You are correct, from CC' via twitter: Dynamo TV Summary: 40 games, 19 on national TV, 6 on KPRC, 15 on CSN. 8 of 15 CSN games are at home. Distribution will come.
Was this true with direct kick as well? I'm pretty sure I saw a lot of dynamo games on there but don't remember if it was two years ago or last year. I guess I better find out before I renew this year.
You know, I tend to agree that the situation isn't long term, but most didn't think they'd miss half of the Rockets season either. And the Astros are not going to provide much leverage IMO because they are going to suck. Some of the Astros TV ratings last year were abysmal and interest has dropped off in their product. I think it will get resolved eventually, with a lower price for the channel, but when you see the Dodgers TV deal this week and what that will cost, I could see some concern that the distributors are really going to either push back and draw lines in the sand on any more new RSNs. They put out a document on an INDemand website last year, I think I linked to it in some thread, that lists each teams' blackout range/locations for Direct Kick which should correlate to MLS Live, but they often change them in the weeks leading to the game (the website was tsq.com) and lift the blackouts. I can say with certaintly that in 2012 most Dynamo games were blacked out from Direct Kick and MLS Live in Houston. In prior years (the 11.2 era) that was not the case. The teams decide the blackouts in concert with their broadcasters. I always inferred that the teams that actually got rights fees usually blacked out the games to protect their broadcasters but that is not an absolute truth. go to this link: http://www.tsq.com/alerts/MLS DIRECT KICK blackouts 2012.pdf
I guess I should have been more specific. I was wondering why people were complaining about MLS Live in connection with CSN-H. People can complain about MLS Live but nothing about that changes because the Dynamo are changing local tv coverage.
The issue...only kprc is listed as local blackout. My experience last year is that was not the case. I only caught three games not blacked out.
I've got Direct Kick(DirecTV) and the only games I remember being blacked out were the ones shown on Galavision.
They sometimes lift the blackout. I can't recall on the KPRC games because I think most were at home and I was there. I know that for some games only on FSH Plus that they were blocked out on Comcast Direct Kick because I wanted an HD or widescreen feed and they were not on. Facebook comments on Dynamo page seem real positive on the move.
Hmmm. 40 games. So that's counting the CCL quarterfinals this spring and the CCL group games later this year. That makes our overall TV schedule look like this: CSN-H - 15 games (8 home) KPRC-2 - 6 games ( 2 home) FSC (or something)/UDN - 6 games (3 home) UniMas - 5 games (4 home) ESPN2 - 3 games (0 home) NBCSN - 3 games (2 home) ESPN - 1 game (1 home) NBC - 1 game (0 home) Which means that we have 7 out of 20 road games on CSN-Houston that would be affected if the carriage is not expanded. And some of those may still be on KTBU. We'll have to wait and see if that still happens.
7 road games? That's not too bad. I can find somewhere that has Comcast for 7 games. I'm not even gonna bitch about this one.
Oh, I don't think there will be a lot of pressure from Astros' fans although you will still hear plenty about it in the local media because baseball is still seen as a big deal. The pressure will come from Comcast and the Astro's sponsors to get a deal. Carriage fees are a big revenue source for these sports networks but there is also a lot of money in the ad sales. That is a bigger deal for the Astros since they have 1,000s of hours of television. Way more than the Rockets. In my opinion.
But not everyone goes to every home game. In theory, the could lift the blackout on MLS live for those games but that undercuts the rationale for going to iwantcsnhouston.com and complaining to your cable company. I guess some could be on whatever local Spanish channel they are using this year. Look, this is probably the right deal/direction for Dynamo TV coverage (and realistically, they probably had no other options that actually paid them a rights fee - they probably got a better deal BECAUSE the channel isn't on anywhere and CSN needs programming to sell now) but the Canetti video interview sounded like a CSN informercial. The thing that's frustrating for some (not me, but others at work complain about this) is that you can't just switch to another provider to get the channel - the only carriers are Comcast and smaller cable companies in podunk areas or certain subdivisions/areas and Phonoscope which I thought was mainly Downtown and in apartments. They can't play the "switch to DirecTV" or Uverse card. There's probably a point in time around April after the Astros start and if the Rockets are in the playoffs (are the games on TNT for the playoffs still blacked out if they involve the Rockets?) that could be a pressure point. But beyond that I think the Astros will be so bad and overmatched in the American League that no one will care until next Rockets season.
