Check Local Listings For The Game In Your Area
by Al Yellon on Apr 8, 2008 8:27 AM CDT
in Chicago Cubs News
Email
PrintSeveral days ago, prompted by some posts made here about the difficulties many of you have had with MLB.TV, and the continuing saga of Saturday TV blackouts, I decided to use today's off day to write further about MLB's Stone Age TV policy.
Serendipitously, Yahoo's Jeff Passan wrote yesterday on this very topic, telling us that MLB has at least begun to wake up; later this summer, MLB president & COO Bob DuPuy is going to require all MLB teams to redefine their TV "territories" or, according to Passan, "risk losing them".
To which all I can say is, about freaking time. If you haven't seen the MLB television territorial map, here it is:
Click on map to open a larger version in a new browser window
Look real closely at that map. From a 2008 perspective, it makes zero sense. Why should Iowa be carved up by six different teams (Cubs, White Sox, Cardinals, Twins, Brewers, and Royals)? Those of you who live in Iowa know exactly what I'm talking about. Passan explains the 1960's era territorial policy:
Back then, MLB had 20 teams and little television coverage beyond the postseason. Territorial rights were analog endowments carried into the digital age, and while in some cases they still apply – the Red Sox own a legitimate claim to the entirety of New England with regional-sports network NESN’s ubiquity there, and the Yankees and Mets are big enough draws for the YES Network and SportsNet New York to stretch across their territories, and perhaps beyond – most should be up for grabs.Is Des Moines a Twins territory? Do the White Sox have a genuine claim? Why not the Royals? They’re closest. The Cubs are the most popular, the Cardinals traditionally the most successful, the Brewers currently the best. If nothing else, the re-written territorial-rights map could give teams incentive to actively pursue areas such as Iowa and Las Vegas and draw new fans instead of relying on what they inherited. The forgotten would turn into the recruited.
Well, yes and no. It all depends on how they redraw this map. Example: there are, as you likely have already figured, more Cubs fans scattered across the country than, say, Tampa Bay Rays fans. Thus, the Rays want to "protect" their "territory" in Florida so they get their games watched.
The reality, however, is that if you're a Cubs fan living in Tampa and you can't watch the Cubs, you're more likely to not watch ANY game, not watch the Rays just because they're on. The reasons for this should be obvious (well, obvious to any intelligent person, but that phrase -- "intelligent person" -- seems to be totally absent from MLB management): first, just because you live in a certain area doesn't mean you want to watch the games of that team, if you are loyal to another; and second, the simple fact that you are being forced to do so angers you enough so that even though you may love baseball, you might not watch the local game simply out of spite.
Jeff Passan says there's hope for the future, and partly because of the Extra Innings near-debacle of last year, where fan outrage got Congress involved, and maybe woke baseball management up:
Baseball is well-versed enough in compromise to figure out ways to satiate both the owners and public. Fans already give up most Saturday afternoon games to the blackout Fox bought so it could have exclusivity. It isn’t fair. It is business, and the financial prosperity derived from TV contracts and other media rights has helped baseball avoid work stoppages for consecutive collective-bargaining agreements. The trade is worth it.Most promising is baseball listening to its public. During the MLB Extra Innings debacle last year, in which baseball held cable companies hostage by threatening not to offer them the package unless they put the Baseball Channel on basic digital cable, MLB ignored the outcries of its fans and instead chased a buck. Cable companies didn’t and bowed to MLB’s request, thus ensuring the Baseball Channel the largest launch in cable history.
This time, it was different. You wrote the letters. You lodged the complaints. You hammered home the inanity of it all.
Inanity is right. I've written this many times, but now is a good time to say it again: the proper policy is a very simple one. If you are willing to pay to watch a specific game, you should be able to, no matter where you are located. If they're worried about local commercials -- well, there are technological ways to, say, insert Tampa-area commercials into a Cubs telecast if you are watching on Extra Innings or MLB.TV. On EI, you frequently see a "We'll Be Right Back" screen between innings on some games. Cable or satellite companies could have commercials local to wherever you are inserted instead. Also, fiascos like yesterday's Cubs game, where WGN-TV lost its video feed for a couple of innings, could also be avoided. Cub fans watching on EI via FSN Pittsburgh (or on MLB.TV) could see the game -- but only if they were NOT in the Cub "territory", presenting the bizarre scenario of everyone NOT in Chicago being able to see those innings.
Seriously, how hard is that? It's win-win. Fans would get to watch the games they want. Advertisers would get more eyeballs. What's not to like?
It's time for MLB to acknowledge that television and Internet technology are moving far faster than policy. Wake up, Bud. Hear your fans -- I remind you that we are your best customers!! Please us and maybe you'll find you can make even more money. (That is, after all, what this is all about, right?)
We can now have real hope that by next year, when the Baseball Channel is supposed to launch, that every fan, everywhere, can watch any game he or she wishes. Bud, make it so.
168 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
I still think
for fans of one specific team and not the whole league, you should be able to purchase just certain team's games. For instance, I would buy Cubs, Twins and Blue Jays games for a season. I don't have time to watch that much baseball, but when they are on, it pisses me off I have to watch gameday on a saturday afternoon
Los Cachorros!
That's another thing they could do...
... as long as they guarantee you can watch EVERY game for the teams you select.
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
EI costs
about 180 dollars for the year?
Why charge ($75) and choose 3-5 teams and get every broadcast? I could see a major increase in sales if they day that
Los Cachorros!
Again, this makes way too much sense for the great minds at MLBAM.
n/t
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
Their thinking
and I honestly don't think they're wrong, is that most people buying EI are doing it to watch only one team. If people are paying $180 for a product, why offer it to them for $75? And especially if you were to offer three to five teams for $75, then almost no one would buy the full package.
Honestly, I buy EI for the Cubs. I watch tons of non-Cub games on it (I watch the Nationals, Twins, Angels and Dodgers a lot) but I probably wouldn't get it if I lived in Chicago. And I'm a pretty hard core fan.
It's a girl! Born 1-18-08. 2246 PST. 8 lbs. 1 oz.
by Josh Timmers on Apr 8, 2008 11:34 AM CDT up reply actions
I buy it for the opposite reason
I get all the Cub games so I buy it to watch all the other games. And if you buy it to watch all the games it's a deal. If you buy it to watch one team then it's not a legit $180 investment. Would be nice for to pay per team. We had this discussion last year about NFL Sunday Ticket. $300 is way over the top but $100 for one team is reasonable. But like Josh said, why give the customer the option when you know they'll pay full price.
Who has my 'Club Paradise' dvd?
by Keystone80435 on Apr 8, 2008 12:02 PM CDT up reply actions
Exactly.
They could easily have a la carte options for EI. I buy it, like Keystone, because I love baseball and want to watch as many games as I can, even though I already can see all the Cub games (and can watch White Sox games here to watch AL teams, as well as ESPN games).
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
I caught myself watching Oakland and Toronto for no reason last night!! haha I was flipping between that and Tampa vs Seattle.
Who has my 'Club Paradise' dvd?
by Keystone80435 on Apr 9, 2008 12:18 PM CDT up reply actions
Exactly!
