Where does the blackout area end?

[Thoner7]

I live on the east side of Rochester. Its about 70 miles to Buffalo. I have heard the blackout area for the NFL is 90 miles. So I would think it wouldn’t be too far for me to drive toward Cuse and catch the game. But at the same time I remember my Dad used to adjust our antenna during blackouts back in the 90s and pick up a snowy Cuse broadcast with a couple of coat hangers. The one year he stopped because they enlarged the blackout area to included Cuse… So im not sure where it ends exactly.

 

Anyone know where the blackout ends? Anyone from farther away KNOW??? If you do, whats the nearest bar to Route 90 that has the ticket

 

Thanks.

[PromoTheRobot]

The problem is will any TV stations outside of 75 miles even want to carry a Bills game?

 

TV map

 

It does appear that Erie, Syracuse, Watertown and Albany will air the game. When I lived in Greece NY I could get Syracuse TV and beat the blackouts as well.

 

PTR

Edited October 7, 2010 by PromoTheRobot

[EDinRTP]

Do yourself a favor...don't watch.

[Keukasmallies]

No clue about the TV blackout; but rumor has it that the talent blackout ends just outside Frankfurt, Germany!

[Ghost of Rob Johnson]

I live on the east side of Rochester. Its about 70 miles to Buffalo. I have heard the blackout area for the NFL is 90 miles. So I would think it wouldn’t be too far for me to drive toward Cuse and catch the game. But at the same time I remember my Dad used to adjust our antenna during blackouts back in the 90s and pick up a snowy Cuse broadcast with a couple of coat hangers. The one year he stopped because they enlarged the blackout area to included Cuse… So im not sure where it ends exactly.

 

Anyone know where the blackout ends? Anyone from farther away KNOW??? If you do, whats the nearest bar to Route 90 that has the ticket

 

Thanks.

Blackout area includes Syracuse and it's surrounding area, I believe it's considered a secondary market. Stupid thing is because it's a secondary market it falls under the blackout rules, but we don't get the perks of a primary market such as NFL Network games being broadcast on local networks etc.

[3rdnlng]

The problem is will any TV stations outside of 75 miles even want to carry a Bills game?

 

TV map

 

It does appear that Erie, Syracuse, Watertown and Albany will air the game. When I lived in Greece NY I could get Syracuse TV and beat the blackouts as well.

 

PTR

 

Erie is in the blackout area. Conneaut, Ohio is the first community going west where you can pick up the game.

[kdub]

Blackout area includes Syracuse and it's surrounding area, I believe it's considered a secondary market. Stupid thing is because it's a secondary market it falls under the blackout rules, but we don't get the perks of a primary market such as NFL Network games being broadcast on local networks etc.

 

I 'm pretty sure you are right. I used to watch the games on Channel 5 from Utica and they would blackout also.

[cusebob]

The problem is will any TV stations outside of 75 miles even want to carry a Bills game?

 

TV map

 

It does appear that Erie, Syracuse, Watertown and Albany will air the game. When I lived in Greece NY I could get Syracuse TV and beat the blackouts as well.

 

PTR

 

Anyone receiving the Channel 5 broadcast from Syracuse will be blacked out. The 506's map will likely change after 1 today when it's officially not sold out.

[Arkady Renko]

Syracuse is in the blackout area because back in the 1990s, it was discovered that the CBS affiliate hit a sliver of the blackout area, which means that the blackout goes to Ithaca as well. Of course, with digital broadcasts now I would be surprised if the CBS affiliate still reaches that far. Fat chance getting the blackout removed from Syracuse though.

 

If Binghamton is showing the game, they are outside of the blackout area.

Edited October 7, 2010 by johnnyb

[Thoner7]

Thanks guys. I thought the blackout area included Syracuse since the 90’s but I had people telling me they were 100% confident it was 90 miles. Maybe that’s a minimum?

 

Anyways it sounds like it would be easier for me to drive to the game and buy a 5 dollar ticket. I hate missing even a single play of a Bills game but I may be listening this week.

[Arkady Renko]

Thanks guys. I thought the blackout area included Syracuse since the 90’s but I had people telling me they were 100% confident it was 90 miles. Maybe that’s a minimum?

 

Anyways it sounds like it would be easier for me to drive to the game and buy a 5 dollar ticket. I hate missing even a single play of a Bills game but I may be listening this week.

 

It is more accurate to say that the blackout area includes any station whose broadcast hits a 90 mile radius.

