Directv Screwed me (General Blackout Issues)

[1992casey]

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I'm doubting they showed the Dodger feed, since the Brewers were the home team.

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I've had DirecTV for a lot of years and haven't noticed a preference for the home feed by Extra Innings. What I've noticed is that when the Brewers are playing, they seem to use the Milwaukee feed more often than not.

 

I'd guess that's because every Brewer game is available to the satellite while some teams have local television that might not be. We should really keep stats on this. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

With the Bucks game conflict, it's going to be interesting to see who gets the game tonight. I'm betting the cable customers who saw the T'wolves last night will get the Brewer game tonight. The rest of us may be out of luck?unless Extra Innings uses the Brewer feed and turns it on for us 'locals'.

[bacon06]

So the game tonight is on WLMW, but what about those that don't live in the Milwaukee area? I thought that FSN was supposed to carry those games that were on WLMW but I look at the DirecTv listings on the web site and it has the Bucks game on. What's the deal?

[brettac1]

Turn on the Extra Innings channel that has the game listed. You should be able to get it there, I believe it is 742. Extra Innings has carried the Brewers feed for the first two games, and I would expect them to tonight, as well.

 

EDIT: It's blacked out, but you can watch the Dodgers feed on 732 in a small box.

[pitchleague]

I'm getting the Dodger feed on 742. Of course, I live in AZ, so there you go.

 

We can close this thread, if you want, now that my problem seems to be resolved. Still ticked about Monday but not much else can be done.

[Bruce Ciskie]

Can someone explain to me why the Dodger feed is blacked out for me when there isn't another feed available for me to watch the game on?

 

This is stupid. The same thing happened last night when the Twins were on WFTC instead of FSN. Extra Innings took the Orioles feed and blacked me out.

 

Seriously, this isn't much of an advertisement for me to plunk down $160 for Extra Innings. What's the use when any Brewer or Twin games are going to be blacked out, even if they aren't on the local RSN? I mean, I would enjoy being able to watch any baseball game that's on, but it's not that valuable for me.

 

(This has to be either an MLB or DirecTV issue. It's not a problem with NHL Center Ice, which doesn't black out Wild games that I wouldn't otherwise get - like last night, when they fed me the Rogers SportsNet broadcast of the Edmonton-Minnesota game and FSN wasn't doing it.)

[dadofandrew]

You never get your home market games on EI, no exceptions. It's all done by zip code.

[Bruce Ciskie]

Then why did I have the Brewers and Twins on EI Monday, and the Brewers last night?

[dadofandrew]

Are you a MIN person? If you are, you should just be blacked out of the Twins.

[1992casey]

On Monday and Tuesday, EI was using the Brewer feed. Since you're entitled to that feed anyway, the channel wasn't turned off. Were you seeing Twins broadcasters on Monday? If so, the same thing would apply.

 

I agree with the sentiment, though. It'd be nice to be able to see the opponent feed on days where there is no home broadcast. Tonight's game falls into a gray area, though, because there actually is a home broadcast, even though a lot of us aren't seeing it.

[Bruce Ciskie]

To me, what this does is remove any tangible reason for me to pay $160 for the package. As much as I enjoy baseball, I get 140 or whatever Twins games on FSN North (641), and 120 or whatever Brewers games on FSN Wisconsin (642).

 

(I live in Minnesota, but I get both feeds. Why? I don't know. But I'm happy with that. If I were to order MLB.TV, I would be considered in the home market for both teams.)

 

If I could get the majority of the non-televised Twins/Brewers games through the EI package, I'd probably buy it. That, along with the ability to listen to Vin Scully calling a baseball game every once in a while, would make it worth my dollars.

 

But instead, they are apparently going to black out any Brewer or Twin game that isn't available to me from FSN North/FSN Wisconsin. Frankly, I don't like Vin Scully that much, so I won't be ordering.

 

Like I said last night, this isn't a problem in the NHL. The only time that the Center Ice feed of a Wild game is blacked out is if they are taking the opponents' RSN feed and the game is on FSN North. If it's on the over-the-air station that does Wild games, or it's not televised by a Wild outlet, I can get the other feed.

[1992casey]

It sounds like the NBA package is like the NHL's. My brother says he definitely gets more Bucks games with the package.

 

Baseball's blackout rules are an obsolete mess. Bud Selig has acknowledged this. But he also indicates that the right solutions aren't clear cut or easy to identify.

[1992casey]

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We can close this thread, if you want, now that my problem seems to be resolved.

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I think this thread can be useful for people with similar problems, so I've tacked '(General Blackout Issues)' onto its title.

[Bruce Ciskie]

Quote:

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It sounds like the NBA package is like the NHL's. My brother says he definitely gets more Bucks games with the package.

 

Baseball's blackout rules are an obsolete mess. Bud Selig has acknowledged this. But he also indicates that the right solutions aren't clear cut or easy to identify.

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I can't imagine ever even considering the NBA package, though I am planning on becoming a fan of whatever team trades for Kevin Garnett this summer. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

 

One solution for the baseball blackout mess is to relax the rules a tad. After a visit to the DirecTV tech help message board, it seems to me that a lot of fans are left throwing their hands in the air with confusion over this stuff, as they are being blacked out of their favorite teams' games over some rules that no one understands.

 

Just throw everything out the window and re-write the code so it's easier to understand and - GASP! - more fan-friendly.

[dadofandrew]

Bruce, unless you are in some strange land I am not aware of, you are not supposed to get the Brewers in MN. You might wish to not let anyone know about this, or someone will "fix" it.

