E-Mail Address To Write MLB Executive In Charge Of MLB Extra Innings

This has nothing to do with Charlie Ergen. This is about the MLB owners. This is an important issue to a lot us. If you want to be able to keep MLB Extra Innings than just write. If you don't then don't bother.


While I don't think that this will work I think that the OP is upset at the concept of it going exclusive and the notion that the large price tag will be passed on to the DTV subs so that even they come out worse than before. While I doubt that it will work at least he is standing up for what he thinks is right.
 
Anyone have any good ideas on how to watch MLB.TV on your TV? I was thinking a media center PC with a video card that has TV out, but I'm not too sure.
 
Anyone have any good ideas on how to watch MLB.TV on your TV? I was thinking a media center PC with a video card that has TV out, but I'm not too sure.

I have it, it's nothing great, you can only use windows media player now. It does buffer alot.
 
I sent him this. Thanks for the email address:

Mr. Bowman,

Baseball is a game that inspires deep loyalty in its fans. Little kids grow up attached to a team and usually stay with that team. I cannot understand why it is not possible in this day and age to PAY A FEE to someone and be allowed to watch every game that is broadcast of that team, no matter where that viewer is located.

Blackouts that "protect" a local team do nothing in reality because the people who would be subscribing to the "foriegn" package are not going to be watching the local team anyway. All that happens is that people lose interest in baseball.

It is so frustrating and difficult, especially with more and more teams starting their own networks, for a fan to watch his or her teams. Half of the time, even though the game may be in the local area, the fan can't see it because the local cable or satellite provider does not carry that station.

For example, here in Connecticut, we are "claimed" by the Mets, Yankees, and Red Sox. However, our cable company decides which games we can see. An ESPN game gets blacked out even if a viewer can get ESPN but can not receive YES, SNY, or NESN! Why?? Games on local stations in NYC and Boston are not available to us if we pay for "Extra Innings" because we are in the local area, yet we cannot access Ch 9, Ch 11, or Ch 38 to see the game "locally".

It's just crazy. Instead of a package like "EI", or maybe as an additional package, viewers should be able to buy "Team Packages" that bring the viewer EVERY game that is televised, even if it's on local, cable, or Network. People will pay. Fans will pay. I would pay. And of course, there would be commercials as well.

I am sure this will happen some day, but by then we'll all be dead.

Thanks
 
I hate to say it, but MLB is dead. It is only a matter of time, unless they seriously pull their heads out of their asses. No one is a bigger fan of baseball than me. MLB is mired down in "old school" thinking and still believes it is "America's pastime". NFL has snatched this title from MLB I'm afraid. MLB needs to quit living off the black and white footage of packed out stadiums filled with fedora's and hands clapping unnaturally fast. Any changes they make are only window dressing, and half-hearted. Recognizing a rich tradition is important and needed obviously, but using the past as a policy guide is not.

In addition to the dumping arcane blackout rules, limiting viewship to an exclusive contract only ensures it demise. I don't know of anyone personally that went to go watch the game at home, found out it was blacked out, and then decided to go to the game because he wanted watch his team. It just doesn't happen. He just turns on "24" instead. This is very short sighted as someone earlier mentioned, as the younger generation will be exposed to it less and less.

And to the guy who mentioned the team-only package? Clever idea, but outdated as well. Who follows a team anymore with free agency? They should have a player-only package where you see every game your guy plays in.

I guess I need to quit bitching about MLB backsliding and just accept it. I think this will be a big bust for D*.
 
This is my email. Thanks for the address. I guess MLB will get their money. I would like to know how D* thinks their bottom line will be helped by the exclusive MLB and NFL deals.

Dear Mr. Bowman
I am sure that you have heard how important exposure is for a sport to be successful. I realize money is the bottom line in your business. However, the reported deal you are about to strike with Direct TV makes the sense for only one reason. It makes you a lot of money.
At the same time you incredibly limit the people who see your product by giving exclusive rights to Direct.
You will make a lot of money at the expense of the good will of people like myself (I subscribe to Dish) who have spent a lot of money over the years on your product. This is just one more way everyone in your sport is so busy counting money that you do not even know that you have totally lost touch with your fan base.

