@ballpeen said:

I can't think of many more ways to explain this...I have tried on 2-3 different occasion inside this thread.

OK, OK we got it. Just trying to apply it in a practical situation. Essentially, it means that stations in Detroit, Pittsburgh, Columbus, cannot air a Browns blacked out game.

@vaportrail said:

Dayton is officially declared a secondary Bengals market by WHIO, but they do try to show Browns games if they're not playing at the same time as the Bengals. I write to WHIO Dayton CBS 7, quite often... WKRC Cincinnati CBS 12 hates the Browns, and will usually only show them when they are playing the Bengals. I'm pretty sure Dayton 7 will be broadcasting the Browns game. The Chargers / Browns game is on their programming schedule, but that doesn't guarentee anything.

@hoorta said:

I agree, as I watched it there as well, but to the best of my recall, the picture was poor because you had to tune in ch 7 which was a Detroit station. Toledo stations couldn't carry it because it's broadcast would hit inside the Cleveland market...Detroit station generally don't, though I do know every once in a blue moon the planets would align and you could pick up an occasional Detroit signal in Cleveland.

@the-gipper said:

Normally you would think that a Browns fan in Youngstown could get the Browns game from a Pittsburgh station, but apparently not under these rules?

If we have any Youngstown people on board here, what stations does your local cable network provide to you? Stations out of Cleveland? Stations out of Peetown? Some of each?

That is what I have been saying...if the Cleveland signal is to be blacked out in the 75 mile radius, and people inside that radius can pick up another signal, that signal falls under the blackout rule as well.

I can't think of many more ways to explain this...I have tried on 2-3 different occasion inside this thread.

@el-jefe said:

It seems to me that by this rule, if a Browns game would be blacked out, then even say a Pittsburgh station could not air a Browns game because their signal would cross into the Browns 75 mile blackout area.

Normally you would think that a Browns fan in Youngstown could get the Browns game from a Pittsburgh station, but apparently not under these rules?

If we have any Youngstown people on board here, what stations does your local cable network provide to you? Stations out of Cleveland? Stations out of Peetown? Some of each?

@the-gipper said:

Unfortunately this is about right in certain markets. I don't know the exact distance but I can guarantee that it is beyond 140 miles when Charger games are blacked out. To the North of San Diego County is Orange County, followed by L.A. County. The Northern most part of S.D. County receives L.A. local broadcast which means that if the Chargers are blacked out, so is Orange and L.A. counties. So based in the way television broadcast intersect, if a Charger game game is blacked out, the closet place to watch would be Santa Barbara to the North, and Yuma to the East. The 75 mile Radius is B.S. What makes this rule even more Retarded is that international feeds are not affected. So being in San Diego I am about 25 from the Mexican border, which has all NFL broadcasts since they are on a different satellite provider.

@the-gipper said:

Couldn't say..it would be about 50/50.

We have the state line dynamic at play a bit more than some other areas.

College football rules in the south, and fans still stick to the state deal a bit. A large portion of what one would consider the Chattanooga area people who live in live in Georgia.

Really, I can't say I see more Titan jerseys or Falcons jerseys.

While obviously there are more people living in Tennessee as Chattanooga is the main population base, the Falcons have been around a lot longer so they have a loyalty factor advantage.

Really, if it was a tug of war, it would be a epic battle with that flag in the middle of the rope not moving very far off center one way or the other.

@vaportrail said:

It's considered a Cinci market- so we're stuck with the Bengals here. Damn, when they were doing poorly, I was praying Mike Brown would move 'em to Los Angeles, and the Browns would have been on every week- no need for Directv just like the good old days.

@hoorta said:

Within 75 miles of what? Do you mean Cincy? Dayton is most definitely not within a 75 mile radius of Cleveland, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was included in the blackout list, as it's a secondary market.

@bob806 said:

There was a strip club or two in the area, that's what my friends told me

I've been to Breezewood quite a few times. Didn't notice a strip club but if you jump over to Bedford there's a giant Coffee Pot! Plus you're close to a lot of old roadside Americana if you go down 30, the Lincoln Highway. Just wanted to add this bit of info.

Heidi

@hoorta said:

Yeah, you're right, if you had a big enough antenna, you could pull in a Toledo station from Vermillion, or maybe even Lorain. But how many people in this day and age have one? And the reception in a fringe area on a HDTV would be darn near unwatchable- or on second thought, maybe not- read on.

Another thing to consider- with the digital over-the-air conversion, it's been my experience digital signals don't carry anywhere near as well as analog ones do. I live only about 5 miles from most local stations transmission towers (but on the lee side of a hill) and I need Radio Shack's top end amplified antenna to get any over-the-air reception at all.

