DirecTV added technology to find blacked-out games.Satellite TV provider DirecTV announced Wednesday that it has launched new technology that automatically searches for blacked-out games on other channels.
With the “GameSearch” technology, when a DirecTV customers tunes to a channel to watch a game that is blacked out, the blackout is recognized, and a search commences to see if the game is on another channel. If a non-blacked-out broadcast of the game is found, GameSearch displays an on-screen message giving the viewer the option to tune in to that channel. If a non-blacked-out version is not available, an on-screen message will let the viewer know the game is not available.
When a game is scheduled to be recorded on a DVR, GameSearch will find the game that is not in blackout and automatically record it.
There is no charge for the GameSearch technology, which now is available to customers with DirecTV’s top-of-the-line high-definition DVR HR20 and HR21 receivers, as well as the just-released R22 standard definition DVR.
Later this year the service will be rolled out to basic DVRs (R15 and R16) and next year to HD (H20 and H21) receivers. Sports blackouts, a longtime source of frustration and confusion for sports fans, occur when a sporting event is not televised in a certain market to protect the teams, the sports leagues and the stations, which are the rights-holders to the game broadcast. “Blackouts have always been the bane of sports fans, and while we can’t make them go away, we can be the first to make it easier for fans, who have been left in the dark, to find their game if it’s being broadcast on another channel,” Eric Shanks, executive vice president of DirecTV Entertainment, said in a statement.
