Why no Philadelphia Sports Channel?

[ChicagoTom]

Hello! Does anyone have any idea why DTV does NOT have a Philadelphia sports channel as part of the sports package? Being a Phillies fan, all of the games on EI are broadcast via the opponents television coverage because of DTV not having a PHilly Sports station. Does anyone know anything about DTV and the chances of getting a Philly sports station in the near future?
Thanks!

[joesigg]

C*crap has a monopoly on the Phillies and the Flyers, and they get away with it. Must have paid off a lot of politicos. That's why D* isn't more popular in this area. Many of my friends would change to D* immediately if it weren't for this problem.

[Dr_J]

Hello! Does anyone have any idea why DTV does NOT have a Philadelphia sports channel as part of the sports package? Being a Phillies fan, all of the games on EI are broadcast via the opponents television coverage because of DTV not having a PHilly Sports station. Does anyone know anything about DTV and the chances of getting a Philly sports station in the near future?
Thanks!

I think it's because Comcast owns some of the Philadelphia sports teams, so they refuse to put their Comcast Sports Net on satellite.

[joesigg]

I think it's because Comcast owns some of the Philadelphia sports teams, so they refuse to put their Comcast Sports Net on satellite.

Absolutely correct! Oughtabealaw!!!

[ChicagoTom]

I think it's because Comcast owns some of the Philadelphia sports teams, so they refuse to put their Comcast Sports Net on satellite.
I know there are other Comcast channels from other cities like Chicago where I live that are available through DirecTV. I guess it is just disappointing having to listen to the opponents broadcasters for every Phillies game. Oh well.

Thanks for the info!

[wilbur_the_goose]

The strange thing is that Comcast has allowed their signal to be delivered to Verizon to put on their FIOS TV system.

Comcast has said that they'd give CSN-Philly to DirecTV if DirecTV gives Comcast NFL Sunday Ticket.

[TheRatPatrol]

I've always heard on here that it was because the signal is delivered via microwave, instead of on satellite, and some loophole in the law prevents them from being required to put their signal on satellite, therefore D* and E* can't get the signal and are unable to put the channel on full time.

Now as far as D* getting the signal for baseball games, not sure how thats working.

[Dr_J]

I was living in southern NJ in 2002, and I believe that was the first year that Fox broadcast games in both the ALCS and NLCS simultaneously, with one on Fox and the other on Fox Sports Net at the time. (It may be fX now.) Because it was the Phillies market, the NLCS was on Fox, relegating the ALCS to FSN. I had 25 FSN's from all over the country as part of the DirecTV Sports Pack, and the ALCS game was blacked out on every single one of them because Comcast Sports Net was broadcasting it. The Red Sox missed the playoffs that year, but if I ever couldn't watch them in the ALCS because of that, I might have torn down the dish.

[garn9173]

Hello! Does anyone have any idea why DTV does NOT have a Philadelphia sports channel as part of the sports package? Being a Phillies fan, all of the games on EI are broadcast via the opponents television coverage because of DTV not having a PHilly Sports station. Does anyone know anything about DTV and the chances of getting a Philly sports station in the near future?
Thanks!

Edit as the right answer was already given.

[morbid_fun]

Hello! Does anyone have any idea why DTV does NOT have a Philadelphia sports channel as part of the sports package? Being a Phillies fan, all of the games on EI are broadcast via the opponents television coverage because of DTV not having a PHilly Sports station. Does anyone know anything about DTV and the chances of getting a Philly sports station in the near future?
Thanks!

theratpatrol and Wilbur_the_Goose are both correct. Due to Comcast broadcasting via terrestrial means v. satellite they have used a loophole in the law to keep exclusive control over Sportsnet Philly. E* and D* tried on a number of occasions to close that loophole, but were struck down each time. Comcast, in each instance, also stated that if NFL ST was opened up to others, then Sportsnet Philly will be too. That is where the situation sits right now.

