dochira wrote:

Figured it would take an update to KTSF for me to return. I don't think I can get 26.2 from my location. Heck I can't get 26 normally. I think I need to try out some super amplified antenna.

Or maybe just one pointed in the right direction.

See this: http://antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

Andru wrote:

Mike: Thank you so much for the heads up!! I have cable TV, so I rarely access my OTA digital channels and would have not noticed this change... unless there was an extended blackout of my cable service. Out of desperation, I have watched NHK World programs through the website since they became available several months ago. But it seemed the most interesting shows were rarely available. When I was able to watch them, like Tokyo Eye, it seemed like a fluke because the next time I'd try, they wouldn't be there. The live streaming feed usually only showed the Newsline program and blocked out the other programs in-between. When I checked the website just now, the same non-news show that was being shown on 26-2 was on the live feed, so maybe there's been a change...at least for the SF Bay Area (I think somewhere on the website it mentions certain "regions" are not authorized to receive certain programs). BTW, I found the Newsline show rather boring, compared to the regular NHK News7 we used to get on "regular" channel 26 (now 26-1) at 11:30pm M-F (now only 8:30pm Sundays), I think because it is just international and business news..which I get from many other sources. It was the local/national Japanese news that only News7 provided which made it so valuable. News7 also had the daily sumo tournament coverage which I really missed when they dropped the Mon-Fri shows, but I just noticed Newsline has it!!!! OK, now I'm really happy with this development! So thanks again, Mike! But I have a question for you: How long ago do you think NHK World was added to channel 26-2? BTW, I think KBS was originally on 26-2, but now it's on 26-3. Well, NHK World doesn't have any dramas, but there is one music program called "J-Melo", so maybe they'll show Kohaku live!

Your welcome Andru. The first day of NHK was Tuesday night. 26.2 was MBC but it got suspended 3 weeks ago. 26.3 KBS was added about 3 months ago.

Well, after only about two weeks I was disappointed a couple of days ago to discover that NHK World seemed to have gone off the air on the 26-2 OTA subchannel.

So I emailed KTSF last night and to my surprise I got an answer today: Not to worry. Apparently, there is only a technical upgrade being done and NHK World will be back on the air next week...in fact Dec 16 was given as the target date.

With regard to picking up OTA digital channels, my experience is that the quality (strength) of the tuner has a lot to do with it. That is, if you are otherwise in a good reception area (were able to pick up analog channels fine, especially the UHF channels) and have a decent antenna (good quality rabbit ears with a good-sized UHF loop...most digital channels are broadcast thru a UHF frequency, even former VHF channels) and are still having a lot of problems, you might need to get another digital converter box. I think many of the low-priced boxes (close to the $40 coupon price) had weak tuners ("You get what you pay for"). For example, a "Digital Stream" box I got from Radio Shack gave me a lot of problems, whereas the Dish Network/Echostar DTV Pal box (for the same price) is soooo much better. Unfortunately, the DTV Pal box is now hard to find. This is also the only box that has an event timer, enabling you to continue to use your VCR to record programs on different channels in the future.

Is this cable you're talking about? How does a dish network receiver help?
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Itazura ichiban wrote:

Is this cable you're talking about? How does a dish network receiver help?

No, neither cable nor satellite TV. By "OTA" I just mean "over-the-air," and with the conversion from "analog" to digital TV, stations can broadcast more than one channel at the same time (main channel and "sub-channels"). But, while the cable and satellite TV companies are required to carry (re-broadcast) "all" local channels on their systems, they don't need to carry the subchannels, only the main channel - I just found this out when I referred to the "must-carry" law in my email to KTSF and they explained that digital subchannels are not included.

However, cable and satellite TV systems COULD carry subchannels if they want. For example, I noticed many of the subchannels by the "major" channels (my term, I mean the former "VHF" channels, 2 through 11) are on my Comcast cable channel line up from 186 to 195. And I've also noticed KTSF's subchannel 26-3 with the KBS feed is on my cable channel 173. But, alas, while KTSF also has 26-2 and 26-4, they are no where to be found on my cable system...at least not yet.

