The Crew Television Thread

Just one of the reasons they lead the nation in lowest customer satisfaction (neck and neck with Comcast).

 

1) So, the Barbasol guy doesn't get Crew games.
2) One of the main bars of Crew supporters has to resort to questionable (perhaps fully illegal methods) and they're within walking distance of the stadium.
3) A lot of Crew fans who pay out the nose for TV had to resort to illegal methods to watch their team tonight and will have to do so all season.
4) Other bars the CFO said would have the game most likely do not. (There may be a case or two of the person answering the phone not knowing what the bar had, for all I know.)
5) Over 300 people without Time Warner showed up to the stadium tonight to watch TV, breaking the fire law.
6) A lot of Time Warner in Columbus get the game in blurry "stretch-o-vision" (or letterbox?) SD, forcing them to watch SD for the first time in years, yet people in the same boat who live in Kentucky get the game in HD.
7) Three members of the OSU Athletic Band at tonight's hockey game were talking about the "Crew alienated" a lot of their fan base by this TV deal...this got me thinking that there's a lot of college students with WOW or other providers...they'll take the lowest-priced deal they can get and may not have time to go to a bar with studying and whatever else they're doing. I get the feeling a lot of students will either study with the TV on and look up at opportune times or get back to the books as soon as the game is over. In other words, in some cases, going to a bar might not be feasible.
8) Crew fans have thoroughly taken to Facebook about the situation. Even threads talking about things like the Papa John's promotion have people discussing the TV deal.

On the flip side of the coin, if you have TW...a three-hour broadcast is on the same channel every time. Maybe there's even a studio show or more repeats of games during the week.
With FS Ohio, sometimes there were alternate channels, delayed broadcasts, or possibly not seen at all.

It sounds like either way, the team was served a big pile of garbage with the possibilities. It sounds like the technically-savvy fans know how to work around the limitations. It isn't pretty that this is the situation necessitates, but we won't have an option for the next two years.

Let's see what happens, should Comcast and TWC merge. Maybe this channel is the future Comcast SportsNet Ohio (CSN *is* available on other providers, as we know.)

 

For those not in the blackout zone ... I tried the HDMI connection from my Alienware laptop to my 60" TV and the resolution was unsuccessful. Ended up watching on the 18 " screen and it was fine. Still feel horrible that I am in Dallas and can watch the games and you guys in Cbus can't.

 

Shouldn't be any reason your laptop won't output at a resolution your TV can display. If you can't figure it out pm me and I will explain how to fix it.

 

I didn't watch a single minute of the game. That is the underlying effect in this whole thing. I didn't wear a Crew shirt to work on Friday, or around town on match day. Out of sight, out of mind. And, not by choice, might I add. The season-freaking opener, and it was essentially an afterthought for me. Yes, I followed along on Twitter like Mike Malo told me to do, but it felt like I was trying to follow some obscure CONCACAF World Cup Qualifier between St. Lucia and Cuba.

I have no insight, no match report to give to my NON-Crew fan colleagues at work on Monday. So, their exposure to the team stays muted. These are the effects. Yeah, I'm bitter. Yeah, I could've done more if I really wanted to see the game live. No, I'm not going to rearrange my schedule just to do it (find a babysitter, pay for a babysitter, drive 20 minutes to the bar, pay a cancellation fee to switch my television provider)...and especially not EVERY darn week.

I love this league, and I'll continue to watch other teams through Direct Kick. But, I really resent The Crew right now, and it's going to be difficult to make me feel otherwise. Everything has been tainted.

 

Watched at BW3 Graceland. When we arrived, they were unsure whether they could show the game. I think the manager spent like a half an hour on the phone with various parties trying to get the OK or figure it out. Missed the first five minutes - but props to him for finally succeeding.

 

Which is odd as Barabsol is also the main sponsor of the TWC MAC stuff. Said so on the ads for upcoming MAC games.

 

I'll give it another try. Maybe I was just in a hurry and didn't set it up right.

 

Not exactly the chosen few. I won't re-hash the argument any can go read on the Crew Union FB page. But this was the result of Crew Union leadership going insane all day Friday and reaching out to everyone we could to make sure our members could watch the game at our home bar, especially at a time when many of our members needed an alternative means to watch the game more than ever. It was more like the angry few who went all super angry and took a lot of time out of their schedules and real jobs to ensure as many Crew fans as possible could get access to the game at the bar. Best we could do when we were given one business day notice.

