Dish Network Statement on MLB

I hesitated and hesitated to signup for Premium MLB.TV after hearing so many complaints from those that had subscribed, but when opening day arrived, and Dish left all it's loyal MLB Extra Inning subs without any hope, I toook the plunge and signed up for the monthly subscription at $19.95/month (and a 5 day free trial to boot in case it was really as bad as some users said). Well, any of you who are still hesitating, don't wait any longer. It's very watchable, with an occassional rebuffer maybe once an hour for a second or two, the PQ at 700 kbps is much better than I had expected, and the Mosaic feature showing 6 games at once, is an added feauture of interest, although it wasn't working to well until today, when it worked perfectly for me. And to make it even better, I'm saving approximately $40 over the cost of the MLB Extra Innings package when it was on Dish,----so, all in all, I couldn't be happier.

How soon after the game can you watch the archives? The website says not until 6am eastern the day after but is that actually the case?
 
Yeah Dish balks at adding a 30 cent channel that actually is gonna be really cool because baseball is America's pasttime yet we're stuck with lame additions like Current Tv and Sleuth and NFL Network which has 8 live games a YEAR, A YEAR! The new MLB channel is going to have like 50-100 games a season I am hearing. Maybe even more than 100.
 
Yeah Dish balks at adding a 30 cent channel that actually is gonna be really cool because baseball is America's pasttime yet we're stuck with lame additions like Current Tv

You got that right, what of a waste of bandwidth. I don't think anyone watches that channel except the people who make those lame videos.
 
Here is my oppinion. Dish needs to sell MLB EI more than what they have in the past. It really comes down to marketing as we all know dish had a so so marketing. They havent marketed the product like how Directv or cable has. That is why the numbers are so off. This is how you get the numbers up while striking a fair deal. Offer new and existing coustomers half the season for free with a year commitment and reduced price on mlb. You take the hit finacally now, and recoupe with the commitments. Makes too much sence. 2nd for those who dont want the commitement or those who are allready locked in the commitment charge them the full price for the EI. If you market it the right way then you will gain subscribers and EI subs in the process.. Its just plain commen sence. If you cant do it then fire the entire marketing dept and hire me. Guarenteed I will make you more money than what your current marketing deparment has.

If you want to be in Marketing, you need a better spell checker.

But on the Good side, I thank a fellow Veteran for your service!!!
fred
 
I gave up and ordered mlb.tv and a PC-to-TV converter. All that costs less than Extra Innings would have cost.
 
Yeah Dish balks at adding a 30 cent channel that actually is gonna be really cool because baseball is America's pasttime yet we're stuck with lame additions like Current Tv and Sleuth and NFL Network which has 8 live games a YEAR, A YEAR! The new MLB channel is going to have like 50-100 games a season I am hearing. Maybe even more than 100.

First off, the problem was not MLB channel carriage, it was the MLB's financial demands given the number of Dish EI subs last season. Secondly, Dish has not passed on offering the MLB channel; it does not even debut until 2009.
 
Finally gave up and signed up with Direct for the MLB package. I got the cheapest package just so I could have the EI package and will see what developes with Direct over the next year as far as HD programming goes. I really don't want to give up my Dish for now because I am quite happy with HD programming they provide. My wife keeps talking about divorce if she doesn't get her basball real quick! It seems Dish keeps "dishing" out the same rhetoric about EI ,that it was getting frustrating and I needed to do something now. I would hope that something can be worked out in the near future, but for now I will keep Direct for baseball even if Dish makes a deal with MLB.
 
It goes without saying that it wouldnt make sense for a business to turn down a deal if it resulted in a substantial profit. If not then there is no reason to make the deal... unless it would make up it up with profits elsewhere that wouldnt exist otherwise. D* is hoping for this to offset the cost of EI. A pretty big gamble if you ask me.

Im just curious. If after D* and MLB made the exclusive deal, when MLB then made EI available to others after the complaints, could D* in turn argue that MLB was not living up to their part of the deal and void it? Assuming they even wanted to? If I read correctly MLB was trying to renegotiate with D*. Maybe I misread.
 
