Master Index of Archived Threads
MLB on FOX, 5/12/12
| bmfc1 May 11 2012 05:32 AM |
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Are you getting the Mets game tomorrow on FOX? 30.3% of the country will see the red-hot Mets. Remember that the ridiculous blackout rule prevents the showing of games on mlb.tv and Extra Innings while FOX is showing a game.
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| G-Fafif May 11 2012 06:49 AM Re: MLB on FOX, 5/12/12 |
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Two things jump out at me (besides the Marlins hosting a Saturday afternoon game which is pretty rare, let alone on Fox):
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| attgig May 11 2012 12:36 PM Re: MLB on FOX, 5/12/12 |
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great... i think i'm in the O's territory and not the Nat's territory, so I'm getting the AL game.
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| bmfc1 May 11 2012 12:59 PM Re: MLB on FOX, 5/12/12 |
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attgig--Wait until the evening of June 23 when the Mets are playing the MFYs but those of us in the Washington and Baltimore areas will not get that game because FOX is also showing Nationals-Orioles.
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| Ceetar May 11 2012 01:02 PM Re: MLB on FOX, 5/12/12 |
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when's the deal up? not that I have faith in them coming up with a better arrangement.
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| bmfc1 May 11 2012 01:09 PM Re: MLB on FOX, 5/12/12 |
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End of 2013... and you're right about not having faith--the ridiculous MLB blackout rules (where, e.g., the games of six teams are blacked out on mlb.tv and Extra Innings in Las Vegas) have existed for years and Selig has done nothing about it.
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| Ceetar May 11 2012 01:16 PM Re: MLB on FOX, 5/12/12 |
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it's early for this, but I'd be all in for a campaign against these things at the end of next year, including refusing to watch Fox baseball at all. Not that I think much would come of it.
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| Frayed Knot May 11 2012 01:20 PM Re: MLB on FOX, 5/12/12 |
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This discussion went on in last week's FOX thread and yet we continue to act as if this is something Selig could just make disappear with a wave of his hand.
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| Ceetar May 11 2012 01:40 PM Re: MLB on FOX, 5/12/12 |
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The wish is for a better deal on MLB's part, and it's not absurd. It's about freely being able to access all of major league baseball games, and highlights, and all that goes along with it. How exactly does it hurt Fox for me to be able to access highlights while they're airing the game? particularly of the game I'm watching? But even so, do they really think that the ability for me to click on a highlight of a Pujols home run on my phone/computer is going to make or break my decision to watch the game? Why should I be at the whim of Fox's "Okay lets show you some highlights from other games" which actually detracts from the quality of the broadcast they're giving anyway? The whole idea of "If you want to see any baseball whatsoever you will watch what I tell you, when I tell you" is so anathema to how we consume content today. But it's about leverage. It's not about what Fox wants, it's about MLB promoting MLB. Fox wants these games for ratings, obviously, but what we (or I anyway) are asking for is that MLB stand their ground and say "You can have all of this, but..." and stop giving away our options. Demand the right to be able to air a 9th inning of a no-hitter on their own network if they want. Demand the ability to at least give us the highlights. Plenty of people are busy Saturday afternoons but would love to pull up Duda's Grand Slam on the phone while getting kids ready for little league or picking up dinner that weren't watching Fox anyway. Understand more about these rediculous blackout zones so that far flung fans, of which there are millions, are not at Fox's whim about what to watch. I'd be willing to bet that there are more fans in say Tampa Bay that would rather watch the Mets and would turn that on if they the option than Mets fans that will watch Rangers vs. Angels just becuase it's the only thing on.
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| bmfc1 May 11 2012 02:46 PM Re: MLB on FOX, 5/12/12 |
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I don't blame FOX (for this), I blame MLB which agreed to these terms when it could have dictated terms that are better for its customers. This might have cost MLB some money but I doubt it. As stated above, it doesn't really hurt FOX if attgig can watch the Mets tomorrow on mlb.tv because it's not like he's going to watch the other game on FOX. In fact, I'd argue that FOX is better off because he'd see their voluminous in-game commercials and promos. As FK suggests, it's up to Selig to dictate more fan-friendly terms in the next contract--but he won't.
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| Benjamin Grimm May 11 2012 02:50 PM Re: MLB on FOX, 5/12/12 |
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There are two different things mentioned in this conversation.
