Did people formerly use DX TV to beat NFL blackouts?

[BMR]

Does that thread title make sense? I've just been reading on that fout of all knowledge 'Wikipedia' about NFL local blackouts, and the fact that some games have to be blacked out within 75 miles of the stadium.

75 miles is a fair way but, in the analogue days, not out of the question on VHF with a decent aerial. Was there much of an attempt to do this, either by private individuals or sports bars? Was it illegal to beat a blackout in this way?

 

[ansky212]

75 miles is a fair way but, in the analogue days, not out of the question on VHF with a decent aerial. Was there much of an attempt to do this, either by private individuals or sports bars? Was it illegal to beat a blackout in this way?

I would think only a small percentage of people would even think to do this, let alone have the capability to do so. Plus it would only work under ideal DX'ing conditions, which usually occur at night - and the majority of football games are played during the day. Even so, I don't see how it could be illegal since you're picking up a tv signal that is broadcast free over the air.

 

[fussbudget]

I know it was done but as the previous poster says, conditions would have to be ideal. The vast majority of football fans wouldn't put up with a signal that faded periodically, or was too weak and snowy to see clearly.

 

[BRNout]

Yes, people absolutely did this - if they lived in an area where you could. When I was very little, we lived in northern VA and the Redskins were often blacked out. People in the area would turn their antennas south to pick up the games on WTVR-6 from Richmond, which had a pretty snowy signal most of the time. But Richmond stations (mainly CBS 6) carried all Redskin games and were never subject to the blackouts. Baltimore stations were, and that was unfortunate because those came in well for us, while Richmond stations were very weak.

I know of other examples of the same thing. I've even heard stories of people in the early 70s who lived in the LA area traveling up to Bakersfield to see Rams games on TV. I don't know that doing this was ever popular, but I recall some west coast family friends who did it.

I know it was done but as the previous poster says, conditions would have to be ideal. The vast majority of football fans wouldn't put up with a signal that faded periodically, or was too weak and snowy to see clearly.

You are mistaken - at least as far as a 1960s or 1970s audience is concerned. People DID put up with a snowy signal to see a game. It is today's audience who would never stand for it - but back in the day, it was not uncommon for people to watch a less than perfect broadcast signal.

 

[gbranch]

Back in the late 80's, when the Cowboys were so hideous, they went through several seasons when they would not sell out home games at Texas Stadium. People in DFW would put up "Cowboys Antennas" to pick up the games from Tyler or Waco. And there were sports bars that were busted for showing the games - the problem is is that they would charge a cover for entry.

There is nothing illegal about using a large antenna to pick up a distance signal to watch a game blacked out locally, you just can't use the signal for profit, which I think is true regardless if the signal is local or not.

 

[Tom Wells]

Yes especially in areas where antennas already needed to be on masts and have rotators.

In Wolcott In I had the chance as a boy to play with such a setup.
This was about 70-odd miles south of Chicago in the early 70s.
All the Chicago VHFs were a bit wavy, but without real snow.
Lafeyette was clear, South Bend on 16 was very weak, and Indianapolis stations (only 2) were snowy.
In NW Indiana , there were many who watched WNDU Suth Bend IN when a game was blacked out in Chicago.
Some people without rotors would climb ladders and turn rooftop antennas just for the one game.

 

[cyberdad]

WREX-TV, channel 13, in Rockford, IL probably showed up....or would have shown up....in the Chicago TV ratings on days when the Bears played at home. Their stick was/is just outside the 75 mile limit and, as a full powered VHF, they put a viewable signal into the outlying west and northwest suburbs. Even closer in, peering through the snow to watch "da Bears" was pretty common.

 

[spunker88]

I imagine people would put up with a snowy signal, its better than nothing. Back in those days the only other alternative would be listening on the radio, so you could consider the snowy picture a bonus since you would still be getting audio either way.

Even in modern times Ive used radio to beat blackouts or un-televised events. Where I am in Watertown, NY the Bills usually get priority over the Giants on tv. I decided to get it on the radio, only problem is nobody local was playing it and radio stations will block their streams during sports. Since it was nighttime, I simply tuned to 660 WFAN. Ive also done this with the Yankees on 880 WCBS. Its nice to have 2 clear channel AM stations for all your sports.

 

[FreddyE1977]

I once had an electronics "how to" book which had a chapter describing how to build an
amplified quarter-wave antenna for this purpose. The book claimed that a large number of
people in the New York area were using them to get blacked-out NY Giant games from Channel 3
in Hartford, CT.

 

[KeithE4]

WREX-TV, channel 13, in Rockford, IL probably showed up....or would have shown up....in the Chicago TV ratings on days when the Bears played at home. Their stick was/is just outside the 75 mile limit and, as a full powered VHF, they put a viewable signal into the outlying west and northwest suburbs. Even closer in, peering through the snow to watch "da Bears" was pretty common.

Prior to the last time the Bears were blacked out in Chicago (1979 or 1980, IIRC), there were plenty of bars that had big antennas with rotators so they could get Da Bears from Rockford or South Bend. If there was a game being carried in Milwaukee or Kalamazoo that wasn't aired in Chicago, they could pick those up as well. There are 4 markets with network affiliates within 100 air miles of downtown Chicago - Rockford, South Bend, Grand Rapids/K-zoo, and Milwaukee. I think that's more than anywhere else in the country (which is probably one reason why Market #3 only got 5 VHF stations instead of the 7 that NY and LA got).

