Blackout question ch 140 espn (phillies & mets)

[stardust3]

Hey guys I have a customer who has called me about 4 or 5 times over the past couple weeks about "Not available in your area" message. I live in the same zip less than 5 miles from this guy & I get the ball game, watching as I type. Another friend of his who is also a dish customer lives about 3 miles the other direction in same zip & he gets game also(37643). I have called dish numerous times on his behalf since we are the retailer that signed him up & installed it. Dish has been no help what so ever. Their response is "It's blacked out there is not anything we can do". This is not a major metropolitan area, more podunk than anything & we are right in the middle of this dma. Any thoughts?

 

[danb]

It was blacked out for me too. I live in Erie,PA. No where near Philly or NYC. Not that I cared to watch it, but I did think it was strange nonetheless.

 

[garys]

It was blacked out for me too. I live in Erie,PA. No where near Philly or NYC. Not that I cared to watch it, but I did think it was strange nonetheless.

It usually has to do with local channel in your area having priority over ESPN. It doesn't matter whether you receive the channel or not, national channel gets blacked out.

 

[thedamaja]

It usually has to do with local channel in your area having priority over ESPN. It doesn't matter whether you receive the channel or not, national channel gets blacked out.

When this happens for me it's always some local station that is only available in SD.

To the OP, that is odd that you are in the same zip and don't have an issue. I'm pretty sure the zip is what determines the black out for E*.

Seems like the only thing you can do is confirm that his service address is correct with E* and maybe get an activation hit sent to the receiver.

 

[wetz73]

Nationally televised games are only subject to blackout if carried locally on an RSN or another affiliate. Our local MyN affiliate picks up The FSMW Sunday afternoon Cardinal games every week, and on cable they are blacked out. On E*, that affiliate is not carried, so while I can get the games in HD, the cable customers can't because our MyN is SD (horrible quality too!).

 

[ryon_m1]

Nationally televised games are only subject to blackout if carried locally on an RSN or another affiliate. Our local MyN affiliate picks up The FSMW Sunday afternoon Cardinal games every week, and on cable they are blacked out. On E*, that affiliate is not carried, so while I can get the games in HD, the cable customers can't because our MyN is SD (horrible quality too!).

On the ESPN issue...

ESPN does not have exclusive rights for Monday and Wednesday Night Baseball telecasts, just as TBS does not exclusive rights for Sunday afternoon broadcasts. So when you have this situation, If you are normally able to watch the game on a local RSN then the national feed will be blacked out, except in a few weird situations. One of these situations around here is when the Cardinals are on ESPN for Monday or Wednesday night and also on FSNMW and you have Comcast Cable. 2 years ago FSN expanded their schedule of games and in order for the satellite and cable companies to be able to show them, the companies would have to pay extra for these games. Every company so far has done this except Comcast, so the game is blacked out on FSN for that game and the fans are SOL unless there is a national feed like ESPN then that game is not blacked out for them.

On the Cardinals weekend issue...

FSNMW doesn't actually carry any of the games on Sunday's, those are all taken care of by KSDK 5 out of STL and retransmitted to local affileates to form the Cardinals Television Network. Unfortunately many satellite customers cannot receive these games because these games are on a less popular station, such as MyNetwork or CW. And it is not uncommon for these games to have some poor picture quality, but that happened when they were on KPLR and thats just part of it.

 

[stardust3]

It usually has to do with local channel in your area having priority over ESPN. It doesn't matter whether you receive the channel or not, national channel gets blacked out.

What about 3 different dish customers in the same zip. 2 out of 3 get it & 1 does not. I am really confused

 

[Laddyboy]

What about 3 different dish customers in the same zip. 2 out of 3 get it & 1 does not. I am really confused

This is odd if the BO is usually controlled by zip code. As someone else suggested maybe E* has the sub at a different address. Something seems wrong. You will probably have to escalate beyond the first level support. I'd go to tech support right off the bat, bypassing the normal CSRs, and up the support ladder from there until the problem is solved or you get an explanation. I don't see how it is possible to have three subs in the same zip code and DMA with different BO rules in effect.

 

[wetz73]

Maybe "movers"?

 

[smokey982]

It usually has to do with local channel in your area having priority over ESPN. It doesn't matter whether you receive the channel or not, national channel gets blacked out.

I have always found that to be the case. But about two weeks ago (I don't remember the day or who they were playing), but I noticed the Braves game was on ESPN. I tried to watch but it was "blacked out" in my area. So I did some channel surfing to find the game and it was not on any other channel either. I tried all my locals, TBS, and both RSN's in my area.

 

[stardust3]

This is odd if the BO is usually controlled by zip code. As someone else suggested maybe E* has the sub at a different address. Something seems wrong. You will probably have to escalate beyond the first level support. I'd go to tech support right off the bat, bypassing the normal CSRs, and up the support ladder from there until the problem is solved or you get an explanation. I don't see how it is possible to have three subs in the same zip code and DMA with different BO rules in effect.

The address is correct, I personally set his account up for him. I had talked to 3 different people at tech support last night. I may as well been talking to the wall with 2 of them. 1 of them said they would make a report and pass it on to engineering, but that's the same thing a tech support person told me last week. I also don't see how it's possible, but it is happening. I can get better and straight answers on here than I can calling tech support. Go figure.............

 

[Laddyboy]

The address is correct, I personally set his account up for him. I had talked to 3 different people at tech support last night. I may as well been talking to the wall with 2 of them. 1 of them said they would make a report and pass it on to engineering, but that's the same thing a tech support person told me last week. I also don't see how it's possible, but it is happening. I can get better and straight answers on here than I can calling tech support. Go figure.............

Try the engineering department yourself. I've been connected to them when I had receiver problems. There's also the CEO office via email or phone. I'm sure several of us have the number but we don't post it online. You can probably also get the number by doing a Dish Chat online. That's where I originally obtained the number. Just ask for contact number for the Exec Offices since they are unable to resolve your problem. The email address is *CEO*at*Echostar.com*. I'd call instead of emailing.

 

[edpkp81]

I have always found that to be the case. But about two weeks ago (I don't remember the day or who they were playing), but I noticed the Braves game was on ESPN. I tried to watch but it was "blacked out" in my area. So I did some channel surfing to find the game and it was not on any other channel either. I tried all my locals, TBS, and both RSN's in my area.

It may not be on locally on Dish Network but is there an RSN that the local cable companies and/or Direct have that carries the Braves in your area (perhaps Peachtree)? It's that way here when the Yankees are on ESPN. It's blacked out because it's carried on Yes Network but Dish doesn't carry Yes Network so there's no way to watch it.

 

[alcheez]

Exactly. The blackout rules don't care whether a local broadcast is available from the TV provider in question, only whether there IS a local broadcast. No satellitte customers in the Phillies blackout area were able to see the game on ESPN last night, because CSN Philly had it, and Comcast won't make that available to sat providers.