Leo Appelbaum
St. Charles, MO
 
Well now it is all but official. Read this article from sportsjournal.com :

DirecTV talks hinge on MLB net
Spot on basic tier key to deal
By ERIC FISHER AND JOHN OURAND
Staff writers

Published January 29, 2007 : Page 01
DirecTV’s willingness to place Major League Baseball’s long-planned 24-hour TV network on an expanded basic tier has topped cable’s offer of placement on a digital sports tier and, in the process, redefined how the sport will distribute its out-of-market game broadcasts.

The Los Angeles-based satellite carrier and MLB last week were seeking to put the final touches on a seven-year, $700 million pact to give DirecTV exclusive carriage of both MLB’s Extra Innings out-of-market package as well as the league’s dedicated 24-hour network. A formal announcement of the deal, first reported last month by SportsBusiness Journal, is anticipated within the next two weeks.

Cable executives confirmed it was indeed the MLB network, provisionally titled in the past The Baseball Channel, that tilted the entire course of negotiations for the out-of-market package.

Through In Demand, cable operators told MLB they would increase their offer to $70 million per year for Extra Innings — more than three times the $20 million per year previously paid — and up to $85 million per year for exclusive rights to the property. But they would not budge on the carriage issue for the network, and MLB executives were loath to engage in the type of fight that has befallen other property-driven networks.

NBA TV has been placed on dedicated sports tiers in most cable and satellite systems. As a result, it has seen its actual reach remain a fraction of availability. The NFL Network, The mtn. and the Big Ten Network, similarly, have struggled to gain desired distribution.

DirecTV, conversely, will expand its base Total Choice package, which has close to 15 million subscribers, to include the MLB network, an outlet that has been contemplated for years and first designated with targeted funding in a 2004 owners meeting.

Cable executives last week said MLB was being short-sighted regarding the future growth of the network.

“If Major League Baseball thinks that the best way to get widespread distribution for the Major League Baseball channel is to give an exclusive to DirecTV on the Extra Innings package, they have sorely miscalculated the reaction of the rest of the world,” said one well-placed cable source.

The MLB network is not scheduled to debut until at least 2009. Programming will include some regular-season games, in particular some nonexclusive Saturday night contests that were not sold last year in the national broadcast deals with Fox and Turner. Other plans include nightly highlight shows and coverage of the Arizona Fall League, spring training and minor league games not currently covered by regional sports networks. MLB retained the right to operate its own nightly highlight show in its 2005 broadcast rights negotiations with ESPN.

Operational details such as staffing and executive leadership remain weeks, if not months, away. What’s certain is that the channel will lean heavily on the resources of MLB Advanced Media, which already operates state-of-the-art production studios from its Manhattan headquarters and generates dozens of hours per week of feature and analysis programming.

Under the DirecTV umbrella, Extra Innings would be co-marketed with MLBAM’s online out-of-market product, MLB.TV. The two offerings historically have operated separately, and perhaps in a competitive state. Starting this season, a subscription to one will enable a discount to the other.

Pricing has not been set for this season for either product, but last year, Extra Innings cost $179 and brought viewers about 60 games per week; MLB.TV cost $79 and provided every available out-of-market game. Extra Innings last year drew about 750,000 subscribers, while MLB.TV had 300,000.

Reports of MLB’s plans with DirecTV has led to the league being slammed by columnists and bloggers, decrying the sport for its apparent greed and shutting out cable customers who have subscribed to Extra Innings. MLB executives, speaking on the condition of anonymity since the deal has not been announced, said they were aware of the negative feelings but predicted that the sentiments would be short-lived.

“There will be some people unhappy at the outset, but this is exactly what the NFL, the alleged market leader, and the NCAA have already done,” said an MLB executive, referring to their DirecTV-only deals for out-of-market game packages. “This is a chance to reinvigorate the product and, with the channel, get to some underserved areas of the sport.”

MLB executives were uncertain what kind of bump MLB.TV will get this year from displaced cable subscribers of Extra Innings. The internal expectations for 2007 are for DirecTV to hold on to its base of Extra Innings subscribers — about 300,000 last year — and then pick up about half of the former cable subscribers to the offering. From there, the goal is to sharply build up interest in Extra Innings through extensive promotion and DirecTV’s increased presence as a leading outlet for sports programming.

For DirecTV, a deal with MLB would follow last week’s announcement of an extension with CBS for NCAA men’s basketball tournament coverage. Those offerings add to DirecTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket powerhouse and its NASCAR HotPass service that is scheduled to debut next month.