[PromoTheRobot]

Syracuse is in the blackout area because back in the 1990s, it was discovered that the CBS affiliate hit a sliver of the blackout area, which means that the blackout goes to Ithaca as well. Of course, with digital broadcasts now I would be surprised if the CBS affiliate still reaches that far. Fat chance getting the blackout removed from Syracuse though.

 

If Binghamton is showing the game, they are outside of the blackout area.

The digital thing is an excellent point. In fact I bet you could write the FCC and demand the blackout area be adjusted because digital signals no longer reach the affected areas.

 

PTR

[Mark Long Beach]

The digital thing is an excellent point. In fact I bet you could write the FCC and demand the blackout area be adjusted because digital signals no longer reach the affected areas.

 

PTR

 

That's an interesting thought. I'm a little confused though. My understanding of the world is that digital broadcasts use the same broadcasting equipment (towers and power), it's just that the signal itself is encoded differently. So instead of the manipulations of the signal being decoded in an analog method, they are interpreted digitally. But the EM waves are still the same... So therefore it should still have the same range...? Is there more to the story?

[West End Stench]

Is the game definately a blackout for this weekend?

 

Edit:

Nevermind, answered my own question:

 

My link

Edited October 7, 2010 by West End Stench

[NyQuil]

Is the game definately a blackout for this weekend?

 

Edit:

Nevermind, answered my own question:

 

My link

 

Yeah you can still get 10 tickets together half way down the upper deck.

[Mike In Illinois]

That's an interesting thought. I'm a little confused though. My understanding of the world is that digital broadcasts use the same broadcasting equipment (towers and power), it's just that the signal itself is encoded differently. So instead of the manipulations of the signal being decoded in an analog method, they are interpreted digitally. But the EM waves are still the same... So therefore it should still have the same range...? Is there more to the story?

 

I worked at a TV station as stations were preparing to go digital. What I understood was the digital signal is more cut-and-dry; in the past you may have been able to pick up a faint analog signal from a distant station (lots of static, poor audio); the signal would slowly lose it's strength as it moved away from the transmitter. The digital signal doesn't have a slow depletion anymore. It will drop off as if it's fallen off a table (that's the best way I can describe it).

 

A visual example.

[Gary M]

Thanks guys. I thought the blackout area included Syracuse since the 90’s but I had people telling me they were 100% confident it was 90 miles. Maybe that’s a minimum?

 

Anyways it sounds like it would be easier for me to drive to the game and buy a 5 dollar ticket. I hate missing even a single play of a Bills game but I may be listening this week.

 

Do you like driving bamboo shoots under your fingernails also?

[Mark Long Beach]

I worked at a TV station as stations were preparing to go digital. What I understood was the digital signal is more cut-and-dry; in the past you may have been able to pick up a faint analog signal from a distant station (lots of static, poor audio); the signal would slowly lose it's strength as it moved away from the transmitter. The digital signal doesn't have a slow depletion anymore. It will drop off as if it's fallen off a table (that's the best way I can describe it).

 

A visual example.

 

I can believe that. you can still pick up much of the analog info and still have somthing, but you lose enough of the digital info, you'll have nothing. Thanks.

[Metal Man]

I have been out in the Syracuse area, and lived in the Rome/Utica, over the past 5 years and the black out does go that far.

From what I understand the actual black out area goes to East Rochester but because the Syracuse TV broadcasts can reach into the black out area their CBS affiliate can't air the game either. Then because Rome and Utica get their CBS from Syracuse it is blacked out there too.

 

My question is will the NFL ever change these antiquated rules as broadcasting technology improves. What happens when a station has the power to broadcast over the entire state? I realize it is not likely just asking rhetorical questions. The answer is obviously that the NFL will never change the rules and even if you live 200 miles away you still can't watch what could be one of the only Bills wins this season on Sunday. So much for trying to market the team regionally.

[CodeMonkey]

I have been out in the Syracuse area, and lived in the Rome/Utica, over the past 5 years and the black out does go that far.

From what I understand the actual black out area goes to East Rochester but because the Syracuse TV broadcasts can reach into the black out area their CBS affiliate can't air the game either. Then because Rome and Utica get their CBS from Syracuse it is blacked out there too.

That is correct and well explained.

CBS affiliates in Syracuse cannot air the game. What about DirecTV sunday ticket? It gets blacked out in Rochester and Buffalo. What about Syracuse?