Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

TV frustration.

Matthew Alice:

As a member of the San Diego press, I hope you will be able to answer this. Why can't the Union-Tribune obtain the correct starting times for many cable channels. All of their listings for A&E, Bravo, and many others are either off by three hours, which must mean they are using Eastern time or are completely off. Maybe you can inspire them to check it out.

Sponsored
Sponsored

-- TLE, La Jolla

Inspired by your letter, we dug out the old fedora with the press pass in the hatband and went over to see Pat McGrath and kick his editorial butt around the parking lot on your behalf. Pat's in charge of "TV Week," the petite magazine insert in the Sunday paper. He didn't have a clue who we were, so he called security. After that things get a little vague, but I remember a mess of flying elves, and I lost my fedora in the hubbub. But before we were escorted out, I do recall hearing how it's not the TV listings, it's your satellite company that's causing the confusion.

The U-T and probably 90 percent of all publications nationwide get their TV listings from an old building in rural upstate New York. It's the Glens Falls office of Tribune Media, the source of lots of columns, reviews, schedules, and just about any type of TV blather a person could want. They even send out those little blurbs that tell what the show is about ("Eddie causes trouble for Beaver" or "Fatal car crash videos"). The 300+ TV networks send their schedules to the office, and Tribune Media prepares it and sends it digitally to all their customers, based on the customer's time zone. "TV Week" is formatted with schedules, ads, and editorial in the U-T offices late Monday, and it's printed and bound by Wednesday for insertion into the following Sunday's paper. According to Tribune Media, they also send out 120,000 changes and updates to program schedules every to be included in the weekday papers.

So anyway, it's the networks that supply the scheduling info. But it’s the service that delivers the signal to your home that determines when you will see a particular program. According to Pat McGrath, most of the schedule snafus come from satellite delivery systems, which can broadcast East Coast feeds on the West Coast and appear on your screen three hours early. Most cable and satellite systems include on-screen schedules, which should be much more reliable, time-wise, than anything in print. But as Trib Media is happy to report, 45% of all cable and satellite TV homes never use the on-screen schedules and still rely on the printed page. As delivery systems and networks proliferate, the problem is only likely to get worse. I recommend that you sit down in front of the TV first thing in the morning and don't move again until you go to bed, flipping channels madly in between to make sure you're not missing something good. It's about our only reliable defense.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Best Sports Betting Sites - 10 Online Sportsbooks Ranked for 2024

Best Sports Betting Sites (2024) - Reviews of TOP Online Sportsbooks

Matthew Alice:

As a member of the San Diego press, I hope you will be able to answer this. Why can't the Union-Tribune obtain the correct starting times for many cable channels. All of their listings for A&E, Bravo, and many others are either off by three hours, which must mean they are using Eastern time or are completely off. Maybe you can inspire them to check it out.

Sponsored
Sponsored

-- TLE, La Jolla

Inspired by your letter, we dug out the old fedora with the press pass in the hatband and went over to see Pat McGrath and kick his editorial butt around the parking lot on your behalf. Pat's in charge of "TV Week," the petite magazine insert in the Sunday paper. He didn't have a clue who we were, so he called security. After that things get a little vague, but I remember a mess of flying elves, and I lost my fedora in the hubbub. But before we were escorted out, I do recall hearing how it's not the TV listings, it's your satellite company that's causing the confusion.

The U-T and probably 90 percent of all publications nationwide get their TV listings from an old building in rural upstate New York. It's the Glens Falls office of Tribune Media, the source of lots of columns, reviews, schedules, and just about any type of TV blather a person could want. They even send out those little blurbs that tell what the show is about ("Eddie causes trouble for Beaver" or "Fatal car crash videos"). The 300+ TV networks send their schedules to the office, and Tribune Media prepares it and sends it digitally to all their customers, based on the customer's time zone. "TV Week" is formatted with schedules, ads, and editorial in the U-T offices late Monday, and it's printed and bound by Wednesday for insertion into the following Sunday's paper. According to Tribune Media, they also send out 120,000 changes and updates to program schedules every to be included in the weekday papers.

So anyway, it's the networks that supply the scheduling info. But it’s the service that delivers the signal to your home that determines when you will see a particular program. According to Pat McGrath, most of the schedule snafus come from satellite delivery systems, which can broadcast East Coast feeds on the West Coast and appear on your screen three hours early. Most cable and satellite systems include on-screen schedules, which should be much more reliable, time-wise, than anything in print. But as Trib Media is happy to report, 45% of all cable and satellite TV homes never use the on-screen schedules and still rely on the printed page. As delivery systems and networks proliferate, the problem is only likely to get worse. I recommend that you sit down in front of the TV first thing in the morning and don't move again until you go to bed, flipping channels madly in between to make sure you're not missing something good. It's about our only reliable defense.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Didja know I did the first American feature on Jimi Hendrix?

Richard Meltzer goes through the Germs, Blue Oyster Cult, Ray Charles, Elvis, Lavender Hill Mob
Next Article

Reader Music Issue short takes

Obervatory's mosh pit, frenetic Rafael Payare, Lemonhead chaos, bleedforthescene, Coronado Tasting Room
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.