http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AjOIkRuB7VXp5okOJU80YsURvLYF?slug=jp-blackouts040608&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

I hope they address the Saturday afternoon blackouts as well.

I believe the existing map was based off from radio coverage way back in the day. It's a horrible mess and needs to be cleaned up.

I would much rather see a radius of a certain number of miles, outside of that, you are in unclaimed territory. Much like NFL blackouts for not selling out a home game.

I believe the existing map was based off from radio coverage way back in the day. It's a horrible mess and needs to be cleaned up.

I would much rather see a radius of a certain number of miles, outside of that, you are in unclaimed territory. Much like NFL blackouts for not selling out a home game.

All they need to do is straighten out the 'claimed coverage' for each team...

If an area is claimed by a team - then all games that are televised MUST be made available on TV in that area (OTA/RSN)

If Las Vegas is going to be 'claimed' by 6 teams... then make sure that all of those RSNs are available there.

MLB needs to know what is being televised where... so that it can set up a much better 'blackout' system

All they need to do is straighten out the 'claimed coverage' for each team...

If an area is claimed by a team - then all games that are televised MUST be made available on TV in that area (OTA/RSN)

If Las Vegas is going to be 'claimed' by 6 teams... then make sure that all of those RSNs are available there.

MLB needs to know what is being televised where... so that it can set up a much better 'blackout' system

Living in Las Vegas, I completely agree with you 100%. I don't subscribe to EI simply because I can't see almost half the games on any given day. We don't even have a team within 280 miles of here.

Living in Las Vegas, I completely agree with you 100%. I don't subscribe to EI simply because I can't see almost half the games on any given day. We don't even have a team within 280 miles of here.

Distance from a stadium is not relevant....

They have no system in place to make sure a game is actually being televised in the market that a team claims... thats what needs to be fixed...

Las Vegas can still be 'claimed' by 6 teams... just make sure they get all 6 RSNs, (or whatever how many there are) - along with the OTA games

In DC, we are blessed with MASN, which will show 40 or so games this season (up from 0 last season). It would be nice as an EI subscriber to be able to see the other team's HD feed if MASN doesn't air an HD telecast. But, nooooo, the antiquated blackout rules apply. For $229 on D*, there should be no blackouts. Same deal for the O's on MASN.

They are only "listening" to fans now because they are trying to force the MLB Channel down everyone's throat. And even if any action is taken, all of the teams will fight it. And then once again, we will get the shaft!

They are only "listening" to fans now because they are trying to force the MLB Channel down everyone's throat. And even if any action is taken, all of the teams will fight it. And then once again, we will get the shaft!

And they are probably thinking about simulcasting games every night on the MLB Channel much like it is done on the NHL Network.

In DC, we are blessed with MASN, which will show 40 or so games this season (up from 0 last season). It would be nice as an EI subscriber to be able to see the other team's HD feed if MASN doesn't air an HD telecast. But, nooooo, the antiquated blackout rules apply. For $229 on D*, there should be no blackouts. Same deal for the O's on MASN.

Acutally... thats NOT the "antiquated" rules...

Home team broadcast gets priority (HD or no HD)- that will never change.

What they should do is force the RSNs to go HD for at least all home games by next season

Acutally... thats NOT the "antiquated" rules...

Home team broadcast gets priority (HD or no HD)- that will never change.

What they should do is force the RSNs to go HD for at least all home games by next season


D* is showing both home and away feeds SD and HD this year with ei

D* is showing both home and away feeds SD and HD this year with ei

yes....

but the home market should only be getting the home broadcast.

MLB has to protect them (yes... their advertisers....)

It's no different in any other sport.

That won't change - and that isn't the problem at hand right now.

yes....

but the home market should only be getting the home broadcast.

MLB has to protect them (yes... their advertisers....)

It's no different in any other sport.

That won't change - and that isn't the problem at hand right now.

And just like all the other sports. Everyone (teams, advertisers, players, etc.) will be protected except the ones who really need it the most... US, the fans!!

And just like all the other sports. Everyone (teams, advertisers, players, etc.) will be protected except the ones who really need it the most... US, the fans!!

If they fix the system so that if you can't get a game on a local channel you can get it through Extra Innings, what more could one really ask for.

What they should do is force the RSNs to go HD for at least all home games by next season
A lot of AVS-ers here in DC have pressured MASN for the last few years. Hopefully our actions helped in getting some games in HD.

