French NHL Centre Ice - Missing Audio

[WlooRB]

I subscribe to the French NHL Centre Ice package (on Digital TV) in order to see "regional" Montreal games, carried on RDS, that are otherwise blacked out in southern Ontario. This package also includes Ottawa games, usually broadcast on RDS or (if a Montreal game is also on, on RDS2.) On nights with such games, the RDS and/or RDS2 feed(s) are made available on channel 464 and/or 465.

There has been a frequent problem in which the audio portion of the signal is not "switched over" to 464 or 465, even though the video portion of the signal is fine. Last NHL season (which started in January 2021), this problem seemed to only apply to Ottawa games, broadcast on RDS2 and made available on channel 465. (I reported the problem at least twice last season but did not care so much about the Ottawa games. I also reported the problem this season, affecting only the Ottawa game, on Oct. 29, 2021. It did not get fixed that night but the next Ottawa game on RDS2 (fed on channel 464 or 465) was fine and I hoped the problem had been fixed.)

However now the problem is affecting Montreal games too. Nov. 9/21-Ottawa game (RDS2) on 464, Montreal (RDS) on 465, no audio on either channel. I called tech support; front line had to contact Tier 2 support, who in turn had to contact the control room, and I got audio back about 9 pm, in time for the third period. Hoped this time the problem really was fixed. But -- Nov. 11/21 - Ottawa (RDS2) on 465, Montreal (RDS) on 464. Had audio on 465, but not on 464. I noticed this problem before the game started, was able to talk to tech support ~6:45 pm, who transferred me to Tier 2, who had to message someone in Cable TV control or wherever, and I got audio back about 7:20 pm. Frustrating that this problem keeps happening (and that I have to go through so many Rogers support people in order to get the audio turned on. Of course this all has to happen quickly if the audio is to be turned on in time to actually have it for the game.)  And of course this problem is only evident during the time in which the RDS or RDS2 feed is delivered on 464 or 465, i.e. during the games in question and a little before and after.

Has anyone else had this problem, and/or any suggestions as to how it can really be fixed permanently? Thanks.

*** Edited Labels ***

[RogersCorey]

Greetings @WlooRB!

I did some digging for you but was unable to find any known issues that would be contributing to this. The best suggestion that I can make that would lead us towards a permanent fix would be to escalate a ticket from your account to have this investigated further.

Is there anyone else in the Community experiencing this? If we can get additional reports, it would help us to create a case.

Regards,

RogersCorey

[WlooRB]

Thanks, RogersCorey, for looking into this and responding. Re escalating a ticket, three different tickets about this issue have been created by front line tech support, one on each of the three dates previously mentioned (Oct 29, Nov 9, Nov 11, all this year, plus one or two from last NHL season earlier in 2021). They don't seem to have solved the problem. On Nov. 10/21, I received an email from Rogers saying "we’ve fixed the problem with your Rogers Cable Television Service", and as mentioned the audio had indeed returned around 9 pm on Nov. 9. More common has been the Rogers response I received on Nov. 12, regarding the problem of Nov. 11 evening, which said "We’re unable to identify an issue at this time" even though the audio problem for that specific evening had been fixed around 7:20 pm. (I assume that part of the reason for the "no problem found" responses is that if someone looks into the problem the next day or whenever, of course no problem will be found!)

I agree if anyone else is experiencing the problem, it would help to diagnose what's going on here and hopefully fix the problem permanently. Not sure why this problem would be affecting only me. It does seem that if the right Rogers "control room" people are able to get to the issue while an affected game is in progress, they can actually do something to restore the audio for that game, but so far haven't been able to figure out/fix why it's missing in the first place.

[Jtrossman]

Same problem today (Nov 16)

[WlooRB]

Interesting to hear it's not just me or my cable box. Same problem tonight for me as well (Montreal game, RDS feed, channel 465, on Digital TV). Spent 30 minutes or more on the phone with Rogers. Front line person tried to help, couldn't fix it herself, contacted Tier 2, who apparently just said they can't don anything about it and for her to submit a ticket. (The previous two times Tier 2 was able to contact the control room who did fix the problem. Tonight, it doesn't look like Tier 2 is going to pursue the problem in time to restore audio during the game.) Just checked with a friend in same geographic area who has French Centre Ice with Ignite TV, and he has audio on this channel.

[Jtrossman]

After paying for this service I can’t be bothered calling to wait on hold for an eternity. Rogers needs to solve this ridiculous situation. For now just listening on TSN radio Montreal online.

[WlooRB]

I agree this is frustrating. I tried online TSN Montreal radio as well a couple of games ago but found it lagged the video enough (at least in my case) to make the situation less than ideal. This problem is getting to be a bit of a deal-breaker for me....

[Jtrossman]

If you have a PVR you can pause the video to synchronize with the radio. Unfortunately it doesn’t make the Habs play any better.

[WlooRB]

Yes, could do that. Just got my audio back tonight (around 9:10 pm), with a bit more than half of the third period left to play.

[psokalski]

I had the same issue on Sportsnet live on Monday for the Habs vs Ottawa game. No audio for the commentary. Only the noise of the game and crowd. I think this happened last year once as well.- Paul