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Shaw Direct Simsub discussion

127K views 401 replies 92 participants last post by  NovaMan 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Shaw recently bought Canwest Global, and now they are simsubbing Global HD overtop of American HD channels, even in areas where they never used to! Shaw Direct does all their simsubs via the postal code of your receiver, and we still live outside the 75 km radius of the nearest Global HD OTA transmitter, so we here shouldn't be subjected to Global HD simsubs. It seems like they are just doing it with Global as well, because other Canadian networks like CTV aren't doing simsubs. Can they just change their ways because they now own Global? Where is our right as a consumer for them to follow the CRTC's policies?
 
#218 ·
These guys just won't go away. I had pvr problems and it was replaced so all was well. Now they are simsubbing cbs e and w for golf. Saturday is unwatchable due to glitching/pixellating. Today I've had 2 momentary freezes and black screen moments while they play with switching.
The sound is poorer than cbs, the pic is actually frozen right at the moment.
For some reason Global was good for a short while but now any Global HD feed here whether CBS(286 290) or Global(256) is freezing (lose audio and freeze video for 5-10 seconds.
I am so proud to be Canadian right now!:rolleyes:
How can they be allowed to do this?
Right now the only reason I haven't called to shove it is I'm wanting to keep home away from home, but........:eek:Many more freezes now and this one is just before a commercial kicked in. This is nuts.

Now 20 minutes of OK. Have they fingered it out? Just froze while I was keying this...!!!
 
#220 ·
Little longer freeze than that!!:p lol (2nd lol ever used by me so thanks!)

Maybe this should be shared with the 630 thread because the 600 did not show the last 2 pauses but both 630's did. That's one reason I am upset with simsubbiing. For whatever reason. no matter how much tweaking, no matter what is done signal-wise I have more glitches, more often with Global feeds that any other, so what usually is perfect becomes anywhere from irritating to unwatchable when it comes from Global. Golf gone over time so the simsubbing is now gone for the remaining few minutes.
 
#222 ·
I emailed Ask Jim this afternoon and they switched me over to the advanced lineup and I will find out tomorrow if they opted me out for simsubs. Here's the last email from them.

"Hello John,

My name is Evan and I am a part of the Technical Escalation Desk at Shaw Direct. I have updated your receivers to the new information for your below request. Please note that it could take up to 15-20 minutes for each receiver to update. As well please be aware that this is not normally done and that we cannot guarantee that you will be able to keep this setting indefinitely as we are required to enforce simultaneous substitution by the CRTC. To clarify, there is no opt-out policy regarding simultaneous substitution as it is enforced and required by the CRTC and I apologize if you were lead to believe there was.
Thank you again John and have a great day,

Evan | Technical Escalation Desk, Customer Care | Shaw) Direct
Suite 100, 2400 - 32nd Avenue NE, Calgary, AB T2E 9A7| www.shawdirect.ca technicalescalation@shawdirect.ca
 
#223 ·
House is currently showing on FOX HD 287.

My older HD PVR 530 is picking up FOX Detroit- no simsubbing.

My newer HD PVR 630 is FOX is being simsubbed by Global HD.

How is that possible? Is it possible to set up my 630 the same as my 530 to avoid simsubbing on both?
 
#227 ·
My older HD PVR 530 is picking up FOX Detroit- no simsubbing.

My newer HD PVR 630 is FOX is being simsubbed by Global HD.

How is that possible? Is it possible to set up my 630 the same as my 530 to avoid simsubbing on both?
Appears that the PVRs are provisioned differently. Read last few pages of this thread - discusses what you might be able to do to avoid simsubbing
 
#226 ·
Received this message today from Shaw Direct about requesting not to sim sub my subscription with them.

Prior to the finally portion of this message below I had a long drawn out editoral about why sim sub is what keeps Canada together, our cultural intregity and so on.....

Currently I am unable to offer you this “over-ride” code that you have heard of through various websites (digital home) and through friends and family. The future of this code is not certain, and we are not offering this option to “over-ride” any longer.

I guess Shaw Direct has to keep their interests (Global) protected. I will be interested to see if Two and a half men, Mike and Molly will be sim sub tonight to CTV HD East, to protect our Canadian culture.
 
#228 ·
"Currently I am unable to offer you this “over-ride” code that you have heard of through various websites (digital home) and through friends and family. The future of this code is not certain, and we are not offering this option to “over-ride” any longer."

This is not good news. I'll have to check things out when I come back. But if they start simsubbing, even though I opted out, I'm dropping Shaw Direct in a heartbeat, and will look at other options like OTA.
 
#230 ·
Cannot Opt Out!

I sent a message to Ask Jim last evening requesting opting out of simsubbing on my HDPVR 630. I go this reply ...

