News Article: There are no local streaming options for the 2021 Hurricanes season

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Sorry guys, had to ditch a good bit of the conversation here. Just to provide a guideline, discussions of streams, VPNs, ways to get around geo-restrictions, acquiring other logins, and the like aren't kosher. We run a respectable establishment here.

FWIW when PlayStation cut PSVue, I switched to Hulu Live and I've been pretty happy with it - I think it's DVR function is better and the stream is closer to realtime. The only downside is that there's no native support for live TV in the PlayStation version of the Hulu app so I have to cast it from my phone or my laptop.

Offended that I was deleted. I'm think "move to Atlanta we aren't blacked out" is a pretty legal solution.

 

[garnetpalmetto]

Offended that I was deleted. I'm think "move to Atlanta we aren't blacked out" is a pretty legal solution.

But why would anyone want to live in Atlanta?

 

[Navin R Slavin]

I think there’s two reasons for blackout restrictions.

Back in the day it was fashionable to black out footballs game in the local market unless the game sold out, so I think that’s what you’re talking about.

But it blacks out anything on NHL.tv if it detects the game is televised in your local market. That doesn’t have anything to do with ticket sales, and more to do with wanting you to watch it “natively.” I imagine the NHL doesn’t care - they want you watching the game however you can (and in fact have a tremendous interest in you paying $150 for their in-house service, so they probably don’t like blackouts since they prevent people from buying it). It’s likely the cable companies or stations that want to restrict people from finding alternatives to their products as much as possible.

There are obvious alternatives that, for whatever reason, we can't talk about.

Anyway, f*** the cable companies, who have so much power that even small message boards fear the consequences of crossing them.

 

[MinJaBen]

 

[DaveG]

Why do you think it is the cable companies that enforce the geo-restrictions? I always assumed that was a league thing to protect ticket sales.

It may have started out as such, but with the change the past couple decades that live sports are now the only reason to have cable we're at the point where it has to be protectionism negotiated by the tv companies. The biggest thing the leagues need to realize is that they can cut out the middle man and profit like hell from it.

 

[Lempo]

I think there’s two reasons for blackout restrictions.

Back in the day it was fashionable to black out footballs game in the local market unless the game sold out, so I think that’s what you’re talking about.

But it blacks out anything on NHL.tv if it detects the game is televised in your local market. That doesn’t have anything to do with ticket sales, and more to do with wanting you to watch it “natively.” I imagine the NHL doesn’t care - they want you watching the game however you can (and in fact have a tremendous interest in you paying $150 for their in-house service, so they probably don’t like blackouts since they prevent people from buying it). It’s likely the cable companies or stations that want to restrict people from finding alternatives to their products as much as possible.

They both are in cahoots for that to happen: the selling point the League has on the broadcast rights for the cable companies is that the cable company gets to service (=charge) the local (=~primary) audience. Hence the NHL tv blackouts.

NHL does want your b2c customership for NHL tv, but even more they want the cable company b2b customership for the television rights.

I would guess there is some tug and pull between the league and the cable companies over how hard the league should try stop the VPN users in the cable company service area.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

It may have started out as such, but with the change the past couple decades that live sports are now the only reason to have cable we're at the point where it has to be protectionism negotiated by the tv companies. The biggest thing the leagues need to realize is that they can cut out the middle man and profit like hell from it.

The only question left is, what percentage of their money do they receive from bundling, and can they replicate that revenue?

At some point, due to many factors -- demographic changes, kids watching Twitch instead of TV, 5G, the cable companies acting like dicks -- the percentage of cord cutters will be great enough that the major sports can simply pull the switch and say "$10/mo., no blackouts" and collect the majority of their revenue that way. I honestly think that they'd already be doing precisely that if not for market/regulatory capture in various forms.

It will happen at some point though, and when it happens, the leverage instantly flips... and the cable companies know it. Which is why they're raking in every single shekel from their dying industry. They know the end is coming, and they no longer care about goodwill; they care about fleecing the suckers that are left.

 

[DaveG]

The only question left is, what percentage of their money do they receive from bundling, and can they replicate that revenue?

At some point, due to many factors -- demographic changes, kids watching Twitch instead of TV, 5G, the cable companies acting like dicks -- the percentage of cord cutters will be great enough that the major sports can simply pull the switch and say "$10/mo., no blackouts" and collect the majority of their revenue that way. I honestly think that they'd already be doing precisely that if not for market/regulatory capture in various forms.

It will happen at some point though, and when it happens, the leverage instantly flips... and the cable companies know it. Which is why they're raking in every single shekel from their dying industry. They know the end is coming, and they no longer care about goodwill; they care about fleecing the suckers that are left.

Even more surprising to me is that the networks aside from ESPN (and I'm not sure if you need a cable provider or not to watch main ESPN games on plus, I think you do) haven't really pushed out streaming services with more to offer. Fox Sports especially with how they're being dropped could make bank by going "OK, subscribe to Fox Sports Go, get all the games, FS1, FS2, no broadcast region blocks, no provider needed".

