Blackouts lifted for Cards games, not on E*

[Satelliteracer]

As I mentioned the other day, comparing cable to E* to D* in each market is not appropriate, there are so many agreements and the rules are different from league to league, etc.

I know it "sounds easy", but it is incredibly complex because of all the various RSNs involved and various territories (which have sub territories).

At any rate, an interesting article today


http://www.sj-r.com/sections/sports/stories/112111.asp

[wmschultz]

I am so confused. I get FSN Midwest on channel 647 and have seen all of the games broadcast on there. So what does this mean?

[garn9173]

I am so confused. I get FSN Midwest on channel 647 and have seen all of the games broadcast on there. So what does this mean?

The blackout applied to states that surrounded Missouri. Where I live, I get FSN Midwest through the sports pack, FSN Midwest wanted their programming moved from the sports pack to the basic packages and until that happened, FSN Midwest requested that D* blackout the Cardnails games in my area.

[dishrich]

The blackout applied to states that surrounded Missouri. Where I live, I get FSN Midwest through the sports pack, FSN Midwest wanted their programming moved from the sports pack to the basic packages and until that happened, FSN Midwest requested that D* blackout the Cardnails games in my area.

Are you sure they actually HAVE moved FSM into the basic pkg - the article only says "confirmed that the network is working on a resolution with DirecTV", so I am NOT sure this means this has been done; only that people that USED to gets the Cards in their territories can do so again. ;) ;)

[wmschultz]

Yeah, I just figured that out. Thanks. I had to go to D* website to see what the big deal was. As soon as I
used a surrounding area's zipcode, I saw what the article is talking about.

[garn9173]

Are you sure they actually HAVE moved FSM into the basic pkg - the article only says "confirmed that the network is working on a resolution with DirecTV", so I am NOT sure this means this has been done; only that people that USED to gets the Cards in their territories can do so again. ;) ;)

Don't know as I already have the sports pack.

[wmschultz]

So was this why D* wasn't offering FSN Midwest HD to us, too? Or is that something different?

[Supervolcano]

I am so confused. I get FSN Midwest on channel 647 and have seen all of the games broadcast on there. So what does this mean?
I think it means people living in Central & Western Illinois will be considered "in-market" for Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, AND NOW the St. Louis Cardinals too .... meaning they won't be blacked out from any of those teams and PROBABLY won't need MLB-EI to see any of those games (aka: part of their basic package).

You live in Missouri so you were in the Cardinals market the whole time.
You won't be affected.

[dishrich]

meaning they won't be blacked out from any of those teams and PROBABLY won't need MLB-EI to see any of those games (aka: part of their basic package).

We never DID need MLB-EI to see these games - & it would NOT have done any good to have. (EI is for OOM games; the Cards are considered in-market for us)

Maybe you really meant to say the Sport Pak, which is what we DO (currently) need to see the Cards on FSM. ;) ;)

[Supervolcano]

ahhh

[garn9173]

Maybe you really meant to say the Sport Pak, which is what we DO (currently) need to see the Cards on FSM. ;) ;)

That's the boat i'm in with the Cardnails, Twins, & Brewers.

[bralph]

Can I take this as a good omen for the similar situation with Fox Sports Detroit and Tigers games in Northwest Ohio?

[mhayes70]

So was this why D* wasn't offering FSN Midwest HD to us, too? Or is that something different?

Me too. I would like to see Directv offer more of FSN Midwest programming in HD. They have 37 games this year in HD.

[DCSholtis]

D* would love to offer more FSN Midwest programming to you in HD. Its FSN Midwest thats only putting out those 37 games. D* is only transmitting to you what FSN Midwest puts out HD wise.

[wmschultz]

No, they are not. We don't really get FSN Midwest HD feeds.
The first game this year was a real surprise. That has been it though.

[bonscott87]

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/contentPage.jsp?assetId=2300004

Doesn't appear that Fox Sports Midwest is on the list. IF FSMW is pulling this kind of stunt I can probably understand why there isn't an HD agreement.

However, if they do have one and the web site just isn't updated, you'll find the HD games on channel 96 or 97. They are in MPEG4 and you'd need an H20 or HR20 to get them.

[mhayes70]

D* would love to offer more FSN Midwest programming to you in HD. Its FSN Midwest thats only putting out those 37 games. D* is only transmitting to you what FSN Midwest puts out HD wise.

No they don't. We will be lucky if they only broadcast 1/3 of them. I am saying I wish D* would broadcast all of them.

