# How to Check TVs After a Storm Across Every Affected Location

> After a regional storm, check TVs in a fixed order: sort sites by power status, have each open site run the same short check, then sort the results into three groups. Those groups are back on screen, fixed locally, or needs a ticket. Report all affected sites together, with clear details, so real faults get to a technician quickly.

Source: https://www.sportsdirectllc.com/guides/check-tvs-after-storm · Guide · Last reviewed 2026-11-05 · Sports Direct | DLM Media

## Who this routine is for and what it decides

When a storm crosses a region, a regional or district manager inherits a map full of question marks. This routine gives you one consistent way to check TVs after a storm at every affected location. By the end of the first business day after the weather clears, you should know three things about each site:

- Are its screens back on?
- Did the store fix a problem itself?
- Does it need a support ticket?

It is written for people responsible for many sites at once: restaurant and bar groups, franchise systems, hotel portfolios, dealership groups, clinics and senior living operators. The person running it usually sits at a desk with a site list and a phone, coordinating store managers who are already busy with spoiled inventory, staffing gaps and insurance photos.

This is not a repair manual. Store teams should never climb onto a roof, open equipment or work around damaged wiring. The goal is narrower: separate quick fixes from real faults fast, so your provider gets clean information and technicians go where they are actually needed.

## Sort the map before anyone touches a remote

Before asking any store to check anything, put every affected site into one of three groups:

- **Closed or still without power.** There is nothing useful to check yet. Note it and move on. These sites go back on the list once power is restored and stable.
- **Power back, not yet checked.** This is your priority group and where most quick wins come from. Receivers and TVs that lost power often just need a proper restart, a moment to reacquire signal and guide data, or an input set back to the right source.
- **Open and already reporting a problem.** Treat these as leads, not diagnoses. A store that says the TVs are down may have one dark screen or twenty.

Within the second and third groups, rank by guest exposure. The sports bar with a big game tonight comes before the office break room. A hotel lobby and its guest rooms come before a back-office monitor. A dealership showroom heading into a weekend event comes before the service bay.

> **Tip:** This step goes much faster when every site already has a current one-page record of its screens, receivers and rack location. If yours are out of date, the [multi-location TV documentation template](/guides/multi-location-tv-documentation) is worth setting up before the next storm season.

## The post-storm TV check each site runs

Give every store the same steps in the same order. Consistency matters more than thoroughness here, because you are comparing results across many sites at once.

1. **Look before resetting anything.** Walk every guest-facing screen and note what each one shows: dark, a no-signal or error message, picture with no sound, the wrong input, or a normal picture on the wrong channel. Write this down before anyone presses a button, because a restart can erase the clue.
2. **Check power at the receivers.** Go to wherever the receivers live, whether that is a back-office rack, behind the bar or a closet. Are status lights on? Is the surge protector or power strip switched off or tripped? If a breaker keeps tripping, stop and report it rather than resetting it again.
3. **Fix inputs on screens that are on but blank.** After a power loss, many TVs come back on the wrong input or their own home screen. Setting the input back to the receiver is one of the most common post-storm fixes.
4. **Restart one receiver properly.** Unplug it, wait a short while, plug it back in and give it time to fully start up. If that brings it back, restart the others one at a time instead of pulling every plug at once.
5. **Record on-screen messages exactly.** A phone photo of the screen is better than a description. Many receiver messages can be looked up on our [error code help pages](/help), and the exact wording helps support pinpoint the cause.
6. **Look for the pattern.** If every receiver in the building shows no signal, the cause is probably shared: the dish, the line coming into the building, a common piece of equipment or the internet connection. If only one receiver is affected, look at that unit, its cables and its connection.
7. **Look up, don't climb up.** From the ground or a window, can someone see the dish? Is it visibly bent, pointing a different direction, or buried under branches or debris? A photo from a safe spot is enough.
8. **Check the internet connection.** If the site's internet is down, any internet-connected features, apps and on-screen content that rely on it will be affected even if satellite reception is fine.
9. **Report back in the agreed format.** Same fields, same order, from every site.

