News Article: Colorado Avalanche Media Coverage Part II

[Babel Salamander]

Just set up lazyman... so far it seems great.

 

[Hornstar]

Well first night of center ice and it's blacked out

 

[woodlandbob]

What about a grassroots effort....by users/fans in the Denver area refusing to support ANY advertisers who advertise during the AVS/Nuggets games because the advertisers support the fans not being able to view the games.
Not worded the best, but you get my point....

 

[Babel Salamander]

What about a grassroots effort....by users/fans in the Denver area refusing to support ANY advertisers who advertise during the AVS/Nuggets games because the advertisers support the fans not being able to view the games.
Not worded the best, but you get my point....

I don't get your point. I mean, maybe I get your point, if I assume you have a fundamental misunderstanding of the situation...

 

[wayninja]

What about a grassroots effort....by users/fans in the Denver area refusing to support ANY advertisers who advertise during the AVS/Nuggets games because the advertisers support the fans not being able to view the games.
Not worded the best, but you get my point....

Yeah, I'm not following this at all. How are advertisers doing that, exactly?

 

[woodlandbob]

I totally understand the situation.....Altitude wants more money....I pay a a monthly fee to DTV, Altitude is part of my package. For the last several years I've paid an RSN fee also, and I pay for a CenterIce subscription that blacks out the Avs games.How many more fees does Altitude want me to pay? By still advertising during the games, those advertisers are saying to me, they support Altitude's position. I don't support it. Look, the Avs total payroll is $80 million, the Nuggets total is over $131 million. Obviously Kroenke has plenty of cash for his teams. Why is he trying to milk more from me? This RSN has the Avs, Nuggets, and not much else to offer. How often do you watch any other programming they put on? Yet they expect to be paid by everyone with any type of subscription to the big 3. Its unreasonable to expect that these days.

 

[Bubba Thudd]

Boycott the advertisers, and they'll put pressure on to get shit resolved.

 

[a mangy Meowth]

I totally understand the situation.....Altitude wants more money....I pay a a monthly fee to DTV, Altitude is part of my package. For the last several years I've paid an RSN fee also, and I pay for a CenterIce subscription that blacks out the Avs games.How many more fees does Altitude want me to pay? By still advertising during the games, those advertisers are saying to me, they support Altitude's position. I don't support it. Look, the Avs total payroll is $80 million, the Nuggets total is over $131 million. Obviously Kroenke has plenty of cash for his teams. Why is he trying to milk more from me? This RSN has the Avs, Nuggets, and not much else to offer. How often do you watch any other programming they put on? Yet they expect to be paid by everyone with any type of subscription to the big 3. Its unreasonable to expect that these days.

You just sound like a directv shill with your 2 posts and yesterday account creation. Both sides are to blame.

edit: And why the hell do you keep paying for centerIce if you're blacked out?

 

[woodlandbob]

so now its name calling....I pay for CenterIce so I can watch hockey....not just the Avs...
A Directv shill?......living in a small mtn town leaves little other options and believe me, there IS blame on both sides.
Lets not denegrate this discussion....

 

[a mangy Meowth]

so now its name calling....I pay for CenterIce so I can watch hockey....not just the Avs...
A Directv shill?......living in a small mtn town leaves little other options and believe me, there IS blame on both sides.
Lets not denegrate this discussion....

It's not really a discussion. There's nothing to discuss. The fans can't even boycott this properly because both sides are the ones boycotting the fans.

Your post was very anti-altitude pro-directv. Read it again and see if you can see that. And directv is the one stealing your money with fees, not our regional rinky dink sports network.

 

[Babel Salamander]

There is blame on both sides, but your thinking puts 100% of the blame on Altitude. You think the providers would be affected by an advertiser boycott? They'd laugh. There's right now a very small number of people who can actually see the ads, and the advertisers know that (right now I'm sure the largest number of people watching the games watch the NHL.TV or Center Ice feeds that don't have ads). But if you want to spend time and energy on a grassroots movement that has no hope of accomplishing anything, go right ahead.

This situation is primarily happening because the providers, two of which have their own RSNs, are going to war with independent RSNs, and the fans are collateral damage. Altitude shares blame to, they are committed to a business model that isn't financially viable. But it's less scummy for them to be fighting to operate as they have for 15 years than what the providers are doing, which honestly given they own RSNs should be prohibited by antitrust regulation. They are trying to monopolize the RSNs, and using league television contracts that favor them to screw over fans and coerce an independent RSN to shut down and sell the game rights to a network owned by DirectTV.

Your anger is woefully misplaced but hey, you do you. Good luck getting others to boycott advertisers. Actually, good luck finding out who is actually advertising on broadcasts that almost no one can see.

 

[woodlandbob]

Hey....different views....thats all....I thought this was a place to express them and vent the frustration we all have......here's hoping for a quick resolution.....

 

[wayninja]

I totally understand the situation.....Altitude wants more money....I pay a a monthly fee to DTV, Altitude is part of my package. For the last several years I've paid an RSN fee also, and I pay for a CenterIce subscription that blacks out the Avs games.How many more fees does Altitude want me to pay? By still advertising during the games, those advertisers are saying to me, they support Altitude's position. I don't support it. Look, the Avs total payroll is $80 million, the Nuggets total is over $131 million. Obviously Kroenke has plenty of cash for his teams. Why is he trying to milk more from me? This RSN has the Avs, Nuggets, and not much else to offer. How often do you watch any other programming they put on? Yet they expect to be paid by everyone with any type of subscription to the big 3. Its unreasonable to expect that these days.