[mhayes70]

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/contentPage.jsp?assetId=2300004

Doesn't appear that Fox Sports Midwest is on the list. IF FSMW is pulling this kind of stunt I can probably understand why there isn't an HD agreement.

However, if they do have one and the web site just isn't updated, you'll find the HD games on channel 96 or 97. They are in MPEG4 and you'd need an H20 or HR20 to get them.

When D* does broadcast FSN Midwest HD it is on channel 95. Maybe Satelliteracer can answer this question. Is the problem with FSN Midwest not having an HD agreement with D* or is it just a capacity problem?

[pedro4868]

When D* does broadcast FSN Midwest HD it is on channel 95. Maybe Satelliteracer can answer this question. Is the problem with FSN Midwest not having an HD agreement with D* or is it just a capacity problem?

I've wanted to know the same darn thing for a while now. I don't think it would take that much bandwith for D* to add fsn mw in hd for the st. louis area.

[mhayes70]

I've wanted to know the same darn thing for a while now. I don't think it would take that much bandwith for D* to add fsn mw in hd for the st. louis area.

I wonder if they have room to put it on the MPEG4 spot beam that we get our locals on?

[pedro4868]

I wonder if they have room to put it on the MPEG4 spot beam that we get our locals on?

i bet they do and its probably not one of their top priorities.

[mhayes70]

i bet they do and its probably not one of their top priorities.

hmmmm... I bet your correct. Hey D* if you are listening maybe do this for us St. Louis fans so we can get more games in HD. :D

[bonscott87]

When D* does broadcast FSN Midwest HD it is on channel 95. Maybe Satelliteracer can answer this question. Is the problem with FSN Midwest not having an HD agreement with D* or is it just a capacity problem?

Shouldn't be a capacity issue because it would be up on the MPEG4 spotbeam with the St. Louis locals. Note what I just said. If you aren't in the St. Louis market with the St. Louis locals then you wouldn't get it anyway.

You can bet if they had an HD carriage agreement it would be up there. Sports is D*'s #1 thing.

[pedro4868]

Shouldn't be a capacity issue because it would be up on the MPEG4 spotbeam with the St. Louis locals. Note what I just said. If you aren't in the St. Louis market with the St. Louis locals then you wouldn't get it anyway.

You can bet if they had an HD carriage agreement it would be up there. Sports is D*'s #1 thing.

and since st. louis is one of the best sports cities in the U.S., I wonder why they won't get something agreed on to broadcast it.

[bonscott87]

and since st. louis is one of the best sports cities in the U.S., I wonder why they won't get something agreed on to broadcast it.

Probably the same reason some cities don't have their NBC or whatnot up on D* or E* (such as stations owned by LIN). Stations want too much money or are just bunch of yahoos.

[mhayes70]

Shouldn't be a capacity issue because it would be up on the MPEG4 spotbeam with the St. Louis locals. Note what I just said. If you aren't in the St. Louis market with the St. Louis locals then you wouldn't get it anyway.

You can bet if they had an HD carriage agreement it would be up there. Sports is D*'s #1 thing.

You have a good point. I am in the St. Louis market. So, I e-mailed FSN Midwest with this question to see if it an agreement issue or capacity issue. I will let you all know what response I get back from them.

[bonscott87]

You have a good point. I am in the St. Louis market. So, I e-mailed FSN Midwest with this question to see if it an agreement issue or capacity issue. I will let you all know what response I get back from them.

I'll tell you their answer right now: "It's DirecTV's fault". :D

[coldsteel]

Can I take this as a good omen for the similar situation with Fox Sports Detroit and Tigers games in Northwest Ohio?

Yes, the restriction seems to have been lifted for Tigers games too...

[mhayes70]

I'll tell you their answer right now: "It's DirecTV's fault". :D

:lol: If it is. Then it is time for us all to start complaining to them (Directv). :D

[St Louis Cardinals Fan]

That's the boat i'm in with the Cardnails, Twins, & Brewers.

Ditto

[SMosher]

I'll tell you their answer right now: "It's DirecTV's fault". :D

Correct :)

[Ext 721]

The blackout applied to states that surrounded Missouri. Where I live, I get FSN Midwest through the sports pack, FSN Midwest wanted their programming moved from the sports pack to the basic packages and until that happened, FSN Midwest requested that D* blackout the Cardnails games in my area.

good lord! pushy little buggers!