(Except for the ""I wouldn't get it if I lived in Chicago part.)
You just know MLB would offer a PPV option, not a "3-teams for 75-bucks" deal. That would be outrageous, if you had to pay -- oh, about 10-bucks a game for every Cubs game, wouldn't it?
I think the current price is a great deal, for all the games you have offered to you -- whether or not you watch any other team but the Cubs.
And, I might add -- I've never paid full price for EI. Time Warner SD always cuts the price.
I paid 129-dollars for EI this year, not the advertised price.
by San Diego Smooth Jazz Man on Apr 8, 2008 1:30 PM CDT up reply actions
Unfortunately, I think you're right.
They even advertise EI as a way for out of town fans to follow their team. If those fans are willing to pay full price for that (plus all the other games) they won't offer what those fans want (just their team's games) for less. it's another unfortunate way for MLBud and In Demand to make an extra buck.
It's the same reason why they offered viewers a deal for HBO and Cinemax even if the viewers only wanted to watch The Sopranos on HBO. Time-Warner wouldn't offer HBO alone for a lower price. It's either the package (HBO-Cinemax at a special price) or HBO at its regular price (usually more expensive thahn the combo deal).
by Fraggin Judge on Apr 8, 2008 11:32 PM CDT up reply actions
Wow, this is so right on...
I like to think of the way MLB treats Iowa as the Treaty of Utrecht, where the Pope negotiated a treaty dividing up the new world between Portugal and Spain. No one asked the people of Iowa, it was just assumed that we wanted to speak Portugese.
You're not going to find 5 Twins or Brewers fans in Des Moines, but the fandom probably goes like this:
1. Cubs (obvious reasons)
2. Cards (who knows why?)
3. White Sox (AAA farm team used to be for the Sox)
4. Royals (proximity)
5. Twins (proximity)
It only makes sense for the revenue needs of each team and the abundance of future revenue sharing that the digital age drives a breakdown of these boundaries.
Hector Villanueva's Career Stolen Bases: 1
Trying to watch televised baseball in my area is an exercise in frustration
Nationally televised games on ESPN2 are routinely blacked out by Mediacom and replaced with the ESPN News feed. Cub games on CSN are routinely replaced by White Sox games only to appear on seemingly random channels higher up the dial. Twins games on weird channels have appeared on my cable guide but I have yet to see one actually appear on my TV.
I don't know how much of this is Mediacom and how much is MLB but I hope every year that they'll get their act together and every year I'm disappointed again.
"I don't think anybody's paying attention to the Cubs." - Prince Fielder
And I'm a Cub fan
but live 5 miles from Iowa in Omaha, so I have to have DirectV and Extra Innings or I do not get Cubs games, except the ones on WGN. Since I want HD, the DTV package is best for me anyway, but why should anyone have to go through this?
Time for FCC or congressional action - MLB management needs to be taught a lesson.
Cubs Win!! Cubs Win!
by Ihatethecards on Apr 8, 2008 9:06 AM CDT up reply actions
CSN...
...isn't offered by Mediacom, which sucks, but DTV and DN offer it.
Personally, I think that Congress has more important things to worry about than wether or not I can get me Cubs games on TV. You know there's the whole economy thing...
Hector Villanueva's Career Stolen Bases: 1
They have more time than you know
Far and away, the most frequent reason things don't get done in washington is that bills are simply difficult to pass. The vast majority of bills die in committee before they ever reach the floor for debate. I'd be thrilled if Congress could spend a bit of time and compel the MLB and broadcasters (Fox in particular) to stop these ridiculous business practices.
And,
I also dropped cable in Des Moines, took Dish network, get CSN and WGN. I get the Cards and Brewers and I guess this year some Twins games on FSN. I'm happy with this but somebody will mess this up too. This whole thing makes my head hurt. Just let us watch baseball, that isn't so complicated is it?
This is only the beginning....Lou Pinella end of '07 season and Chicago Transit Authority (the band when they were really good).
While I agree that Congress
should be dealing with more important things, they don't. So as long as they're wasting my $$, I'd prefer they make it so we can watch baseball.
Cubs Win!! Cubs Win!
by Ihatethecards on Apr 8, 2008 9:36 AM CDT up reply actions
I know people in
my town who have Mediacom and they get CSN. It might be part of a sports package you have to purchase but you should be able to get it.
Don't worry.
Congresspeople should be able to walk and chew gum at the same time? Shouldn't they? (Wink, wink)
by Fraggin Judge on Apr 8, 2008 11:35 PM CDT up reply actions
Baseball Channel
What is the idea behind the Baseball Channel?
Is it supposed to replace EI and MLB.TV? Or supplement it?
If it is just going to supplement the existing packages, what/how is the Baseball Channel going to be different and wouldn't that decrease the amount of subscribers to EI or MLB.TV and therefore lower MLB's revenue?
That makes me think...
...that a version of MLB TV would make sense as a subscriber only option for digital cable and sattelite. You could have equal access to games online and on TV with one subscription.
Hector Villanueva's Career Stolen Bases: 1
That makes too much sense.
n/t
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
I don't know.
I think it's a supplement, but I'm not sure.
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
it will probably end up being more of a suppository, thanks to Dr. Bud
n/t
Lou Brown: "My kinda team, Charlie, my kinda team..."
Sounds like it might be
a channel showing random games and highlights, which means lots of hot AL East action all the time.
"Is there anything he can't do?" ~Len Kasper, 4/5/08, on Kosuke Fukudome
The Baseball Channel
is like the NFL Network, the NHL Network and the NBA Network. They are going to have some national games of the week and then the rest of the time will be like a 24 hour version of Baseball Tonight, complete with Harold Reynolds, who has signed on to work there. Then there will be some stuff that you used to watch on ESPN Classic before that became the Poker Channel. Reruns of the 1995 World Series, those highlights of the 1974 World Series that WGN used to play during rain delays will be on too.
Eventually they'll probably have some original documentaries on baseball history. The first thing they'll cover will be the second WBC, which is timed to happen at the same time the Baseball Channel goes on the air.
I'm hoping that they will show minor league games like the NHL and NBA networks do, and it's a good bet that they will. I hope in the offseason they show the Caribbean Leagues, but that's a little more iffy.
It's a girl! Born 1-18-08. 2246 PST. 8 lbs. 1 oz.
by Josh Timmers on Apr 8, 2008 11:46 AM CDT up reply actions
It'll be a baseball only channel.
Like the NFL Network or the NBA channel. They'll show some games nationally, in all probability. I also assume they'll be so stupid as to black them out in some markets.
by Fraggin Judge on Apr 8, 2008 11:37 PM CDT up reply actions
I live in the UK
...so don't have to suffer through any blackout problems. The MLB.com tv package gets me every game of Baseball all year as they are all "out of market" to me. Its hard to imagine a better deal than that.
I sympathise with the troubles of all fans stateside though. Its hard to see who really benefits from the current set-up.
true
but when he pays for that package that many of us over here pay for it covers EVERYTHING. The people on this board who live in IA are losing up to 6 games a day right now.
---AC 00 00 00 - Believe
Where I live in Iowa...
...Mediacom and the sattellite companies all offer CSN Chicago. I'm right on the border with Illinois, granted.