[1992casey]

For now, just be thankful you're not in Iowa. Six teams claim the entire state as 'home'. Extra Innings is no bargain at all in that state.

 

While this doesn't affect me at all, the main thing I'd like to see is that nobody is forced to buy three packages.

 

I think this is likely a situation where the goals might be very easy to set. The difficulty will be protecting the interests of all the parties involved. There are a lot of them: the fans, the teams, the league, the RSNs, the cable and satellite companies, etc.

[Bruce Ciskie]

Quote:

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Bruce, unless you are in some strange land I am not aware of, you are not supposed to get the Brewers in MN. You might wish to not let anyone know about this, or someone will "fix" it.

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Actually, if you go to MLB.TV and punch in my zip code (I live in Proctor, MN, which is right outside of Duluth), you get this:

 

 U.S. postal code "55810" is subject to blackout for the following MLB teams: Minnesota Twins Milwaukee Brewers 

 

So, yeah, I am in some strange land. Apparently, Duluth's market is considered a home market for both the Twins and Brewers, even though people who live in MN don't get Brewer games unless they have a dish.

[dadofandrew]

Bruce, I did not know such a spot existed. I assumed Duluth was the Twins market, but i suppose Superior is a Brewers' one, so hence the overlap.

[Bruce Ciskie]

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There are a lot of them: the fans, the teams, the league, the RSNs, the cable and satellite companies, etc.

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Right, but in the end, everyone's interest should be "How can we best serve our customers?". And everyone involved has "baseball fans" as their "customers". Yeah, I don't want to be fed FSN Ohio when the Brewers are playing the Reds. I want FSN Wisconsin to feed me that game if they're doing it. But if FSN Wisconsin isn't broadcasting the game, what's the harm in giving me the FSN Ohio feed if I bought the MLB package?

 

(Since all of this is done by zip code, they could still black out the FSN Ohio feed in Milwaukee if WLUM is doing the game, while still allowing statewide viewers to get a different feed of a game that they otherwise wouldn't get to watch.)

 

It's not like FSN Wisconsin is losing me as a viewer. I can't pick up their feed of anything but Brewer games, anyway. The Brewers aren't losing my ticket revenue, because I live 400 miles away from Miller Park.

 

This is the part I don't understand. I'd call someone, but I don't know who to call, outside of Bud, and I'm guessing Bud won't want to talk to me. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Bruce Ciskie]

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Bruce, I did not know such a spot existed. I assumed Duluth was the Twins market, but i suppose Superior is a Brewers' one, so hence the overlap.

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I'm guessing this is the case, but I still fail to understand why it's the case. I'm not complaining, mind you, because the setup the way it is allows me to pull in all the FSN Wisconsin Brewer games on DirecTV without having to pay for the EI package.

 

But it's not like Duluth cable customers can watch the Brewers. They get the Twins on FSN, and there's no "alternate" channel or anything like that.

 

So maybe I shouldn't say anything. But it appears that MLB has it set up the way they want. Yay me. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/happy.gif

[dadofandrew]

So in parts of Iowa, do they get 6 teams on Direct with just the sports package (or basic)? That's a mini Extra Innings package in itself.

[1992casey]

There used to be some really great maps on the internet that made it really clear just how muddy this all is. In this case, if I remember correctly, Duluth and Superior would each be home markets for both teams.

 

It'd be nice if MLB.com would offer maps in addition to the zip code finder thingy. They give you the feel of the big picture. And they're a help if a zip code is missing from the database. I've seen that complaint before.

 

It's bizarre. Brewers home territory includes all of Wisconsin and Iowa along with parts of Minnesota, Michigan, and Illinois. There are places where the Brewers share home territory with one or more teams, including the Tigers, Twins, Cubs, White Sox, Cardinals, and Royals.

 

Most of Wisconsin can claim the Brewers as its only team. However, parts of the state are also home territory for the Twins or Cubs/White Sox.

 

All of Minnesota is Twins home territory. Parts of the state are also Brewers territory. Iowa's the most fun, with the Brewers, Twins, Cubs, Sox, Royals, and Cardinals claiming the entire state as home.

 

I'm glad Bud is aware of this. When I read about this a year ago, I got the distinct impression that he tried to watch Extra Innings, got shut out of something, and couldn't figure out why. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

I purposely listed the fans first on my list of interested parties. I think it's clear what the fans need. Distributing the funds collected by the other interested parties is going to be the trick.

 

I think a decent interim solution to the fan-friendliness issue would be to try to explain the existing system in a much more understandable way.

[1992casey]

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So in parts of Iowa, do they get 6 teams on Direct with just the sports package (or basic)? That's a mini Extra Innings package in itself.

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From reading various message boards, it appears that the issue in places like Iowa is that customers are very much at the mercy of their cable or satellite provider.

 

In Bruce's case, DirecTV is kind enough to offer two regional sports networks with his Total Choice package. Cable and satellite companies would be much less likely to offer four or five such channels on extended basic, though.

 

That forces people to buy a sports package to get the full complement of their home teams (or the single home team they'd rather see). If they want out of market games, they still pay the full price for a crippled Extra Innings package.

[1992casey]

Just curious. Is anyone blacked out from the WGN broadcast tonight?

[Bruce Ciskie]

Nope. I got both.

 

Glad to come home and see the boys down a half-dozen, too. Better than having seen this crap from the start. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/eyes.gif

[Bruce Ciskie]

Guess I'm going to get screwed by the NHL, too. Went to watch the Center Ice feed of the Wild game last night (a game that was not available to me on any other channel), and it said "Program not available in your area".

 

So, yeah. It's not really a DirecTV problem. These sports leagues are genuinely stupid.