FSW no more in Bay Area starting Jan 1?

hmm... have not heard of this yet...

are you talking about cable (Comcast) or satelite (Directv)??

 

I'm in Pleasanton and they already did this a few months ago. To keep FSW I had to upgrade to a new status that gave me no more channels but cost $4.95, like Goodsport said.

 

That's peanuts, considering the volume of soccer content FSW has. I'd pay it.

 

For those wondering about DirecTV vs. Comcast, I have FSW as part of DirecTV's Sports Pack. For an additional $10/month, I receive all of the various sports channels from across the country (all Fox outlets, as well as MSG in NY and NESN in New England, etc.) This is wonderful not only because FSW is part of it but the EPL games are shown at different times and on different days around the country. So, if I miss one on Sunday...no problem. I'll have about 20 more chances to see it throughout the week. I also have found that various sports channels carry various EPL matches. Whereas I only used to get one EPL match on FSBA (on Tuesdays,) now I can see one match on FSBA and a completely different match on one of the Eastern or Midwestern channels. It's pretty nice. I average 3 different EPL matches a week.

 

Comcast is really screwed up. First they said I owed them $68.00 dollars for a check I wrote them that they credited to the wrong account. I called them and after some debate they agreed to zero out my balance. Well, one month later I get a check for 90.00 bucks from these idiots. I'm going to cash it today and use it to help buy my Quakes tickets Thank God I've got the dish network now!

 

Comcast / AT & T did the same to me a few years ago. I had the digital box and ordered a bunch of games when Euro 2000 was going on. Upon returning the digital box I was billed around 300 bucks for matches I supposedly didn't pay for. It took about 2 months to get sorted plus they sent me a collections bill. Cable totally sucks -

 

Comcast is the devil.. in addition to charging my $5 for an HDTV reciever every month, they punk me once more for $6.95 for 'the extra reciever'... I hate those bastards!!!

I am not a Comcast customer by choice, I used to have Directv, but my new place (condo) does not have the wiring infrastructure to support my satelite/tivo needs.

I would definitely recommend Directv for anyone.

 

Sometime early in November a guy from Comcast came around with a stack of digital cable boxes on a dolly and was trying to get people like me to re-up with them. I had to tell him that satellite is a hell of a lot better and the only reason I was keeping basic cable was to get my two favorite FM stations out of Sacto. All around, DishTV or DirecTV has to be better.
Sorry, dynamite, to hear that your housing situation prevents you from the blessings of satellite.

 

Which leads to the question of the day: Which of these is better, Dish or Directv? I am ready to switch over and the sole reason is that I want FSW to pick up the EPL and Bundesliga games. I am leaning toward Dish (with the digital video recorder) since my brother seems pretty happy with his, but I don't know all that much about Directv. To really make this work I need to convince my wife that we can get as much or more programming for about the same $54.00 we are currently handing over to Comcast each month. Any comments or suggestions?

 

I am a DirecTV customer so my info might be biased in their direction.

Either DirecTV or Dish is much much better than cable. The differences between DirecTV and Dish are pretty minimal.

My understanding is that Dish has a better selection of international channels, so if you really need to see soccer from a specific country which is not covered by Fox Sports World (e.g. Greece) you are more likely to find it on Dish than on DirecTV.

Pretty much the only thing DirecTV has over Dish is the NFL Sunday Ticket package, but if you're not into pointyball, then it doesn't make much difference.

I have the DirecTV with Tivo receiver, which I believe is better than the Dish DVR, if only for the user interface, but I haven't used the Dish DVR so I can't say that for sure.

With DirecTV, I pay $57/month and I get the "total choice plus local channels" and the "sports pack" which includes Fox Sports World. I have a second receiver for my second TV which is an extra $5/month -- one drawback of satellite over basic cable is that you need a receiver for each TV (at extra cost), but as soon as you go to digital cable, you need a receiver for each TV (at extra cost), so satellite is the same as digital cable in that respect. So you can get FSW and local channels on DirecTV for $52/month if you only have one TV.

Go with either one and you will be much happier than with cable.

 

Dish does the same thing. It's extra for HDTV. It's extra for extra receivers. And the only way to get Fox Sports World is to have the top package.

