Devils and Islanders MSG Question

[KevFu]

The bigger issue to me is how NONE of the major pro sports leagues with League-Wide Cable/Satellite/Internet premium packages have figured out how to offer every game, everywhere, AND protect the local broadcast.

It should be very simple: If you want all the Islanders/Devils games in HD, buy Center Ice. But Center Ice blacks out NYI/NJD/NYR games in the New York Market. Which is ridiculous.

All the need to do is AIR THE LOCAL FEED WITH COMMERCIALS in the local market, and the local broadcast is protected.

NO ONE. Not the NHL, not MLB, not the NBA, has figured this out yet. (With the exception of the New York Yankees on MLBTV, who said "don't bother protecting our local feed, you can watch YES online for a very small fee.")

It's an absolute joke that in 2013, if you're willing to pay for it, you STILL can't get it.

The same is true of the online packages being blacked out locally. In MLB, I can watch all the NY games out here in California on MLBTV... unless we're playing Oakland or the Giants. I can't watch the Giants at Mets online, because I'm "supposed to watch" the local cable feed. But when it's in New York (4 pm start time locally, or sometimes 9:30 am start time on Thursdays!) I can't watch the local cable feed AT WORK. Just put the local cable feed online with their commericals, and everyone wins.

My absolute favorite was when I couldn't watch the Mets play the Reds on MLBTV, because I lived in Ohio and I was "supposed to watch" the local cable broadcast. Except there was no local cable broadcast. ONLY the Mets Network was broadcasting the game, but I couldn't see it.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

The bigger issue to me is how NONE of the major pro sports leagues with League-Wide Cable/Satellite/Internet premium packages have figured out how to offer every game, everywhere, AND protect the local broadcast.

It should be very simple: If you want all the Islanders/Devils games in HD, buy Center Ice. But Center Ice blacks out NYI/NJD/NYR games in the New York Market. Which is ridiculous.

All the need to do is AIR THE LOCAL FEED WITH COMMERCIALS in the local market, and the local broadcast is protected.

NO ONE. Not the NHL, not MLB, not the NBA, has figured this out yet. (With the exception of the New York Yankees on MLBTV, who said "don't bother protecting our local feed, you can watch YES online for a very small fee.")

It's an absolute joke that in 2013, if you're willing to pay for it, you STILL can't get it.

My absolute favorite was when I couldn't watch the Mets play the Reds on MLBTV, because I lived in Ohio and I was "supposed to watch" the local cable broadcast. Except there was no local cable broadcast. ONLY the Mets Network was broadcasting the game, but I couldn't see it.

All of these are complaints about the cable provider for not offering the HD channel that is already paid for, or the Reds RSN in your package. It is not a league issue whatsoever. I lived in southern Indiana for 4 years, as I'm sure the name has told everyone by now. 2 years I had access to CSN Chicago, via DirecTV the 1st time and then Uverse the 2nd. 2 years I did not, when in the dorms on campus cable and then with Comcast. But I'm in the local territory. It isn't the NHL's or MLB's fault whatsoever that Comcast is cheap and didn't pick the channel up.

I don't think you understand what 'protect the local broadcast' like you're saying here really means. It's not about advertising, changing what commercials run means nothing. It's about making sure that people pay for their local RSN. That's where they make their money, not from advertising but from subscription fees.

In the Yankees case, they aren't at all saying 'don't bother protecting our local feed". You have it completely backwards. They are saying, "You have already paid for YES, and we would like to make the games YOU HAVE ALREADY PAID FOR more accessible to you."

In the end, if Time Warner or FIOS or whoever it was in the NY market that people are having problems with provided the HD feed, this would be a non-issue. People shouldn't have to pay for Center Ice to see their local games...they've already paid for them by paying to get MSG.

 

[KevFu]

All of these are complaints about the cable provider for not offering the HD channel that is already paid for, or the Reds RSN in your package. It is not a league issue whatsoever. I lived in southern Indiana for 4 years, as I'm sure the name has told everyone by now. 2 years I had access to CSN Chicago, via DirecTV the 1st time and then Uverse the 2nd. 2 years I did not, when in the dorms on campus cable and then with Comcast. But I'm in the local territory. It isn't the NHL's or MLB's fault whatsoever that Comcast is cheap and didn't pick the channel up.