MLBAM plans to distribute MLB.TV this season at a much higher rate of resolution in a long-planned upgrade to the service. Game video will be streamed at a rate of 700 Kbps instead of the 350 Kbps to 400 Kbps rate of last year.

“This is something we’ve been working on for the better part of two years,” said Bob Bowman, MLBAM chief executive. “The difference in quality, particularly on larger monitors, is going to be huge.”

MLBAM also will tweak its Mosiac product, an add-on functionality to MLB.TV. Mosiac allows for viewing of up to six games simultaneously, and for the first time, fans will be able to make their own choices of which six games to place in Mosiac. Another change will enable variable screen sizes within the multigame viewing platform.
 
Wow. An article with numbers...

It was stated earlier that each team in MLB received about $2 million. For 30 teams, that means that is about $60 million paid for the package amongst all providers.

In Demand paid one-third of that according to the above article. That means In Demand provided about one-third of the total subscribers, or about 250,000.

DirecTV provided 300,000 subscriber. That leaves Dish Network with about 200,000.

These are interesting numbers. And it seems that MLB was more concerned with starting their own network, and tied it to Extra Innings.
 
Thanks John for the email address. I borrowed part of your letter and made it into a slam against using D* instead of DISH or cable. Great Points! Yeah the outskirts of the NYC area have really bad blackout problems. I just switched to DISH last week -- from cable. How convenient. However, I have 'moved'...solving my baseball problem and also my touchy Fox HD reception problem. DVR's are great!
 
“This is a chance to reinvigorate the product and, with the channel, get to some underserved areas of the sport.”

B.S., this is just another nail in the coffin for MLB, for them to compare with NFL is a joke.
 
Sen. Kerry opposed to MLB's 'Extra Innings'-DirecTV deal
Jan. 31, 2007
CBS SportsLine.com wire reports

WASHINGTON -- A proposal to make Major League Baseball's "Extra Innings" exclusive to DirecTV has drawn the ire of Sen. John Kerry.

The Massachusetts Democrat said he plans to raise the matter with the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission at a hearing Thursday.

"I am opposed to anything that deprives people of reasonable choices," Kerry said in a statement. "In this day and age, consumers should have more choices - not fewer. I'd like to know how this serves the public -- a deal that will force fans to subscribe to DirecTV in order to tune in to their favorite players. A Red Sox fan ought to be able to watch their team without having to switch to DirecTV."

"Extra Innings" is a service that allows viewers to watch games involving teams not in their local markets. In past years, the service has been available through a range of providers, but a pending deal would make the service only available to DirecTV subscribers.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is a scheduled witness at Thursday's hearing of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
 
This Kerry move is getting a LOT of press. I just hope Martin doesn't buffalo him into letting it drop.
I wonder if this hearing is on CSPAN tomorrow. I'll post back if it's on the schedule.
 
Sen. Kerry to Fight DIRECTV 'Extra Innings'

http://www.tvpredictions.com/kerry020107.htm

Democratic senator says a proposed deal with Major League Baseball would be unfair to cable viewers.

By Phillip Swann

Washington, D.C. (February 1, 2007) -- DIRECTV is close to landing an exclusive deal to carry Major League Baseball's 'Extra Innings' package. But Sen. John Kerry still hopes to knock the plan out of the park.

The Massachusetts Democrat plans to raise concerns about the proposed deal today during a Senate subcommittee hearing in which FCC Chairman Kevin Martin will testify.

"I am opposed to anything that deprives people of reasonable choices. In this day and age, consumers should have more choices -- not fewer," Kerry said in a statement Wednesday. "A Red Sox fan ought to be able to watch their team without having to switch to DIRECTV."

The DIRECTV-MLB deal is expected to begin this season and will likely allow DIRECTV to air a large number of games in High-Definition TV. The satcaster is planning to expand its high-def capacity in the second half of this year and has been searching for programming partners to fill the space.

DIRECTV has offered regional MLB high-def broadcasts in the past as part of its Extra Innings package. However, the greater HD capacity should allow the satcaster to deliver those games nationally.

The 'Extra Innings' pay package, which includes dozens of out of market baseball games each week, has been available to 75 million cable subscribers for several years. But if DIRECTV gets the exclusive rights, it will only be available to the satcaster's 15 million viewers.
 

National Geographic hd

Howard TV on Dish Network?

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