There is always "Taggert's". You were at my table there for a game last year. Mike

@ballpeen said:

Well, if the game's blacked out, we'll find out the answer Sunday. The father-in law lives in Toledo. May have changed in the last 40 years- but IIRC, the '64 Championship game was blacked out in Cleveland, but not in Toledo.

Yeah, you're right, if you had a big enough antenna, you could pull in a Toledo station from Vermillion, or maybe even Lorain. But how many people in this day and age have one? And the reception in a fringe area on a HDTV would be darn near unwatchable- or on second thought, maybe not- read on.

Another thing to consider- with the digital over-the-air conversion, it's been my experience digital signals don't carry anywhere near as well as analog ones do. I live only about 5 miles from most local stations transmission towers (but on the lee side of a hill) and I need Radio Shack's top end amplified antenna to get any over-the-air reception at all.

@ballpeen said:

But the area in general is pretty evenly split between the Falcons and Tits....really, most root for both since they are in different conferences.

If push came to shove and the two teams met each other on the field, who would be the predominant favorite?

@ballpeen said:

Oh, well, given that a broadcast station's range is probably about what? 50 -75 miles, that means that the blackout radius is in actuality about 125-150 miles, fair to say? Do they broadcast blacked out Browns games in Columbus which is about 120-140 miles from Cleveland?

@thaak said:

I worked in an intelligence reporting office.

That's about as much as I can say.

Or, are you saying that you could tell me more, but then you would have to kill me?

@the-gipper said:

Open areas like Columbus, Chattanooga, Greenville, Orlando, Louisville, Norfolk, Erie, etc. etc.

Ovelap areas like Youngstown, Sandusky, etc. etc.

I live in Chattanooga, and root for the Browns.

But the area in general is pretty evenly split between the Falcons and Tits....really, most root for both since they are in different conferences.

@the-gipper said:

Maybe Toledo isn't the example I needed to use...but the point is if the Toledo broadcast reaches in to any part of the Cleveland blackout area, they can't broadcast the Browns game as that would shrink the mandated 75 mile radius.

@thaak said:

I worked in an intelligence reporting office.

That's about as much as I can say.

so what you're basically saying is that you let that couple into the white house. i figured it out. congrats to me.

@the-gipper said:

chuckle... not really... the Army intelligence battalion located at Ft. Meade leases its soldiers out to the NSA. So I essentially worked for the NSA for 2 years.

I worked in an intelligence reporting office.

That's about as much as I can say.

@thaak said:

So? You were stationed at Ft. Mead. That is the location of the NSA and the DIA. Were you a spook?

Open areas like Columbus, Chattanooga, Greenville, Orlando, Louisville, Norfolk, Erie, etc. etc.

Ovelap areas like Youngstown, Sandusky, etc. etc.

@585dawg said:

Well, map reading/cartography is a bit of a hobby of mine. And traveling is a main hobby of mine. So this just fit right in there. I mean, I guess I could learn to knit....or to golf.....but those seem like "no life" activities to me at this point. My partner in this office golfs like 3-4 times a week, but you couldn't get him to watch a football game with a pry bar.

(actually I have golfed, and would again. I would just have to get back into it. Maybe someday I will go on golf trips, but for now, my travels usually take me to places to hike or historical sites, national parks etc. )

@ballpeen said:

Take Toledo...it is well past 75 miles from Cleveland, but the TV signals could overlap on Toledo's eastern viewing edge with Clevelands western edge. If so, all of Toledo can be blacked out. So the blackout could extend in to Indiana or however far Toledo's western edge extends.

That would apply to over the air broadcasts, not satellite like direct ticket. DT can signal individual boxes by zip code which allows it to stay much closer to the true 75 miles.

Toledo sits inside the Lions 75 mile radius. I would think that being outside Cleveland's radius, a Toldedo station would want to broadcast the Browns game, given that despite it being much closer to Detroit, the fan base is probably pretty evenly split between Browns/Lions.

@hoorta said:

One thing people don't understand is in the areas with overlap, the blackout reaches far past the 75 miles.

Take Toledo...it is well past 75 miles from Cleveland, but the TV signals could overlap on Toledo's eastern viewing edge with Clevelands western edge. If so, all of Toledo can be blacked out. So the blackout could extend in to Indiana or however far Toledo's western edge extends.

That would apply to over the air broadcasts, not satellite like direct ticket. DT can signal individual boxes by zip code which allows it to stay much closer to the true 75 miles.