Snl

[Whittaker]

I complained most of last season to NBC and TiVo about 'Saturday Night Live' not starting to record until 11:30, even though the program begins at 11:29:30, as with TiVo Basic I can only pad the end, but not the beginning. So I always had to record it in two manual segments, 11:25PM - 11:35PM and 11:35PM - 1:00AM.

Well, one of my local NBC affiliates started last Saturday showing SNL in the guide as recording from 11:29PM - 1:01AM. The interesting part is that two of the other NBC affiliates (in other directions) were showing in the guide as recording from 11:30PM - 1:02AM (they ALL used to be 11:30PM – 1:01AM). I originally thought perhaps that the guide on the one TiVo was more up-to-date than the others, but it's still the same this Saturday.

I don't know whether this is the beginning of a roll-out or whether NBC has merely left it up to each individual affiliate, given it takes 30 seconds out of their local news broadcast.

How is this showing up in your guide ?

[mick66]

Affiliate stations can air it whenever they want or not at all. That explains the different air times that you're seeing. And since it's their (individual affiliates) schedule, they are the ones reporting it to TMS. NBC actually has nothing to do with it.

I have no experience with Tivo basic. Why can't you manually record from 11:25 to 1:00?

[Turtleboy]

Originally Posted by mick66

Affiliate stations can air it whenever they want or not at all. That explains the different air times that you're seeing. And since it's their (individual affiliates) schedule, they are the ones reporting it to TMS. NBC actually has nothing to do with it.

I have no experience with Tivo basic. Why can't you manually record from 11:25 to 1:00?

I don't think affiliates can air it before it happens, as it's live.

[chuvak]

Originally Posted by Turtleboy

I don't think affiliates can air it before it happens, as it's live.

Can't air it before it happens, but definiately can delay it for as long as they like.

[Whittaker]

Originally Posted by mick66

Affiliate stations can air it whenever they want or not at all. That explains the different air times that you're seeing.

Those are not "different air times", but different TiVo RECORD times. SNL airs live from 11:29:30PM to 1:00AM (Eastern). The broadcast time has not changed.

And since it's their (individual affiliates) schedule, they are the ones reporting it to TMS. NBC actually has nothing to do with it.

Well, but it is NBC that is starting their network feed on the half minute mark. I questioned them as to why they needed to do that. Although it is TiVo that cannot start recording on the half minute mark.

I have no experience with Tivo basic. Why can't you manually record from 11:25 to 1:00?

I used to. I only split in two because sometimes I end up saving the opening a little longer than the rest. However, it is a lot simpler to be able to just click it out of the guide than have to set up a manual record.

Anyway, has anyone checked how the record time is now displaying in their guide ?

[lambertman]

It started showing as 11:29 here a couple of weeks ago.

[mick66]

Originally Posted by Whittaker

I used to. I only split in two because sometimes I end up saving the opening a little longer than the rest. However, it is a lot simpler to be able to just click it out of the guide than have to set up a manual record

set up a repeating manual recording.

Anyway, has anyone checked how the record time is now displaying in their guide ?

What anybody elses guide data says is completely irrelevant to yours. Why do you think it is?

[steve614]

I recorded the latest SNL, and the time my Tivo prompted me that it needed to change the channel was at 10:29pm (Central).

I also just checked the guide on my Tivo and it showed SNLs time slot as 10:29pm to 12:01am.

It wouldn't surprise me if some local affiliates delay the broadcast.

[Einselen]

Originally Posted by steve614

It wouldn't surprise me if some local affiliates delay the broadcast.

I would actually be surprised. I don't work at NBC, but I know what it is like to delay primetime on MY network for baseball or basketball games and it is not a simple task, especially since things like SNL and Primetime come direct from a sat feed and not stored in the servers. However at the same time maybe my affiliate here doesn't have the necessary equipment to add the slight delay that some NBC affiliates might use.

[Whittaker]

Originally Posted by mick66

set up a repeating manual recording.

Too many repeats.

What anybody elses guide data says is completely irrelevant to yours. Why do you think it is?

Other than I have one channel on one TiVo listing the start time as 11:29 and two other channels on two other TiVos listing the start time as 11:30 ? Oh, I dunno.

[Whittaker]

Originally Posted by steve614

I recorded the latest SNL, and the time my Tivo prompted me that it needed to change the channel was at 10:29pm (Central).

I also just checked the guide on my Tivo and it showed SNLs time slot as 10:29pm to 12:01am.

OK, thanks for that.

It wouldn't surprise me if some local affiliates delay the broadcast.

Again, the broadcast time has not changed. It's not about affiliates delaying the broadcast. In other than the rare occasions when the entire network is delayed by some overtime event, the broadcast start time has been 11:29:30PM (Eastern) for YEARS and all the affiliates have aired the broadcast at that time. What has changed is the TiVo record time. It used to start at 11:30PM, but now, with some listings it starts at 11:29PM while some still start at 11:30.

Got it ?

[Bierboy]

Originally Posted by chuvak

...but definiately can delay it for as long as they like.

Not in HD if they don't have HD recording gear which is VERY expensive. Our NBC affilitate, which is top in the market, can't even afford it.

[Phantom Gremlin]

Originally Posted by Bierboy

Not in HD if they don't have HD recording gear which is VERY expensive. Our NBC affilitate, which is top in the market, can't even afford it.

I'm sure that the gear IS expensive, but what a scam!

The data rates required are within the capabilities of the slowest hard drive. For example, an S3 can easily delay a 19 Mbit/sec digital stream. (Too bad it's not possible to re-extract those digital bits.)

I'm sure the vendors could provide 100 reasons why "it's not really that simple". But, fundamentally, it is simple.