BTW, I noticed that 26-2 stopped showing the color bars and showed for a couple of days an explanation that NHK World was returning on 12/17, but now it is only carrying the same feed as the main channel, as is 26-4 (I'm not sure if anything different was on 26-4 though). So, I will now wait anxiously for Thursday to see if, in fact, NHK World does indeed return!

PS: Also, just in case someone read my advice on getting better reception of OTA digital channels with great interest, I wanted to clarify that I was referring to the "DTVPal PLUS" converter box. Apparently it has an "enhanced" tuner compared to the original "DTV Pal" and that is why it picks up and holds channels so much better. Again, I'm not sure whether the DTVPal Plus can be found in any stores, but might be still available on the internet. Oh, and I want to repeat: your UHF antenna loop needs to be decent...and you can't get by on just those thin telescoping VHF antennas (the "rabbit ears") since most digital channels are broadcast on UHF frequencies, even the former "VHF" stations.

So far, Ive noticed that TTV and Fuji have advertised the following special programming on New Year's day:

9am to 11am, a subtitled movie, "Always" (there is also mention of it appearing on Sunday the 3rd, but I don't know if it is the second half of the movie or just a repeat.

11am to 3:30pm, TWO subtitled movies, one "A New Year Trip" and "She-shogun" (i.e., "Onna Shogun" or Woman Shogun).

I also caught a glimpse of the ad for the usual program showing bell-ringing across Japan, starting just before midnight of the 31st, but no mention of the usual past year's news-in-review program...NOR have I seen any mention of Kohaku! Has anyone seen anything about it? I know it's on TVJapan, but it's also been on KTSF for as long as I can remember...OK, since the mid-90's at least! I won't be able to survive NY's eve without it!

Cool. For some reason I think of OTA as "crippled" but now I must revise my bias.
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Andru wrote:

So far, Ive noticed that TTV and Fuji have advertised the following special programming on New Year's day: 9am to 11am, a subtitled movie, "Always" (there is also mention of it appearing on Sunday the 3rd, but I don't know if it is the second half of the movie or just a repeat. 11am to 3:30pm, TWO subtitled movies, one "A New Year Trip" and "She-shogun" (i.e., "Onna Shogun" or Woman Shogun). I also caught a glimpse of the ad for the usual program showing bell-ringing across Japan, starting just before midnight of the 31st, but no mention of the usual past year's news-in-review program...NOR have I seen any mention of Kohaku! Has anyone seen anything about it? I know it's on TVJapan, but it's also been on KTSF for as long as I can remember...OK, since the mid-90's at least! I won't be able to survive NY's eve without it!

I just looked at my DirecTV schedule for NYE and .... no Kouhaku! They are only showing the Yuku Toshi Kuru Toshi at midnite. No news of the year recap as well.

I don't know if NHK World is airing it, but I am not able to get the 26.2 subchannel from my location. So it's D-Addicts for me.

And about the movie, "Always". Part 2 is on 1/3.

Bummer. Times must be tough since they are not paying for the special airtime for NYE. Just look at how much the regular programs have been reduced on the weekends.

DirectTV depends on KTSF for information about programming and they are notoriously bad about updates on non-Chinese shows. There should be on-air announcements galore this weekend.
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Just had a brainstorm.

The Nikkei advertisers on KTSF. They probably don't realize how many Nikkei viewers of KTSF are being turned off by programming decisions. Their advertising dollars are thus being wasted. Doesn't it make sense to advise them of this?
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dochira wrote:

I just looked at my DirecTV schedule for NYE and .... no Kouhaku! They are only showing the Yuku Toshi Kuru Toshi at midnite. No news of the year recap as well.

This just bites! I can't believe there's no Kohaku this year! Of course, no one I know can afford the extra $45.00 a month that Comcast demands, and Keyhole TV kept cutting out on me every 5 minutes. Drat!