Hello Bob,

Thank you for taking the time to contact us.

Simultaneous substitution is a CRTC requirement and must be followed by all major cable companies and Satellite TV distributors. It is designed to protect the rights of Canadian broadcasters. These regulations permit Canadian broadcasters who purchase American programming, to use signal substitution as a means to earn advertising dollars.
Simultaneous substitution is done to bring advertising dollars back into the Canadian broadcasting system. Advertising revenues are also what enable Canadian broadcasters to bring you programming such as the Super Bowl.

The CRTC is aware that we are doing simultaneous substitution with Global and have approved this new process. Shaw Direct is the last satellite provider to move in this direction. Simultaneous substitution has been done for years and is not a new feature.

On February 11th, 2012, the Global HD VCO to all Canadian customers with access to High Definition programming was turned on. This means that all HD customers in Canada will now be watching the Global Toronto HD simulcast when tuned into the HD US network affiliate, regardless of location in Canada. For example: a customer in Vancouver, watching FOX HD, where there is a simulcast on Global HD, will be viewing the Global Toronto HD feed.

Simultaneous substitution cannot be removed from any accounts at this time.

Should you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us. Please include any previous correspondence with your replies.

Thank you for choosing Shaw Direct and have a good day!

So it appears that you can no longer opt out of simsubbing from the eastern feeds in which Global is simultaneously broadcasting an American program:(. Only the western feeds remain 100% simsub free:D. And for some reason my HDPVR 530 remains simsub free from the eastern feeds as well:D.
 
#231 ·
HiDefBob, I received that exact same email reply word for word last week. Personally I don't care if i skip over American ads or Canadian ads, its the mistakes in the process, lower signal quality, etc. that I don't want.

I replied back once again requesting to opt out and pointed out all the flaws in this new policy, like it not being a CRTC mandate to make me in Alberta view Toronto ads instead of Detroit ads and that they don't seem to be doing it for their competitor's channel, CTV, so it must be to pad their bottom line instead.

Also suggested if I have to endure simsubs that are not required I might as well find a different provder who is already doing them but have more HD channels and better equipment. Frankly they should shelve this new country wide policy until they launch the new satellite and have actual local HD channels to do the substitution with.

Voila suddenly it was no problem for them to opt me out on my second request for them to do it.
 
#232 ·
Well, if you turn off your receiver and turn it back on, you will get the unadultered US feed... sometimes for the entire remainder of a TV episode.

So sad that we've gone from no Global HD station at all on Shaw Direct to Global HD simsubbing across-the-board in the span of a year.

:(
 
#233 ·
I've been playing around with resetting my 630 once the override kicks in. I found that just letting the guide reload normally results in the simsub returning within 5-10 minutes, but going to diagnostic F (I think F, I may be wrong) and pressing info, clearing the guide data out before it fully reloads can extend the simsub free time. The time it takes to come back seems to vary, and I haven't found any correlation yet.
 
#236 ·
I said it before, the signal/command that triggers the simsub is sent "in band", so that means one would have to intercept the incoming data stream and filter out that data/command. That would require a demodulator and remodulator, plus a chip to parse out that data.

Or modify the firmware to not run them. Of course, at the very least the firmware would be signed, so a modified firmware would not run, unless the chain of trust is broke, or the signing key is leaked.

Neither are practically going to happen in the real world.
 
#238 ·
Second Request

Sent a 2nd request to opt-out of simsubbing with more supportive reasons. Worth a shot. One of my arguments was my loyalty ... an HDTV subscriber since 2001 when no there were no Canadian HD stations ... among the few early ones.
 
#239 ·
Call me crazy but we started having pixellation problems once more on the 630's the day they started the national simsubbing. Yesterday watching a simsub and when they switched it off the hd channel started pixellating every few seconds. This went on for close to an hour then stopped. They've made some changes that are causing more problems with my 630's.
 
#240 ·
I tried watching FOX just now and I got switched to Global. I was confused, then I looked online and... here I found my answer. The funny part is that later, during one of the "transitions" between FOX and Global, my DSR505 just completely froze. Even when powering it off, the frozen picture was still there, had to reboot it... then I was back on FOX for a few minutes. Eventually I was switched back to Global and I really noticed the drop in picture and sound quality. This is stupid, even my receiver doesn't like that, lol. :(
 
#241 ·
Yeah I've experienced a few glitches with the simsub switchover too... and I've become so frustrated with the inferior sound/video quality on Global that I usually just reset the receiver so I can watch the U.S. station (which can last 5 minutes or so), and then reset it again when it kicks back to Global. That, or just watch the show on the West feeds, which won't be safe for long once Global BC gets simsubbed.

This is why providers should never be allowed to purchase TV networks. But in Canada, that's just inevitable.
 
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