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    I want my Link TV! Info on where to watch us and reception/web troubleshooting...
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Reception and Distribution FAQ
  1. Can I get Link TV on cable?
  2. What can I do if my condominium association doesn't allow satellite dishes?
  3. Can I get Link TV in my classroom?
  4. Are you available in HDTV (High-definition Television)?
  5. Can I cross-link my website with Link TV's site?
  6. I want more information on closed-captioning and subtitles
  7. Is Link TV available outside of the United States?
  8. I am interested in having my local station broadcast Link TV or Link TV programs
  9. Can I show a Link TV program?
  10. I keep on pressing the video play button on the website but nothing happens. What’s going on?

  11. Why is it taking so long for the video to load on the Link TV website?
  12. Why do you have so many partial programs available to watch on your site? Where are the full programs?
  13. Why can’t I comment?

  1. Can I get Link TV on cable?
    The FCC has mandated that satellite carriers reserve several slots for non-commercial networks such as Link TV. Unfortunately, similar FCC requirements do not exist for cable. As a result, obtaining distribution on cable is more difficult and not an option that is readily available to us. However, Link TV is now available on cable in the following areas:

    San Francisco
    MHz3eaTV - Channel 27 on weekends (midnight on Friday until Monday at 7 a.m.)
    Northern California*
    MHz3KRCB - Digital Cable Channel 22, Monday through Friday from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.

    * Available in Marin, Napa, San Francisco, Oakland and Contra Costa county.
    Los Angeles
    LA36LA36 - Check out special Link TV programming on cableChannel 36 in Los Angeles - Mondays 7pm-8pm and Saturdays 11pm-12am.Shows are also re-broadcast at various times throughout the week.Please visit program schedule for more information.
    New York City
    MNNMNN - cable channel in New York City. Featuring Mosaic daily at 9:00AM and other Link programming Monday evenings from 11:00PM to 12:00PM


    If your area is not listed above, we encourage you to contact your local cable company about receiving Link TV. If the cable companies know their customers demand Link TV, they will be more inclined to give Link TV a channel. In the meantime, the best way to get Link TV is on DirecTV (ch. 375) and The DISH Network (ch. 9410) as part of their basic programming packages. If you are interested in acquiring a dish, below are the contact numbers:
    DirecTV: 800-347-3288
    DISH: 800-333-3474

  2. What can I do if my condominium association doesn't allow satellite dishes?
    Federal law prohibits restrictions that impair the installation, maintenance or use of antennas used to receive video programming. Below is the relevant section of the FCC ruling:
    Allowing Satellite TV Subscribers to Install Dishes in Rental and Condo Property
    "The rule applies to antenna users who live in a multiple dwelling unit building, such as a condominium or apartment building, if the antenna user has an exclusive use area in which to install the antenna. "Exclusive use" means an area of the property that only you, and persons you permit, may enter and use to the exclusion of other residents. For example, your condominium or apartment may include a balcony, terrace, deck or patio that only you can use, and the rule applies to these areas. The rule does not apply to common areas, such as the roof, the hallways, the walkways or the exterior walls of a condominium or apartment building."

    The order, however, does have limitations. It does not allow residents to install a satellite dish or antenna in any common areas or to install devices that extend beyond the balcony railing or patio line. Nor are residents permitted to drill holes through walls, roofs, railways or glass.

    The FCC Fact sheet is available at: http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html

  3. Can I get Link TV in my classroom?
    Link TV is available, free, to qualifying K-12 schools as a part of DIRECTV'S SCHOOL CHOICE™ program. Schools are responsible for the purchase and installation of the DIRECTV System equipment. The customized programming package offers more than 75 channels of educational programming from networks such as Link TV, C-SPAN, CNN, Discovery Channel, Hallmark Channel, The History Channel and The Learning Channel. Call your local school and let them know about this valuable educational tool.

    You are welcome to present any of our Streamed programs in your classroom, for non-commercial educational purposes.

  4. Are you available in HDTV (High-definition Television)?
    Our signal does not currently conform to HDTV standards. Link TV is committed to continuing to enhance viewer experience of our exceptional programs and is exploring opportunities to offer select programs in HDTV.

  5. Can I cross-link my website with Link TV's site?
    Link TV is honored to have other sites link to us, particularly to our unique streamed content link Mosaic: World News from the Middle East. We do present links to our exceptional partners and links to relevant background and follow up information on our program description pages. Link TV does not engage in cross-linking relationships whose purpose is to spoof search engines into assigning higher page ranks.

  6. I want more information on closed-captioning and subtitles
    Link TV provides closed captioning on programs in accordance with FCC regulations.

  7. Is Link TV available outside of the United States?
    At this time, Link TV is available only on DIRECTV and DISH Network, the two major U.S. satellite providers. These carriers do not broadcast outside the U.S. We do offer a limited selection of programming, including Mosaic: World News From The Middle East via streaming on our website.

  8. I am interested in having my local station broadcast Link TV or Link TV programs
    Link TV is developing a program to better accommodate these types of requests and investigating new ways to electronically distribute the content to stations. Please send us information on the station, its geographic and household reach, the station's content interest, and your relationship to the station. Currently, we have limited rights to broadcast content on other stations and each request must be evaluated individually.

  9. Can I show a Link TV program?
    We appreciate your desire to share Link TV programming with a broad audience. When possible, Link TV will provide written authorization to show original productions, like Mosaic, for educational purposes. Please submit your request by filling out our contact form. Regretfully, we cannot authorize the distribution of most of our acquired programs because we don't hold the rebroadcast rights. Link TV licenses these programs from various distributors to air for a limited time on its Network. You may, however, record the program for personal use. We encourage you to contact the film's distributor for further distribution rights, or to purchase the program. You can find distributor information by typing the program title or keywords into our Search Engine.

  10. I keep on pressing the video play button on the website but nothing happens. What’s going on?
    There’s a good chance that not enough video has been streamed yet for you to be able to start watching. The video will be ready for you to begin watching when the diagonal bars stop moving to the right of the play button and are replaced by a download progress bar. Once the download progress bar appears it will continue moving across the bottom of the player until the entire video has been cached (temporarily stored in your computer's memory). You can start watching at any time while the progress bar is moving, but be aware that when you reach the end of the bar, video will stop until the bar has moved ahead enough and you choose to resume play.

  11. Why is it taking so long for the video to load on the Link TV website?
    Our streaming video host is currently having some challenges.  Unlike many of the largest streaming hosts, the smaller non-profit Internet Archive does not have geographically distributed redundant servers.  Thus, some of our streams are also more subject to intermittent delay. We apologize for this delay and hope that we will be able to improve the situation in the future. Meanwhile, some of our content is hosted in a Brightcove player. While it takes several seconds for the player to appear, once it is there the videos stream quickly and efficiently. Visit our World Music and Cinemondo pages to view video in this player.

  12. Why do you have so many partial programs available to watch on your site? Where are the full programs?
    Due to rights limitations, many programs airing on the Link TV U.S. satellite television network have only 3-5 minute matching clips available online. These are to act as a preview of the programs to give viewers a sense of the content. All Link TV original programs are available in their entirety online. We encourage you to visit our Link on the Web page to learn about using Link TV online, and to watch full programs in the Original Series section of our website.

  13. Why can’t I comment?
    For security reasons and to encourage a connected community, we require registration to use our message boards and to receive newsletters.