MLB Extra Innings: Comcast CCI 0x3 problem (VA)

[jchapman]

I'm a Comcast subscriber in Arlington, VA, and as part of my channel package I receive "MLB Extra Innings." Up until recently, I have had no problems recording baseball games on my primary Series 3 TiVo. I never tried transferring them to my secondary Series 3, so I don't know if the CCI was 0x00 or 0x02 in the past. Unfortunately, Comcast recently started setting the CCI to 0x03 for all baseball broadcasts, obviously preventing games from being recorded or watched beyond 90 minutes. I've contacted Comcast twice so far seeking a resolution, but they are refusing to acknowledge that this has changed and won't do anything to fix it beyond rolling a truck (which obviously won't help but I'll let them try this Friday before I try to explain the problem to them again).

I'm curious if there are any other MLB Extra Innings subscribers that are seeing the same thing. This could be an issue with my local Comcast office, Comcast as a whole, or even MLB making the change, but without other examples it's hard to know who to contact for a resolution. Are there Comcast Extra Innings subscribers who are still able to record the games, or anyone else having this problem?

Setting the game broadcasts to "copy never" means that it's impossible to record and watch day games if you work normal hours; it doesn't make a lot of sense.

[Stone1555]

from what i understand if it's a digital feed and its not a OTA station the cable company can encrypt the feed and set a CCI Byte.

[morac]

The 0x03 CCI byte is only permitted on PPV and onDemand channels. 0x02 is permitted on all but OTA channels.

I'm pretty sure that "MLB Extra Innings" is not a PPV channel (do you pay per game?). If it's not then Comcast is violating FCC regulations and you can report them to the FCC and/or your local Government complaint center (Comcast should send you the center's contact info periodically).

For what it's worth, I used to have an issue where either Comcast (or a bug in the TiVo software) was periodically setting the CCI 0x03 byte on CW broadcasts (a blatant violation). I made a number of complaints to a bunch of people and I haven't seen that in over a year.

[WhiskeyTango]

I have MLB EI and haven't had a problem recording any games. It's technically not a PPV since you don't pay per game but the Comcast bill shows a line item for Pay Per View Package and the price and selecting an individual game to record prompts a message from the Tivo to make sure you order the PPV from the cable provider.

[morac]

If Comcast is labeling it as PPV, then they might be able to get off on a technicality. I would still protest though since it really isn't PPV.

[Brainiac 5]

Interesting - people with Time Warner have also reported seeing this CCI setting on this channel.

It sounds like the justification may be that the cable companies consider it pay per view, and that what you're paying for is a package of ALL the pay per view shows on the channel that month.

It seems a little sketchy, since couldn't they do this with any channel? Couldn't they say you're not subscribing to USA Network, instead every show on USA Network is pay per view and your subscription fee buys all the shows for the month?

[WhiskeyTango]

Originally Posted by Brainiac 5

Interesting - people with Time Warner have also reported seeing this CCI setting on this channel.

It sounds like the justification may be that the cable companies consider it pay per view, and that what you're paying for is a package of ALL the pay per view shows on the channel that month.

It seems a little sketchy, since couldn't they do this with any channel? Couldn't they say you're not subscribing to USA Network, instead every show on USA Network is pay per view and your subscription fee buys all the shows for the month?

They could especially do this with the premium channels (HBO, Showtime, etc.) which you have to subscribe to on a monthly basis. That's the same way they bill the EI package, 4 months of $42.95/month.

[morac]

Originally Posted by Brainiac 5

It sounds like the justification may be that the cable companies consider it pay per view, and that what you're paying for is a package of ALL the pay per view shows on the channel that month.

PPV has a very specific definition according to the FCC.

Pay-per-view shall mean a delivery of a single program or a specified group of programs, as to which each such single program is generally uninterrupted by commercial advertising messages and for which recipients are charged a separate fee for each program or specified group of programs. The term pay-per-view shall also include delivery of a single program for which multiple start times are made available at time intervals which are less than the running time of such program as a whole. If a given delivery qualifies both as pay-per-view and a pay television transmission, then, for purposes of this subpart, such delivery shall be deemed pay-per-view rather than a pay television transmission.

If the cable companies are treating all the games in a month as "a specified group of programs", then it may be possible to apply a PPV label to the MLB EI channel. The cable company would have to be very specific to say that you are paying X dollars for Y games though. If they simply state the channel is X dollars a month, I don't know if that would be good enough.

