Brewers on DISH, DirecTV, Cable, Extra Innings, MLB.TV, etc.

[dayzedcrewfan]

Thats the thing about Superfan this year. While I enjoyed it last year, without the audio problems you had, this year they do have a channel that will be like NFL red zone. Heres the exact fact sheet for this year:

 

SuperFan is an add-on package available only to MLB EXTRA INNING® subscribers. SuperFan cannot be purchased separately as a standalone baseball subscription package. SuperFan includes:

• HD games (ch. 722-737): Watch up to 40 games per week in brilliant HD! To access DIRECTV® HD programming, a Five-LNB Dish, a DIRECT HD Receiver, HD television equipment and HD Access($9.99/mo.) fee are required.
• Game Mix Channel (ch. 720): See up to 8 live games on one screen simultaneously. (requires interactive receiver for full functionality)
• Strike Zone Channel™ (ch. 721): DIRECTV takes you from game to game to see scoring rallies, critical at bats and other impact moments as they happen.

So there ya go. I never had the audio problems though. Weird.

[pitchleague]

thanks. I know my latest bill had my first auto renew payment for the Extra Innings package but I haven't bothered with superfan before. How much more money are we talking?

[1992casey]

I just noticed, do you actually have to PAY to listen to spring training games this year?

See this thread: Listening to Spring Training Games

[Leinie Lodge]

MLB Extra Innings promises piles of games in HD this year with SuperFan.

The regular season should be amazing, but Spring Training coverage still hit-n-miss.

 

Channel 721 SWEET if it's anything close to NFL Red Zone Channel http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

 

[dvoiss]

i believe DTV on 642 does show the pre and post games.

BUT DTV does not have Fox sports wisc included in their Fos Sports package which i still can"t understand.

Yeah it doesn't make sense to me either. If they carry Brewer and Buck games why not just pick up the channel on a full time basis. But it's still better than Charter who will never go HD on FSN-WI.

[dayzedcrewfan]

Superfan is $50 more for the year, so 4 payments of $12.50 on top of the extra innings cost. So in the long run if you got the package, and since they are making it better this year with ch721 and the load of HD games, superfan is worth it IMO. And I don't understand why 642 isn't a full time channel either, but at least DTV customers get pre and post game.

[Electric Elf]

Does anyone know if the eastern part of the St. Paul metro area (but still on the Minnesota side) is blacked out for Brewers games for either Extra Innings or mlb.tv? The map I found is rather fuzzy on that. I can get Brewers games over the radio here if I try really hard (and if the station feels like airing them, which isn't the case with the spring training games.)

[1992casey]

Look at this MLB.TV page on Brewers.com.

 

In the left hand column, there's a tiny little field to insert a zip code to see which teams are blacked out in your area.

 

Blackouts should be the same for MLB.TV and Extra Innings.

[dadofandrew]

The Brewers are not blacked out anywhere near the Twin Cities.

[bullox]

U.S. postal code "89120" is subject to blackout for the following MLB teams:

 

* San Diego Padres

* Oakland Athletics

* Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim)

* Arizona Diamondbacks

* Los Angeles Dodgers

* San Francisco Giants

 

ugh.

[1992casey]

bullox, you're in that dreaded state of Nevada. Hopefully, your provider sees fit to give you at least a couple of those teams. If you want to see all six of them, you'll likely need to subscribe to a sports package. Unfortunately, Extra Innings costs the same whether you have six teams blacked out or one team blacked out.

 

Al, it depends on whether you're talking about in-market or out of market scenarios. There should be no problem getting the Brewers via Extra Innings or MLB.TV in Electric Elf's area near St. Paul, but still in Minnesota. On the Minnesota side of the state line, Stillwater, Afton, and Hastings are home to the Twins only.

 

Where it gets hairy is on the Wisconsin side of the St. Croix. Houlton, Hudson, and Prescott are home to both the Brewers and Twins, and actually this shared area extends at least as far east as Menomonie. Customers would be at the mercy of their provider to hopefully offer both teams' broadcasts with an extended basic package. My gut says people in these areas will probably be fine with DirecTV, but message board posts I've read in the past say cable is a real crap-shoot.

 

If you're on the Wisconsin side of the St. Croix, Extra Innings and MLB.TV are not solutions if your provider doesn't give you the Brewers or Twins as part of the extended basic tier. You'll need a sports package.

 

Hopefully this issue is fixed in the future. The Brewers are the only home team where I live, so extended basic plus Extra Innings or MLB.TV covers everything. The inequity occurs for people in bullox's situation who are forced to buy a third package to see the games many of us get with only two.

[And That]

Does anyone know if the eastern part of the St. Paul metro area (but still on the Minnesota side) is blacked out for Brewers games for either Extra Innings or mlb.tv? The map I found is rather fuzzy on that. I can get Brewers games over the radio here if I try really hard (and if the station feels like airing them, which isn't the case with the spring training games.)