 

I would basically say the same thing about DishTV that Bill said about DirecTV, because I haven't had any experience with DirecTV. One of the reasons that I got Dish in 2002 was the rumor that the two were going to merge, so I didn't see what the difference would be if they were going to eventually be the same systems. That hasn't happened, as you know, and I'm starting to wonder if it will.
I want to second what everyone else said, take either one over cable and you won't be disappointed. Just compare the two and see what you want.
I also have to say that being over here in Japan with a maximum of about ten channels and no digital recording capability as you have with the PVR and Tivo, I've been watching TV live and reached for the remote to rewind so I can watch something I missed a minute ago. Doesn't work. Being able to see something you just missed or to stop-action a live program is a terrific feature of the satellite recording systems.

 

At the risk of stating the bleeding obvious, I'd even pay it if they could find a way to get the same programming over here.

I mean, if Canada has its own FSW, why can't Australia? As something separate apart from Fox Sports 1 & 2 here.

 

Talk about the most fishin' ridiculous thing I have ever heard!!!! I can't stand DISH network. I'm considering dumping them in favor of DirecTV. But I haven't decided yet.

Anyway, this all goes back to the first day I had the system installed. And the idiots drilled holes in my wall that they didn't need to drill. Actually, they drilled a hole in the ceiling and dropped the cable through the attic into the den. It was literally just hanging out of the ceiling. And there was already a cord in the wall that they could have used. The guy insisted he couldn't do it. And when I got home and say the mess he'd left I was livid! And I do mean livid! So what do they do, they come out and take the cord out of the ceiling, patch up the whole, and then USE THE ONE IN THE WALL LIKE I TOLD THE GUY TO DO THE FIRST TIME!!!!

Then the recorder was to fishin' loud. Those things make noise people! ALL the time. Unless they're unplugged! So I sent it back cuz I couldn't sleep with the constant noise. And it took them 6 months to give me my $100 back for the reciever I returned! WTF?!

So after that was all worked out, I just stuck it out with them cuz I didn't want the pleasure of having to deal with some other company and get things set up all over again. So things haven't been so bad. If you get the system set up and don't have to make changes everything is great. But what a pain in the ass if you ever have to make changes on anything! FISH!

I called up today cuz I was paying $5.99 a month for all those extra FSnet channels from all over the country in addition to MSG and whatever else. This was mentioned by someone else in this thread. Well, let me tell you what a joke that is! It's not worth it in my opinion. Cuz the MLS games get blacked-out anyway. And the other stuff just isn't worth my time and money. By the end of the year it's more than the shootout package and I don't watch all those channels anyway. So, I called to cancel. THEY WANTED TO CHARGE ME $5 TO MAKE A CHANGE TO MY ACCOUNT! WTF?!! WTfishinF?! I was so shocked I said to her, "You have to be bloody kidding me! That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" So she waived the fee for me today, but she told it cost $5 for every change made to an account. I can not freakin' believe. As if it's so much frickin' money every month to begin with!


Anyway, to make this long rant short. DISH network ain't bad if you get it set up and never need to make changes. But if you need to make changes or talk to them about anything, heaven help you!!

 

So.....here we sit, January first. Everyone still got FSW?

 

HAHA! After what I found out today I almost didn't! I almost cancelled my dish altogether. How funny!

 

yeah, well just because misery loves company doesn't mean it fixes the problem. The real issue is that Comcast supposedly "grandfathered" our account into their "equivalent" Bronze package. Well, how the heck is it a grandfather clause when you suddenly have to pay extra for the package that you supposedly just grandfathered?

It's not right, i tell you! It would almost be tolerable if the service justified the cost, but the reality is that about once every couple weeks we have ZERO reception for several hours while Comcast continues to "upgrade" the cable/digital lines in the area.

Basically, what they're doing is subsidizing their cheap internet service (where there is a competitive market) by gouging the existing cable customers (where they have a captive audience in a monopoly non-market). Switching to their internet service would be tempting for the price, but that would only act to feed the greedy monster.

 

p.s. - and to add insult to injury, half of the channels that are still included in our package don't work if you don't have a HDTV or Wide-Screen. Also, it used to be (w/ AT&T) that you could select and pay for individual premium stations; no longer have that choice, you have to pay for the entire shooting match if you want any premium channels.

 

I say it again: I love the Dish Network! Not only do I get FSW I get this funky, all soccer 24/7 channel called Gol TV! Almost all the south american leagues plus the Italian, Spanish, German and Portugese leagues as well. All included in the package, no extra cost.

 

Gotta love the weird voices of the announcers on Gol TV, dont ya?