Testing Altitude Alternate

Josh is in DC - Grand Slam Sports Cafe in the Grand Hyatt.
Hooray!!!! Hockey to watch this weekend!!!! LGR!!!!!

Well, that's good news in general.

I haven't been able to really get in touch with anyone. I just tried calling Sports Depot in Boston again and they gave me the "call the day of" line. He also said he was really busy and couldn't talk due to March madness. I may call them back again later tonight, when it has hopefully quieted down a bit.

anyone go to the Depot? Or do i need to get off my but and check it personally?

abmarks,

dargason (Daniel) did go, but he didn't personally witness they test the channel. He just told them to try 644 and 657 (wrote down the numbers for them), and he was told by John (the guy he's been dealing with), that they did get 644, but not 657.

That was a major buzz killer until Josh came on here and said their bar in DC did get both.

I tried to call to check again, on the hope that they just misheard/misread 657, but they kinda brushed me off. If its not too far and you could go down there and make a nusiance of yourself until they showed it to you, that would be great! Let me know if you plan on that, otherwise I plan on calling back myself.

FYI, Dan said Sports Depot was really busy, so it'd probably be impossible for us to get a room/audio on Saturday. Therefore, I'm gonna see if Sports Grille can promise us that. However, it'd get rid of a lot of indigestion if it can be confirmed that 657 does indeed come with 644, and some mistake was just made when Dan was there.

-Fred

If we can get a *roll-call* for saturday- we could likely get a table in teh back and get audio as well....the tables are seperate enough from the main room that audio could be heard from that one TV or two.....

Still, both Dan and my's interaction with Sports Depot has been less than positive. I was brushed off. I believe he said John was kind've nasty to him once. They may've not cared enough to really give him correct information about the channels (I hope, I hope, I hope), plus the place had a line out the door, which doesn't seem to imply we'll be treated with much care.

Sports Grille, on the other hand, has been very nice, helpful, and interested in working things out for us. They have been very willing to order the station and seems much more interested in getting us our own area and audio. Just by the interaction with them, I would say they are much more worthy of our business at this point. I have a bad taste in my mouth from Depot and I believe Dan may too. Even when I called tonight, right about when a Celtics game was letting out from the Fleet, he took the time to suggest the hours I should call back with and was polite in apologizing for not being able to help me now.

I'd just like to confirm that Sports Depot does indeed get 657 right now, cause it would go a long way in comforting me that Sports Grille will too. I'm happy to take input, but we can't make this too much of a vote-by-committee thing, cause it'd just get too hectic. I'm already pretty hectic as is. I plan on calling them back unless you tell me you're stopping by

Edit: Dan has a list a people who wanted to come. Last I knew the number was around 30. Plus I'll be adding a few more myself. Is that what you meant by roll call?

[Q]DeltaOne81 Wrote:
Sports Grille, on the other hand, has been very nice, helpful, and interested in working things out for us. They have been very willing to order the station and seems much more interested in getting us our own area and audio. Just by the interaction with them, I would say they are much more worthy of our business at this point. I have a bad taste in my mouth from Depot and I believe Dan may too. Even when I called tonight, right about when a Celtics game was letting out from the Fleet, he took the time to suggest the hours I should call back with and was polite in apologizing for not being able to help me now.
[/q]
FWIW, based on this I'd rather go to the Sports Grille. It's much better to deal with people who want your business, rather than those who can do without. If there's a problem, we'll be more likely to get assistance from the guys at the Grille.

Furthermore, if it doesn't work out, my house and a 61" TV is only a 25-30 minute drive from there.

Cheers,
Kyle

[Q]Josh 03 Wrote:

My sports bar just called me. He said that DII basketball is on, but he said it's listed as Regional Sports Network. Do we figure that's just a description that it is a regional sports network, not the an actual network called Regional Sports Network?[/q]
When Directv picks up an additional broadcast like that, it's usually listed on the screen as RSNa (Regional Sports Network alternate) rather than the specific station name.

So has anyone had success other than Josh?

How did the Phily, NYC, etc tests go?

The Philly test was a go, so we're ramped up and ready at Flanigan's Boathouse in Conshohocken, PA: [www.flanboathouse.com]

I think we can conclude that buying Altitude means getting Altitude alternate.

I'm glad to hear that because I've twice gotten a different story from Sports Depot in Boston. But I don't think them very much anyway, so I plan on working with Sports Grille to make everything a go.

< crosses fingers > If it works everywhere else, I have high hopes

OK- I wasnt promoting Sports Depot- Sports Grille is cool. But where the heck is sports grille? I don't know it

I didn't think you were, I understand. As far as I know we just hit Sports Depot on a bad week. It was our first choice for location and parking, but oh well.

Sports Grille is on Canal St, by the Fleet Center. My gf found an article about the bars by the Fleet Center suffering w/o the NHL, so that could explain why Sports Grille is much more accomidating. The business means more to them. But hey, that's good for us and it'll be nice to help out the Fleet Center area businesses.

[www.planet99.com]

The place sounds good, over 100 tvs, big, and not that busy lately.

OK- I'll be there....

We seem to have no indication of how any NYC test, if one was done, came off.

Beeeej

I called Ship of Fools last night, and the bar tender said it was too busy for him to check if the bball game was on. So, we're no closer to knowing whether those of us in NYC will be able to watch or not.

Does anyone with DirecTV in the NYC area want to host?

[Q]Beeeej Wrote: We seem to have no indication of how any NYC test, if one was done, came off. [/q]
Beeej, based on last night's tests in other cities, we seem to have determined that DTV bars anywhere (with relatively new equipment) that order Altitude will get Altitude alternate programming. I don't think you need to test; now you just need to find a place with DTV that would be willing to order Altitude. See Lisa92's post with the link to CU Athletics, where they offer a direct phone number to DTV's commercial reps (that's the number for bar managers to call).

Hillel, could you explain this "relatively new equipment" thing?

As I recall, the upated CU Athletics release includes a caveat that mentions something about bars with older satellite receivers being unable to get Altitude.

[Q]Hillel Hoffmann Wrote:

Beeeej Wrote: We seem to have no indication of how any NYC test, if one was done, came off. [/Q]
Beeej, based on last night's tests in other cities, we seem to have determined that DTV bars anywhere (with relatively new equipment) that order Altitude will get Altitude alternate programming. I don't think you need to test; now you just need to find a place with DTV that would be willing to order Altitude. See Lisa92's post with the link to CU Athletics, where they offer a direct phone number to DTV's commercial reps (that's the number for bar managers to call).[/q]

I honestly don't have time to be making these phone calls, though. Where did Jeremy disappear to?!

Beeeej

 

___________________________
Beeeej, Esq.

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