I'm
right across the lake from Chicago, literally. Yet all I get via Comcast here is WGN, and not the HD version either. Seeing as more and more games are on CSN or WCIU these days, every year I get fewer and fewer televised games. And when I read all these horror stories about EI and MLB.TV, I recoil in horror from the thought of possibly giving MLB more of my money for a service I'll perhaps maybe, if I live cleanly, receive, on a good day. What a frickin' mess.
"Just because you've had enough/ doesn't mean you wanted too much." -Dean Young
I'm in Des Moines...
... clearly a Cubs town, and we don't have CSN unless you have a dish.
Hector Villanueva's Career Stolen Bases: 1
Maybe I should
look into the dish. Comcast just raised their rates and, frankly, I haven't been impressed. I feel like this is all costing far more than it's worth- with the exception of my high speed net access, of course.
"Just because you've had enough/ doesn't mean you wanted too much." -Dean Young
And its been this way for several years.
I believe since Comcast bought FSN Chicago, or however it went away. All it means is that now via digital cable we're given WGN and FSN Midwest (should be renamed FSN STL).
I cancelled my MLB.tv subscription
I moved from Nashville, TN to Bloomington, IN this year. Bloomington is what, 250 miles from Chicago? I figured that I would still be able to get CHC games on the MLB.tv package. I enjoy sitting in my office in the afternoon doing paperwork and having the Cubs game in the background. No longer. Apparently Bloomington is in the blackout area for CHC. I get nothing played at Wrigley. No reason to keep the subscription as I won't be watching games in the evenings (most every road game) from my office. I don't watch TV in my office, so they just lost revenue right there. I would be VERY happy to pay for the subscription if I could watch online during the day, but at night, I have lots of other stuff to be doing and rarely have time to sit and watch a ballgame.
Even though my subscription was bought from Nashville and carried over, somehow (IP address I guess, I am not a techie) they knew that I was logging in from IN and black me out. I am just as upset as you are Al. It is absolutely asinine.
He's paying for what he wants...
...and he's getting what he's paying for.
Apparently that's a rare combination these days...
Lou Brown: "My kinda team, Charlie, my kinda team..."
The drawback is
that any evening games over there start at midnight/1am over here, and thats assuming the Cubs aren't on the West coast.
My caffeine intake goes WAY up when the Baseball season starts...
by MadHatterBlues on Apr 8, 2008 9:12 AM CDT up reply actions
Are there any baseball fans in the UK?
I've spent about a month over there, and I can't say I met one baseball fan.
Not many
but there is a small hardcore of support.
We only get 2 games a week shown live on TV, and both shows start after Midnight so the number of viewers has always been pretty limited.
There is a few Baseball/Softball teams scattered around, but 99.9% of people have never even heard of the Cubs. I tend to get funny looks when I admit to being a Baseball fan
by MadHatterBlues on Apr 8, 2008 9:24 AM CDT up reply actions
They same thing happens to me in Puerto Rico: No blackout on MLB.TV.
Apparently Bud doesn't know this is U.S. soil. (In Demand apparently knows because they enforce the Saturday EI blackout here.) In any case, why are you fans stateside paying the same price and not getting the same amount of games I get on MLB.TV? You're paying full price for a lesser product. Another moronic result of the blackout rule. And that one could get a congressperson interested.
by Fraggin Judge on Apr 8, 2008 11:42 PM CDT up reply actions
I hope that someday
if I am willing to pay for it, that I will be able to watch whatever game I want, whenever I want, regardless of where I am. The technology is there. The desire is there. It's simply a matter of the people with power making it happen.
---AC 00 00 00 - Believe
indeed.
I should be able to pick games A-la-CARTE, for ghod's sake. I'm giving them MONEY!
2008: The year we put it all together.
by drewishdrewid on Apr 8, 2008 9:53 AM CDT up reply actions
Excellent summary, Al
This may be the hardest undertaking MLB has ever done because of all the various technologies (Cable/Sat/Web/mobile devices) and all the big companies and small markets wanting a piece of the pie.
I just hope it finally gets its due attention THIS year.
I don't think it will be fixed until the new TV contract is negotiated.
And that will only happen if we as fans stay vigilant and start complaining now. If we wait until the contracts are signed it will be too late, I'm afraid.
by Fraggin Judge on Apr 8, 2008 11:45 PM CDT up reply actions
Choices
There should be a choice with the online package about which broadcast we can get. I thought at one point there was a logic behind it. You always get the home team TV announcers. But last year that didn't always work out. Listening to the boring Pittsburgh tv guys yesterday was almost as bad as the game itself.
They call me MISTER Fukudome!
At least you got to see the whole game.
WGN viewers in Chicago (and elsewhere) didn't.
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
It would be way too much of a hassle to
carry BOTH teams' feeds.....one should suffice. Those Pittsburgh guys may be boring, but that's preferable to crappy announce teams...and there are plenty of those out there -- Right, D-Backs Fans? Right , Padres Fans? Besides, you don't ALWAYS get the home teams announcers.
The feed chosen is usually either the easiest to cherry-pick/or, in some cases, the only one available.
For example, if the Cubs are on WGN, there is no CSN/Chicago feed. Therefore, EI has only one feed available for a Cubs game. Many times last year -- FSN Wisconsin was chosen when CSN Chicago was available for a Cubs home game.
Sometimes, over-the-air channels are covering games -- almost all of those are not on EI. Again, in this case -- there's only one feed available to EI.
by San Diego Smooth Jazz Man on Apr 8, 2008 4:20 PM CDT up reply actions
DirecTV
now carries both teams feeds, when available. They don't carry "Over the air" feeds but if both teams are on cable, EI subscribers get both feeds. Which makes sense, actually, since they are beaming both feeds anyway.
It's a girl! Born 1-18-08. 2246 PST. 8 lbs. 1 oz.
Another thing
One more thing that I've noticed is different (perhaps mentioned already), is that last year about two hours after the game was over you can load up the whole game. This year it is the next day or even later. This is not the worst thing in the world, but I think it reiterates a bureaucratic incompentance within MLB.
They call me MISTER Fukudome!
Yep.
Someone justifying their existence within MLBAM. Who does it hurt if you watch an archived game a couple hours after it ends? Like you'd watch some late West Coast game live instead. Stupid.
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
Plus less persons would want to watch two days after the game was played.
Many times I can't watch the day game. If I cannot watch the relevant parts on MLB.TV that night I won't watch later. By then I've already seen the highlights on TV.
by Fraggin Judge on Apr 8, 2008 11:49 PM CDT up reply actions
I'm far more annoyed about the fact...
...that you can't use the linescore to watch parts of the game anymore. Oh, and the fact that they don't bother to trim out the commerical breaks at all. Yay, five minutes of a "PLEASE STAND BY" graphic between every half inning.
More stupidity.
Who is it hurting if you watch the video feed through the linescore?
And the second part of your post -- they could be feeding local commercials to you. This is going from idiocy to utter mindlessness. If I could think of a further superlative to "stupidity", I'd use it.
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
I don't think they're doing this for blackout reasons.
I think they're just getting lazy about it.