> **Note:** Heavy rain and thick storm cells can interrupt satellite reception temporarily, and the picture usually returns once the weather passes. A site that loses picture mid-storm does not necessarily have damage. Recheck after the weather clears before opening a ticket.

## Reading the results: back on screen, fixed locally or ticket

Once sites report in, sort each one with a simple grid. The table below covers what regional managers see most often.

| What the site reports | Likely meaning | Next step |
| --- | --- | --- |
| All screens on, right channels, sound working | Back on screen | Mark green; no action |
| Screens back after an input change or restart | Fixed locally | Mark green; note what fixed it |
| One receiver shows no signal, the rest are fine | Issue with that receiver, its cable or connection | Open a ticket with the screen number and message |
| Every receiver shows no signal and the weather is clear | Shared problem: dish position, damaged line or common equipment | Open a priority ticket |
| Receivers dark with no lights, outlet confirmed working | Possible power or surge damage | Open a ticket; stop retrying |
| Dish visibly damaged, moved or covered in debris | Physical damage | Open a ticket; keep staff off the roof |
| Picture fine but no sound in the bar or dining room | Audio system or settings | Check the audio system; ticket if it persists |
| Internet is down at the site | Connectivity outage | Contact your internet provider or IT; tell your TV provider too |

A good ticket answers the questions a technician would otherwise have to call back about:

- Site name, address and an on-site contact who will answer the phone
- Which screens and receivers are affected, using the numbers on each unit
- The exact on-screen message, with a photo if possible
- What the store already tried, and what happened
- When power came back, and whether it flickered or failed again
- Any visible damage to the dish, wiring or rack
- Access hours, and any upcoming event that makes the site urgent

If receivers and remotes are not numbered yet, [labeling them](/blog/label-tv-receivers-and-remotes) makes every future report clearer. For the full routine stores follow on ordinary days, see our [multi-location TV issue reporting process](/guides/multi-location-tv-issue-reporting); this storm routine is the regional version of the same idea.

## Trade-offs to weigh when you set this up

There is no single right way to run a post-storm check. These are the choices worth making deliberately.

**Store-led versus regionally led.** Letting each manager run the check alone is fast but uneven; one store will be meticulous, another will glance at the bar and call it done. A short video call where the regional lead walks the manager through the steps is more consistent, but it takes longer per site. Many operators use store-led checks for low-exposure sites and walk-throughs for the busiest ones.

**Self-reported versus verified.** A manager saying the TVs are fine is not the same as every screen being fine. Asking for a photo of each screen wall, or a count of working screens against the total on the site record, adds a minute and removes a lot of guessing.

**One coordinated list versus each store calling.** When every store contacts support independently, you get duplicate tickets, inconsistent details and no regional picture. Having one regional coordinator send a consolidated list keeps things organized. The exception is a site with a time-sensitive event, which should be flagged separately so it is not buried in the batch.

**Waiting versus ticketing now.** Open a ticket too early and it may close itself once the weather passes. Wait too long and genuinely damaged sites join the queue behind everyone else in the region. The practical middle ground: ticket as soon as the weather has cleared, power is stable and a proper restart has failed.

