Are RSN's worth $5.99

[bha19]

I live in Southern New Jersey. I get locals from Philadelphia. Why don't I get Rsn's from Philadelphia. I really don't care, since I am a Pittsburgh fan. Would the Rsn package help me at all, like getting FSPITTSBURGH. I know all the games are probably blacked out, but what content would I get.

bha19

 

[rcbridge]

It's a shame that the Philadelphia RSN is non existent!! (Dish and Direct).

If you subscribe to the RSN's you won't get any pro games and it is hit and miss with the college games, so is it worth it I don't think so!!
Others may disagree with me.

 

[odbrv]

If you like college sports, it definately is worth it. Throughout the college football season I received 10-15 additional games. The basketball season is also rich in out of market college hoops. I also pick up college and non NHL pro hockey. Of course, there is out of market college soccer, volleyball, baseball , softball, lacrosse, rowing , etc. In addition, many highschool football games have been on, especially the state championship games. Tonight on FOXN 436 is highschool hockey. On foxpt 428 at 10pm cst is a repeat of an earlier( 6pm cst ) Pittsburg vs Boston NHL game. The same game is repeated on NESN at 11pm cst. The repeats are usually not blacked out. Foxnw 426 has college hoops Loyola at Seattle. Tonight is a light sports night.

The out of market games help many of us who were brought up in another part of the country to see familiar teams that you would not get without the sports package.

 

[terpsmandan]

I signed up for it so that I could get Comcast Mid Atlantic and the first night that I tried to tune in a Maryland basketball game it was blacked out. I turned it off the next day. Too many blackouts of games other than pro.

 

[fhsucade07]

I live in Southern New Jersey. I get locals from Philadelphia. Why don't I get Rsn's from Philadelphia. I really don't care, since I am a Pittsburgh fan. Would the Rsn package help me at all, like getting FSPITTSBURGH. I know all the games are probably blacked out, but what content would I get.

bha19

I think it's worth it. I live in North Carolina and, for some bizarre reason, I no longer receive my alternate sports channels. And, since I get four MLB teams, I used to watch the Reds on one of those alternate channels. However, since I have the Multi-Sport pack, I'll be getting FSN Cincinnati anyways. The Hurricanes and Bobcats are another problem, though.

Regardless, you are correct in thinking that most of the professional sports will be blacked out. However, I have had no problem whatsoever viewing ANY NHL replay. So, if you don't mind catching the game after it has been off for a few hours, you'll be able to see many NHL games. And, for some bizarre reason, I've been clear in all Denver Nuggets NBA games (the replay that is) that are shown on Altitude. And, again, since I have all of a sudden lost my alternate channels, I've been becoming a Nuggets fan for NBA.

A few other things to note are that you'll also receive the NBA Network, NHL Network and Big Ten Network (which are all important to me). You'll be in the clear on the NBA Network on all professional games unless it is your local team playing (in your case, I'd assume it's the 76ers). You are also in the clear on the Hockey Night in Canada professional NHL games. I've also added all of my RSNs that will show local games to my favorites list and, since I'm also a University of Arizona fan, I've found the package also worthwhile for FSN Arizona (most college sports aren't blacked out although I have heard the SEC blacks out content if you are not in their "local" area). Finally, I have a brother that lives in the Braves territory (with that being the only MLB team he can receive live in the Multi-Sport package) but he is ALWAYS in the clear on Orioles and Nationals replays on MASN. I can't really speak much on this as I am in their territory anyways...

 

[fhsucade07]

I also wanted to add that I had a lot of luck last year (with MLB games) after the blackout had expired. The MLB blackouts are for three hours but I could often just surf through the channels and see the last two innings of many MLB games after the three hour period was over.

 

[HDRoberts]

It's a shame that the Philadelphia RSN is non existent!! (Dish and Direct).

Correct. This is why you don't get the Philly RSN, owned by Comcast.

The Cable TV Consumer Protection & Competition Act of 1992 required vertically integrated channels (i.e. situation like this where the cable operator owned the channel) to be offered to competitors, including DBS, to prevent preferential treatment. However, a rather large "loophole" was left: If a station is exclusively distributed terrestrially (not via satellite), it is exempt. That is the case with CSN Philly.