[jayfest]

Couldn't this just be a matter of NBC not reporting the correct information to the guide service until 2 weeks ago, when they finally corrected the information? I also have been complaining about SNL starting about 30 seconds too early, but the guide info always used to say 11:30 and now it says 11:29. It's up to the individual networks whether or not they choose to report their little overruns to the guide services or not. ABC and NBC have tended to do so, FOX and CBS have tended not to. So ER starts at 10:01 Thursdays and so does Shark, but the guide says Shark starts at 10:00, so I get the end of CSI as the first minute of my Shark recording.

[alansh]

Originally Posted by Bierboy

Not in HD if they don't have HD recording gear which is VERY expensive. Our NBC affilitate, which is top in the market, can't even afford it.

Huh? All the programming here in the Arizona time zone is a two-hour delay of the Eastern feed, even the HD programming. They just have to record the compressed stream rather than recompressing it.

[steve614]

Originally Posted by Einselen

I would actually be surprised. I don't work at NBC, but I know what it is like to delay primetime on MY network for baseball or basketball games and it is not a simple task, especially since things like SNL and Primetime come direct from a sat feed and not stored in the servers. However at the same time maybe my affiliate here doesn't have the necessary equipment to add the slight delay that some NBC affiliates might use.

I'd think alot of stations would have delay capabilities. Especially after the Janet Jackson fiasco.

[Einselen]

Originally Posted by steve614

I'd think alot of stations would have delay capabilities. Especially after the Janet Jackson fiasco.

National yes, I am fairly sure the NBC probably has a slight delay on SNL as a just in case however affiliates probably do not. At least my local CBS/MYNet affiliate when MyNet prime time was delayed, yes it was about 2 hours after, it had to be ingested into the server then properly segmented before it aired. I could not imagine doing a one second delay as it is pointless. What you need that extra 1 min for the news?

[Einselen]

I just remembered that here in my market the cable company re-encodes the signal sent from the CBS station and therefore there is a 5 second delay. I always get the full 4 second ID on all primetime shows as the Tivo is set to record at the actual time and not the 5 second delayed time, but this has nothing to do with the OP.

[trainman]

Originally Posted by Whittaker

Well, but it is NBC that is starting their network feed on the half minute mark. I questioned them as to why they needed to do that.

"The Tonight Show" starts 30 seconds early as well (at 11:34:30). A few years ago, NBC took 30 seconds out of prime time in exchange for adding 30 seconds to late night (so prime time ends at 10:59:30) -- the reason is so their affiliates can start their 11:00 news 30 seconds earlier than ABC and CBS affiliates.

[Bierboy]

Originally Posted by Phantom Gremlin

I'm sure that the gear IS expensive, but what a scam!

The data rates required are within the capabilities of the slowest hard drive. For example, an S3 can easily delay a 19 Mbit/sec digital stream. (Too bad it's not possible to re-extract those digital bits.)

I'm sure the vendors could provide 100 reasons why "it's not really that simple". But, fundamentally, it is simple.

Yeah, I'm sure you're correct. I'm going on what the CE at our NBC affil told me (and he has no reason to lie; I know him pretty well).

[Bierboy]

Originally Posted by steve614

I'd think alot of stations would have delay capabilities. Especially after the Janet Jackson fiasco.

Yes, they have delay capabilities, but for HD (as I mentioned in a previous post), it's very costly.

[Bierboy]

Originally Posted by alansh

Huh? All the programming here in the Arizona time zone is a two-hour delay of the Eastern feed, even the HD programming. They just have to record the compressed stream rather than recompressing it.

If I'm not mistaken though (and I could be) isn't that a NETWORK delay in feeding the affils?

[mattack]

Originally Posted by Einselen

I just remembered that here in my market the cable company re-encodes the signal sent from the CBS station and therefore there is a 5 second delay. I always get the full 4 second ID on all primetime shows as the Tivo is set to record at the actual time and not the 5 second delayed time, but this has nothing to do with the OP.

Do you mean they down-rez it?

According to the HT guys podcast, CBS requires affiliates to show HD shows without downrezzing them.

[Whittaker]

Originally Posted by jayfest

Couldn't this just be a matter of NBC not reporting the correct information to the guide service until 2 weeks ago, when they finally corrected the information?

I get three different NBC affiliates, so if it were NBC on the national level, they should all be the same, but I have one affiliate showing a start time of 11:29 and the other two are still at 11:30.

[Whittaker]

Originally Posted by trainman

"The Tonight Show" starts 30 seconds early as well (at 11:34:30). A few years ago, NBC took 30 seconds out of prime time in exchange for adding 30 seconds to late night (so prime time ends at 10:59:30) -- the reason is so their affiliates can start their 11:00 news 30 seconds earlier than ABC and CBS affiliates.

I know, but nobody is missing anything if the first 30 seconds of Leno is chopped off a recording. It's just the stock intro.

[Einselen]

Originally Posted by mattack

Do you mean they down-rez it?

According to the HT guys podcast, CBS requires affiliates to show HD shows without downrezzing them.

This has nothing to do with the CBS affiliate. The cable company takes the digital signal sent form the CBS affiliate and recodes it for whatever reason and therefore the process makes a 5 second delay form the OTA vs. cable signal. I am not sure what they do with the HD signal, probably the same as reencoding it.

[trainman]

Originally Posted by Bierboy

If I'm not mistaken though (and I could be) isn't that a NETWORK delay in feeding the affils?

The networks do have a separate Mountain feed for much of their programming. However, Arizona doesn't observe daylight saving time, and there's no separate Arizona feed -- so for at least the DST months, the Arizona affiliates have to record either the Eastern or the Mountain feed. I can only speculate on their exact procedures, but for consistency's sake, they may well record the Eastern feed during the winter months rather than carrying the Mountain feed "live."