I live in the eastern part of the St. Paul metro on the Minnesota side, and I got all the broadcasted Brewers games last year on Extra Innings. I know that isn't a 100% answer for you, but between my first-hand knowledge and Casey's research I imagine you'll be safe.

 

[dadofandrew]

Casey may well be correct about the WI side, I have only MN side reference...but of course, the question was about the Cities.http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Electric Elf]

Thanks, everybody. I'll have to get some sort of answer about cable coverage of Brewers games for Hudson, River Falls, and Prescott for everyone here. From what I can tell, the FSN feed is "non-metro" which I assume does mean the Wisconsin feed, but the HD FSN is the Minnesota feed (at least for Prescott.)

 

People at Comcast were a bit clueless about the Extra Innings blackouts, so I couldn't really get an answer right off. I have my connections, though, and I'll try to get some good data for everyone.

[SteveAA]

Casey mlb should hire you as their media ambassador to the fans!!! Is that national map of all the team home market areas still online?

SteveA

[Biestie1]

I went through a little bit of heartache with DirecTV last year, and finally got the full scoop. Here's the deal:

 

There are 2 types of blackouts. Local blackouts, which are based on your zip code. If you're in a team's zip code, you are blacked out. Period. If you call directv, that's the only one they'll tell you about.

 

The other type of blackout, has to do with availability of programming in your area. Basically, if a game is available in your area, on any other channel, besides MLB Extra Innings, that'll be blacked out on extra innings. So if a game's on ESPN or Fox, it won't be available on extra innings. The issue I ran into was the fact that my regional FSN network is FSN North/FSN Wisconsin (with directv, if you get one you get the other). I signed up for extra innings thinking that's what I'd need to watch the Brewers, since I live in Iowa. But it turns out that in my area, the Crew is blacked out on Extra Innings, because I live in an FSN North Area.

 

To make a short story long. If you don't live in a Brewers zip code, and aren't in an area served by FSN North/Wisconsin, sign up for extra innings. If you do live in one of those areas, Extra Innings will do you no good (as I found out).

[1992casey]

Is that national map of all the team home market areas still online?

 

It's linked to in reply #8, but here it is again. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[pitchleague]

every time I see a new post in this thread, I keep hoping that somebody found a link from Directv that proclaims FSN-WI is now on the Directv lineup full-time for everyone (not just in-staters), with their own channel that shows all programming, even late night poker.

 

I can dream. it's only been over a year since the announcement of an FSN-WI different from FSN-North.

 

Heck, New York has like 4 or 5 channels on the sports pack.

[1992casey]

It's part time for in-state satellite customers, too, pitchleague.

[ballnglove]

MLB.tv actually doesn't use your zip code in determining if a game is blacked out or not. It uses your IP address. Which is why God made proxy servers.

[Biestie1]

There's not programming on FSN-WI all the time, where I live (Iowa), I think because it's really just a companion to FSN-North (I get both). It's only on when the Brewers, Bucks, sometimes Badger Hockey, etc. are on. FSN-North is on full time with all the other programming that FSN has.

[1992casey]

FSN-WI is part time on both satellite services no matter you live. And unfortunately, FSN-North doesn't fill in with the WI-related programming that's missing. As Biestie1 says, all you get is games unless something unexpected happens.

[MJLiverock]

I just make sure to send the occasional email to DirecTV asking for FSN WI full time and reminding them that cable has it full time. (not that I would ever go back to Charter, but I won't tell them that.) I know DirecTV has another satellite going up this spring so there should be plenty of capacity. I am psyched about at least being able to get all the games in HD this year. I guess all I really miss is the shows like Brewers Str8ght Up and some of the classic games so it is not entirely bad getting the channel part time. I gladly sacrifice those shows for the HD games.

[joepepsi]

I'd like to see DirecTV stop cramming so many channels down the line. Their compression has deteriorated so much every channel looks like crap. When I first signed on 5 years ago the picture quality really was much better than cable. That's not true anymore.

 

I know we are all just supposed to switch to HD like a lemming to the cliff, but to do that, I'll have to pony up $200+ for a DirecTV HD reciever for each room, plus my monthly charges jump to about 100 bucks, not counting the stiff payment for ExtraInnings. As great as High Def is, I can't justify the cost just to see Mythbusters, stupid reality TV like Project Runway or Plastic Surgery Before and After, and nightly showings of the Star Wars saga on HBO in HD.

 

Maybe the writers' strike exacerbated the problem, but I can't remember a time when TV has been so expensive and yet, so horrible. Honestly, if it weren't for baseball, I'd chuck the whole technology to the garbage.

[brewmann04]

mjliverock

 

I totally got the same answer that they expected the new satellite was going up and they might be able to carry that full time,but don"t believe we should hold our breath.

I just hope our Owener when he gets a new Tv he find a satation that would have full time Brewers baseball as well as programming.