Hard to see this ending soon unless all parties get to the table. This channel may not survive. Depends on who gets the upper hand in the legal proceedings. http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastro...offers-didnt-make-any-sense/?cmpid=sportshcat
For all of those interested, go look at post #415 at 10:31 AM today for a good summary of the legal filing made by the Astros. Legal filings are always slanted toward the party making the filing, but some good seemingly factual background on the dispute and legal agreements. Sort of confirms that this whole proceeding is a Comcast power play. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=244517&page=21
If the Astros get the bankruptcy thrown out, Comcast says CSN will likely collapse. Interestingly, in the second article, it notes that for the last capital call, the Rockets declined the capital call to do an appraisal of the CSN asset. There also existed some provision that allowed the Astros and Rockets to force carriage agreements on Comcast starting October 1st, which likely triggered Comcast's power play. Reading between the lines - and recognizing that legal filings are one-sided and sometimes angry - it's clear that all three parties are not on the same page, with each one trying to figure out if a divorce or a forced marriage is better. http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastro...o-take-game-broadcasts-away-from-csn-houston/ http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastro...trying-to-cheat-team-out-of-share-of-network/
Well, that changes the landscape considerably. NBA nears deal to allow live local streaming leaguewide
Not really (I don't think). They are still talking about the games where Comcast and Fox have rights which would not be the same games as CSN.
You have to be a subscriber to the Comcast or Fox channel thru your provider to get access. So really this just allows Comcast subscribers to watch CSN games online. Not a game changer but that is sort of buried in the article
time to be completely honest, as much as it hurts to do so... the lack of dynamo on tv this year has led to me losing considerable interest in the team. in the past, i would watch every single game, even when i was out of town. i'd ignore twitter all day, and when i finished up work and the rest of my crew would go out for drinks, i'd go back to my hotel room, turn on my computer, and fire up the slingbox to watch the game. with that not being a possibility this year, as difficult as it is to say, i've shifted my focus other places and have no clue how the dynamo are doing this year. i've probably only watched 5 games all year, (early on when they were on national tv and channel 2) and for the first time in the team's history, i haven't been to a single game. before you criticize me for not being a true fan, consider this... because of my travel schedule, watching dynamo games on tv was a life line for me. it was how i stayed connected, and i did everything i could to watch the dynamo. the csnhouston deal COMPLETELY ruined my connection to the team, and my interest in the team has suffered tremendously as a result! i want them to do well, and if they're on TV i'll watch, but i feel so removed from the team that i feel weirdly numb about this year... if we miss out on the playoffs i can honestly say i'd shrug my shoulders, say "that sucks" and move on. how did it get to this point? i wonder how many more there are like me who are afraid to say something? i need my team back...
You were never a true fan! You're a horrible, lowlife, scum sucking band wagoner! Turn in all your orange clothing and we're sending Nigel to your house to publicly rip the stars off your Dynamo Jerseys!!! Seriously, I miss the games on TV also! I haven't seen quite a few of the road games, and I have always recorded the Home games and picked over the film afterwards. I haven't lost interest, but I am less connected than I have been in years past.
You know you could have watched every game on MLS Live . . even plugged your computer into the TV for big screen experience?
Internet enabled Flat Screen for me....got so tired of plugging in the laptop to the back of my TV It's pretty amazing how sharp the picture is.
i know that now, but when the season started, everyone was saying the games would be blacked out... by the time i found out, the season was 2/3 over. plus, i had problems in the past on MLS LIVE watching games that weren't LIVE, which is how i have to watch a majority of games. (ie, game's at 7:00, i can start watching at 10:00) the more i think about it, i think i've actually developed a sour taste in my mouth towards the dynamo because of their decision to jump on the csn houston bandwagon at the expense of fans like me without ever acknowledging they made a mistake or apologizing for the effects their decision has had on fans like me. i'm sure i'll get over it, but right now, i'm not just pissed i can't see the games on tv, i'm pissed at the dynamo too for putting me in this spot. blasphemy i know.
I hear you. I am not sure the Dynamo where faced with much of a decision to be honest. CSN was likely the only network willing to pay them for TV rights. That is actually a double whammy because in the past they not only received no money but also paid for their own production. I am not sure anyone could have really made a different choice. Also, I might point out, that the Dynamo and MLS are the ones that ignored the typical blackout rules and showed the games on MLS Live for the fans; so it is not like they just forgot us. They couldn't actually announce that else they risk CSN pressing the issue.