On the other hand, I can't complain too much - I'm not an MLB.tv subscriber, so just being able to watch the full game for free is very nice. But it was a lot nicer when I could watch a half-inning without having to scrub the video for it.
Satellite Companies
can't supply local commercials to local viewers.
It's a girl! Born 1-18-08. 2246 PST. 8 lbs. 1 oz.
by Josh Timmers on Apr 8, 2008 11:50 AM CDT up reply actions
but if they can black you out by area, then surely...
they can find a way to advertise locally.
Hector Villanueva's Career Stolen Bases: 1
if cable companies can do it,
then surely dish companies can too.
Hector Villanueva's Career Stolen Bases: 1
How?
Cable companies use a satellite that sends a signal to a local receiver. Then that receiver sends the signal out to the subscribers via a cable--that's why it's called cable. Everyone in a local area is getting their signal through a local middleman. That middleman has the opportunity to insert local commercials.
A satellite company has a bird in the sky that broadcasts one signal across the entire country. There is no middleman to insert local commercials. They program your receiver so you don't get channels that you aren't supposed to get. There are some "spot beams" that only broadcast to certain parts of the country, but they are limited in capacity and are completely dedicated to showing local channels in smaller markets.
I have DirecTV and I have never, never seen a local commercial on anything other than a broadcast station. Don't you think if they had that ability, they would be doing that now on Bravo and Comedy Central, rather than forcing me to watch endless snake oil commercials that will make my boobs bigger?
The satellite companies absolutely CANNOT do this. Al is wrong. If you know of a way to do it, call the satellite companies because you're about to be a millionaire.
It's a girl! Born 1-18-08. 2246 PST. 8 lbs. 1 oz.
by Josh Timmers on Apr 8, 2008 12:13 PM CDT up reply actions
See...
...I'm all about dreaming big. This is what makes me a CUBS fan. I could jump ship and call myself a Red Sox fan or a Yankees fan, because that would be easy, but I choose to suffer my BIG IDEAS of winning the world series.
...see, I have no idea what the hell I'm talking about, but at least I'm consistent.
Hector Villanueva's Career Stolen Bases: 1
You may be right about satellite.
But on cable and on MLB.TV, they absolutely CAN do it.
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
In fact last year they showed team commercials and advertisement for the MLB shop.
They're so stupid they're not using the opportunity to pitch their own product.
by Fraggin Judge on Apr 8, 2008 11:51 PM CDT up reply actions
Could be worse...
you could be forced to sit through that same old Pac-Man or Pong game that they would run in between innings.
That was mind numbing
I preferred when they just had a camera pointed at the field and you watched the pitcher warm up.
"Is there anything he can't do?" ~Len Kasper, 4/5/08, on Kosuke Fukudome
I know this detail was in the fine print earlier this year...
but I was able to watch this past Saturday's game in it's entirety about 45 min. after it ended. That's the only game so far this season, I've tried to watch in the same day it originally aired live....and it worked for me.
But you won't be able to if the game is nationally televised on one of the networks (Fox or ESPN).
Saturday's broadcast was on Comcast Chicago. That's why the game was rapidly available as an archived broadcast on MLB.TV. On the other hand, the home opener was on ESPN 2 and wasn't on the archive that Monday.
by Fraggin Judge on Apr 8, 2008 11:56 PM CDT up reply actions
Last year...
even the Fox Saturday games were available in the archive within an hour of the final out. I made a habit of spending my Saturday afternoons avoiding any sports channels or websites, so the final wouldn't be spoiled and I could enjoy the game that evening, usually by 6 or 7pm.
I'm guessing the rain delays are why the Opening Day game still hasn't been archived (even a week later). This happened last year as well....Some games that had lengthy, or multiple rain delays never made it into the archives either.
Rain delays?
Why? Is it still raining?
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
That was the trend last year...
Games that had long rain delays didn't make it into the archives. Only reason I can think of, is that when the original channel that was being fed through MLB.tv, went to other programming during the delay, MLB didn't have the right to archive those portions, and were either too lazy, or not capable of editing those segments out.
But that's what happened last year...games with long rain delays never got put up in the archives.
Funny That You Should Mention Tampa --
I'm a long time Cub fan who moved to a town about an hour's drive north of Tampa late in 2006.
In 2007, I did not pay for Extra Innings. The only Cub games that I was able to watch were the WGN games and a handful of Fox or ESPN matches.
This year I purchased the EI package -- $160. So now I can see just about every Cub game except the Fox Saturday blackouts (like last Saturday's game against the Astros).
In my basic cable package, I also get the Marlins and Rays. The Marlins are of no interest to me; the Rays are starting to show signs of life and with some luck might finish close to .500 this year. So I will watch them if the Cubs are playing at a different time. The really great thing is that the Cubs play them here in mid-June.
When the WGN problem arose yesterday, I switched over to the EI telecast which was the feed from Fox in Pittsburgh. It saved the day.
The thing that I find interesting is this -- when the Rays or Marlins are on local cable, EI does not show them. Like last night's Yankee-Rays game. The game was on local cable but was not on EI.
Final comment -- in the last couple of games, I have noticed something that either I have totally missed in the past or the player himself has changed. Derek Lee has shown emotion after plays or ABs that I have not seen from him in the past. Has anyone else noticed this or have I just missed it?
One more -- in one week, I have seen more talent and use of same in Fukudome than I have witnessed in any Cub player in a very long time.
I think maybe
it's because finally he doesn't hurt. I think he's going to have a banner year.
2008: The year we put it all together.
by drewishdrewid on Apr 8, 2008 9:57 AM CDT up reply actions
that referrs to Lee, btw
2008: The year we put it all together.
by drewishdrewid on Apr 8, 2008 9:59 AM CDT up reply actions
You've made my point for me.
You said:
the Rays are starting to show signs of life and with some luck might finish close to .500 this year. So I will watch them if the Cubs are playing at a different time.
At a different time. But not if they're head-to-head with the Cubs, right? And if the Cubs were blacked out, would you watch the Rays? Or not watch anything because you're pissed off at the blackout?
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
Rays -- Cubs
Yes -- at a different time. Just like Monday -- Cubs on in the afternoon; Rays at night. If the Cubs had been playing a night game, I would have watched the Cubs; not the Rays.
The Cubs were on both EI and WGN yesterday afternoon. The Rays were on local cable only; they were not on EI.
Also -- watching the Rays games is not in any way a priority. So during the course of their game, I might switch over to EI, like I did last night, and take a look at the Cards-Astros game. Always a pleasure to see the Deadbirds lose one; same goes for the Brewers.
A little mixup
Well, yes and no. It all depends on how they redraw this map. Example: there are, as you likely have already figured, more Cubs fans scattered across the country than, say, Tampa Bay Rays fans. Thus, the Rays want to "protect" their "territory" in Florida so they get their games watched.
The reality, however, is that if you're a Cubs fan living in Tampa and you can't watch the Cubs, you're more likely to not watch ANY game, not watch the Rays just because they're on. The reasons for this should be obvious (well, obvious to any intelligent person, but that phrase -- "intelligent person" -- seems to be totally absent from MLB management): first, just because you live in a certain area doesn't mean you want to watch the games of that team, if you are loyal to another; and second, the simple fact that you are being forced to do so angers you enough so that even though you may love baseball, you might not watch the local game simply out of spite.I actually think it's the other way around. If you're a Cubs fan living in Devil Rays territory, that means that you get to watch a Cubs game on EI or MLB.TV, but you can't watch a Rays game.