Essentially, we got the Crew do lend us 4 apple tvs and we got the local TWC folks to provide some codes. We were only able to have it on 4 tvs (none of which were synced perfectly together) and could only play volume from one of the tvs (apple not hooked up to the house speakers with such short notice). It was frustrating and not an ideal situation, and it will not be the set-up going forward. But again, best we could do short notice.

Thanks to everyone that made it out to Fourth to watch with Crew Union. Everyone seemed really understanding of the situation, and we'll make sure we have a better set-up by the next away game.

 

So youre a Miami Heat fan then as well?

 

Good information. Transparency is always appreciated. Thanks for sharing what 4th St. obviously couldn't in just 140 characters on Twitter. I know of at least a few other people that saw that tweet and reacted negatively as well.

Just a bad situation all-around, but glad Crew Union has at least offered a viable option for members.

 

That post is coming from a guy who RAN the last days of V-Army/been a leader in supporters stuff for years.

And out resident badass mod who has been at this for so many years, fiddy, cannot watch the games.


I suppose we should go beyond this continual bitch fest. I have seen some protest suggestions, but not really sold on them. I really am at a loss as to how to best proceed. I wish these testimonial accounts would suffice.



Any more accounts from the CCS 'sorry we ********ed you over' shindig?

 

Questions for MLS Live subscribers, maybe specifically those who didn't mask their location: How soon after the game ended was it available for viewing? Was it pretty quick or did it take a couple to a few hours?

 

Yep, every commercial outlet in the Columbus area that purchased the MLS package are getting no return on investment. I went to Buffalo Wild Wings in R'burg. Their system indicated the game would be shown but when the channel was selected it said "TBA."

Seriously torqued!

So many individuals and businesses getting it in the arse from TWC and the FO.

 

Do Time Warner or the front office "even have the goddamn common courtesy to give [them] a reach around?"

 

About 45 minutes.

 

Thanks, little buttercup.

 

Yeah, I hope to hear some more answers on Tuesday at the supporters forum. Overall, if they want to tell me TWC was their best option. OK. Fine. I'll defer to their greater knowledge. BUT, its the blackout that's bugging me right now. At a minimum if someone supports this team a season ticket holder, they should not be subject to the blackout. Ideally, if someone supports this league by purchasing MLS Live/Direct Kick, they should not be subject to the blackout. I've heard that other teams that have struck deals with TWC have these exceptions to the blackout, but I have not been able to confirm that.

I want to know if those were available options, and if so, why did the Crew not negotiate those terms? Everything I have read out of the FO has indicated the two main factors for going with TWC were (1) sole focus and increased content (ok, I can get behind that), and (2) market penetration with a claim that 2 million new customers will now have access to Crew games and its important to bring in these potential fans.

As to point two, if you are going after new viewers with this deal, then why punish current viewers/fans? It would seem like lifting the blackout for STHers and/or MLS Live/DK subscribers would not undermine that business plan. It would give you the best of both worlds.

So, what I would like to know is are those viable options? And if so, why not do it? If we don't get some good answers to those questions, I know I'll be voting to use the full force and influence of Crew Union to try and push for changes. I don't have the general hate that a lot of people have towards TWC. I have also had TWC. Its on the expensive side, but I have no complaints about the service or company. In the long-run I really feel that the TWC deal could be a very good one. I'm looking forward to not being bumped, to increased production value, to additional content, etc... but the blackout situation needs some work.

 

You know you can always ask us anything, and we'll give any answers we may have.

I saw your FB posts about not being able to watch, not be able to talk about the game monday, etc... and it gave me a sad. A Saad sad

 

I don't even understand how they can claim this.

TWC has Fox Sports Ohio on every package, including the lowest tiers.

Under what circumstance would someone have access to TWCSC but not FSO?

 

You just earned -3.6 points on your STH score. Be warned: if you drop any more points you're risking the loss of your STH $5 concession stand voucher.

You just earned -1.2 points on your STH score. Be warned: if you drop any more points you're risking having your ticket holder community switched to one less applicable to your situation.

 

No clue. Do you have to pay for the sports package to get FSO? I know I have it, but I think I pay for the sports package (its been so many years since I signed up that I have no idea what I'm actually getting any more). I believe the TWCSC is supposed to come standard (or at least with the digital or whatever).

 

I don't think you do. FSO has been around for years, and it was always on the basic package when I was growing up and had Time Warner. My parents had TWC a couple of years ago and it was on it.

Right now it shows FSO as channel 44 on their Columbus lineup, that doesn't sound like a special upgraded package.