A lot of AVS-ers here in DC have pressured MASN for the last few years. Hopefully our actions helped in getting some games in HD.

Well now MLB needs to find a way to put on the pressure (just like the NFL did on CBS and Fox... obviously not the same situations... but they can find a way)

Acutally... thats NOT the "antiquated" rules...

Home team broadcast gets priority (HD or no HD)- that will never change.

What they should do is force the RSNs to go HD for at least all home games by next season


I wish they had the ability to take an HD video feed from a game and broadcast it to whichever RSN's are broadcasting the game and then dub the audio from the Home RSN station. I'm in Houston and all the Astros home games are in HD this year since they got a new HD truck last fall dedicated for FSN Houston. Unfortunately every road game so far has been in SD only on the home broadcast and the "road" and "national" broadcasts have been blacked out.

If you buy MLB EI you shouldn't have to deal with blackouts period. A portion of the money should go to the RSN's. I should be able to watch say The Braves with their announcers even if they are playing the Dodgers. Why should I have to listen to a bunch of announcers that are rooting for the other team? I don't care who you are if you watch a team for an entire season your going to be rooting for them.

As for the blackout rules it should only be within driving distance to the stadium. I do live in Las Vegas and it is a joke that 6 teams claim the area, but D* doesn't give me all the RSN's in my standard package. If I wanted to watch all the Braves games on D* I would have to have the Total Choice, the sports pack, and MLB EI. On Cox (our local cable company) you can't even get that because they don't offer all the RSN's and they still black the games out on the EI channels.

I hope the I can watch all the MN twins games. A few weeks ago only FSNW and MLB had the game no local OTA feed or FSNN. So I couldn't watch the game despite it being on a cable channel. As it was blacked out. Theirs a few upcomming games that are only on MLB.tv as all cable channels will be blocked out but the W,E channel may have it but it will be blacked out.

ok please stop with "distance to stadiums"

That only exists in NFL blackouts... which exist to ensure sellouts....

that has NOTHING to to with MLB

Interesting points, I guess. But why should MLB give any of the money IT gets from RSNs back so you can watch whatever feed of a game you want?

Is there is something I am not understanding? If it allowed us to skip our local broadcasts it would hurt their value. And MLB would get less money.

I am sorry you live in the city which is the poster child for MLB blackout strangeness, but all of that could well change next year.


If you buy MLB EI you shouldn't have to deal with blackouts period. A portion of the money should go to the RSN's. I should be able to watch say The Braves with their announcers even if they are playing the Dodgers. Why should I have to listen to a bunch of announcers that are rooting for the other team? I don't care who you are if you watch a team for an entire season your going to be rooting for them.

As for the blackout rules it should only be within driving distance to the stadium. I do live in Las Vegas and it is a joke that 6 teams claim the area, but D* doesn't give me all the RSN's in my standard package. If I wanted to watch all the Braves games on D* I would have to have the Total Choice, the sports pack, and MLB EI. On Cox (our local cable company) you can't even get that because they don't offer all the RSN's and they still black the games out on the EI channels.

Sounds like lvthunder needs to move to the ATL. We get all the Braves games here (but not all in HD, alas).

;)

We have a strange situation here in South Florida - both the Marlins and the Rays are broadcast on FSN Florida. When they are both at home. the Rays game is given priority on FSN Florida and the Marlins game is bumped to an alternate channel, Sun Sports. However, if the Heat are playing that night and broadcast on Sun Sports, there is nowhere to put the Marlins so they are not locally broadcast. Alternatively, FSN simply chooses to not broadcast some games (e.g., April 22 at PIT - not broadcast locally). In these cases, EI won't allow me to watch the opponent's feed of the game. Who is THAT protecting? On yeah, MLBTV.COM.

ok please stop with "distance to stadiums"

That only exists in NFL blackouts... which exist to ensure sellouts....

that has NOTHING to to with MLB

But it would be a great way to fix the blackout issue for RSNs and MLB EI.

establish a 200 mile radius around the stadium and all those areas are "owned" by the team. if you are not in a radius, then you are not blacked out of any games

But it would be a great way to fix the blackout issue for RSNs and MLB EI.

establish a 200 mile radius around the stadium and all those areas are "owned" by the team. if you are not in a radius, then you are not blacked out of any games

That would only work if the games are distributed throughout that entire 200 mile zone, which is not the case with some teams right now.

