NBC blocks recordings again

[foxwood]

CCI does override CGMS-A (and RC) - my statement was because you referred to CGMS-A as the broadcast flag, which was incorrect.

Just so I know . . . in the future, what should I call the below CGMS-A "indicators" that are "not flags"?

00 CopyFreely
01 CopyNoMore
10 CopyOnce
11 CopyNever

quote marks usally indicate that you're quoting someone elses words, but nobody said that those CGMS-A "values" or "indicators" are "not flags". (That's me quoting you. As far as I can tell, you weren't quoting anyone, because nobody used the phrase "not flags" before you did). Erkotz said that this case wasn't about the Broadcast Flag.

The term "Broadcast Flag" has a very specific meaning. It's actually a quite contentious issue, so even though you could argue that semanticly speaking, this was a flag in a broadcast signal, it's misleading and confusing to use that term for a CGMS-A "flag".

[lammers42]

From the "Broadcast flag" wikipedia link richard1980 linked:
A broadcast flag is a set of status bits (or a "flag") sent in the data stream of a digital television program that indicates whether or not the data stream can be recorded, or if there are any restrictions on recorded content.

From the "CGMS" wikipedia link richard1980 linked:
It is not the same as the Broadcast flag, which is designed for use in digital television signals, although the concept is the same.

RC, CCI and CGMS-A/D all have different flags that can be sent in the broadcast signal. Even though I started off by stating I was seeing a CGMS flag I admit I did say broadcast flag (not capitalized as in "The Broadcast flag" and made famous from NBC and Microsoft in 2008) two times after that. Sorry about the confusion I caused.

The main point of my post was that I would like to see TWC implement CCI copyfreely or copyonce flags that will override any RC or CGMS-A flags on all or specific channels that should never be blocked from recording. I have spoke to one of the supervisors about this and he knows that he would have to go to Engineering to have them implement it, but that's one request. Maybe a few more calls and requests to implement CCI copyfreely or copyonce flags. Otherwise we will see this problem every time some flag gets sent that blocks recording.

[foxwood]

The main point of my post was that I would like to see TWC implement CCI copyfreely or copyonce flags that will override any RC or CGMS-A flags on all or specific channels that should never be blocked from recording. I have spoke to one of the supervisors about this and he knows that he would have to go to Engineering to have them implement it, but that's one request. Maybe a few more calls and requests to implement CCI copyfreely or copyonce flags. Otherwise we will see this problem every time some flag gets sent that blocks recording.

Believe me, encouraging TWC to screw around with CCI flags is far more likely to cause pain in the future than fix the very rare instance of a TV station inadvertently setting a flag, which they will very quickly reverse once it's brought to their attention.

If/When TWC sets the CCI copyonce flag on your local channels (in contravention of FCC rules, for now), you can be sure that it'll take more than a day or two to get rolled back. You won't be able to do automated commercial skipping, or transfer your recordings to another device when that happens.

(TWC doesn't believe in Copy Freely, so it's a fair bet that they won't help you with that!)

[Randyored]

Also props to the engineers at WCMH, as they were very willing to engage and resolve the issue quickly once we brought it to their attention.

I just got a vmail call from Columbus Insight (they still call themselves that). A guy left the message that THEY (Insight) fixed the problem on 4/29 and I should be able to record WCMH freely using my cablecard. So, was it Insight or the WCMH engineer? LOL!

I had opened up two complaints after reading up on it here:
1. FCC - Filled out an online complaint. Nice lady called me for more details on Insight or TWC about an hour later. Awesome service for a goverment department!) She sent the complaint to both since they are still operating as separate business units.
2. Email to WCMH. Got an email reply from "Kathleen" that they had contacted TWC. TWC said they had a hardware issue that was most likely the issues had been resolved. It wasn't. I replied back to her, that it did not fix the issue. And went into much more detail with the flags being sent down.

So, unless Kathleen dug deeper at the station, It's iffy to think that one of my two efforts resulted in the "fix". But, it might have piled on and helped!