Such setups were more common than most people realize. When I was growing up in Indiana, we could occasionally get a game that was being carried in Cincinnati or Louisville that wasn't on in Indy or Terre Haute.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

WREX-TV, channel 13, in Rockford, IL probably showed up....or would have shown up....in the Chicago TV ratings on days when the Bears played at home. Their stick was/is just outside the 75 mile limit and, as a full powered VHF, they put a viewable signal into the outlying west and northwest suburbs. Even closer in, peering through the snow to watch "da Bears" was pretty common.

Unless it was MNF (back in WREX's pre-August 1995 ABC days--now they're NBC), wouldn't it had been WIFR-23 (then and now CBS) that would have showed up in the Chicago ratings back in the days of CBS NFC coverage during Bears blackouts? (And I don't recall if there were Bears games threatened with blackout in Chicago during the darkest days of the Wanny era--1997-98--after NFC games moved to Fox and WQRF-39 in Rockford).

 

[KeithE4]

WREX-TV, channel 13, in Rockford, IL probably showed up....or would have shown up....in the Chicago TV ratings on days when the Bears played at home. Their stick was/is just outside the 75 mile limit and, as a full powered VHF, they put a viewable signal into the outlying west and northwest suburbs. Even closer in, peering through the snow to watch "da Bears" was pretty common.

Unless it was MNF (back in WREX's pre-August 1995 ABC days--now they're NBC), wouldn't it had been WIFR-23 (then and now CBS) that would have showed up in the Chicago ratings back in the days of CBS NFC coverage during Bears blackouts? (And I don't recall if there were Bears games threatened with blackout in Chicago during the darkest days of the Wanny era--1997-98--after NFC games moved to Fox and WQRF-39 in Rockford).

WREX was CBS prior to WCEE/WIFR starting up in 1965, and probably did carry the Bears on what was then a CBS regional network based at WBBM-TV, prior to the NFL going national in 1962.

I do remember hearing of the possibility of blackouts during Wanny's and Dick Jauron's reigns of error (I'd left Chicago by then), but I don't believe there were any.

 

[Robnoxious]

A neighbor of mine told me about when Monday Night Football games were blacked out in Los Angeles (blackouts of Los Angeles teams was pretty common all of the time) he and his buddies would hop into his single engine prop plane and fly 45 minutes North to Bakersfield (the nearest DMA not affected by blackout rules) to watch the game at the airport bar at Meadows Field. Many people with small planes in Los Angeles did this.

 

[HoustonListener]

wow, wouldn't it have been cheaper, faster, easeier and more enjoyable to just buy a ticket and actually go to the football game rather than flying a plane to another city to watch the game in an airport bar?

 

[KeithE4]

wow, wouldn't it have been cheaper, faster, easeier and more enjoyable to just buy a ticket and actually go to the football game rather than flying a plane to another city to watch the game in an airport bar?

Given LA traffic in rush hour, probably not. ;D

 

[Robnoxious]

wow, wouldn't it have been cheaper, faster, easeier and more enjoyable to just buy a ticket and actually go to the football game rather than flying a plane to another city to watch the game in an airport bar?

This was in the early 70's mind you and I asked him if pilots were drinking while watching the game and without blinking he replied "Of course!" After the game ended he said there were literally 30 or so small aircraft flying around Southland airspace with buzzed pilots returning to regional airports in Pasadena or Fullerton or Huntington Beach.

 

[Markxxx]

I remember when small hotels/motels would advertise themselves as outside of the blackout areas.

Of course there was the famous Bob Newhart Show episode where Bob and Jerry went to Peoria to watch a Bears game and found themselves in the company of "professional ladies" with typical hilarious sitcom results

 

[dhett]

To answer the original question: absolutely! In western New York, sellouts at 80K-seat Rich Stadium were not always a guarantee, even when the Bills were really good. Buffalo and Rochester stations were in the blackout zone, but Syracuse was not. Restaurants and bars in eastern Monroe and northwestern Ontario counties made a decent profit due to the fact that they were within fringe range of the Syracuse signal.

The two markets were blacked out for the playoff game where Buffalo overcame a 35-3 deficit against Houston with their backup QB. I was barely able to pick up a very snowy WSTM signal from about 20 miles south of Rochester - just enough to make out what was going on in the game. That couldn't happen today for two reasons: 1) it would be below the "cliff" of a digital signal, and 2) the NFL changed the blackout boundaries to exclude any station whose signal reaches within 75 miles of the stadium, which the Syracuse stations do, so they're now blacked out as well.

 

[KML0224]

Blame the Syracuse blackout on a tiny strip of western Yates County, NY just touching the 75 mile radius of Ralph Wilson Stadium.

 

[w9wi]

Prior to the last time the Bears were blacked out in Chicago (1979 or 1980, IIRC), there were plenty of bars that had big antennas with rotators so they could get Da Bears from Rockford or South Bend. If there was a game being carried in Milwaukee or Kalamazoo that wasn't aired in Chicago, they could pick those up as well. There are 4 markets with network affiliates within 100 air miles of downtown Chicago - Rockford, South Bend, Grand Rapids/K-zoo, and Milwaukee. I think that's more than anywhere else in the country (which is probably one reason why Market #3 only got 5 VHF stations instead of the 7 that NY and LA got).

It was done in the other direction as well: Milwaukee bars with 70+-foot towers to receive Chicago (and Grand Rapids?) stations. Some of them were still up (but probably unused) as recently as five years ago.