it works

Horsecrap
@verizon.net

Horsecrap to elray

Anon

to elray
Who are you to judge who should or shouldn't subscribe to cable? Topic here is Time Warner Cables failure to deliver a reliable signal.
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray

Member

Re: You can lead a horse...

Ultimately, it is the choice of the individual whether he wants to spend his last dime on cable-tv, an american car, designer jeans, a lavish party, or any other folly.

But if we are truly concerned about and compassionate for the poor, it is a moral (you remember those, right?) imperative to educate and guide them towards a healthier financial future.

That includes "judging", as you say, those habits which are wasteful and detrimental.

Sorry if that offends you, but the free-lunch mentality is not sustainable.
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT

BiggA to Rekrul

Premium Member

to Rekrul
Anyone who can't afford a decent TV shouldn't be paying for cable!

••••

RockCake
Premium Member
join:2005-07-12
Woodbridge, VA

1 recommendation

RockCake

Premium Member

The Broncos fans...

...probably saw it as a mercy killing.