Normal channels (premium or otherwise) don't show a "specified group of programs". It wouldn't really fit to something like USA which shows a wide variety of programs. It might fit to something like a premium channel that showed all of the same content, but that's a pretty big stretch as well.

Personally I think they are warping the definition of PPV to fit their vision.

[aindik]

Depending on how the word "generally" is interpreted, MLB EI broadcasts are not "generally uninterrupted by commercial advertising messages."

[Zysu28]

Yes, there are the same amount of commercials on MLB IE as there are if you watch a game local. I'm going to take a crack at calling the FCC-- it really seems wrong for games to be coded "never record." It seems like they should be coded the same as HBO which is "record once" and can't be used with tivo-to-go. Which seems fair enough.

[jercra]

You all seem to be making the assumption that this is intentional by Comcast when it's likely just incompetence or ignorance. The channels for MLB EI were likely formerly slotted as PPV channels and thus set up with CCI3 in the DAC. I had the same issue here in Portland, Oregon. I work in the cable industry so I was able to "explain" to the people I talked to where the setting in the DAC is. Eventually the problem was resolved though it took half a season and an off season to do so (and I can't discount the appearance of Fios in Comcast's motivation to fix the issue). Good luck.

[Zysu28]

Thanks JECERA it is hopeful to me that it might be unintentional, even if it's a hassle. I am actually on Time Warner in Brooklyn having this problem. Do you have any tips on who to talk to (are there specialists, or departments to request to speak to?) who we can try to appeal to (and I understand trying will be tough, still I am ready for the long haul). I've already written to them via there website, I'll take any other advice you might have.
Thanks in advance, I appreciate it!
Suzanne!

[jercra]

Originally Posted by Zysu28

Thanks JECERA it is hopeful to me that it might be unintentional, even if it's a hassle. I am actually on Time Warner in Brooklyn having this problem. Do you have any tips on who to talk to (are there specialists, or departments to request to speak to?) who we can try to appeal to (and I understand trying will be tough, still I am ready for the long haul). I've already written to them via there website, I'll take any other advice you might have.
Thanks in advance, I appreciate it!
Suzanne!

You may actually be in luck. I've spoken to a couple of people in TWC NYC and asked them to look into fixing your issue. I'll post an update when I have an answer.

PS. If you're a Yankees fan I might have to ask them to disconnect you entirely

[aindik]

You can't watch Yanks games on Extra Innings if you're in the NYC area.

[Zysu28]

Originally Posted by jercra

You may actually be in luck. I've spoken to a couple of people in TWC NYC and asked them to look into fixing your issue. I'll post an update when I have an answer.

Thanks so much jercra (sorry I got your handle wrong before). Resolution or not i really appreciate it. It's above and beyond to even make an effort. It's great how people here have been so helpful!

PS. If you're a Yankees fan I might have to ask them to disconnect you entirely

HA if only I were a Yankees or a Mets fan i wouldn't need to shell out for MLB IE at all...however I will not reveal my true affiliation for fear it's almost as divisive!

[ROSCOMMON]

I had this problem with Comcast in Jacksonville, FL. My first season with my Series 3 DVR and MLB worked fine during the free trial period. Once I subscribed the CCI problem cropped up. After many calls I canceled the subscription. I accused CC of false advertisement and they refunded my money (grudgingly).
I'll bet you can still get MLB on a Series 2 DVR because there are no cable cards involved. Have you folks had any luck getting the problem solved???

[ROSCOMMON]

Originally Posted by ROSCOMMON

I had this problem with Comcast in Jacksonville, FL. My first season with my Series 3 DVR and MLB worked fine during the free trial period. Once I subscribed the CCI problem cropped up. After many calls I canceled the subscription. I accused CC of false advertisement and they refunded my money (grudgingly).
I'll bet you can still get MLB on a Series 2 DVR because there are no cable cards involved. Have you folks had any luck getting the problem solved???

PROBLEM RESOLVED!!! See my post under MLB Package above. Finally got Comcxast to change the CCI codes on the cablecards. Long battle but it is over here in Jacksonville and North Florida.

[gowanus]

ROSCOMMON, congratulations. How did you do it? We are still being discriminated against by Time Warner in Brooklyn.