World Series Fiber Transmission Failure

[salmoned]

Since when is OTA transmission dependent on fiber transmission - KHON sucks?!

[LikaNui]

Re: World Series Fiber Transmission Failure

Yeah, the screen stayed black for around 15 minutes, maybe 20, then they came on with that announcement about the "fiber line" and a little later put up half-screen coverage of the game relayed from a computer. That ran for about half an hour. The regular image is back now.
Speaking of the World Series coverage... I'm sick to death of seeing the endless Christmas commercials from WalMart, a major sponsor of the series. Christmas spots, and it's not even Halloween! If I was King Of The World, it would be illegal to have Christmas ads in any media until after Thanksgiving.
Very interesting, though, has been CBS's use of infrared footage on certain plays, which clearly shows whether someone's foot or hand was on a base and if the umpire's calls were correct or not. Neat stuff!

[Leo Lakio]

Re: World Series Fiber Transmission Failure

Since when is OTA transmission dependent on fiber transmission - KHON sucks?!

Star-Adv sez:

Oceanic Cable viewers lost TV coverage of Game 6 of the World Series for about 20 minutes this afternoon because of a power supply problem.

The game is broadcast on the Fox network, KHON in Honolulu. Video of the game was lost about 4:05 p.m.

At 4:28 p.m. the game came back on, but via a lower resolution, slightly jerky Internet video. The regular TV signal, including high definition, returned at 4:50 p.m.

For a while, the station ran a crawl along the bottom of the screen saying: "A fiber transmission outage has resulted in the loss of the World Series feed. KHON2 engineers are working to fix the problem."

Norman Santos, Oceanic vice president of operations, said Oceanic was carrying the signal for KHON through one of the cable company’s hubs when it lost power a little after 4 p.m.

Santos said the generator for the hub didn’t immediately turn on. As Oceanic addressed the problem, KHON put the the World Series on a webstream to replace the signal. “That’s why it looks slower and jittery,” he said.

[LikaNui]

Re: World Series Fiber Transmission Failure

So the S-A confirmed what I wrote. That's nice.
And by the way, once they did restore the original signal the image was only 75% for another 5 minutes until it finally went back to full screen.
Let's see if the S-A adds that.
And in any case, this game is awesome! Tied 9-9 in the 11th inning. Great stuff!

[Leo Lakio]

Re: World Series Fiber Transmission Failure

So the S-A confirmed what I wrote. That's nice.

Yeah, sorry; I missed the part where you told us all:

... because of a power supply problem. --- one of the cable company’s hubs when it lost power a little after 4 p.m.

Ah, but what a way to stretch it to Game 7, yeah? Extra innings, down two games to three.

But s'ed was asking why OTA transmission was affected. It appears (from the article) that Oceanic was providing the feed for KHON, so he should say "Oceanic sucks" instead. Or in addition, that's up to him.

[salmoned]

Re: World Series Fiber Transmission Failure

Agreed, great game!

I already knew Oceanic sucked, now I realize KHON sucks for relying on Oceanic for it's feed.

[surlygirly]

Re: World Series Fiber Transmission Failure

I'm even watching the games and I never watch sports. It's pretty exciting having the Rangers so close to maybe winning! Any extra rooting floating around out there would be appreciated!

[anapuni808]

Re: World Series Fiber Transmission Failure

Go Cardinals!!!!!

[Leo Lakio]

Re: World Series Fiber Transmission Failure

As a non-sports fan, I should say that I really didn't care about the World Series. But as someone who was born in St. Louis, well ...

[anapuni808]

Re: World Series Fiber Transmission Failure

I'm a Oakland A's fan - have been for many years. Tony LaRussa, who used to be their coach is now with the Cardinals. So, I can happily root for the Cards and I was very happy that they won tonite. It was an exciting series and I really enjoyed the series this year.

[DXer]

Re: World Series Fiber Transmission Failure

Oceanic has direct fiber connections to all of the local TV Stations. That's how Oceanic get's the local station's signal, they do not pick-up the OTA signals. When the fiber went out only Oceanic customers lost the game. I realize that is probably 99% of the state. However KHON's OTA viewers, Dish Network and Direct TV viewers were fine. The two satellite providers use the local station's OTA signal.

DXer

[GeckoGeek]

Re: World Series Fiber Transmission Failure

Of course the question becomes, how else is video supposed to get from one place to another? The transmitters are frequently not where the studios are. And the satellite dishes may be somewhere else.

The choices are Hawaiian Tel, Oceanic, and Microwave link. The latter requires equipment, maintenance and employees which probably makes the first two look attractive by comparison.

Apparent rivals work together more then we think. I'm not sure if it's still true, but at one time at least one wireless provider used DSL to connect their cell towers.

[salmoned]

Re: World Series Fiber Transmission Failure

When the fiber went out only Oceanic customers lost the game. I realize that is probably 99% of the state. However KHON's OTA viewers, Dish Network and Direct TV viewers were fine.
DXer

That's not true. I'm a OTA viewer in Honolulu and KHON's OTA signal went out, just as described above. Also, it happened again during the 7th game, but for a shorter period of time (only lost a 1/2 inning and the 'standby' screen came up sooner).

[Frankie's Market]

Re: World Series Fiber Transmission Failure

The game is broadcast on the Fox network, KHON in Honolulu. Video of the game was lost about 4:05 p.m.

At 4:28 p.m. the game came back on, but via a lower resolution, slightly jerky Internet video. The regular TV signal, including high definition, returned at 4:50 p.m.

To be frank, I found KHON's streaming effort to be quite sub-standard in this day and age of high-speed internet availability. The picture quality and frame rate looked like a mediocre YouTube video. In contrast, MLB.TV subscribers with an adequate broadband connection are routinely able to stream crystal-clear HD quality broadcasts with fluid motion to their PCs.

Seriously, if I had an MLB.TV postseason subscription, I would have been able to stream a better quality feed over a site like Veetle.com. Yes, better than what the "pros" at KHON were able to improvise during the transmission outtage.