CUTV Blog

DirecTV service (see the previous post) is now available for student subscriptions in the residence halls (as well as personal subscriptions for non-student residents)!

For full further information, full pricing detail, or to subscribe, please visit the DirecTV for Cornell University web site provided by Campus Televideo.

DirecTV coming for Fall 2008

Entertainment Television Programming Delivered Through Your Data Network Connection

Beginning on or before August 22nd, 2008, a new IP-based entertainment television service will be made available to Cornell residents in university residence halls. Services for university departments will be offered later in the Fall 2008 term.

All prices and information are subject to change pending the formal service launch later this month.

Offered and supported directly by Campus Televideo and DirecTV this service will replace CUTV as the entertainment television offering available to students, staff, and faculty via the Cornell campus data network. This new service will make available a number of new options and enhanced features to campus television customers, including:

• More channels. The new service will include options for over 200 channels, depending on the channel package purchased.
• More choices. The DirecTV service will include channel packages which will allow customers to select their preferred level of service. These choices will be the same channel package options as offered by the DirecTV satellite service (although pricing will vary — see below).
• No contract terms. No deposits. No prepayments. No credit checks. By special arrangement with Campus Televideo and DirecTV, many of the checks and contractual agreements normally required for DirecTV service will be waived for Cornell customers subscribing for the data network DirecTV offering. Because of this special arrangement, service pricing and package options will be different for the Cornell service than the prices DirecTV charges for the same packages with satellite service. Packages will start at or around $29.99 per month for personal subscriptions. Final pricing information will be available later this month.
• Hardware that is yours to keep. Instead of being required to pay a deposit and return your Set Top Box at the end of the year, customers will purchase their Set Top Box outright, which is then theirs to keep. This will also allow you to re-sell or give away your Set Top Box if you move off campus. Set Top Boxes will be priced at $100 each.
• Cornell-specific channels included. In addition to the expanded choices offered by DirecTV, the service will also include Cornell-specific channels, including the broadcast of Cornell special events.
• Premium movie channels and specialty sports networks available. The DirecTV service will include package options which include premium channels such as HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, and Starz.
• Pay-Per-View (PPV) available. The DirecTV service will also include PPV capability (which can be ordered by phone or on-line via a web page).

As a television service being delivered over the IP data network (TV over IP), there will be some differences between the satellite version of the DirecTV service and the Cornell IP-based service. This new service will also see some additional changes from previous entertainment TV offerings.

• High definition (HD) service will not be initially available in the residence halls. We hope to offer HD service in the future.
• The DirecTV Set Top Box used by the service will be specific to the Cornell IP network. You will not be able to use a DirecTV box from home (or vice versa), so please do not bring any DirecTV hardware from home.
• A network connection will be required to use the DirecTV service. If you wish to connect your computer to the network at the same time, you will need a network switch to connect both simultaneously. If you do not already have this hardware, subscription options will include a network bundle which will include all the hardware needed to share your network connection between your computer and the DirecTV service. There is also an option to request additional network jack activations for a fee.
• A USB dongle version of the service will not be available. All customers will need to use the DirecTV Set Top Box. If you are interested in viewing the service on your computer, many contemporary computer monitors also accept television A/V inputs which would allow you to use the Set Top Box with such a monitor. Alternatively, you could also use a TV tuner card or other video hardware to input the signal to your computer (although this is not supported).
• All customers will need to pay by credit card. As a service managed by an outside vendor, billing can not be done by the university Bursar system. Staff and faculty will have the option of obtaining a personal subscription by credit card, or using a university procurement card to obtain an institutional subscription. Information for university departments will be available later in the Fall 2008 term.

Existing CUTV subscriptions will remain in effect until the new service is completely integrated, at which time any outstanding CUTV subscribers will have the option of subscribing to DirecTV or discontinuing their TV service. New subscriptions to CUTV are not be accepted at this time (except by special request) while TV service at Cornell is transitioned to the new DirecTV service. As mentioned previously, the DirecTV service will be available for new subscriptions no later than August 22nd, 2008 (and as much sooner as circumstances will permit).

Time Warner Cable performed a system re-boot at approximately 3:30 PM which resolved this outage.  All channels should be working normally again.

CUTV is currently experiencing a problem with the SciFi Channel (Channel 18).   The problem is under investigation.

The previously reported audio outage on the Food Network (channel 69) has been resolved as of approximately 10:45 AM.

At this time, CUTV is experiencing a loss of audio on the Food Network channel (channel 69).  Technicians are investigating the issue.

At this time, all encrypted channels for CUTV are down. Our technicians have been alerted to the problem and are investigating. Unencrypted channels appear to be working intermittently.

UPDATE (1:40 PM): CUTV service appears to be restored. We are currently waiting for confirmation from the technicians that the issue has been resolved and that there shouldn’t be further problems.

UPDATE (1:50 PM):  The issue has been confirmed as resolved.  Time Warner Cable had made some changes to their feeds that interrupted service, which they then resolved.  All CUTV service should be working normally at this time.

In response to customer feedback following the November 12th, 2007 CUTV channel line-up changes, CUTV has been working to return Bloomberg to the channel line-up. Bloomberg is now once again available and can be viewed on CUTV Channel 54. Bloomberg has been returned to the line-up as an additional channel and does not replace any other existing CUTV channel or content.

4:25 PM: Earlier this afternoon, isolated USB users reported problems accessing unencrypted channels. This issue has since expanded to other USB users not previously affected and technicians are currently working to address the issue.

STB users are not currently affected by this issue, but may encounter brief interruptions of service while the system is re-booted to address the USB issue. STB users who are dropped to a black screen or experience an interruption should be able to restore service by simply switching to another channel and then switching back to the channel they were previously viewing.

Update (~5:30 PM):  This issue has now been resolved and USB service should be working normally.

At this time (~8:15 AM), the History Channel (Channel 68) and NASA (Channel 75) are not functioning correctly. The History Channel is down and NASA is displaying a message that it has moved to a different channel. Please note that this message about the NASA Channel moving to another Channel is incorrect with regards to CUTV. At this time we believe that NASA was moved to a different delivery path at the Time Warner Cable encoding feed and was not updated, resulting in an incorrect feed being delivered to CUTV with this message about a channel change (which, while it may apply to the Time Warner Cable line-up, is incorrect for CUTV). Both issues are being escalated to the appropriate contacts for investigation.

History Channel Restored - Updated 10:48 AM: Time Warner Cable reset the encoder that delivers this channel to CUTV and this has restored the channel to normal service. The NASA channel is still being investigated.

NASA Restored - Updated 10:55 AM:  NASA has now been reset to receive the correct feed.  Both channels should now be functioning normally, resolving this issue.