[left jeff]

slightly off topic...I defintely live in the Cardinals Territory..I live across the river from St. Louis in Illinois. Is anyone else in this general area receiving Royals games too on channel 648, the KC version of FSNMW?

I was under the impression that I wouldn't receive royals games in my area. That's according to other D* subs and D*'s website.

And these are regular season games...not spring training or EI games....I have since subscribed to EI, but I still get the games on 648...I was under the impression that you wouldn't get games on the RSN's...ever, unless they are in your territory.

[dishrich]

slightly off topic...I defintely live in the Cardinals Territory..I live across the river from St. Louis in Illinois. Is anyone else in this general area receiving Royals games too on channel 648, the KC version of FSNMW?

Everyone OUTSIDE of the KCR area is getting them this week - EI is having their free preview. It'll disappear for you next week.

[wmschultz]

I need to check my relatives receivers. I was wondering the same thing because I was getting KC games on 648
prior to the season starting. But I do have MLB EI so I don't know if that has to do with it or not. According to D* website
we are definately out of market. But I think you can get the 648 feed during the games if you have MLB EI, I just don't know
if somehow they unlocked it for everyone who gets 647.

[wmschultz]

Everyone OUTSIDE of the KCR area is getting them this week - EI is having their free preview. It'll disappear for you next week.

Uh, the Free Preview was only the first week of the season. Unless they extended it a week because of the Cable fiasco.

[mhayes70]

I don't subscribe to MLB EI and the Royal's games on 648 are blacked out for me.

[wmschultz]

That answers that question, thanks.

[left jeff]

That answers that question, thanks.

Not really. Sparta is quite a ways away.

And...

I don't see what EI has to do with it....if someone has the Sportspack and EI for instance, it doesn't allow them to watch ever game on some RSN like say, FSN-Bay Area or Southwest. You are only supposed to get games on the designated EI channels.

I verified this from a good friend who has subscribed to both Direct and EI for several years. He has never received the "other" FSNMW.

[mhayes70]

Not really. Sparta is quite a ways away.

And...

I don't see what EI has to do with it....if someone has the Sportspack and EI for instance, it doesn't allow them to watch ever game on some RSN like say, FSN-Bay Area or Southwest. You are only supposed to get games on the designated EI channels.

I verified this from a good friend who has subscribed to both Direct and EI for several years. He has never received the "other" FSNMW.

I am only about 50 miles from St. Louis. I am in the St. Loius DMA for locals and get FSN Midwest as my sports channel. Nothing gets black out on channel 647 FSN Midwest for me. But, 648 where the Royals games and some Indiana games are they do get blacked out except for last week when we were getting the free preview of MLB EI. So, I would think that everybody in the St. Louis area would not get Royals games on 648 unless they subscribe to EI.

[left jeff]

I am only about 50 miles from St. Louis. I am in the St. Loius DMA for locals and get FSN Midwest as my sports channel. Nothing gets black out on channel 647 FSN Midwest for me. But, 648 where the Royals games and some Indiana games are they do get blacked out except for last week when we were getting the free preview of MLB EI. So, I would think that everybody in the St. Louis area would not get Royals games on 648 unless they subscribe to EI.

Yes, but none of that explains why Royals games are available on an RSN...they shouldn't be. The understanding that I have gotten from everyone with EI is that the games are only on EI channels and that the RSN's are ALWAYS blacked out.

[Mikey]

Yes, but none of that explains why Royals games are available on an RSN...they shouldn't be. The understanding that I have gotten from everyone with EI is that the games are only on EI channels and that the RSN's are ALWAYS blacked out.The RSN game is always available to viewers in the team's home territory. Each team claims a list of zipcodes as their territory, and the territories sometimes overlap. I'm in an area claimed by three MLB teams (Astros/Rangers/Cardinals), so I can see Rangers games on FSN SW, and Cardinals games on FSN MW (because I have the E* Multi-Sport package).

[pedro4868]

Yes, but none of that explains why Royals games are available on an RSN...they shouldn't be. The understanding that I have gotten from everyone with EI is that the games are only on EI channels and that the RSN's are ALWAYS blacked out.

Just the other day I received a Royals vs. Red Sox game on 648. I live in the St. louis area and I don't subscribe to EI and this was after the free preview.

[mhayes70]

Yes, but none of that explains why Royals games are available on an RSN...they shouldn't be. The understanding that I have gotten from everyone with EI is that the games are only on EI channels and that the RSN's are ALWAYS blacked out.