I love all the added media content CSN provides. Seb Salazar and G. Davis and E. Rob do a great job with all the pre game post game and extra programming
MLS Live is the greatest sports invention of recent. I wish that they had BPL Live. I'd pay big $$. I spend a lot of nights in hotels.
i just can't get behind the idea the the dynamo decision to go with csn was a no brainer. i'll admit that it would have been a difficult decision to choose spending money to produce your own broadcast over accepting money by csn houston, but it all comes down to one's idea of good business. for a team like the dynamo, their fan friendly nature is a HUGE asset in the houston sports landscape. in this situation, it's my opinion that they chose a paycheck over their fans. when they signed the csn houston deal, they knew there was a chance that a large percentage of houston wouldn't be able to see the games, and they decided to gamble and take the money anyway. i would have paid to produce the games for one more year and waited for the csn houston mess to get sorted out, then signed on with them if and when they got their act together. we wouldn't have made a lot of money this year that way, but it would have been good pr and shown the fans they were important while continuing to allow us to market the dynamo on the local level to a mass audience. (which would have been HUGE seeing as how a lot of houston sports fans wouldn't have had the rockets or astros games on tv competing with the dynamo) would it have been a shrewd business move to turn down the money, maybe... but i'd argue it could it have benefitted the dynamo more in the long run than the csn deal! (which may fall apart soon if the network crumbles, sending the dynamo back to square one anyway)
You make three assumption that I do not share: 1) They had other suitors to show all games on English language TV. I do not think that was the case. 2) They had any idea this mess would continue. The Dynamo are not owners and frankly are probably subject to the same BS lines from CSN on being close to a deal that everyone else is/was. Remember at the time this was not a long hold out. 3) Once they are back on TV (CSN or elsewhere) that many will remember or care.
1) we really don't know. it's all speculation. in the past, if we paid for it, we had outlets willing to let us show games. i'm not sure why you think that wouldn't still be the case. 2) if they didn't know, they should have. the writing was on the wall before they signed the deal that no end was in sight. if they listened to the company line that the problem would be fixed without any proof, that's on the dynamo for being gullible. if they did their homework, it was clear as day this was going to happen. cannetti kept saying it would be resolved by the season opener, and even when i heard those words, it sounded like a pipe dream. like i said, with all the uncertainty, they could have waited to move to csn houston until the "mess" was straightened out. 3) i care. maybe others won't, but i'll remember... plus, they will have missed out on an opportunity when the competition wasn't on tv to win over new fans. at the end of the day, maybe i hold the dynamo organization to a different standard than others... i understand i'm in the minority. but, it is what it is.
I think Canetti and the FO saw a chance to make a cash outflow (paying for production costs and TV time) a cash inflow (rights fees for the first time) and seized on it. I can't criticize him for that. MLS has been pushing getting local rights fees so I would believe there is some pressure to convert these time buys to rights fees payments whenever possible, regardless of the coverage, distribution, etc. And the team has lifted the blackout on MLS Live for most if not all games that they control the decision for. However, they should have seen the CSN stalemate with carriers coming. I'm sure they got BS from Comcast and the CSN folks but you could see this happening a mile away (I think I may have even predicted it). And while they keep talking about their "partner" in CSN, I'm sure CSN folks spent about 99% of their time and concern on getting carriage deals and about 1% on everything not dealing with the Astros and Rockets.
1) I am not sure where that other TV partner was going to come from. 2011 was the first time every game was on TV. The 2012 partner was no longer in existence. As much as I love my team, networks were not lining up to usurp programming for 15-20 dynamo games. 2) Not so sure the writing was on the wall at that point. The network launched in October and the Dynamo signed three months later (January 2013). The only public battle at that time was with DirecTv. Hey maybe they should have known, but I just don't see what options they had for English TV coverage. You may hold them to a different standard but it must be realistic.
I concede that maybe they should have known a stalemate was coming but I also don't see a whole lot of viable options in the Houston TV landscape for essentially 15-20 games.
I think on the STH call, Canetti said only one other channel expressed an interest in televising the games beyond CSN (someone besides KPRC as well). And that probably didn't involve a rights fee.
It is a very short list of even possible channels, which was my point. There are a lot of things I love about Houston, but our media is not one of them. Of the four major networks, none were going to usurp programming on the main channel for 15 games. Fox and ABC don't have local alternative streams (ABC has LiveWell channel). S0 you are left with 11.2 (which I doubt was going to be an option again) or NBC. NBC I am sure they talked to but likely could not convince them to tie up 21 (or so) games total. What does that leave you with? Channel 55 is no longer an English channel. Universal Sports was gone as an OTA (and national anyway). Fox Sports gone. The only local channel I can think of with a space for sports programming is 57.1 KUBE. So unless I am missing one: CSN KUBE CBS (not likely) NBC (very likely approached). ** Which brings up next year. As much as some have expressed being upset about the CSN deal - we could be in a situation with no local English coverage next year if CSN fails.
Rockets just filed a response today, mostly advocating a continuation of the forced marriage that CSN is now. KUBE or one of the .2 channels would be the only ones where they could find time to buy economically for game broadcasts. If CSN fails, I would expect FS Houston to be resurrected or at least a FSSW Houston feed and at a minimum the Dynamo could get time on that. I would also bet if CSN fails, Comcast would keep the studios and some equipment and maybe run a local part-time Houston channel or operation on the Comcast system. But alas, that won't be on Directv or other carriers.
And only two of ".2" channels do local: CBS and NBC. That is all I was trying to say to Dynamo fans upset. Take a step back and consider that it wasn't so much the team forgetting about the fans as the team having to choose between maybe only two options. Possible, but as of now does not exist and depending on the timing of a CSN collapse may not be work for next year. Of course, I don't think it fails; I think they either work out the power play or Comcast ends up with the network and the next lawsuit is over rights to the Astros and Rocket games. If it is OTA - I am good.