All that needs to be done is look at RSN coverage areas, if you can get a team through your local RSN or over the air network then that game would be blacked out on EI, otherwise you would be free to view it on EI.

That would only work if the games are distributed throughout that entire 200 mile zone, which is not the case with some teams right now.

All that needs to be done is look at RSN coverage areas, if you can get a team through your local RSN or over the air network then that game would be blacked out on EI, otherwise you would be free to view it on EI.

Exactly.........

We have a strange situation here in South Florida - both the Marlins and the Rays are broadcast on FSN Florida. When they are both at home. the Rays game is given priority on FSN Florida and the Marlins game is bumped to an alternate channel, Sun Sports. However, if the Heat are playing that night and broadcast on Sun Sports, there is nowhere to put the Marlins so they are not locally broadcast. Alternatively, FSN simply chooses to not broadcast some games (e.g., April 22 at PIT - not broadcast locally). In these cases, EI won't allow me to watch the opponent's feed of the game. Who is THAT protecting? On yeah, MLBTV.COM.

It's not 'protecting' anyone - you've just explained one of the flaws in the system... (not one of the widespread flaws.... but another issue nonetheless)

MLB basically assumes all games are televised in each teams entire region on a local station (OTA or RSN) (for the purposes of Extra Innings and blackouts on weeknight ESPN games)

This is obviously not the case - and this is what needs to be fixed.

Because if it wasn't for the RSN's you wouldn't have the package. All these sports packages are is just a combination of everyones RSN's. I feel that if you pay for EI you shouldn't have to worry about blackouts at all.

As for the Braves I'm not that big of a fan. My dad is though. He got to liking the Braves because they were on TV all the time and he liked the announcers. Now that TBS has kicked them off he was thinking about getting EI.

Interesting points, I guess. But why should MLB give any of the money IT gets from RSNs back so you can watch whatever feed of a game you want?

Is there is something I am not understanding? If it allowed us to skip our local broadcasts it would hurt their value. And MLB would get less money.

I am sorry you live in the city which is the poster child for MLB blackout strangeness, but all of that could well change next year.

It's not 'protecting' anyone - you've just explained one of the flaws in the system... (not one of the widespread flaws.... but another issue nonetheless)

MLB basically assumes all games are televised in each teams entire region on a local station (OTA or RSN) (for the purposes of Extra Innings and blackouts on weeknight ESPN games)

This is obviously not the case - and this is what needs to be fixed.

The weeknight ESPN games are allowed to be broadcast in the home market if the local broadcaster is not showing the game.

This is in addition to the limited number of Monday/late season Firday games where they are allowed to co-exist with the local broadcasters.

Because if it wasn't for the RSN's you wouldn't have the package. All these sports packages are is just a combination of everyones RSN's. I feel that if you pay for EI you shouldn't have to worry about blackouts at all.

The RSNs and the league are not exactly the best of friends. What your suggesting would hurt the leagues revenue and undermine the market exclusivity of the RSNs. Neither group is going to agree to that.

The weeknight ESPN games are allowed to be broadcast in the home market if the local broadcaster is not showing the game.


O really? Didn't realize that... That's nice...
Although they still doesn't make sure that everyone in a team's " designated region" actually gets the local channel the game is on....


This is in addition to the limited number of Monday/late season Firday games where they are allowed to co-exist with the local broadcasters.

They are allowed up to 3 Monday/Friday nights to coexist per team (or is it 2.... I'm forgetting already...)

(Friday replaces Monday late in the season thanks to Monday Night football... for those wondering)

That would only work if the games are distributed throughout that entire 200 mile zone, which is not the case with some teams right now.

All that needs to be done is look at RSN coverage areas, if you can get a team through your local RSN or over the air network then that game would be blacked out on EI, otherwise you would be free to view it on EI.

Such as our situation when the Giants and/or A's televise their games OTA in the SF market but the game is not picked up by a Sacramento station. We are SOL, and it would be nice if the MLBEI blackout was lifted. We have RSN coverage, but not necessarily OTA coverage.

I don't think the RSN's need protecting. This exclusivity is BS in my opinion. All the RSN's need to do is be a better broadcaster then the RSN from the other team.

Such as our situation when the Giants and/or A's televise their games OTA in the SF market but the game is not picked up by a Sacramento station. We are SOL, and it would be nice if the MLBEI blackout was lifted. We have RSN coverage, but not necessarily OTA coverage.

