Blackout issues to be addressed

[brinoch]

The blackout stuff is ridiculous in the modern "broadcasting" era. There are no longer home territories to protect from interloping signals, instead, teams should be trying to show as many games as they can to broaden their own, as well as baseball's, fan base. The more people watching games, buying merchandise and generally enjoying baseball, the better it is for MLB and for the individual teams.

[Rob]

The blackout stuff is ridiculous in the modern "broadcasting" era. There are no longer home territories to protect from interloping signals, instead, teams should be trying to show as many games as they can to broaden their own, as well as baseball's, fan base. The more people watching games, buying merchandise and generally enjoying baseball, the better it is for MLB and for the individual teams.

 

I imagine Peter Angelos doesn't agree with you. I'm sure he'd rather defend what share he has of the DC area market than attempt to sell his team across the rest of the US... unless MLB lines his pockets enough to cover the difference.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

it baffles me that the increased advertising revenue associated with broadcasting to a wider audience hasn't been enough for them to lift the restrictions.

[abuck1220]

did you know that if you get EI once they give it to you the next season even if you don't order it? directv sent me a letter saying i was going to automatically get it unless i called them and told them i didn't want it. stupid.

[brinoch]

The blackout stuff is ridiculous in the modern "broadcasting" era. There are no longer home territories to protect from interloping signals, instead, teams should be trying to show as many games as they can to broaden their own, as well as baseball's, fan base. The more people watching games, buying merchandise and generally enjoying baseball, the better it is for MLB and for the individual teams.

 

I imagine Peter Angelos doesn't agree with you. I'm sure he'd rather defend what share he has of the DC area market than attempt to sell his team across the rest of the US... unless MLB lines his pockets enough to cover the difference.

 

That's great and all, but exactly how does blacking out games in the claimed markets help Angelos? It's not other games that are blacked out, it's his own Orioles and Nationals games that are blacked out. MASN shows 160+ Nationals and Orioles games (they have a MASN2 alternate channel). If some cable company in North Carolina or southern Virginia decides not to carry MASN, then a viewer in that area won't see Orioles or Nationals games. At all. How does this help Angelos? If a fan in Roanoke, VA wants to see an Orioles game and is paying for EI, why should Angelos care?

 

The amount of money he receives for the EI contract is the same either way, so why punish the viewer -- the fan?

[Ding Dong Johnson]

did you know that if you get EI once they give it to you the next season even if you don't order it? directv sent me a letter saying i was going to automatically get it unless i called them and told them i didn't want it. stupid.

they do the same with NFL sunday ticket

[Soul]

did you know that if you get EI once they give it to you the next season even if you don't order it? directv sent me a letter saying i was going to automatically get it unless i called them and told them i didn't want it. stupid.

they do the same with NFL sunday ticket

 

I'd rather have it automatically renew. Here's how hard it is to cancel: type http://www.directv.com into your browser and click a few times.

[Derwood]

did you know that if you get EI once they give it to you the next season even if you don't order it? directv sent me a letter saying i was going to automatically get it unless i called them and told them i didn't want it. stupid.

they do the same with NFL sunday ticket

 

and Girls Gone Wild videos

 

i've said too much

[jersey cubs fan]

did you know that if you get EI once they give it to you the next season even if you don't order it? directv sent me a letter saying i was going to automatically get it unless i called them and told them i didn't want it. stupid.

they do the same with NFL sunday ticket

 

I'd rather have it automatically renew. Here's how hard it is to cancel: type http://www.directv.com into your browser and click a few times.

 

It shows up on your bill before the season starts, so you can also cancel then.

 

I can see it being annoying, but I like the auto-renew. And it's not stupid, it's quite smart to charge people and then wait for them to cancel instead of not charging them and wait for them to renew.

[BigbadB]

did you know that if you get EI once they give it to you the next season even if you don't order it? directv sent me a letter saying i was going to automatically get it unless i called them and told them i didn't want it. stupid.

they do the same with NFL sunday ticket

 

I'd rather have it automatically renew. Here's how hard it is to cancel: type http://www.directv.com into your browser and click a few times.

 

It shows up on your bill before the season starts, so you can also cancel then.