[Stunnerkline]

theratpatrol and Wilbur_the_Goose are both correct. Due to Comcast broadcasting via terrestrial means v. satellite they have used a loophole in the law to keep exclusive control over Sportsnet Philly. E* and D* tried on a number of occasions to close that loophole, but were struck down each time. Comcast, in each instance, also stated that if NFL ST was opened up to others, then Sportsnet Philly will be too. That is where the situation sits right now.

This might be the silliest argument I've ever seen.

On a weekly basis, during the NFL season, if I had Comcrap, I could see 5 or more NFL games out of the total of 14 or 16 being played.......and I can see my "home team" every week because they are on FOX. The fact that I can't get Sunday Ticket, while true, doesn't prevent me from seeing my share of football games.

I don't see how Comcrap can equate this to what they are doing to the fan bases of the Philly Baseball, Basketball and Hockey teams by witholding their signal from the DBS providers.

This is why I will never, knowingly, give 1 dime to Comcrap, even if I have to stay with DSL for my ISP for the rest of my life.

[Mark20]

But of course the cable companies cried foul when they couldn't get MLB.

[jpl]

The strange thing is that Comcast has allowed their signal to be delivered to Verizon to put on their FIOS TV system.


Yep, absolutely correct - I signed up for FiOS TV, and I get CSN Philly in SD and HD. Not sure WHY Comcast agreed to allow Verizon to carry it, since Verizon, I think, poses more of a threat to Comcast's control in this area than DirecTV did. There are many folks who have Comcast who, when seeing my DirecTV setup, would stare in admiration at the picture quality. When I recommended that they get a dish, I get lots of excuses why they don't want to do that. There's a resistance there. FiOS, on the other hand, is cable. And since Verizon controls the phone lines around here, everyone's used to having Verizon piped into their houses. An upgrade from Comcast to FiOS is an easier leap for many folks than going from cable to a dish. Not sure why, but that appears to be the case for many of the people I know.

[joesigg]

This might be the silliest argument I've ever seen.

On a weekly basis, during the NFL season, if I had Comcrap, I could see 5 or more NFL games out of the total of 14 or 16 being played.......and I can see my "home team" every week because they are on FOX. The fact that I can't get Sunday Ticket, while true, doesn't prevent me from seeing my share of football games.

I don't see how Comcrap can equate this to what they are doing to the fan bases of the Philly Baseball, Basketball and Hockey teams by witholding their signal from the DBS providers.

This is why I will never, knowingly, give 1 dime to Comcrap, even if I have to stay with DSL for my ISP for the rest of my life.

I agree with you 100%!!! You sound like another former satisfied C* subscriber.
:lol: :lol: :nono:

[islesfan]

I think it's because Comcast owns some of the Philadelphia sports teams, so they refuse to put their Comcast Sports Net on satellite.

Interesting, since Cablevision owns the Rangers and Knicks, yet we have always had FSNY/MSG on DirecTV.

[islesfan]

I've always heard on here that it was because the signal is delivered via microwave, instead of on satellite, and some loophole in the law prevents them from being required to put their signal on satellite, therefore D* and E* can't get the signal and are unable to put the channel on full time.

Now as far as D* getting the signal for baseball games, not sure how thats working.

I don't know about baseball, but D* has never shown a Flyers game on the Philly feed. It is always the opponent's feed. (I've had NHL CI since '95)

[wilbur_the_goose]

VZ Fios was OK with Comcast because they don't have NFL Sunday Ticket.

By the way, the CSN signal is now delivered via fiber. The microwave was the old Prism network's microwave relay system, now retired.

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) was apparently the guy that kept the CSN exemption in the law at the request of his "friends" at Comcast.

[coldsteel]

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) was apparently the guy that kept the CSN exemption in the law at the request of his "friends" at Comcast.


And wasn't he one of the buttmunches on the Hill whining about the MLB deal, and he always whines about NFL ST...

[morbid_fun]

VZ Fios was OK with Comcast because they don't have NFL Sunday Ticket.