I am not sure I am understanding your question. But, EI channels are RSN's. They just unblock them so the people who subscribe to EI can see them. So, lets say you want to watch a Mets game and there games are on MSG channel 621 and you subscribe to EI. You will be able to see it on the EI channel in the 700's and also on 621. They are both the same they just unblock it out and the EI channel in the 700's is same feed of MSG just on a different channel number for EI.

[bonscott87]

Yes, but none of that explains why Royals games are available on an RSN...they shouldn't be. The understanding that I have gotten from everyone with EI is that the games are only on EI channels and that the RSN's are ALWAYS blacked out.

I think someone else explain this but I'll try as well.

The EI channels are actually just remapping of the RSN feeds. So say the Tigers game is on 636 which is FS-Detroit. The EI feed on channel 7xx is the exact same channel as 636, just remapped. Same thing as HBO-HD is on channel 70 and 609. Same *single* channel, just mapped to 2 different channel numbers.

So if you have EI, the RSN's that are used for the EI feeds are unblocked for those games. Note in my example if EI uses another RSN's feed, say FSBA, then the FSBA feed is what is open to me, not the feed on FSD.

Make sense?

[wmschultz]

I am not sure I am understanding your question. But, EI channels are RSN's. They just unblock them so the people who subscribe to EI can see them. So, lets say you want to watch a Mets game and there games are on MSG channel 621 and you subscribe to EI. You will be able to see it on the EI channel in the 700's and also on 621. They are both the same they just unblock it out and the EI channel in the 700's is same feed of MSG just on a different channel number for EI.

Exactly. It has always been like this.

[Terry K]

Shouldn't be a capacity issue because it would be up on the MPEG4 spotbeam with the St. Louis locals. Note what I just said. If you aren't in the St. Louis market with the St. Louis locals then you wouldn't get it anyway.

You can bet if they had an HD carriage agreement it would be up there. Sports is D*'s #1 thing.

Actually there's a bigger problem here.

The Cardinals have one of the few 'home' territories that spreads outside of their own DMA and beyond those that a spot can cover.

Springfield, MO is also in the Cardinals market, and I guarantee we can't get St. Louis locals legally. (and our locals are on 72.5)

[bonscott87]

Actually there's a bigger problem here.

The Cardinals have one of the few 'home' territories that spreads outside of their own DMA and beyond those that a spot can cover.

Springfield, MO is also in the Cardinals market, and I guarantee we can't get St. Louis locals legally. (and our locals are on 72.5)

Oh, that's very common. Fox Sport Detroit covers most of Michigan including the UP. The Detroit spotbeam doesn't cover the whole state. Thus why FSD is only available in the Detroit market and not in mine (which is 2 markets to the west) even though FSD is my RSN and I also have HD locals on our own spotbeam. Basically DirecTV would need to uplink FSD to my spotbeam and then we'd get it as well. But most likely we'll have to wait for the new sats and national beams.

[gb33]

Here in Indy I used to get 647 and most Cardinal games. Now I have FSIN and FSOH and 648 FSMW which is Detroit?! Although game is blacked out. Indy sports suck so FSIN is trash to me. Although I am watching my Brewers on there right now. I would prefer to get FSMW and see some Cardinal games than the Reds.

[dishrich]

Oh, that's very common.

VERY, actually... ;) ;)

CSNC covers MANY DMA's in IL alone

FSW/Prime Sports covers at least as far away as Vegas

[Ira Lacher]

I can see Rangers games on FSN SW, and Cardinals games on FSN MW (because I have the E* Multi-Sport package).

So the blackout is lifted on E*? Not clear.

[purtman]

Not in KC.

[Mikey]

So the blackout is lifted on E*? Not clear.I'm not blacked out on E* for Cardinals games on FSN MW. OKC is in the area that the Cards claim as their "home territory". I am blacked out for Royals games. They don't claim OKC. Just the Cards/Rangers/Astros for MLB.

[DCSholtis]

Blackout rules to be reexamined in 2 weeks time:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=ApmLhmPRbNhirymlpFScVvIRvLYF?slug=jp-blackouts050207&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

[jrodfoo]

Blackout rules to be reexamined in 2 weeks time:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=ApmLhmPRbNhirymlpFScVvIRvLYF?slug=jp-blackouts050207&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Wow, well atleast they are looking at it. guess we'll play the wait and see game.