Altitude is neither charging you a RSN fee, nor are they forcing you to pay for Center Ice. The RSN fee is a charge that DTV is charging in order pay altitude... Has DTV stopped charging that now that they no longer have to pay Altitude? Hmmmm.....

Keep in mind that their are still Cable operators who carry Altitude. Altitude has contracts with advertisers. Boycotting advertisers for advertising under contract seems misguided at best. Their advertising in no way advocates Altitudes position... The situation is internal... If Altitude isn't being distributed widely, Advertisers will be far less likely to pay the same amount for air time. There's really no need to boycott.

You are just oversimplifying by saying Kroenke is trying to milk you. I mean, he is, but so is everyone involved here. The advertisers are the least to blame. Your point about how often you watch "other programming" could easily be said about most channels in cable packages. How often to you watch TNT? USA? The dozens of shopping channels?

Lastly, of course Kroenke came to the table asking for more money. You don't start negotiations by asking for less than what you want, that makes no sense. But... Altitude came down from that. They even offered to extend the exact same contract they previously had and all 3 said "No, you are taking cuts."

 

[woodlandbob]

Altitude is neither charging you a RSN fee, nor are they forcing you to pay for Center Ice. The RSN fee is a charge that DTV is charging in order pay altitude... Has DTV stopped charging that now that they no longer have to pay Altitude? Hmmmm.....

Keep in mind that their are still Cable operators who carry Altitude. Altitude has contracts with advertisers. Boycotting advertisers for advertising under contract seems misguided at best. Their advertising in no way advocates Altitudes position... The situation is internal... If Altitude isn't being distributed widely, Advertisers will be far less likely to pay the same amount for air time. There's really no need to boycott.

You are just oversimplifying by saying Kroenke is trying to milk you. I mean, he is, but so is everyone involved here. The advertisers are the least to blame. Your point about how often you watch "other programming" could easily be said about most channels in cable packages. How often to you watch TNT? USA? The dozens of shopping channels?

Lastly, of course Kroenke came to the table asking for more money. You don't start negotiations by asking for less than what you want, that makes no sense. But... Altitude came down from that. They even offered to extend the exact same contract they previously had and all 3 said "No, you are taking cuts."

For me...after a call...yes

 

[wayninja]

For me...after a call...yes

Oh, after a call, when you complained... Of course. But... not by policy, right?

You gonna call again next month?

 

[BrickNHL]

Just set up lazyman... so far it seems great.

Been using this for the last couple of years and holy shit, the quality is better than when I legally use TSN and Sportsnet's online streams.

 

[Ceremony]

Is Rycroft growing out his hair in protest?

 

[wayninja]

Is Rycroft growing out his hair in protest?

It's like he's smothering his pillow in rogaine!

 

[Ceremony]

It's like he's smothering his pillow in rogaine!

Then sleeping like a mummy in a sarcophagus, presumably.

 

[wayninja]

Then sleeping like a mummy in a sarcophagus, presumably.

Yes. That's exactly how he sleeps. A scepter in one hand and a crook in the other.

 

[Bonzai12]

This whole argument really intrigues me - one of my parents is a senior VP of a cable channel.

I listen to ads asking fans to call directTV, Xfinity etc to complain about not seeing the teams. Those calls are intended to put pressure on the cable provider to pay Altitude whatever they’re asking for in viewing rights. DirectTV, Xfinity or XYZ cable company finally caves in and pays. 60 days later Xfinity, DirectTV or XYZ raises prices on their Avs loving customers, and then takes the brunt of Altitude’s actions.

Avs fan gets sick of paying higher prices every 5 years that Altitude asks for price increases so he moves to Netflix or whatever. Problem is that Netflix is under the same no-win negotiation with Altitude as well. Netflix ain’t 10 bucks anymore - soon you’re paying 15 or 20. Viscous cycle always continues.

The problem is Altitude gets raises while everyone else loses in the deal. And I can’t think of many instances where the actual network (NBC, ABC, Altitude, etc) has lost in these negotiations. That’s why there are so damn many of them now. It’s for sure a money maker - and it’s why you now see so many cable providers trying to outright buy the networks or create their own.

 

[Balthazar]

 

[Babel Salamander]

I noticed the Locked on Podcast network has started NHL podcasts. "Locked on Avalanche" is listed as "coming soon"

Discover Best Free NHL Podcasts | Locked On Podcast Network

 

[wayninja]

This whole argument really intrigues me - one of my parents is a senior VP of a cable channel.

I listen to ads asking fans to call directTV, Xfinity etc to complain about not seeing the teams. Those calls are intended to put pressure on the cable provider to pay Altitude whatever they’re asking for in viewing rights. DirectTV, Xfinity or XYZ cable company finally caves in and pays. 60 days later Xfinity, DirectTV or XYZ raises prices on their Avs loving customers, and then takes the brunt of Altitude’s actions.

Avs fan gets sick of paying higher prices every 5 years that Altitude asks for price increases so he moves to Netflix or whatever. Problem is that Netflix is under the same no-win negotiation with Altitude as well. Netflix ain’t 10 bucks anymore - soon you’re paying 15 or 20. Viscous cycle always continues.

The problem is Altitude gets raises while everyone else loses in the deal. And I can’t think of many instances where the actual network (NBC, ABC, Altitude, etc) has lost in these negotiations. That’s why there are so damn many of them now. It’s for sure a money maker - and it’s why you now see so many cable providers trying to outright buy the networks or create their own.

Since I only care really about Comcast since they are my provider, I'm going to just point out that these "losers" made almost 15 Billion (That's with a "B") dollars (beating estimates) in cable revenue last quarter.

I get it that carriage fees in general is a crappy model, but am I really supposed to feel sorry?

 

[Avs_19]

Good piece on Timmins' road back.