I also just realized that at least 12 games this year will be over-the-air because of the switch to Unimas instead of Galavision. Maybe more if the KTBU thing happens.
They don't? Yeah, I guess not. I think I've missed six. But then I wasn't in town to watch them on TV either.
I'm complaining because of the way blackouts happened last year. As troutseth mentioned most games were not available live. I don't see changing to CSN to cause that to be any different. If CSN does not become available to people without Comcast it will be a bunch of crap if they blackout any games that are on CSN when about 2/3's of Houston and the surrounding areas do not have access to that channel. I know i am kinda going Westside on this, sorry I am just ready for the season to start. This is the point where my brother would be doing his impression of me as an old man saying something like "get off my lawn" Oh, one more point, the Portland Trailblazers are in the middle of a 10 year contract with CSN Northwest and the games are still only available on Comcast, no other provider has picked up the channel. So there is some precedence with this.
Yeah lifting the blackout wasn't the issue. I expected to see the 12 games not on kprc and national TV via MLS live....got 4. To be clear...my issue is with MLS not having a stated policy before wasting 50 bucks...not with the local networks or the team.
I like the term "going Westside". Maybe "Westsiding", I'd like to be an active verb. The Astros/Rockets/Comcast have way too much invested into CSN Houston at this point to ever go back to Fox or even consider it. Not happening. Some RSNs have folded or never got off the ground or had issues like the Portland one but it almost always has been in smaller markets and with only one team. It's all about contract leverage and maxing out the dollars. I'm sure the teams have a date they are willing to hold out for $3.50 per subscriber, beyond that they may reduce their demands. I do agree with newtex about the Astros sponsors - at some point with only Comcast distribution and low ratings they probably have to rebate ad dollars or give make-good free ad time. But remember they are still getting fees from Comcast so its not like they are losing money even only on Comcast.
Yea but I was talking/worrying about me. Everyone else can figure out their own situation. Comcast will figure something out. When? I don't know. But now that I know it'll only affect me 7 times this year, I'm not gomna bitch or even really care that much. Had it been 10+ games I'd probably be really pissed.
Newtex is right. It is in everyone's best interest to expand coverage of these CSN games. There is a lot of value comparatively, and a deal just needs to be agreed upon.
Got beat up a bit yesterday on Twitter for supporting it, but I think it's a great thing. I don't get CSN Houston right now, but we all should expect the distribution issues to get resolved. So far (and I apologize if this was said already) of the 15 games broadcasted over CSN, 8 of them will be home games. That leaves 7 games with questionable coverage for those w/o Comcast as their cable provider. Long term - big picture, this deal will be a win/win for all. My thoughts on the deal over at Dynamo Theory: http://www.dynamotheory.com/2013/1/...amo-comcast-sportsnet-houston-reach-agreement
I only know one bar with CSN right now and last time i went there for a dynamo game, it was the wild card playoff game and they cut the sound off for country music 30 minutes in... hopefully i can convert those fools if i have to watch another dynamo game there
Rockets fans also believed that distribution deals would be worked out before their season started, that hasn't turned out very well for them. If the report that the Astros blocked a potential deal is true then the start of baseball season may help the situation, but the Astros may still want to hold out for more money. And I don't understand the argument that only road games matter. Some people are able to make it out to all of the home games but not everybody's life/schedule/finances allow them to. The fact is until everybody can get CSN this deal limits the potential viewership for a lot of games.
^^^ yup! why rock-bottom your price if you hold the negotiating power? not saying it won't eventually happen just saying it may take longer than March 2nd. wouldn't trust Astros and their management.