By the way, the CSN signal is now delivered via fiber. The microwave was the old Prism network's microwave relay system, now retired.

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) was apparently the guy that kept the CSN exemption in the law at the request of his "friends" at Comcast.

Do you have a link where I can read more about that?

[DCSholtis]

FYI its been said in another thread that D* and CSN Philly ARE indeed working on a fiber link that would put Phillie games from CSN Philly onto MLB EI. Sateliteracer was the person who has said that. He was right when he told us about Cox 4 feeds coming to EI so I have no reason to doubt him about CSN Philly/MLB EI feeds.

[dpcv8]

Interesting, since Cablevision owns the Rangers and Knicks, yet we have always had FSNY/MSG on DirecTV.

Yeah, but the Dolans dont allow anybody else to use their HD feeds for thoes channels.

[jpelam]

FYI its been said in another thread that D* and CSN Philly ARE indeed working on a fiber link that would put Phillie games from CSN Philly onto MLB EI. Sateliteracer was the person who has said that. He was right when he told us about Cox 4 feeds coming to EI so I have no reason to doubt him about CSN Philly/MLB EI feeds.

Can you list the thread I can't find it.

[wilbur_the_goose]

But we wouldn't be able to see the Phils in Philly. I wrote an e-mail to their head of marketing and he told me the Phillies only really care their fans about the tri-state (NJ, PA, DE) region. Can you imagine the Yankees saying that?

[DCSholtis]

Can you list the thread I can't find it.

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=904914#post904914

Post #45

He had mentioned to me via PM regarding the delay in the CSN Philly feeds being a problem regarding a fiber feed getting to D*.

[jrodfoo]

But we wouldn't be able to see the Phils in Philly. I wrote an e-mail to their head of marketing and he told me the Phillies only really care their fans about the tri-state (NJ, PA, DE) region. Can you imagine the Yankees saying that?


I can't even get CSN Philly on Comcrap here if i wanted to. They are really slow ever since the adelphia transition. no local HD. hence the move the D*

[islesfan]

Yeah, but the Dolans dont allow anybody else to use their HD feeds for thoes channels.

True, but they're evil, so what do you expect?

[jrodfoo]

any updates on the CSN Philly feed? I haven't heard anything.

even though I wouldn't be able to watch it anyways, just was wondering :)

[tonyd79]

I don't know about baseball, but D* has never shown a Flyers game on the Philly feed. It is always the opponent's feed. (I've had NHL CI since '95)

I thought I saw a CSN feed of a Flyer's game last year....but I know I have seen CSN feeds of the Sixers on the NBA package.

It all depends on who controls the package, the league or the individual teams. Baseball hasn't fully taken control of the broadcast end. They have done so for satellite radio (all home feeds even if the local team/station objects) and internet. (BTW, they were laughed at for the latter when they did it.)

[Scott J]

My understanding, as somewhat discussed by a previous poster, is that their is a loophole that Comcrap is exploiting to not allow DTV to carrier Comcast Sports Net. However, they have to allow Verizon to carry the channel since Verizon delivers the channel via a "cable" and not a satellite.

However, I live in the Philly suburbs and per DTV I am not in the Philly service area. Therefore, the Phils are not blackout in the Extra Innings (baseball) ticket. Yes it is an additional fee, but with satellite you do not have to pay the franchise fee taxes that you do with cable that amount to $10+ dollars a month, depending upon your channels so it is almost a wash.

[jackienopay]

I thought I saw a CSN feed of a Flyer's game last year....but I know I have seen CSN feeds of the Sixers on the NBA package.

It all depends on who controls the package, the league or the individual teams. Baseball hasn't fully taken control of the broadcast end. They have done so for satellite radio (all home feeds even if the local team/station objects) and internet. (BTW, they were laughed at for the latter when they did it.)

I think I remember seeing a philadelphia flyers feed with the hockey package because it was a channel 57 game. But all other games were away team announcers.