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| Ceetar May 11 2012 03:00 PM Re: MLB on FOX, 5/12/12 |
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well that's not the same as the Fox zones anyway right? That's more an MLB.tv complaint. I'm not in the know in this dept, but I have to imagine it has to do with ratings right? But should it? I mean, if they can determine you're "in the blackout area" why can't they also just show you the commercials? Give you, literally, the same stream that's being shown on SNY? I'm sure it's something murky with broadcasting stuff I don't understand, but why should SNY care if you're watching the game via the television or the computer if you're watching the same stream of content they're outputting? If anyone should be upset about this, it's the radio. If local NYers could set up their iPads in the corner of the yard next to the BBQ streaming SNY they'd only increase the number of screens on the channel, but it might decrease the radios tuned to WFAN.
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| Frayed Knot May 11 2012 03:23 PM Re: MLB on FOX, 5/12/12 |
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You both seem to be under the impression that this arrangement is something MLB doesn't want, or had shoved down their throats by the mean network, or overlooked the consequences of. If MLB doesn't want the exclusivity arrangement then they can certainly insist on it whenever the next negotiations come around - but they're going to have to TAKE A LOT LESS MONEY to do so, something they've never shown any intention of doing. Bud could suggest it all he wants assuming he's still around the next time this comes up but if he did I suspect the owners would pounce on him en masse like it was the end to some Wrestlemania extravaganza. The only sporting event I've ever seen to willingly take far less money than they could otherwise get in order to retain the ability to dictate terms to their broadcast partner is 'The Masters'. Oddly, though that accommodation makes for consistently great viewing, much of the outside world seems to resent them for doing so.
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| attgig May 11 2012 03:29 PM Re: MLB on FOX, 5/12/12 |
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I need to set up a slingbox in one of you'alls homes in the NY metropolitan area, so I can truly watch my mets games whenever i want...
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| Ceetar May 11 2012 05:37 PM Re: MLB on FOX, 5/12/12 |
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MLB Network too I believe. It's always about money obviously, but that doesn't mean we don't have a right to complain and argue that everyone should have access to all games. Isn't that what mlb.tv is supposedly promoting? There _are_ streams available that stream the game online if you dig, which I've never had to do.
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| Frayed Knot May 11 2012 06:10 PM Re: MLB on FOX, 5/12/12 |
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The difference being that CBS owns the rights to the whole product. The on-line stuff and the farming lesser wanted games out to other networks (some of which they own pieces of too) doesn't take away from what they do because it's all, in effect, a zero-sum game. Plus the product is very different; virtually every game in the hoops tourney is a national game and only occasionally does a local team shoot one game over all others (and when it does they've still got the audience coming or going). In the case of baseball, the networks know that interest in local broadcasts trump national ones so putting their game up against other markets - whether on regular channels, on-line, or via the EI package - will *by definition* take away from their audience and therefore the ad rates they can charge.
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| Fman99 May 11 2012 06:58 PM Re: MLB on FOX, 5/12/12 |
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I am happy for any weekend game not on WPIX. I will be watching, unlike Sunday, where I will nap in protest of not getting a Mets game aired in Syracuse on FIOS (I would be napping anyway, I need my naps or I get fussy).
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| Frayed Knot May 11 2012 07:12 PM Re: MLB on FOX, 5/12/12 |
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Well your problem (which you've explained before) is purely a local one but it's also the most frustrating because it [u:1g1s23d9]IS[/u:1g1s23d9] fixable if only someone would make a logical decision.
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| Fman99 May 12 2012 05:08 AM Re: MLB on FOX, 5/12/12 |
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Yeah, I went to the local FIOS office recently to pick up another cable box and had a lengthy discussion about this with two women who worked there. They were aware of the problem but had nothing constructive to offer me for advice. I think I need to try and go higher up the ladder.
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| bmfc1 May 12 2012 08:35 AM Re: MLB on FOX, 5/12/12 |
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The Office of the Commissioner, and other parties, are being sued for "unfairly restricting its fans' ability to watch out-of-market broadcasts in two primary ways. First, through its MLB Extra Innings cable package and MLB.tv Internet package, MLB refuses to offer fans the ability to purchase just their favorite team's games, instead requiring consumers to purchase a package including all out-of-market MLB broadcasts. Second, both the Extra Innings and MLB.tv packages blackout any games broadcast locally via a regional sports network (RSN), meaning that fans cannot use those packages to watch their local team play, but must instead purchase a cable subscription to watch the games on their local RSN."
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