WPXI back on FiOS
January 4, 2020After what seemed like an impasse that would never end, WPXI is back on Verizon FiOS after the cable company struck a deal with Cox Media Group for carriage rights in Pittsburgh and three other markets where the two companies deal. While it only lasted 3 days, this particular tussle was notable to most viewers. The Post-Gazette reported that terms of the agreement were not made public but that it is a multi-year plan.
Meanwhile Cox Media Group continues to hold negotiations with Comcast for carriage of the Pittsburgh cable news channel and Hearst is still negotiating with DirecTV for carriage of their channels including WTAE-TV.
Having been forced to my antenna I noticed that the picture (especially on NFL football) seems better over the antenna than on cable. Actually all stations transmitting in 1080i or 720p seem to have a better picture that cable. Is this just me?
Picture quality is noticeably better on direct broadcast reception. After all the processing and compression algorithms that are used by cable and satellite distribution systems to get the signal to you, there is some loss of definition.