 

[LostInaLostWorld]

Agreeing with you Navin on alot of it.

But one of the things we are seeing is the fracturing of airing rights ala Disney and all who are starting their own streaming services. If you have a household of kids, a wife who watches Hallmark and you stream 2 sports events at a time suddenly you are paying for a bunch of individual services which add up. Like I said above, to get the Canes its either Hulu with some new streaming hardware at $54 or whatever added to my Spectrum Internet or for $20 more I get the DVR box from Spectrum and the few channels I ever watch plus the crap.

And there is a reason why the cable companies have been turning into major ISPs.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Agreeing with you Navin on alot of it.

But one of the things we are seeing is the fracturing of airing rights ala Disney and all who are starting their own streaming services. If you have a household of kids, a wife who watches Hallmark and you stream 2 sports events at a time suddenly you are paying for a bunch of individual services which add up. Like I said above, to get the Canes its either Hulu with some new streaming hardware at $54 or whatever added to my Spectrum Internet or for $20 more I get the DVR box from Spectrum and the few channels I ever watch plus the crap.

And there is a reason why the cable companies have been turning into major ISPs.

Yep. Hard to say no to kids. Then again, my father refused to buy cable at all for most of the 80s, so not impossible, lol. "Read a book you little tyrants!"

 

[NotOpie]

However, I have a hard time believing they're so obsessed with the leverage of a monopoly of sorts that they lose sight of cord cutting and what that really represents.

....not obsessed...it just is. The bought and own the rights to a specific set of sports content. Over time, content is truly king....hence Netflix, Amazon, Apple, HBO, etc. all producing their own content.

The reason the cable companies are squeezing now is because when 5G actually arrives, the game is over. Laying last-mile cable is only going to get more expensive, and building more antennas will only get cheaper.

The toll road moves from wired to wireless essentially.

But it blacks out anything on NHL.tv if it detects the game is televised in your local market. That doesn’t have anything to do with ticket sales, and more to do with wanting you to watch it “natively.”

Rights to broadcast the sporting events are "sold" by the leagues. Those rights carry a certain set of restrictions to make it financially viable for the TV stations or rights holders. The right to restrict is one of those rights.

FWIW when PlayStation cut PSVue, I switched to Hulu Live and I've been pretty happy with it

Can you travel with it? In other words if I'm in Chicago on business, can I watch a Canes game on my laptop/tablet? Or am I restricted to Chicago content?

protectionism negotiated by the tv companies.

....what he said...

They know the end is coming, and they no longer care about goodwill; they care about fleecing the suckers that are left.

As I said before, there is so little creativity and understanding of creative destruction in the entertainment and media industries as to almost be comical.

 

[garnetpalmetto]

Yep. Hard to say no to kids. Then again, my father refused to buy cable at all for most of the 80s, so not impossible, lol. "Read a book you little tyrants!"

Uh...Hank...did we actually have the same father growing up? We had cable for a little while growing up and then we got hit with a rate hike and he returned the cable box in a hurry. 5 or 6 year old me was devastated at the loss of the USA Cartoon Express.

....not obsessed...it just is. The bought and own the rights to a specific set of sports content. Over time, content is truly king....hence Netflix, Amazon, Apple, HBO, etc. all producing their own content.



The toll road moves from wired to wireless essentially.



Rights to broadcast the sporting events are "sold" by the leagues. Those rights carry a certain set of restrictions to make it financially viable for the TV stations or rights holders. The right to restrict is one of those rights.



Can you travel with it? In other words if I'm in Chicago on business, can I watch a Canes game on my laptop/tablet? Or am I restricted to Chicago content?



....what he said...



As I said before, there is so little creativity and understanding of creative destruction in the entertainment and media industries as to almost be comical.

That's a good question that I've not had the chance to explore yet. I can't recall if I tried to watch a game when we were in Greenville, SC last month. I can confirm in September when I have a conference in Chicago.

 

[geehaad]

Yep. Hard to say no to kids. Then again, my father refused to buy cable at all for most of the 80s, so not impossible, lol. "Read a book you little tyrants!"

Same here, lived through it.

Reminds me of this bit from Mulaney:

 

[Lempo]

Uh...Hank...did we actually have the same father growing up? We had cable for a little while growing up and then we got hit with a rate hike and he returned the cable box in a hurry. 5 or 6 year old me was devastated at the loss of the USA Cartoon Express.

I was well past 30 when my life was turned worse by my pay TV operator unannouncedly replacing Nickelodeon with Nick Jr.

"I don't care about Nick Jr "being better fit" for your younger watchers! Where's my Big Time Rush!"

 

[SvechneJerk]

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

I was well past 30 when my life was turned worse by my pay TV operator unannouncedly replacing Nickelodeon with Nick Jr.

"I don't care about Nick Jr "being better fit" for your younger watchers! Where's my Big Time Rush!"