I need my NYE fix!! Has anyone heard if any torrents have popped up yet?

CK

Is there really, really no Kouhaku this year?
A lot of groups are making their kouhaku debut this year (namely Arashi ) and I was very eager to tune in! Even though there are already youtube vids up of certain performances up, and even though the quality of the picture isn't always so great on tv, it's just more fun to watch kouhaku on the telebox...

CherKell wrote:

This just bites! I can't believe there's no Kohaku this year! Of course, no one I know can afford the extra $45.00 a month that Comcast demands, and Keyhole TV kept cutting out on me every 5 minutes. Drat! I need my NYE fix!! Has anyone heard if any torrents have popped up yet? CK

I know. Was NHK being broadcast on KeyholeTV? I could only find the radio station. Of course, this was at 4 in the morning.

Now that it's new year in Japan (Akemashite omedetou to all the Japanese members), I'm sure the torrents are being uploaded as we speak. I am going to be downloading the HD feeds on D-A as soon as they appear (within a few days).

tabemonster wrote:

Is there really, really no Kouhaku this year?

I have not seen the commercials for the New Year's programming since I rarely watch the weekends.... fewer programming for me to watch. But I don't believe it was advertised... only the Kuru Toshi Yuku Toshi at midnite. So for the first time in many, many, many years, Kouhaku will not be on KTSF today.

We need to contact the local advertisers. Their money keeps KTSF going.
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26.2? Yikes...Well, I suspect I'll be waiting for someone JPS to re-encode the Kouhaku files (currently the total is 30 GB!!!) so that I can watch it.
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Yep, can't tune in 26 or 26.2 at all, though I can get several channels in several other languages.

There is a streaming version of it here with a Chinese bumper at the beginning: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTQyNTIwNTky.html
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTQyNDQ5MTg4.html
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Re Kouhaku: Well, I broke down and added TV Japan to my cable service today. Surprisingly, it's only going to cost an extra $25 for the month. It cost more in the past because Comcast required you to add a whole extra "tier" to the "expanded basic" service, and then added TV Japan to it, but not any more, due to the whole system going digital (the analog service is only the very basic channels up to 33). I missed most of this morning's broadcast of Kouhaku but am now enjoying the evening repeat. Of course, I"m recording it on my DVR, so if you want a copy, PM me. BTW, I do plan to cancel TV Japan before the end of the month... I'll also be able to enjoy the daily coverage of the sumo grand tournament this month!

PS: I'm surprised how many commercials are on TV Japan! I mean, for a $25/month premium channel, I didn't expect commercials. Do other premium channels like HBO have commercials?!!!

Re NHK World and 26.2: Well, that December 17th date came and went and NHK World still has not returned! They're still carrying the same feed as 26-1, although 26-4 has been showing color bars (perhaps NHK World or something else is gonna appear there). I didn't email KTSF yet about it, wanted to give them a couple of weeks before b-tching...since they were so prompt and nice in replying to my first email. I'm hoping, like a lot of technical fixes go (like that bay bridge eyebar), they're just experiencing some problems and NHK world will eventually be back on.

Re Keyhole TV: Hey, thanks CherKell and Dochira for mentioning it! I didn't know it existed!!!! No subtitled dramas, but I guess programs like Sapuri and Hey!Hey!Hey! that we used to enjoy without subtitles are now accessible again!

I need to figure out how Keyhole TV works. I was under the impression you had to watch things live as they air in Japan...

I'm also very confused by how Kouhaku is broken up on this Taiwanese streaming site...haha...It's just a confusing night. Well, it's been a confusing year.
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Hi, I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but anyways....

I watched a movie on ktsf that aired from around 11am-1pm. The title was "New Yer Trip" (I think "Year" was misspelled). I tried to find more information about this movie on google but couldn't find anything. Can anyone direct me to a website that has the cast and more info with regards to this movie? Much appreciated and Happy New Year!