So it is just after 10:00 Sunday night, and the picture on KPRC Channel 2 (cable) has been frozen for about 15 minutes. No 10:00 news, just a screen shot of a hunky actor from some NBC show. This is the biggest tech screwup I've seen in ages! Anyone else catch this?
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Major Tech Problem on KPRC!
- Thread starter rip-n-read
- Start date
rip-n-read said:
Feeds from one place to another often go through a frame synchronizer at the receiving end. (this piece of gear ensures that any switches between sources don't glitch) Often, frame synchronizers are set up to freeze the last valid frame if the input signal goes away.
So, it sounds like the KPRC feed to the cable system disappeared completely.
It would be interesting to know whether the KPRC signal was OK on antenna or satellite. My bet is that it was, in which case the problem was either with the cable operator or the telephone company. (which is probably responsible for the fiber-optic feed between KPRC's studios and the cable head-end)
It's happening again right now! I have no picture and probably mono sound. My over-the-air monitor (pre-cable portable TV) is fine. Comcast seems not to notice that there is a problem in Katy. I just called them and they have to send a technician out. I'll call them back if there is no picture tomorrow morning. It seems I can't depend on cable after the digital transition. 
KTN Corp said:
From a Fort Worth/Dallas-area resident and communicator: be careful what you wish for. Up here on the other end of I-45, we've watched NBC destroy what was once a pretty good station in KXAS.
* We've watched them bring in minor-league talent that doesn't know the area nor are they planning on being in Market No. 5 long enough to get to know the area (the average age of their reporters on the street seems to be 19, and it's only that high because of a couple of old guys). And their two longest-term reporters, their 6 & 10 p.m. anchors seem more like an SNL sketch that true journalists.
* We've watched them turn a newscast into little more than a regional police blotter report intermixed with infomercials for women's health products.
* And we've watched them destroy a fantastic sports department and are now (or soon will be) down to one person on sports: weekday anchor Newy Scruggs. This despite North Texas being home to franchises of MLS, NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB, arena football, three minor-league baseball teams (four if you count the Rangers
), a top-tier horse track, a major raceway, four division I colleges (North Texas, Texas-Arlington, Southern Methodist and Texas Christian), plus another (Dallas Baptist) that plays Division I baseball. Not to mention a gazillion high schools in the area.I only see Houston-area television about a week a year when we head to my MIL's condo on Galveston, and I truthfully only watch long enough to catch Tim Heller's forecast on Channel 13, since I enjoyed watching him for years on KDFW, so I can't say how bad KPRC is or isn't. I can say that I remember KXAS before NBC bought it, and I see it now, and one man's opinion is this: NBC has destroyed it. Since KXAS is in market 5 and KPRC is in market 10(?), the lack of respect showed to North Texas viewers through KXAS is probably a safe bet to what NBC would do to southeast Texas viewers on KPRC.
As bad as it may be, I'd be careful asking for NBC ownership. It just might be worse.
KTN Corp said:
I heard there were bad customer service issues with Comcrap here in DFW prior to the flip to TimeWarner...not sure what you guys had down south with TW before you flipped to Comcrap but, um, you might want to memorize D* or E*'s phone/web contacts just in case.
+1 on the NBC thing. P-N may not have been the best steward of your station, but we've gone from having no O&Os to having all but 1 or 2, with mixed results. I would have thought at first that NBC would have done wonders for KXAS, but they are down to 1 reason to watch now, and it's sad to see. CBS vastly improved KTVT but has had their chopping block out of late...at least they have some kind of substance in their sports dept. Fox has been a mixed bag for KDFW, some things are better, some not (American Idol finale post-game taking up HALF of the 9pm news the other night, for example
). I don't watch enough of the other local O&Os to know how they're doing.The late humorist Erma Bombeck had a book out called "The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank" many years ago. Would be interesting to know what she'd think (if she were around now) about what TV/radio have become....
Just be careful what you wish for. And good luck on that cable situation.
easttxtv said:+1 on the NBC thing. P-N may not have been the best steward of your station, but we've gone from having no O&Os to having all but 1 or 2, with mixed results. I would have thought at first that NBC would have done wonders for KXAS, but they are down to 1 reason to watch now, and it's sad to see. CBS vastly improved KTVT but has had their chopping block out of late...at least they have some kind of substance in their sports dept. Fox has been a mixed bag for KDFW, some things are better, some not (American Idol finale post-game taking up HALF of the 9pm news the other night, for example
Conan was on at the time (at least it's now at the right time slot after a little coaxing--just need to coax P-N to have Last Call on time and carry Poker After Dark) and it was strange to be able to listen to him but not to see him. Luckily the situation corrected itself in the morning, otherwise Comcast would have to make a service call to my house. I believe that was the only channel acting erratically that night.
Houston has had O&Os for much longer. Texas' first, KTRK, was acquired in a merger and the other was bought out. The only reason DFW has O&Os was to protect their affiliations. It's more stable here.
New World/FOX has caused the mess in the DFW market. Rumor has it that CBS is trying to woo KXAS and then ends up on KTVT. NBC getting control of 5 so they don't have to shop around like CBS. Then Gaylord gets out of television and CBS buys it. Wow!
I think the O&O stations usually have better newscasts and better presentation because they have better resources at their disposal. In the top 3 markets, the NBC and ABC stations are neck-and-neck on the #1 and #2 spots out of the big 3 local stations and the CBS station is irrelevant. Didn't know what happened with KXAS though. Maybe Lin wanted something done their way
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