Now, if you live in part of the Cubs rather expansive territory, if the game is on WGN, you're probably alright. If it's on Comcast Sports or WCIU, unless you're actually in Chicagoland, you're probably SOL because you can't watch it over cable, or satellite, or over the internet, because Cairo, IL is considered a part of Cubs territory, despite being hundreds of miles away from Chicago.
So, paradoxically, living within a team's "home territory" actually restricts access to that team's game.
Right, but...
.... while you are blacked out of Rays games (for example) on EI if you live in Tampa (or elsewhere in "Rays territory", you can watch them on local TV or cable, which is what I think the evil wizards want you to do.
It's still a stupid policy. Again: if you are willing to pay to watch any specific game, you should be able to, regardless of your location.
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
Yup
Why would anyone choose to watch a video feed over the internet as opposed to a larger picture over cable?
This entire problem is nonsense. It's hard to believe that MLB still thinks the best way to expand is to restrict access to their product.
In New Mexico
we are claimed by the Diamondbacks and the Rockies. While the Dbacks and Rockies are blacked out on EI, we still get the Rockies on FSN Rocky Mountain. However there is NO channel where we get the Dbacks games. It is a fundamentally stupid plan and, with all the $$ grabbing, I'm sure there will be no sensible solution.
Somewhere Bill Wirtz is laughing in his grave...
n/t
Lou Brown: "My kinda team, Charlie, my kinda team..."
Dang 'hawk,
you're on fire today! I'm gonna put you in my fantasy lineup!
"Just because you've had enough/ doesn't mean you wanted too much." -Dean Young
This drove me nuts
When I lived in Atlanta I had EI on DirecTV and was subject to the blackout rules. But back in the '90s I DID watch the Braves when I was forced to since everyone expected me to know what was going on with them as well as the Cubs. I hated missing those Saturday afternoon Cubs games. I solved my problem by moving back to Chicago and just being at almost all the games!
"I'm a Cubs fan. I'm very, very patient." -- from a Shoe cartoon.
by No Southern Belle on Apr 8, 2008 10:21 AM CDT reply actions
Watching The Games
If someone just wants to watch a baseball game and has no team allegiance, watching any game on any channel is probably okay for him.
What MLB fails to recognize is that most fans do have a favorite team and want to watch that team on TV no matter what. Most of those fans consider themselves fortunate if they can get to a game or two a year. Some for a myriad of reasons cannot even do that.
It does not make a difference if the ballpark is 5 miles from your home or 200 miles away, the EI or MLB blackout makes no sense. Restricting the viewing audience in the hope of increasing attendance is ridiculous.
If your attendance is low, consider the following solutions --
Lower the cost to the fan who wants to come or
Improve your ballclub so fans will want to come.
Paying exhorbitant prices for a poor product and blacking out local viewing is not the answer.
Invest in your product and show it so more people will be interested in coming to the games.
I don't think it has anything to do with attendance.
Rays home games are televised in Tampa, right?
It's all about more eyeballs for local ads, which makes blackouts even more stupid, because they could easily insert the local ads into distant telecasts.
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
Not All Home Games
Actually 10 of the Rays home games are not broadcast on local television or cable. 10 away games are not shown as well -- mostly west coast.
Speaking of Rays
I'm confused. They change their logo to a 'beacon of light' yet they still have the manta ray on the sleeve. Whats going on in Tampa?
Who has my 'Club Paradise' dvd?
by Keystone80435 on Apr 8, 2008 12:11 PM CDT up reply actions
A manta ray, not a devil ray.
So they can be "Rays" of sunshine OR "Rays" as in the aquatic animal.
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
and if contraction should rear its ugly head again...
...and Tampa should merge with Toronto, then I guess you can them Rays or you can call them Jays or you can even call them RayJays - just don't call them the Johnsons.
Lou Brown: "My kinda team, Charlie, my kinda team..."
yep - just like George Costanza
gotta learn how to leave when they're all laughing...
Lou Brown: "My kinda team, Charlie, my kinda team..."
Duel mascot?
not bad.
Who has my 'Club Paradise' dvd?
by Keystone80435 on Apr 9, 2008 12:20 PM CDT up reply actions
But I don't think fans complain when their local team's game is blacked out on EI...
if the game is available on a local channel. They complain when the game is blacked out because they are supposedly in the team's territory according to the map you posted above but they cannot watch the game in any other channel because it is not available. That's what happens to gjdow in Cairo, Ill., for instance.
It makes sense to protect the local station's rights and their revenue only when the fans have access to that broadcast. It doesn't when that's not the case.
by Fraggin Judge on Apr 9, 2008 12:04 AM CDT up reply actions
Living in New Orleans...
...puts me in the Astros/Rangers market according to MLB. The funny thing is, most people who are baseball fans are more likley to be Braves fans. I may have met a few Astros fans and never once met a Rangers fan around here.
Blackouts really frustrated me when I got the extended sports package with DirecTV to get CSN Chicago. Games not against the Astros or Rangers were being blacked out so it wasn't the extra $10 a month.
So far I've had better luck with MLB.tv. The only games that I get a blackout is when the Cubs play the Astros. Now only if DirecTV starts carrying WGN in HD, I'd be happy.
As much
as I'd love to watch more Cubs games, I just can't risk the cash to buy into EI or MLB.TV and then get hosed. It'd piss me off too much, and really, MLB doesn't deserve ANY of our money with the way they've treated us - the true fans of their sport - for years. I guess I can content myself with listening to Pat and Ron via WGN. Luckily, I live just close enough in MI to receive it clearly most days.
"Just because you've had enough/ doesn't mean you wanted too much." -Dean Young
MLB Package......
I bought the MLB package for the Mosaic feature...... does'nt work and they could care less... when you could contact them they'd say it will be fixed tomorrow....... it's been weeks now.... very, very poor customer service..... trying to get my money back....
I fixed that. Here's a suggestion.
Maybe this will work for you: I uninstalled the Mosaic program from my computer, downloaded it anew from MLB.com and installed it. Now it works. Apparently the program is now using a new streaming agent.
by Fraggin Judge on Apr 9, 2008 12:07 AM CDT up reply actions
But only becuase it's too much fun to flip through the channels and watch my fantasy players.
Who has my 'Club Paradise' dvd?
by Keystone80435 on Apr 8, 2008 11:26 AM CDT up reply actions
Map - Texas
Why is Texas all one color even though they have two teams?
Also, can anyone explain why I get Mets game broadcasts on my CW channel in Charlottesville, VA?
Because
both teams claim the entire state, like the Cubs and the White Sox both claim Chicago.
So yes. The Astros claim the entire Dallas Metroplex is Astros territory and the Rangers claim downtown Houston in Rangers territory.
