Norwegian Sky? TV? Question.....

[bizzy2010]

Does the norwegian sky broadcast a CBS feed? I am a big brother addict.... and i dont want to miss wed and thursdays eps....

[Don Haynes]

Sorry, no. NCL does not carry any of the four television broadcast networks in the cabins. NBC, CBS, ABC, or FOX...

[bizzy2010]

ouch... man that's traumatizing.... man their internet prices are insane

[BruceMuzz]

I will post this information once again for those who were not paying attention in the past.

 

Network television broadcasts cannot be legally re-broadcast by cruise lines to their paying passengers. So even though a ship can often receive the broadcasts, they do not dare show the programming on passenger televisions. The fines for doing so are quite extreme.

 

Cruise lines can receive legal satellite feeds of just about any programming - depending of course on where the ship might be, and which satellites may - or may not - be above that ship.

 

To receive satellite television programming, the cruise line must purchase a decoding contract from the satellite operator. This contract allows the ship to legally download and show any number of television channels on the ship.

 

But there are a few challenges involved:

These contracts are not for a day or a week - or just for the American football season. Typically they are for one year or longer.

The price is a bit high. Typically around US$1,000 per channel, per day, per ship.

 

The ship typically will sign a contract to receive a sports or news channel from the Panamerican Satellite that is in stationery orbit over the central Caribbean Sea. This allows the ship to legally receive and re-broadcast that programming so long as the ship is in the "footprint" of that satellite. That satellite covers most of the mid and western Caribbean, as well as Southern Mexico, Northern South America, and many parts of Central America.

 

You may be surprised to learn that most satellite television viewers in that area do not speak English, and have very little interest in English language programming. You may be even more surprised to learn that very few satellite television viewers in Central and South America have much interest in watching American professional football, or listening to American News or Reality shows.

 

Since the satellite provider will be carrying programming that appeals to the greatest number of viewers in the area, English language programming and American Sports, News, and other shows will be very low on his list. Soccer, Golf, and Auto Racing (all mostly in Spanish) will dominate the sports programming from the satellite. Local and international news (mostly in Spanish) will dominate other programming.

 

Many cruise ships relocate regularly to other locations. The ship that signed the yearly contract with the Panamerican satellite provider in the Caribbean is very likely to go to Alaska for the summer. The Panamerican satellite does not cover Alaska. But the ship must still continue to pay the $1,000 per channel, per day for the service - even though they do not receive any of the programming in Alaska.

If they want to receive a sports or news channel in Alaska, they need to sign another decoding contract - at another $1,000 per channel, per day, to receive the programming from the satellite over Alaska. And when they re-locate to the Caribbean, they will still be paying that $1,000 per day in Alaska for programming they cannot receive.

 

Since you would need to receive several different sports channels in each area to cover just the major American Football teams, this can get to be a very expensive exercise. Then you can double the annual cost if the ship moves to other areas in different seasons.

The major cruise line operators have decided that this potentially enmormous cost is not that critical to the majority of ther guests.

 

The only exceptions are Carnival and RCCL ships that never re-locate. Both companies have ships that never leave the Caribbean. Some of these ships have signed long-term contracts to receive a few American television network downloads. But even these ships receive only a small fraction of the television channels you would receive at home.

 

As a result, American Football coverage on most of the major cruise lines will be sketchy at best. If fooball is really that important to you, it might be better to stay at home during football season.

American News and entertainment will be even more scarce. If you take a cruise to watch American television, you will most likely be very disappointed.

[Starrgazer50]

I will post this information once again for those who were not paying attention in the past.

 

Network television broadcasts cannot be legally re-broadcast by cruise lines to their paying passengers. So even though a ship can often receive the broadcasts, they do not dare show the programming on passenger televisions. The fines for doing so are quite extreme.

 

Cruise lines can receive legal satellite feeds of just about any programming - depending of course on where the ship might be, and which satellites may - or may not - be above that ship.

 

To receive satellite television programming, the cruise line must purchase a decoding contract from the satellite operator. This contract allows the ship to legally download and show any number of television channels on the ship.

 

But there are a few challenges involved:

These contracts are not for a day or a week - or just for the American football season. Typically they are for one year or longer.

The price is a bit high. Typically around US$1,000 per channel, per day, per ship.

 

The ship typically will sign a contract to receive a sports or news channel from the Panamerican Satellite that is in stationery orbit over the central Caribbean Sea. This allows the ship to legally receive and re-broadcast that programming so long as the ship is in the "footprint" of that satellite. That satellite covers most of the mid and western Caribbean, as well as Southern Mexico, Northern South America, and many parts of Central America.

 

You may be surprised to learn that most satellite television viewers in that area do not speak English, and have very little interest in English language programming. You may be even more surprised to learn that very few satellite television viewers in Central and South America have much interest in watching American professional football, or listening to American News or Reality shows.

 

Since the satellite provider will be carrying programming that appeals to the greatest number of viewers in the area, English language programming and American Sports, News, and other shows will be very low on his list. Soccer, Golf, and Auto Racing (all mostly in Spanish) will dominate the sports programming from the satellite. Local and international news (mostly in Spanish) will dominate other programming.

 

Many cruise ships relocate regularly to other locations. The ship that signed the yearly contract with the Panamerican satellite provider in the Caribbean is very likely to go to Alaska for the summer. The Panamerican satellite does not cover Alaska. But the ship must still continue to pay the $1,000 per channel, per day for the service - even though they do not receive any of the programming in Alaska.

If they want to receive a sports or news channel in Alaska, they need to sign another decoding contract - at another $1,000 per channel, per day, to receive the programming from the satellite over Alaska. And when they re-locate to the Caribbean, they will still be paying that $1,000 per day in Alaska for programming they cannot receive.

 

Since you would need to receive several different sports channels in each area to cover just the major American Football teams, this can get to be a very expensive exercise. Then you can double the annual cost if the ship moves to other areas in different seasons.

The major cruise line operators have decided that this potentially enmormous cost is not that critical to the majority of ther guests.

 

The only exceptions are Carnival and RCCL ships that never re-locate. Both companies have ships that never leave the Caribbean. Some of these ships have signed long-term contracts to receive a few American television network downloads. But even these ships receive only a small fraction of the television channels you would receive at home.

 

As a result, American Football coverage on most of the major cruise lines will be sketchy at best. If fooball is really that important to you, it might be better to stay at home during football season.

American News and entertainment will be even more scarce. If you take a cruise to watch American television, you will most likely be very disappointed.

 

Thanks for the info. I didnt know this.