IceRunner

Where did you find an inexpensive PC to TV converter and what is the quality of the picture. Thanks.
 
The quality of the picture on my laptop and desktop is fine.

I bought a " Grandtec Gez-1000 Pc-To-Video Cable" from buy.com for a total cost (including shipping, tax, etc.) of $40.39.

I'll just put my laptop next to my TV when I watch games.

If you want to test the quality, mlb.tv has a free five-day trial period going.
 
Keeping Opinions to Self

People still watch baseball? what a joke

It's people like you who seem to have a corner on sports and whatever people like to watch, unless it's what you like it's just a joke. YES, I still like to watch baseball and do not intend to put down whatever you like to watch or percieve as the only sport worth watching. Get a life!
 
The number of MLB EI subscribers on Dish Network is 55,000.

I did a rough calculation and that is one-tenth the number of Dish Network subscribers who watch repeats of Seinfeld on Dish Network.

You can bet that no one sits in a room for hours in discussions about reruns of Seinfeld.

So, anyone who thinks that they were let down by Dish Network, because they could not get a reasonable deal on MLB EI, is being silly.
 
The number of MLB EI subscribers on Dish Network is 55,000.

I did a rough calculation and that is one-tenth the number of Dish Network subscribers who watch repeats of Seinfeld on Dish Network.

You can bet that no one sits in a room for hours in discussions about reruns of Seinfeld.

So, anyone who thinks that they were let down by Dish Network, because they could not get a reasonable deal on MLB EI, is being silly.

Wait till people flock away from Dish in the next couple of years because it has raised the white flag on sports subscriptions. EI is just the first step. You think people who like NHL, NFL and NBA subcriptions are gonna commit to Dish for any length of time when their commitment runs out? Not me. NO confidence in them.
 
Don't toy with me Mr. G. You know full well that I am an out of market Red Sox fan and that I am going through pretty serious withdrawal symptoms at this point. Getting my hopes up only to see them dashed is cruel and inhuman. besides the sOX usually take care of that for me.

Except this year you have your hopes crushed in April instead of September.

... speaking as a fellow out-of-market Red Sox fan.
 
Wait till people flock away from Dish in the next couple of years because it has raised the white flag on sports subscriptions. EI is just the first step. You think people who like NHL, NFL and NBA subcriptions are gonna commit to Dish for any length of time when their commitment runs out? Not me. NO confidence in them.

It will depend on what happens when the next major sports package comes up for renewal. Will the leagues offer a fair agreement or go the MLB route and demand everyones first born? Unfortunately I think its the latter because MLB just raised the bar very high and all the others will try to follow. Except they wont have the same anti-trust protections. A very big unknown.
 
It will depend on what happens when the next major sports package comes up for renewal. Will the leagues offer a fair agreement or go the MLB route and demand everyones first born? Unfortunately I think its the latter because MLB just raised the bar very high and all the others will try to follow. Except they wont have the same anti-trust protections. A very big unknown.

Note that the MLB contract flew well under the radar screen until around February. Dish continued to advertise the EI package even though they had no contract with MLB to offer it. I think the average fan isn't going to want to bother researching which pro sports packages are up for renewal and when. One thing for sure though....DirecTV is committed and have been for quite awhile.

The anti-trust exemption for baseball or any other pro sport has not been seriously contested. If there was ever the case for that to happen it would have happened just now......and looked what happened.....Dish is the only major carrier left out in the cold. How can revoking anti-trust be possibly justified.

Dish hasn't differentiated itself from DirecTV enough IMO to continue with them. Well, only in one area and that advantage is close to being gone.....the HD DVR. Voom is pretty much obsolete as it is pretty much just a show channel for HD and just about everything in prime time on the major networks is HD now. Dish should have promoted the pro sports packages more than it did....and now its going to come back to bite 'em.
 
I for one would like to see dish get rid of all there sports packs and use that space for more hd movie channels .
 
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I just wish Dish would sh*t or get off the pot! I'm ready to go with XM since I got one for the car. I can get a portable receiver for about $200 plus $6 a month programming. Don't want to spend that if I can get it on TV though, missing seeing my Cubbies stink it up already!
 

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