A lot of this goes back to when the leagues were more separate. The Astros claimed the whole state when they were created. When the Rangers moved to Arlington in 1972, they weren't moving in to the Astros territory because they were and American League team. The Astros rights claims only applied to the National League. Therefore, the Rangers claimed the whole state of Texas and its American League rights.
Obviously, this was done in a time before cable television when there was one game a week on television. It doesn't make any sense and it hasn't made sense since the mid-1980s.
It's a girl! Born 1-18-08. 2246 PST. 8 lbs. 1 oz.
by Josh Timmers on Apr 8, 2008 12:02 PM CDT up reply actions
DirecTV question
I completely agree with Al that the current policy is outdated and stupid. The NFL opted for a quick buck by giving DirecTV exclusivity for their games, let's hope MLB doesn't go the same route.
Background - I live in south florida and have DirecTV with the Premier Package. I got this fore the sole purpose of getting CSN Chicago to watch Cubs games. So last saturday I was all set to watch the game and it was blacked out. I thought it was the normal saturday Fox blackout, so I turned on FOX and there was no baseball.
Question - Why was the game blocked out? Will every CSN game be blacked out?
I do have MLB TV, so I did see the game, but would much rather have watched it on the big screen.
As for the South Florida market, it should be erased completely. Nobody here cares about the Marlins.
Question about MLB.tv
How do they know where you are? Is it by credit card billing address or IP location? If it's by IP, I wonder if you can route it through a proxy to get access to the game you want to see.
Old Style is the nectar of life.
IP address for sure
I tried this last year in Chicago. I still had a credit card with my old (non-chicago) address on it and used it for my MLB subscription. When I fired up the player, it said the cubs game was blacked out, so it was going by the IP address. When I move back to Chicago I plan to do exactly what you're suggesting with a server I have in Phoenix.
BTW - one little trick that worked for me last year was to connect my computer to my comcast box via firewire. There's an app (VLC) that will stream whatever channel your cable box is on. I opened a port on my firewall, pointed windows media player to it and voila, instant WGN/CNS/WCIU over the web. It worked great for 1 or 2 people, but with more than 2 people the quality would degrade and it became unwatchable. If anyone's curious I can post the details of how to do it.
So I Tivo'd Baseball Tonight...
...out of some sense of obligation (hey, it's highlights of teams I don't get to watch) and - I just want to punch E.Y. in the face. Am I alone?
Yes
I just want him to shut up. I'm not so violent.
It's a girl! Born 1-18-08. 2246 PST. 8 lbs. 1 oz.
by Josh Timmers on Apr 8, 2008 12:04 PM CDT up reply actions
Only on location.
I was thinking a throat punch was in order...
"I've always felt that starting pitching is the most important part of the rotation." - Joe Morgan, Sunday Night Baseball 8-12-07
Don't Forget The Jays
all of canada is blacked out for the toronto blue jays. i live in manitoba and am closer to seattle, minneapolis, milwaukee, kc, chicago, etc. i pay for mlb.tv for the cubs so i get all the games but i do follow the jays because most of the baseball fans i know are jays fans. mlb EI is now available on bell expressvu, one of our satellite tv companies so once i buy my new tv thats what i am doing. this policy is total bs and they are screwing themselves out of an untapped market.
"Relax, all right? Don't try to strike everybody out. Strikeouts are boring! Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic" Crash Davis - Bull Durham
OT Yea yea yea
I know it's only the 1st week. But it's funny to see Baltimore in 1st and Detroit in last. Funny stuff.
Who has my 'Club Paradise' dvd?
Off topic - Off-day today, not yesterday?
Hello,
Any idea as to the logic between today being an off-day, and not yesterday? I am sure there is some reason, and I’d appreciate the enlightenment. Thanks!
Dave
by Dave in the basement on Apr 8, 2008 1:21 PM CDT reply actions
Yes.
They schedule opening series like this so if the opener is rained/snowed out, they can play the next day.
If they had a Tuesday opener and it's postponed, they can't do that.
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
Which makes sense...
...but drives me absolutely bonkers.
Just when you get all geared up that baseball's back....
...ya gotta sit and wait thru an off-day before you get back to it.
Such a tease!!
by Shawon O Meter on Apr 8, 2008 2:28 PM CDT up reply actions
Baseball hasn't changed and won't change
Back in the late '70s, in the pre-cable era, Denver didn't have a ML team, and the nearest team (the Royals) was 600 miles away. We got Saturday Afternoon Baseball and Monday Night Baseball.
A local independent TV station decided to broadcast a few ML games (about twice a month). They chose the Yankees for the very practical reason that they were a sister station to the NY station that carried the Yankees and so got the games cheaply.
The Royals protested that Denver was their turf, and MLB forced the station to stop carrying the Yankees. When the station tried to broadcast a few Royals games, the Royals wanted them to pay "full price" -- why not? they had a monopoly -- and the Denver station couldn't afford it, so we got no MLB at all except on Mon. and Sat.
The Denver station started televising some of the AAA games -- not exactly the same, but much better than nothing.
It sounds like MLB is still doing the same thing 30 years later.
"I've never complained about it. I'm thankful to have a jersey." Mark DeRosa, 22 Aug 2007
Excellent Post, Al
I would argue that all of the United States can now lay claim to being the territory of all 30 teams, what with there being fans of teams spread out across the country. Regional interest is from a bygone era, along with 8-track tapes and affordable gasoline.
Sure seems like MLB only cares about their own interests, and tolerates fans as an unfortunate presence to be dealt with in as minimal a manner as possible.
On a more baseball related note
The Red Sox are beating the Tigers 2-0. If the Tigers drop to 0-7 . . .well, I guess Dick Enberg would just say "Oh my."
It's a girl! Born 1-18-08. 2246 PST. 8 lbs. 1 oz.
Division Rivals Territory Can Be A Problem
Having multiple teams claim the territory of any place more than 150 miles from the nearest MLB team is ridiculous! You people in Des Moines are getting jobbed!
In Memphis, we are 470 miles away from Cincinnati and are still considered to be in Reds territory. There are hardly any Reds fans around here. That means the Cubs-Reds games are blacked out on Extra Innings, and the Reds play the Cubs a lot being division rivals. We hardly get any Reds games on Fox Sports Ohio in this market. We only get Cardinals games on Fox Sports Midwest here, when the Braves are not playing at the same time on Fox Sports South. The Cardinals are another division rival. The Cardinals are blacked out on Extra Innings here. Because of the Reds almost never being on cable in this market and the Cardinals only being on cable for the minority of their games, and both division rivals having all of their games blacked out on Extra Innings, I'm missing out on a lot of Cubs games.
Condolences on that overtime loss memphiscub...
as a poke fan I can sympathize with your loss. I hate the jayhawks.
As I've told you before, I never repeat myself.
by santoswoodenlegs on Apr 8, 2008 2:57 PM CDT up reply actions
Odd off-day
Thanks Al! So does this "unique scheduling" (to me) only apply to opening series, then?
Dave
by Dave in the basement on Apr 8, 2008 3:21 PM CDT reply actions
It applies to all teams' home openers
apparently
"Is there anything he can't do?" ~Len Kasper, 4/5/08, on Kosuke Fukudome
Unless they open on a Friday...
... generally, it does, unless other scheduling considerations prevent it.