## Common mistakes after a storm

- **Ticketing during the storm.** Interrupted reception in heavy weather is often temporary. Check again once it passes.
- **Confusing a restart with a factory reset.** A restart is unplugging and plugging back in. A factory reset can wipe settings and create a new problem. Store teams should restart only.
- **Sending someone up to look at the dish.** Wet roofs, loose debris and damaged wiring are exactly the conditions where people get hurt. A photo from the ground is enough for a first assessment.
- **Skipping the back room.** A tripped surge protector or switched-off power strip at the rack can make an entire building look like a signal problem.
- **Calling a site green on a partial check.** The bar screens may be fine while the patio, private dining room or guest rooms are not.
- **Not recording what fixed it.** If one site recovered with an input change, others probably will too. Share fixes across the region as they come in.
- **Forgetting schedules and settings.** After a power loss, confirm that scheduled power-on settings and timers still work, or the screens may stay dark at opening the next day. Our guide to [turning on all TVs at once](/guides/turn-on-all-tvs-at-once) covers how those schedules work.
- **Treating the storm as finished once screens are on.** Sites that showed signs of surge damage are worth a follow-up conversation about protection. See our guide to [surge protection for business TVs](/guides/surge-protection-for-business-tvs).

## What to ask your provider before the next storm

The best time to agree on a storm process is during a quiet week. These questions will tell you how ready your provider is to support a regional event:

- When several of our sites are affected at once, do you want one consolidated list or separate tickets per site?
- Who is our contact during a regional event, and how do we reach them?
- How are technician visits prioritized when many sites in one area need help?
- What information do you need in every ticket to avoid a callback?
- Can you see the status of any of our receivers remotely, and what does that tell you?
- Which of our sites are missing surge protection or proper grounding?
- Do your records of our screens, receivers and site contacts match ours?

Sports Direct | DLM Media is an authorized commercial dealer with technicians and engineers in all 50 states, coordinated from our headquarters in Phoenix, AZ. You can read more about how we work with [multi-location and national accounts](/solutions/multi-location-national-accounts) and about our [commercial TV support service](/services/commercial-tv-support-service). Existing customers can reach General Support at 480-941-3703. If you are reviewing how your sites are covered, a [conversation with a programming specialist](/contact) is a good place to start.

## Frequently asked questions

### How soon after a storm should we open a support ticket for a location?

Once three things are true: the weather has cleared at that site, power has been stable rather than flickering, and the store has restarted the affected receivers properly and checked TV inputs. Opening a ticket before that often means a technician chases a problem that would have resolved on its own. Waiting much longer than that risks putting a genuinely damaged site behind everyone else in the region who reported first.

### Should our store staff reset receivers themselves after a storm?

A simple restart, yes: unplug the receiver, wait a short while, plug it back in and give it time to start up fully. A factory reset, no. A factory reset can clear settings and turn a quick fix into a service visit. Make the difference clear in your written routine, because a stressed manager searching for a fix may find reset instructions online and follow them.

### Can heavy rain interrupt satellite TV even if nothing is damaged?

Yes. Dense rain and storm clouds can temporarily weaken satellite reception, and picture usually returns once the heaviest weather moves through. That is why a site losing picture during the storm is not, by itself, a sign of damage. If screens are still showing no signal after the weather has cleared and a restart has been tried, that points to something worth a ticket, such as a moved dish or a damaged line.

### What does it mean if only one location in the region is still down?

It usually means the cause is specific to that site rather than the storm in general. Look at the things that differ by building: a tripped surge protector or switched-off power strip at the rack, a local internet outage, or a dish that took a direct hit from wind or debris. Ask the store for photos of the rack and of the dish from the ground before opening the ticket.

### Does storm-related TV trouble mean our equipment needs replacing?

Not necessarily. Many post-storm problems turn out to be wrong inputs, tripped power strips or receivers that needed a restart. Others, like a dish knocked out of position, can often be corrected without new equipment. Real surge damage is possible, but it should be assessed by a technician rather than assumed. Keep the store's photos and notes either way; they help with diagnosis and with your own records.

### How should franchise owners and corporate split responsibility after a storm?

It depends on your franchise agreement and how your TV service is set up, so decide it before storm season rather than during one. The cleanest arrangement is usually that each franchisee runs the same site check and reports results to one regional coordinator, who sends a single consolidated list to the provider. That avoids duplicate tickets and gives corporate a clear view of which locations are still affected.

Talk to a specialist: 888-688-1699 (New Sales) or https://www.sportsdirectllc.com/contact