I don't think you understand what 'protect the local broadcast' like you're saying here really means. It's not about advertising, changing what commercials run means nothing. It's about making sure that people pay for their local RSN. That's where they make their money, not from advertising but from subscription fees.

In the Yankees case, they aren't at all saying 'don't bother protecting our local feed". You have it completely backwards. They are saying, "You have already paid for YES, and we would like to make the games YOU HAVE ALREADY PAID FOR more accessible to you."

The RSN's are on basic cable. I didn't think it's possible to be a local market, have the league's sports package, and NOT have the RSN. If you have the cable box required for the package, it comes with basic cable and you have the RSN.

There's no reason the sports package online can't have everyone add their cable subscriber password, like Watch ESPN and NBCSports does, and that would grant you access to the local feed online.

The whole point is that in California, you're not home to watch the RSN, you're at work so you need to watch online. Hell, I was listening to the A's game on the radio on my way TO WORK in the morning (first pitch: 10:07 am).

(And in the case of that favorite Reds game blacked out, FSOH wasn't airing the game at all. But the SNY feed was blacked out just because it was the Reds playing in the game, not because there was a local broadcast on the local RSN. FSOH waived their right to be protected. For that game, anyway.)

 

[IU Hawks fan]

#1 - No, FS Ohio not airing doesn't end their exclusive rights to the game. Doesn't work that way. It's still an in market game. Under that idea, Hawks fans could have bought Center Ice back when home games weren't aired and seen them.

Not sure what you're saying in the 1st paragraph. These people have MSG, they have the game. The issue is with the provider not carrying the HD feed if the game is on an alternate channel or whatever.

 

[KevFu]

#1 - No, FS Ohio not airing doesn't end their exclusive rights to the game. Doesn't work that way. It's still an in market game. Under that idea, Hawks fans could have bought Center Ice back when home games weren't aired and seen them.

#1 - FS Ohio doesn't have exclusive rights to the game. The game was also on SNY.

#2 - I absolutely think that should have been allowed (re: Center Ice and the Blackhawks).

#3 - In both cases, you have multiple parties with an agreement to prevent competition within a market. Which sounds an awful lot like collusion.

 

[Devils Dominion]

Ideally the Devils need to get off of MSG Networks, even though they are in the midst of a lucrative deal right now with them.

The worst of it all is the non-stop Knicks commercials during Devils games!
Barf..

 

[IU Hawks fan]

#1 - FS Ohio doesn't have exclusive rights to the game. The game was also on SNY.

#2 - I absolutely think that should have been allowed (re: Center Ice and the Blackhawks).

#3 - In both cases, you have multiple parties with an agreement to prevent competition within a market. Which sounds an awful lot like collusion.

1 - we're talking about IN MARKET. FS Ohio has exclusive rights IN OHIO, because that is who the Reds sold them to. SNY means nothing in this conversation.

2 - Why shouldn't the Hawks, or anyone, have a right to protect their product if they (stupidly in the Hawks case) choose to?

3 - How is it collusion? Teams have a right to offer games in their market to the highest bidder. It's how they make a lot of their money.

 

[TheTakedown]

Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought the cable deals that Dolan (Cablevision owner) were basically handed to the Isles and Devils for free, no?

 

[TheTakedown]

Isles on MSG2+ is atrocious.

This aint right. I am pretty sure Isles didnt sign that huge deal with Dolan.

MSG2+ is so bad, i feel for you.

 

[TheTakedown]

I call bs on this. The Rangers are never featured on two MSG channels at once. I watched or DVR'd every game last year and never found myself saying which of the two channels should I watch. They are usually on MSG or MSG 2 but sometimes they are on MSG+. By the way i use Direct TV as my provider.

The only time the Rangers are on two MSG channels is when they play either the Isles or Devils. And one of those broadcasts would be using the Isles or Devils announcers so they are not the featured team.

Here is a link to their OFFICIAL broadcast schedule.

http://rangers.nhl.com/club/schedule.htm

I have seen it happen in the past. Though not very often anymore

 

[Bert Marshall days]

I have seen it happen in the past. Though not very often anymore

I've seen it too

 

[Hire Sather]

The Rangers play a couple games a year on MSG Plus, and it always seems like home games against the Leafs are one of them.

Just an odd thing I've noticed.