Example: the Mets probably would have liked to open Monday, but their opponent, the Phillies, had a game in Cincinnati that day.
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
Good stuff
Except is this really all one sentence - "The reasons for this should be obvious (well, obvious to any intelligent person, but that phrase -- "intelligent person" -- seems to be totally absent from MLB management): first, just because you live in a certain area doesn't mean you want to watch the games of that team, if you are loyal to another; and second, the simple fact that you are being forced to do so angers you enough so that even though you may love baseball, you might not watch the local game simply out of spite."
The grammar police are not happy. I get the gist though. Also, did the price of an mlb.tv subscription go up this year? I think it's something like 90 bucks, where I can remember paying 20 in the past.
Question for Wisonsinites
I'm moving to the Milwaukee area in a couple months. If you have EI, do the Cubs games get blacked out there, too? I can't tell from that map.
I'm not living there
but I think if you're in Milwaukee, you're OK. Don't live in Racine or Kenosha though, you'll be blacked out.
It's a girl! Born 1-18-08. 2246 PST. 8 lbs. 1 oz.
I think it's the same.
$90 for a year and $20 for a month.
by Fraggin Judge on Apr 9, 2008 12:15 AM CDT up reply actions
Two cents worth
From a fan perspective, I agree that if you pay for TV viewing then there should be no black-outs.
What I don't agree with is long distance fans being angry about having another team's games broadcast in that other team's market area. Rather, there are fans who want to watch a major league game and will watch whatever is on. This has nothing to do with their intelligence. Further, over the years some become fans of that team. This also has nothing to do with intelligence. That's great when you can watch any game and any team you want from anywhere. But when you can't and you tune-in to whatever is on, it means you just like the game.
There is something in what you say...
but I don't think anyone is calling into question the intelligence of the average fan based on their preference of TV baseball viewing.
As I've told you before, I never repeat myself.
by santoswoodenlegs on Apr 8, 2008 5:45 PM CDT up reply actions
train wreck
It seems to me all of this would make too much sense. Why on earth would they want to change their silly system? Seems in baseballs best interest to remain a stupid mess.
by louisiana lumberman on Apr 8, 2008 6:09 PM CDT reply actions
I Wouldn't Pay
I lived in Florida for years and on basic cable I received 1) marlins game 2) rays game 3) WGN for the cubbies and some sox and 4) TBS for the braves. In addition to ESPN's coverage which shows 3-5 games a week I found that to be plenty of baseball.
I personally wouldn't pay for EI or any other baseball package cause I feel my baseball viewing needs were met. And I disagree with Al with one point. I was fortunate enough to get all WGN Cubs games and had no problem watching marlins or rays games if the Cubs weren't on. I'd rather watch random baseball games than most of the crap on TV anyways.
Heresy!
Didn't you know that MLB and their minions at ESPN & FOX have decided that all we need are more NY - Boston games and nothing more?
Unsatisfied ingrates all!
4 teams
I live in Arkansas and we have 4 teams that are declared "home" town teams. St. Louis is the dominant team, but KC and Texas is close, 5 hours from the house. The thing I can't understand is how Houston is a "hometown" team 8 hours away. There is no way. I am just lucky that the Cubs are out of market and I get every game. When they play the Cardinals they are either on local cable or WGN. The only time I can't watch a Cubs game is when they play Houston and is not carried by Fox Sports Southwest or WGN.
A Cub fan in Cardinal territory.
Sorry about the Houston Problem
You've got the same problem not being able to see the Cubs play the Astros (unless it is a WGN, Fox national network or ESPN telecast) in Arkansas as I do not being being able to see the Cubs play the Reds (unless...) in Memphis. I am glad that a lot of the Cubs-Cardinals games are available through the (unless...) outlets. Sometimes, we can get a weekday afternoon Cubs-Cardinals game in west Tennessee on Fox Sports Midwest, if it does not conflict with a Braves game. There are still those times when we don't get the Cubs-Cardinals games over here, which is ridiculous because the Cardinals (to my chagrin) are the most popular MLB team here. We're also over 4 hours away from St. Louis. Keep fighting those Cardinals fans in Arkansas!
Mountain Home
I was down there fishing (Norfork Lake) and seem to remember not being able to see a Cubs game due to the Cards playing...
"I lost it in the sun"
Slingbox
The most clever way to see your favorite team is to have a friend that gets all of the home market TV games put a "Slingbox" on their cable/computer system. You can use it to watch every game shown in the home market on the computer (as well as every other channel on that cable system). It is completely legal. Visit http://www.slingmedia.com for details on the technology.
Here's an example. I live in beautiful southern Illinois where we only get the Cubs on WGN, but we get every Cardinal game. My nephew moved to San Diego (great kid with a nasty Cardinal habit). His Slingbox is on my cable/computer system. He can watch every Cardinal game in San Diego via streaming video. In return for letting him install the Slingbox in my house, I use it to watch TV on my computer at work and on my laptop anywhere I have an internet connection.
If I knew someone that got all of the non-WGN Cub telecasts (CSN, CSN+, etc.) I'd be willing to provide a Slingbox for their installation. Anyone in Chicagoland interested?
Ya gotta love a team with a shortstop named TheRiot ...
hah! We oughta trade slingboxes
I'm actually a Cardinals fan that is currently living in DeKalb, Illinois while my wife finishes law school. Your problem and my problem are each other solutions.
I actually would probably take you up on installing one here and you doing one there, but seeing as I'm moving in a matter of a couple months, it seems not really worthwhile.
But on the bigger point, of what Al wrote, I find much of this about as obnoxious as most of you do. The map seems really messed up, and the way the online stuff works, I've heard more complaints about media market problems than I've heard good reviews about it. Furthermore, I know I've had times up here when the Cardinals were on ESPN, and somehow it was blocked for us in DeKalb, even though there's no local broadcast.
However, and maybe this is simply because the Chicago/St. Louis rivalry, but I DO find myself watching whatever games are available. Sometimes this is the Sox games, more often it's the Cubs games (of course, I'm always rooting for my 2nd favorite team--whoever's playing the Cubs at the time), but then again, I'm a huge fan of baseball in general, so your point about a transplanted Cubs fan in Tampa might not be bad still, even though I personally am an exception to that argument.
I'd be glad to send you a Slingbox ...
... if you were staying in a Cubs viewing area. I could log on to watch the games and you could use it for any other TV viewing of your choice (both of us could not watch the game at the same time, only one user can be logged on). Thanks anyway!
Ya gotta love a team with a shortstop named TheRiot ...
Exactly.
Last year, Bud decided that I'm a foreigner even though I'm a U.S. citizen in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. Therefore, after decades of watching, Bud had the local Fox affiliate black out the games on Saturday afternoon, the playoffs and the World Series. In turn, we only get a Saturday day game in Spanish on Fox Sports en Espanol, and the playoffs and WS were sold to another station that showed the inferior international feed (less cameras and less graphics). (On the other hand, the U.S. broadcast was shown on MLB.TV. Don't ask me why.)