 

I can see it being annoying, but I like the auto-renew. And it's not stupid, it's quite smart to charge people and then wait for them to cancel instead of not charging them and wait for them to renew.

 

Agreed. Cox stopped doing it this year because too many people complained about the auto-renewal. I liked it because you got an extra discount for being a return customer and you automatically got the early bird special.

[abuck1220]

did you know that if you get EI once they give it to you the next season even if you don't order it? directv sent me a letter saying i was going to automatically get it unless i called them and told them i didn't want it. stupid.

they do the same with NFL sunday ticket

 

I'd rather have it automatically renew. Here's how hard it is to cancel: type http://www.directv.com into your browser and click a few times.

 

you're hilarious.

 

you shouldn't have to tell someone you don't want to buy something. what if you're out of town when the letter comes or it gets lost in junk?

[jersey cubs fan]

did you know that if you get EI once they give it to you the next season even if you don't order it? directv sent me a letter saying i was going to automatically get it unless i called them and told them i didn't want it. stupid.

they do the same with NFL sunday ticket

 

I'd rather have it automatically renew. Here's how hard it is to cancel: type http://www.directv.com into your browser and click a few times.

 

you're hilarious.

 

you shouldn't have to tell someone you don't want to buy something. what if you're out of town when the letter comes or it gets lost in junk?

 

Check your account status online, it's easy. They give you more than enough time to cancel without charge, in my opinion.

 

MLB.com auto-renewed MLB audio, but the first you hear of it is when you get your credit card statement. Now that sucks.

[Derwood]

I'm in Ohio and the D-Backs/Dodgers game is blacked out. this is effing stupid

[hawkeyecub]

If the Brewers, Twins, White Sox, Cardinals, Royals or Cubs are on ESPN during the week, we don't get it. It's simply amazing that this hasn't been dealt with already.

[Derwood]

a few years old, but:

 

MLB BLACKOUT MAP

[crazycooter]

Wouldn't you be able to see them on the other teams broadcast on EI? In that case, would the EI games be blacked out in Pittsburgh even though it wasn't being broadcast locally?

No. That was the point of my post. If you live in a team's local market and their game is not shown on your local channel it is still blacked out on all alternative channels. You can't see the game on EI even by watching another team's broadcast because it will be blacked out.

[Soul]

did you know that if you get EI once they give it to you the next season even if you don't order it? directv sent me a letter saying i was going to automatically get it unless i called them and told them i didn't want it. stupid.

they do the same with NFL sunday ticket

 

I'd rather have it automatically renew. Here's how hard it is to cancel: type http://www.directv.com into your browser and click a few times.

 

you're hilarious.

 

you shouldn't have to tell someone you don't want to buy something. what if you're out of town when the letter comes or it gets lost in junk?

 

Come on abuck. Gets lost in the junk? Don't you read your mail? There are lots of important things that might get "lost in junk" if you don't sift through that stuff. What if the IRS audits you?

 

Besides, why don't you just cancel after the season if you know you won't want it the next year?

[Guest]

I like EI better this year because you get to choose between teams broadcasts. Plus, if a game is on a local, you don't have to go searching for it.

[Derwood]

so the Reds/Pirates game was on my EI last night. Maybe two blacked out teams negate each other into a non-blacked out game.

 

or, maybe MLB had monkeys throwing feces at a yes/no chart for day-to-day blackouts

[NCCubFan]

I like EI better this year because you get to choose between teams broadcasts.

I like that too. I've been able to watch a few HD telecasts with Len & Bob instead of the Pirates' or Phillies' broadcasters. Anymore I actually prefer games being on Comcast rather than WGN since DirecTV doesn't carry WGN-HD.

[chuckywang]

I'm in Ohio and the D-Backs/Dodgers game is blacked out. this is effing stupid

 

Can somebody explain this to me?

[mul21]

I'm in Ohio and the D-Backs/Dodgers game is blacked out. this is effing stupid

 

Can somebody explain this to me?

 

Nope, and that's why everybody hates the current system so much.

[erik316wttn]

The Cubs/Phils game was blacked out on TBS for me. I'm in SE wisconsin. It's not like I'm within driving range of Philly to go to the game.