Actually... you shouldn't even need EI for that.

If you are in a team's zone - MLB needs to make sure you get the games locally.

Period.

I don't think the RSN's need protecting. This exclusivity is BS in my opinion. All the RSN's need to do is be a better broadcaster then the RSN from the other team.
Ideas like this do not reflect the business model or economic realities of broadcasting, in particular sports broadcasting.

Ideas like this do not reflect the business model or economic realities of broadcasting, in particular sports broadcasting.

Well it sounds like they need to change the business model. With as many people that move from city to city these days there needs to be a way for them to see the games like they used to when they lived close enough to go to the games. In the office we have a guy that moved here from Detroit last year so he's a Tiger's fan. Why should he be forced to watch the announcers from California that might not even be able to pronounce the names of all the guys on the Tiger's.

Well it sounds like they need to change the business model. With as many people that move from city to city these days there needs to be a way for them to see the games like they used to when they lived close enough to go to the games. In the office we have a guy that moved here from Detroit last year so he's a Tiger's fan. Why should he be forced to watch the announcers from California that might not even be able to pronounce the names of all the guys on the Tiger's.

Agreed! I plan to eventually move to Chicago and I for sure know I'll still be a Dodgers fan. And what do Dodgers fans want to hear? Vin Scully calling the game! I have nothing against other broadcasters but why shouldn't I have this option?

Additionally I've always thought it'd be nice to have the teams announcers available to listen to on secondary audio channels during national broadcasts.

Well it sounds like they need to change the business model. With as many people that move from city to city these days there needs to be a way for them to see the games like they used to when they lived close enough to go to the games. In the office we have a guy that moved here from Detroit last year so he's a Tiger's fan. Why should he be forced to watch the announcers from California that might not even be able to pronounce the names of all the guys on the Tiger's.

The business model is just fine. A change as your suggesting would not be in the interests of the advertisers, RSNs, teams, or the league.

The market that is interested in be able to listen to a certain broadcast no matter where they are is quite small in the overall picture.

Fixing things like the Las Vegas situation is a benefit to the above mentioned parties and too the fans. The current set up in Las Vegas and other similar situations is not protecting anybody.

Additionally I've always thought it'd be nice to have the teams announcers available to listen to on secondary audio channels during national broadcasts.
Some local and national broadcasters already use secondary audio for things like Spanish language commentary or natural sounds only.

I know that, but I'm sure they could figure out a way to add additional channels. Audio generally doesn't take much bandwidth anyway.

I know that, but I'm sure they could figure out a way to add additional channels. Audio generally doesn't take much bandwidth anyway.

So you are saying you want ESPN to have 3 sets of audio broadcasts?

In theory.. great... but who's going to pay the other 2 sets of announcers? They aren't under contract with ESPN... and how do you deal with advertisement readings? Production control? TV announcers don't just call the game - there's a lot happening on and off screen... a lot of back and forth between the production truck looking for certain replays... things like that

Easy alternative would be to just feed the radio broadcasts as an alternate audio (since each team will always have radio)... but there's always a $$$ and rights problem...

We have a strange situation here in South Florida - both the Marlins and the Rays are broadcast on FSN Florida. When they are both at home. the Rays game is given priority on FSN Florida and the Marlins game is bumped to an alternate channel, Sun Sports. However, if the Heat are playing that night and broadcast on Sun Sports, there is nowhere to put the Marlins so they are not locally broadcast. Alternatively, FSN simply chooses to not broadcast some games (e.g., April 22 at PIT - not broadcast locally). In these cases, EI won't allow me to watch the opponent's feed of the game. Who is THAT protecting? On yeah, MLBTV.COM.

MLB.TV follows the exact same blackout rules.

I remember on several occasions in the last couple years having Tigers games on ESPN against I believe the Twins and White Sox blacked out here in Dayton, OH. I'm 200 miles from Detroit and even further from Chicago or Minneapolis. Why on earth were those weekday games being blacked out? I have no way of watching them (short of MLB.TV or EI, both of which would also have likely been blacked out). Was it MLB? Was it TimeWarner? I have no idea. But if this type of situation would be resolved I would be very grateful.