This year I'm watching a lot of stuff that's not in my cable system (including the Saturday day games, the playoffs and WS). I set up a Slingbox at my son's home in Florida and now I can watch live TV on my computer. The resolution is not the same as my TV but it works. That's how I watched all those football games on the NFL Network.
by Fraggin Judge on Apr 9, 2008 12:24 AM CDT up reply actions
I can't talk without grinding my teeth on this subject
But suffice to say, this is the first year I haven't renewed my MLB.tv service since they began offering it.
I have no response to that.
speqking of MLB.tv
I just watched the brewers beat the reds.... its bizarro universe...
Jason Kendall, league's leading hitter ?
patterson 2-5 with a game tying HR and both Reds RBI'S?
oh but baker let the pitcher bat in the 7th with a man on.... then give up the go ahead HR to the leadoff man in the bottom half and be pulled immediately. So maybe not everything is broken in the galaxy.
Proof that ANYONE can hit .400 for one month.
On April 30, 1988 ex-Cub Henry Cotto was hitting .439 for the Mariners. He had played 18 games, 66 at-bats.
He hit .259 that year.
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
Watched Red-Brewers too.....
They got a shot of Cory in the dugout after hitting his game saving homer sitting back resting his head on the back wall giving off an air of total disinterest in the game........ I could be wrong.......
What hasn't been addressed in this thread
Are some of the really bizarro aspects of the map. Doesn't the Grand Canyon have the ability to have a 'home team?' There's a big 'white spot' in the general area of the Canyon.
And, what's with that area of Nevada that claims ARZ, OAK, SDP and SFG? It's just a tiny spot. You'd almost think it was Area 51, that's so strange. What market is THAT? Fallon AFB?? Why not claim ALL the Cal teams, plus AZ? The LA market is closer to that strange land than SD?
Anybody have an idea so I don't have to pull out my AAA map of Nevada??
by San Diego Smooth Jazz Man on Apr 9, 2008 1:10 AM CDT reply actions
Guess there aren't any TVs in the Grand Canyon.
n/t
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
Look at the white spots in Florida and Georgia.
From a look at them, Naples is no one's land and there are suburbs of Atlanta that aren't Braves territory. What?
by Fraggin Judge on Apr 9, 2008 7:35 AM CDT up reply actions
Anyone...
using a Mac to watch MLB TV? I have a Powerbook G4 with OSX 10.3.9 and it won't let me install the SIlverlight plugin because it says I need OS X 4 or later? Can someone help? I'm in Columbia, MO right now, then going to be overseas in June, so I desperately need MLB TV...
Brian McRae's 5 O'Clock Shadow
by PurpleLineToWrigley on Apr 9, 2008 9:40 AM CDT reply actions
A place for answers on Mosaic
http://mlb.ensequence.com/ is a support forum for Mosaic users of all stripes. I can't vouch for how helpful they'll be, but they do respond rather fast especially when people are posting about the same issue. Just know that mosaic has been a pain in the rear since pretty much day one. There was a new build put out last night, maybe that will help.
I use various proxies to get past the MLB.TV blackouts being one of those unlucky Iowans but I did notice yesterday that apparently the blackout of Cardinals and Royals games has been lifted since I was able to watch both yesterday with no proxy issues. One tip i can offer is getting the 1.2MB streams without using the awful Silverlight player- You need to have the MLB NextDef plugin working, and silverlight uninstalled.
Click 1.2 on the meida guide for whatever game you want it opens up that rectangular box - click the MLB.TV 1.2 link on the right which will give you the same message then click use lower res. Boom 1.2 feed. I've been using this all week and haven't had any problems. Who knows if they'll fix this 'bug" but the high quality feed is quite nice when they don't muck up the aspect ratio.
If it's sold out....why is it blacked out?
I am in a cub-blackout area for mlb.tv. the thing i cannot get my mind around is why the cub games are still blacked out even when the games are sold out in the first few days of FEB. The NFL and NBA can tweak the blackout based on ticket sales or for anyother reason they want ( i guess). How can a blackout of all Cub games to a guy that lives 3 1/2 hours from the ball park (Indianapolis) help their business when there are no tickets for me to buy? A friend of mine that lives north of Chicago in the "Brewers blackout Only" area (about one hour from Wrigley) and he can get the Cubs on MLB.TV. I think this blackout topic is a great example of MLB's general track record of making the wrong move when ever they have the chance unlike to the other two real pro sports.
Amen
I'm 283 miles from Clark & Addison (in southern Illinois). By not allowing me to use MLB.tv to watch the Cubs, the only party being hurt is MLB -- they're throwing away potential revenue!
Ya gotta love a team with a shortstop named TheRiot ...
Because
You're thinking like the NFL. And the business model of the NFL is not the same as the business model for MLB.
The blackouts do not exist to force people to watch the game in person. That's why the NFL has blackouts. The blackouts exist to force people to watch the local commercials. In the NFL, all broadcast rights are national, so that if people aren't going to the game, the local team gets nothing. If the game is sold out, then they can release the blackout, because there is no more money to be made locally.
But in MLB, the local teams also, for the most part, own the local broadcast rights. So if you aren't going to the game locally, they want you watching the local broadcast with their commercials.
You really don't want the NFL's model--that would mean any game that didn't sell out would be blacked out in Chicago. Before 2003, Chicagoans would have only seen a few weekend home games and road games. That's the Blackhawks model, and we all know how well that worked.
It's a girl! Born 1-18-08. 2246 PST. 8 lbs. 1 oz.
the cardinals....wtf
don't tell me they're gonna be good this year. with their luck and ours, should we be worried about them?
I have a question
Are Alaska and Hawaii in a market? I didn't see them on the map
Aramis Ramirez- NL MVP
Kosuke Fukudome- NL ROY
Carlos Marmol- Rolaids Relief Man
They may not be...
... since it's pretty difficult for people in those states to get to games, I think they're probably wide open.
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
The other think that stinks right now
is no HD telecasts on MLB EI. I think they have some on Directv but none here on comcast in Nashville. If they had more HD and got rid of the Braves and Red blackouts here I would be happy. Maybe even willing to shell out more $$. I wanted to watch the Brewers and Reds last night and couldn't. How does that make any sense when my Fox Sports Net station was not carrying the game?
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Bleed Cubbie Blue
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
FanShots
Quick hits of video, photos, quotes, chats, links and lists that you find around the web.
Recommended FanShots
Recent FanShots
Cubs By The Numbers
Cubs By The Numbers is a history of the ballclub by uniform number, but the biographies help trace the history of our beloved team in a new way. For everyone who's a Cubs fan, anyone who ever wore the uniform is like family. Cubs By The Numbers reintroduces readers to some of their long-lost ancestors, even ones they think they already know.
Click here to order your copy, available now!
Recent Stories in Ticket Exchanges
Baseball Nation Recent Stories
In Association With
Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
- Marlins agree to unretire No. 5 for Logan Morrison, who will honor his father’s favorite player
- Weatherman Derek Holland does Dallas TV
- Ask Alex: Will Julio Teheran or Matt Moore win rookie of the year?
- Ku Klux Klan, umpires and bowling: Why the minor leagues tossed out Jim Evans academy
- The Cardinals Hall of Fame can now be found at Bill Clinton’s library in Arkansas (Huh?)
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
