Aren't the Earthquakes part of the Fox Sports Net Bay Area lineup?

i'm up south of san francisco. i have comcast and i haven't seen a quakes game on fox sports bay area since around the end of august.

 

I guess they only look toward San Jose when they are pissing north.

 

Those four teams are the teams FSN pays to show, the Quakes are a time buy.

The playoff game in KC was on FSN+


Tony

 

Absolutely. I emailed them about that during pre-season and got a quick reply that politely said there was no way that the Quakes would be broadcast in HD in 2005. Let's let them know that there's a market for HD soccer and maybe they'll give it more consideration for 2006.

(If only there were some persistent-to-the-point-of-being-obsessive Quake fans out there somewhere who had both internet access and typing skills they could use FSN's feedback form...)

 

One route to better, i.e., more comprehensive, Quakes TV coverage (including HD) sooner rather than later would be for Comcast Sportsnet West to get involved in the picture. Even though it is technically Sacramento based, CSN West could easily compete for broadcasts of some or all of the Earthquakes' games in 2006. At a minimum, HD versions of road games could originate from Chicago (where CSN Midwest is based) and DC (where CSN Mid-Atlantic is based).

Since CSN West is the young, upstart network, it needs to get its foot in the door. With the Giants, A's, Warriors and Sharks under contract locally (and the Niners and Raiders controlled by the NFL's masterplan), the Quakes would be a great place to start. Right now, with the Kings' games blacked out in the Bay Area, it is essentially limited here to lesser college football and basketball games (you can call them the "leftovers" that ESPN, Fox Sports and the major networks don't want) as well as other, non-"major" college sports.

We should almost certainly see ESPN2HD on Comcast before the 2006 World Cup, but how much before is anyone's guess. One thing is for sure, if Comcast doesn't figure out that it needs to have ESPN2HD in its lineup in time for the 2006 World Cup, I along with millions of others will be watching the HD telecasts on ESPN2HD via DirecTV.

 

It sure could include both networks, unless one or the other were to pay money to the Quakes (or give free air time) for exclusivity. Which isn't going to happen because, as mentioned above, Quakes games on FSN Bay Area are likely some kind of a time buy or other exchange wherein FSN Bay Area does not pay MLS and/or AEG for the broadcast rights.

Also, I do not think the Quakes would sell exclusivity if the broadcaster in question were to not agree to telecast all, or just about all, available road games (that aren't nationally televised). The extra publicity that comes from a complete broadcast of all road games is too valuable for some minimal amount of cash or other consideration.

So if FSN Bay Area passes on broadcasting various road games, the Quakes should be free to reach an agreement with any other broadcaster regarding any or all of the games that FSN Bay Area does not agree to broadcast (and that aren't broadcast nationally on the ABC/ESPN family of networks-- Direct Kick doesn't count).

 

Nope, that's been moved back to the end of 2008, I think. And it's not that all channels have to be broadcast in HD; it's that all OTA channels (off-the-air, as opposed to cable-only) have to be broadcast digitally. Digital broadcasting uses much less bandwidth than analog, the current standard; the FCC is mandating the move to digital in an effort to reclaim large amounts of bandwidth.

Currently, all OTA channels, and we're talking locals like KTVU, KRON, etc., broadcast an analog signal from tower locations like Mt Sutro.
Many of these local stations are currently simulcasting digital broadcasts at the same time as their analog broadcasts. And some of these digital broadcasts are HDTV versions of the same programming seen on the analog channel. However, HDTV shows are expensive to produce, so right now the only ones you tend to see are network shows and some sports

The analog-to-digital transition is being fought by the TV stations, because they would need to invest large sums of $$$ in new equipment that could broadcast digitally. (Although many already have begun the switch, especially here in the Bay Area.) Also, once analog ceases broadcasting, all those millions of TVs that have only analog tuners--think rabbit-ears antennae--would become instantly obsolete without a digital OTA tuner, so currently all TVs over a certain size have to include a digital tuner, and eventually the mandate will extend to TVs of every size.



Whew, that's a lot of exposition . . . sorry, I feel like the boring party guest everyone avoids. I work in the industry, so if anyone has any HDTV/DTV/home theater questions, feel free to PM me.

 

Oh, and with regard to Comcast Sports Net West and Fox Sports Net Bay Area: what's interesting is that the Giants and A's high-definition broadcasts on FSNBA are sponsored by Comcast. This tells me that the high-def broadcasts are expensive enough to require a corporate sponsor, even with the higher ratings that baseball brings (vs. soccer).

So what that really means is that you needn't hold your breath for the Quakes in HD in 2006, or for a while, until the TV ratings pick up enough so that the team doesn't have to buy airtime. Maybe when the new stadium opens . . . ?

 

The fortunate thing is that some road games are already produced in HD. Namely, I am thinking of DC United home games, some of which have been produced in HD by Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic (not by HDNet, which has its owns separate, national HD broadcasts).

So all Comcast Sportsnet West would have to do is get ahold of the CSN Mid-Atlantic HD feed and find some bandwidth to stick it in, such as Comcast's "HD Special Events" channel (since there is no special CSN West HD channel at this point).

I am hoping the same will be true next season for the Fire games in Chicago (CSN Midwest), where the Cubs and White Sox (and soon the Blackhawks) are all available in HD. But I haven't heard anything about the Fire in HD and I don't know who does the local broadcasts in Chicago (FSN or Comcast or ???).

 

Now that's what I'm talkin' about.