Actually cackling

 

[AD Skinner]

I had rabbit ears my entire childhood. My dad had hooked up cable maybe a month after I moved out

 

[The Faulker 27]

Takes me back to the scrambled cinemax days.

 

[geehaad]

Takes be back to the scrambled cinemax days.

Or better.

 

[hblueridgegal]

From Variety:

YouTube TV customers for now still have access to Fox Sports-branded regional sports networks and YES Network, after Google agreed to a temporary contract extension with Sinclair Broadcast Group while the two sides try to hammer out a new distribution deal.
YouTube TV’s carriage deal for the Fox RSNs and YES had been set to expire Friday at midnight ET, and YouTube had previously said it would drop the sports channels on Saturday, Feb. 29 after failing to reach a renewal with Sinclair, which acquired the 21 sports nets and a stake in YES Network from Disney last year.
The TeamYouTube account on Twitter said in several updates Friday night and Saturday morning that it agreed to a temporary extension with Sinclair to keep the Fox RSNs and YES available during deal talks. “We’re waiting for an update on the agreement we’re working on with them,” TeamYouTube said in one tweet.
YouTube previously confirmed that it would not cut the price of the $50-per-month TV package in the event the Fox RSNs went dark. “We don’t have plans to lower the cost at this time – this change is a reflection of the rising cost of sports content,” the Google-owned video service said. A Sinclair rep said Thursday that the broadcaster had offered YouTube TV “the best terms under which their competitors carry our regional sports networks.”
Such carriage fights have been part of the pay-TV landscape for years — and sports networks in particular are the priciest properties on the dial. The YouTube-Sinclair public spat comes after Dish Network dropped the Fox RSNs from satellite and Sling TV lineups in July 2019 and Fubo TV cut them from its subscription-streaming service in January.
A Sinclair-hosted site, keepmyhometeams.com, provides info on how sports fans can switch providers if their pay-TV service has dropped the Fox RSNs. YES Network, whose owners include Sinclair, the New York Yankees and Amazon, put up its own page about the YouTube TV situation here.
YouTube TV had over 2 million subscribers at the end of 2019, according to Google. The streaming service includes 70-plus channels including ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC (with all four in 98% of U.S. markets), plus cable nets including ESPN, HGTV, TNT, AMC, Food Network, CNN and Fox News.
Sinclair acquired the 21 Fox regional sports networks from Disney, which was required to divest the RSNs as part of securing Justice Department approval of its deal for 21st Century Fox’s film and TV businesses. Under a separate pact with Disney, Sinclair acquired an interest in YES Network, which carries New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets games.
Meanwhile, Sinclair is also currently the midst of renegotiating an RSN deal with Comcast. Sinclair earlier this month launched Marquee, a new sports networks for the Chicago Cubs, for which it says it has carriage deals with more than 40 distributors including DirecTV, Charter, Hulu and AT&T TV Now.
The Sinclair-owned Fox Sports regional networks serve as the TV homes for 15 MLB teams, 17 NBA teams and 13 NHL teams. The 21 RSNs are: Fox Sports Arizona, Fox Sports Carolinas, Fox Sports Detroit, Fox Sports Florida, Fox Sports Indiana, Fox Sports Kansas City, Fox Sports Midwest, Fox Sports New Orleans, Fox Sports North, Fox Sports Ohio, Fox Sportstime Ohio, Fox Sports Oklahoma, Fox Sports Prime Ticket (L.A.), Fox Sports San Diego, Fox Sports South, Fox Sports Southeast, Fox Sports Southwest, Fox Sports Sun, Fox Sports Tennessee, Fox Sports West and Fox Sports Wisconsin.
Here’s a map from Sinclair showing the teams affiliated with the Fox RSNs:

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• FOX REGIONAL SPORTS NETWORKS
• SINCLAIR BROADCAST GROUP
• YOUTUBE TV

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[chicagoskycam]

I just signed up for YTTV and it's pretty nice. What's interesting is the Cubs are on Sinclair and you know what, I really don't give a shit if they get a deal or not but why doesn't Comcast and YTTV make this group of channels ala cart. Just charge the increase to people that really want it or at least give them the option. Maybe this group of channels does not want to be added like that... I'm not sure

I choose YTTV over Hulu because you get access to all the t.v. apps. AMC, TLC, etc. and it appears to have more on-demand. I'll never go back to cable or direct tv.

I think these Sports teams are getting all wrong. The generation that was accustomed to paying for tv bundles, contracts and cable are ageing. By putting your product behind a significant paywall you are obviously going to decrease viewers. A product you already sell advertising on! Give it 20 years at this rate and watch viewership plummet. The bulk of new tv will be streaming options.

 

[CanesFanBudMan]

Undropped

 

[The Faulker 27]

I just got back from traveling and still don't have Fox Sports Carolinas. Wonder if it's area specific.

 

[Dishface]

 

[DaveG]

Yep. I mean what's left at this point? Hulu? Because I'm sure as f*** not getting Spectrum cable.