Comcast admits it fumbled Jets game Tuesday, September 9, 2008 5:54 AM EDT By Joe Amarante, Register Television Editor Brett Favre and the New York Jets got off to a winning start Sunday on CBS, but Comcast Cablevision viewers in New Haven didn’t get to see it. Hartford affiliate WFSB-3 was showing the New England Patriots’ game with the Chiefs at the same time, so Comcast’s Jets fans expected to see the game on New York affiliate WCBS-2, which was showing the Jets-Dolphins game. But the WFSB telecast of the Patriots was airing in place of the WCBS signal, leaving Jets fans without their game. A viewer from West Haven e-mailed the Register to say that, when his daughter called Comcast, “they admitted to receiving many irate complaints and claimed that the NFL ordered this to happen. That is totally false! Their claim was that due to our close proximity to Foxboro, the NFL ordered the game to be blacked out.” Comcast spokeswoman Laura Brubaker on Monday said the signal overlay was a mistake, related to the standard practice of “network nonduplication protection.” “Due to an inadvertent technical error, Comcast erroneously overrode the broadcast of Sunday’s NFL match-up between the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins on WCBS in the New Haven area. We apologize for the inconvenience this caused our customers,” Brubaker said. “Non-duplication protection” funnels viewers to the local affiliate when programming is the same (for ad-revenue reasons). It requires cable companies to put the local signal in place of the out-of-state signal, but when the programming diverges (late news, for instance), the controlling computer is supposed to automatically put the out-of-market signal back in its place. That didn’t happen Sunday, despite phone calls to Comcast about the New Haven, West Haven and Hamden area missing the Jets. The game was available, however, on Comcast’s Branford-based system, which had no switching error and thus showed the Jets game on WCBS. “This is the second time Comcast made this incorrect switch,” the West Haven viewer said, “because they also did it on the night of the Jets-Giants exhibition game but made the switch after one hour (8 p.m.) when CBS programming came on.” The viewer called Sunday’s mistake “a clear example of inept performance and customer service.” Brubaker said Comcast is taking steps to make sure the same mistake doesn’t happen in the future. This is why businesses are FOS. CBS is in bed w/ Rob Kraft BIG TIME. You think they have their hands in this "accident"??? Gratuitous Linky
True but while they ended up happy about seeing Brady go down I'm sure they'd rather see the Patsies lose or the JETS game. Good to see some were already prepared for that Comcastic BS..
Get NFL sunday ticket and you will never have to worry again. I have had it 13 years. Worth every penny.
