Tech problems with WPSG-TV 57 Transmitter

[Julius May]

From CW Philly Website

STATION ALERT for Antenna and Satellite Viewers:
WPSG-TV, The CW Philly, is currently experiencing technical difficulties with our antenna. Our engineers are working to correct the problem as soon as possible. We will update our website when more information is available. We apologize for any disruption.

[Julius May]

Are they saying that the over the air signal on 57 is off the air?

[Don]

Are they saying that the over the air signal on 57 is off the air?

Yup.  And it still is as of 2:53 pm Tuesday

[Bill_W]

I guess their analog broadcast is off the air. I have Comcast and can get the analog and DT station. I guess CBS microwaves both signals to Comcast. I also have a DirecTv box with a digital tv tuner. There is no 57 on the satellite now. They say a technical problem with the station. WPSG is broadcasting the digital signal. I can receive it over the air on the DTV box.

In NYC, microwaving the broadcast signal to the cable headends kept NYC TV "on the air" if you had cable on 9/11.

That makes me think, if your local TV station is sending their TV signal to a cable headend by means other than over the air, do the FCC guidelines apply? Can you complain to the FCC if the TV signal you are watching via cable TV never went over the airwaves?

[Jefferson Lee Eng]

I guess Channel 57 should count themselves lucky the OTA transmitter is out during the week between Christmas and New Years when most network programming is in repeats at this time.  Of course, how much do we care about the other parts of the schedule?  Well, Kids' WB may or may not count, I guess...

-Jefferson

[Julius May]

I guess Channel 57 should count themselves lucky the OTA transmitter is out during the week between Christmas and New Years when most network programming is in repeats at this time.

-Jefferson

Bad thing because the Sixers will be on WPSG tonight. I know they suck but some people can't see the game tonight and will have to listen to WIP 610 AM to hear the game. Has anyone called or e-mail WPSG-TV. If you did, did they say when the problems will be fixed?  contact link: http://cwphilly.com/about/

[Nertz!]

Boo hoo some people miss a basketball game on TV. It isn't like these punks are good role models.

[Julius May]

Boo hoo some people miss a basketball game on TV. It isn't like these punks are good role models.

I think that 57 should move those Flyers and Sixers games to CSN or CBS 3 until they can get their signal back on.  UPDATE as of yesterday:

Station Alert: WPSG-TV, The CW Philly, is currently experiencing a technical problem that is causing a disruption in service to some of our viewers. At this point, it is difficult to determine when it will be fully resolved, but our engineers are working hard to restore full service as quickly as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to be back with all of you soon.

Has anyone contacted the Daily News and Inquirer to let them know about this? If you haven't, please do so.

[imhomerjay]

I think that 57 should move those Flyers and Sixers games to CSN or CBS 3 until they can get their signal back on.  UPDATE as of yesterday:

Ummmm, it isn't quite that simple.  Do you think CBS would suddenly want their shows bumped?  The CW is one thing, the mothership is quite another matter.

And CSN isn't even co-owned...never mind the obligations they already have.

[mjdecastro]

I think that 57 should move those Flyers and Sixers games to CSN or CBS 3 until they can get their signal back on.  UPDATE as of yesterday:

Ummmm, it isn't quite that simple.  Do you think CBS would suddenly want their shows bumped?  The CW is one thing, the mothership is quite another matter.

And CSN isn't even co-owned...never mind the obligations they already have.

Worth noting ... The CW Philly's signal was not interrupted on cable.  The Sixers game may have been unavailable over the air, but anyone who has beyond a passing interest in the team in this area is a Comcast subscriber, since Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia is the primary broadcaster of Sixer games, and is only available via cable (Comcast will not make the channel available via satellite - well-documented).  Since Comcast subscribers were unaffected by the CW Philly transmitter outage, the likelihood that anyone who had a desire to watch the Sixer game was unable to watch was slim at best.

Also worth noting ... interruption of one station's broadcast schedule to emphasize the deficiencies of a co-owned station is probably not in the best interest of either station involved.

Julius can be given some credence though, in that if there are audiences you don't want to annoy when it comes to television broadcasting, sports audiences rank up there.  That, and soap opera fans.  They don't like having their stories tampered with, either.