Update: My OTA went out again, twice this week, at 12:30 AM. I did get a 10-second warning from one of the channels during the 6:00 news.

Finally, for the first time, I called channel 8 and asked WHEN will all this be over with. I talked to a nice woman who just gave me generic, non-specific answers. I didn't learn anything new.

I also emailed channel 10 last night; probably won't get the (non-) response until Monday.

JOE: The Bills will probably get decapitated tomorrow. :(

https://i.imgur.com/3fG3nhs.gif <--- Josh, Singletary, Gore, etc.

Holiday Greetings, Dagwood.

I do not understand why the stations continue to be off the
air overnight. The repack should be over with in your area.
Don't underestimate the FABULOUS, WONDERFUL, RED, WHITE
AND BLUE, NORTH AMERICA'S TEAM- THE BUFFALO BILLS!!!1

Ha, well Joe we're dead again tonight, EVERYTHING except Fox.

I got a reply from my query to channel 10 the other day and he told me everything I already knew (that you posted here) but DID NOT answer my question, which was WHEN WILL THIS BE DONE? It's been going on since mid- late-July. That's five months.

I just emailed them again, although I'm not sure why. Nobody seems to know anything. It's getting ridiculous. I'd rather go back to analog -- at least it worked 99.9% of the time.

This Saturday: Bills vs. Pats but ONLY on the NFL network which I cannot get. Will those links you sent me a couple of months ago work? Are they free or not?

Thanks Joe!

Sorry to hear the stations are still going off the air
overnight. One or more must be having issues with
their signal/transmitter.
Yet again, a "team" in the Northeast has been caught
CHEATING! Of course, they deny the activity. Marcus
Spears indicates that "Bill Belichick will kill me for
getting caught." Worried about getting caught but not
about cheating?????

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP5VOckSnUg

Dagwood: PLEASE CHECK YOUR PRIVATE MESSAGES.

Joe: So they're still tweaking things around? Seems ridiculous to me, but what do I know.

I saw that story about the Pats the day after it happened, but haven't heard anything since then til you just mentioned it. Haha, their glory days are over anyway.

A local radio guy wondered why would they risk getting an advantage with a nothing-team like the Browns? Good point -- but that was the day after and nobody knew anything for sure then.

The guru of Rochester TV is Scott Fybush. Try emailing him at scott@fybush.com

GOBILLS!!

I too am bummed that I won't be able to watch the Pats beat up on the Bills this weekend. :)

A bit more seriously, there is actually precedent for NFL-Network games being broadcast on the local networks, for especially really big games. It happened in 2007 for the Patriot's final game of their undefeated regular season. From Wikipedia:

ESPN has been saying this is the biggest game for the Bills since the Jim Kelly era. Maybe your local stations will simulcast it? It is certainly worth looking into.

If not, I guess we'll all just need to go old-school and listen on the radio. At least that signal hasn't gone digital yet, in the US at least. :)

With all sincerity, good luck guys!

The game will be shown on WBZ in Boston. Perhaps you could set up a free trial of CBS all access and use a VPN with a server in Boston.

Also, the Patriots have as app that purports to have the game, but I’d fear that is was geofenced to limit viewing to the Boston area.

Thanks Tower Guy! Who does Scott work for?


https://i.ibb.co/9pTHMk7/Bills.jpg

None of the local OTA listings show it. :(

Yes, it's a big game. But even if the Bills win, they're (the offense) still not a SB caliber team. Maybe in a couple more seasons.

But we'll see. :D

Scott produces a program on WXXI and publishes his own web site/yearly tower calendar with cool pictures. We saw each other on Wednesday!

https://www.fybush.com/scott-fybush/

I emailed him and got a good explanation of what is going on. I find it amazing that none of this info was available on any station's website -- or any other website for that matter.

One reason (I'm guessing) is that the amount of people watching OTA TV is so small that nobody cares. The majority of people I talk to who -- like me -- grew up with only OTA TV don't realize that it's still available and that it's FREE.

The public at large, apparently, has come to believe that cable/dish is like electric service: If you want electric you have to hook up to the service so, therefore, if you want TV you have to hook up to cable.

I've had conversations with people my age (69) who complain about their cable/dish bills. I've told them about OTA and it seems like they don't believe me.

Oh well, you can lead a horse to water . . .

At any rate, thanks for Scott's email. :D

The Patriots have announced that the Bills game will be available nationally on their APP (iOS) as well as the safari app on Patriots.com

I've even had "woke" millennials raise an eyebrow because they think I'm stealing the TV service. And they're the ones still on their parent's cell phone and Netflix plans...

https://i.postimg.cc/FHL10dSc/haha-with-sign.gif

Not to defend millennials -- they're always attacking my generation because their life sucks -- but they're too young to remember that OTA used to be the way everybody got TV.

JOE: Bill's game -- internet thing didn't work. They wanted my credit card number, no thanks. Anyway, my very elderly neighbors -- who are NFL fans -- invited me over to see the game (they have cable).

And here we go, yet again: The Rochester stations are going off the air again, tonight at 12:30.

It's beyond being a joke. Having been self-employed since 1985, I cannot understand how a business can survive being as INCOMPETENT as they are. If I'd run my business like the Rochester TV stations are running theirs, I wouldn't have lasted a year.