My parents live in Northwest Ohio. They had to deal with a completely different situation last year (and this year to some extent). Both E* and D* refused to carry FSN Detroit, despite the fact that the Toledo area is in Detroit's home market. In short, there was no way for them to watch Tigers games. FSND had the rights, and everything else would have been blacked out. D* ended up giving NW Ohio subs FSND along with STO and FSN Ohio. E* didn't follow suit. There were a lot of E* subs switching to D*.

Its completely obvious that the blackout rules are flawed. Lets hope they come to a much more modern solution, as opposed to slight modifications of the current rule.

I remember on several occasions in the last couple years having Tigers games on ESPN against I believe the Twins and White Sox blacked out here in Dayton, OH. I'm 200 miles from Detroit and even further from Chicago or Minneapolis. Why on earth were those weekday games being blacked out? I have no way of watching them (short of MLB.TV or EI, both of which would also have likely been blacked out). Was it MLB? Was it TimeWarner? I have no idea. But if this type of situation would be resolved I would be very grateful.

Sounds like a Time Warner issue, TV markets, team territories, and cable system boundaries don't alway lineup, so you get some that are incorrectly blackedout who live close to a team's territory but not in it.

I remember on several occasions in the last couple years having Tigers games on ESPN against I believe the Twins and White Sox blacked out here in Dayton, OH. I'm 200 miles from Detroit and even further from Chicago or Minneapolis. Why on earth were those weekday games being blacked out? I have no way of watching them (short of MLB.TV or EI, both of which would also have likely been blacked out). Was it MLB? Was it TimeWarner? I have no idea. But if this type of situation would be resolved I would be very grateful.

My parents live in Northwest Ohio. They had to deal with a completely different situation last year (and this year to some extent). Both E* and D* refused to carry FSN Detroit, despite the fact that the Toledo area is in Detroit's home market. In short, there was no way for them to watch Tigers games. FSND had the rights, and everything else would have been blacked out. D* ended up giving NW Ohio subs FSND along with STO and FSN Ohio. E* didn't follow suit. There were a lot of E* subs switching to D*.

Its completely obvious that the blackout rules are flawed. Lets hope they come to a much more modern solution, as opposed to slight modifications of the current rule.

With the ESPN blackout: sounds like someone screwed up - it can happen...
Dayton is "Reds territory" only....

(As for FSND: Networks and sat/cable have had carriage problems in the past.... E* STILL doesn't have the YES Network... never has....)

And... again... don't bring up distance... it's NOT relevant....


This is a map I've seen online in the last year or so...
You can see what the various areas of Ohio are 'supposed' to get....

http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/sp/tools/med/2006/06/ipt/1150742098.jpg

Such as our situation when the Giants and/or A's televise their games OTA in the SF market but the game is not picked up by a Sacramento station. We are SOL, and it would be nice if the MLBEI blackout was lifted. We have RSN coverage, but not necessarily OTA coverage.

The team has the right to lift the blackouts whenever it wants (though, it might have sold that right to the RSN). If you want blackouts lifted in Sacramento for days when the Giants games are not on the air in Sacramento, that might be something the Giants might actually agree to do.

Unless they think the blackout is going to convince an OTA station in Sacramento to pick up the OTA Giants package. If they don't see that as reasonably happening, they might be amenable to lifting the blackout, only when the game is OTA and only outside the coverage area of the OTA stations.

In DC the first year of the Nationals, the games were on MASN but Comcast refused to carry MASN because of litigation between the two. The Nationals decided to lift the Extra Innings/ESPN blackout, IIRC for the entire season.

I always got a kick out of that little area around Tonopah, NV - Pop.(who knows, too far away to send anyone to count them. :p ).

http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/sp/tools/med/2006/06/ipt/1150742098.jpg

What are the white areas?

What are the white areas?

Missing information from the zip codes. The white areas are part of the territory that surrounds them.

I'm in Charlotte, NC and I am blacked out from....the Braves, Nats and the Reds. I can see the Braves and Nats, but the Reds??????

I'm in Charlotte, NC and I am blacked out from....the Braves, Nats and the Reds. I can see the Braves and Nats, but the Reds??????

and the braves... :cool:


which means you are 'supposed' to be getting games from all 4 teams on you local tv (at least MLB thinks so...)


The Reds large region size probably goes back to the radios days way back when... when there was no NL team anywhere to the Southeast... so the Reds were able to 'gobble up' a large area.

(This is one of the problems we've been discussing that needs to be fixed)