They should have done this for the entire season. But Dodgers upper level management is a bunch of cheap vindictive sticks in the mud who think they can force Dodger fans into buying what THEY demand they buy.
If I lived in that market and was a Dodger's fan, just on principle, I would boycott the telecasts...
Case and point; When the NBA awarded Bob Johnson the second time around franchise for Charlotte( The arrogant SOB named the team after himself) the first order of business was the local TV deal. Johnson miscalculated by a wide margin when he put his games on digital TV only. At that time, most Time Warner customers were on analog. The bump in price to digital was significant. Consequently, viewership was low.