ESPN Thursday Night Football Blackout or mistake?

[radiator65]

I wanted to set my DVR to record the USM/ USC game Thursday night but the Blackout notification came on the screen. How can a Thursday night primetime ESPN game that is not on another channel be blacked-out? I live in Mississippi but I thought college Prime time games were available unless its on a local channel, which its not. I am wondering if its a Tribune/ Dish mistake and it will be fixed before Thursday night.

Thanks

 

[Bobby]

It is probably scheduled to be on a local channel in Mississippi and that trumps ESPN coverage.

 

[Willh699]

yes, it has to be a Local channel in Mississippi that is carrying the game that's causing the blackout of this game on ESPN. it maybe blacked out in Mississippi and South Carolina, the states where the two teams call home.

 

[dixiedude79]

Do you live close to Hattiesburg? Games featured on espn are nationally televised and seldom shown on local networks... Pay per view is often what happens for people in MS and SC in this situation...if you check the dish tv schedule this is listed only on espn for that evening...for instance Tennessee is playing Tennessee-Martin @ Knoxville...if you don't go to the game it's pay per view only unless your out of the blackout area and have ESPN game plan...my guess is it might not be blacked out at game time

 

[radiator65]

I live in Choctaw MS, which is in East Central Ms zip: 39350. I hope that they will change it before game time. I even when to Dish website and tried the Where's my game tool but it showed that my zip code should get the game on ESPN. I have the MultiSports pack so I checked my EPG and the game is not showing on another channel. Hopefully it will be changed by game time.

 

[dvrexpander]

This blackout of channel when they can air the other team is BS.. I raised hell last year about that. The local team was on a local station which was fine, but I wanted to flip back and forth to the other game and they had it blacked out.. WTF?!?! I paid for that channel...I raised holy hell with DIsh over that no matter if it's their fault or not they should have gave me the option to watch it!!

 

[garys]

And have the FCC shut them down? I don't think Dish could afford that. There are federal penalties for providers who do not follow the FCC rules. You may pay for the channel, but nothing close to what Dish would pay if the give you what you want.

 

[chicagonettech]

In most cases, blackouts for NFL teams are based on whether or not a LOCAL STATION has a CONTRACT to carry the local team's game and, if they choose to exercises their rights to carry the game, then the game CANNOT be carried on any other network.

DISH NETWORK is NOT responsible for the blackout in this case and ESPN cannot override the local station's contract with the local team. This means that you are at the mercy of the local team, their relationship with the local station and whether or not the game us sold out 72 hours prior to the game, and, in some cases, whether or not a local station chooses to broadcast the game - superseding the rights of ESPN to carry the game and causing them to list the game as "blacked out."

While this example is specific to the NFL, many of the other sports leagues have similar blackout rules and those rules ultimately determine what can, and what cannot be broadcast, and by WHOM, in any given market. Many of those rules are subject to sell-out rules and whether or not the game(s) are sold out within a specific period prior to the game being played.

In short, just because you purchase a sports package, you are never guaranteed being able to watch a particular game. That's the dirty little secret buried within the fine print of those contracts.

NFL RULES regarding how team blackouts are calculated can be found at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackout_(broadcasting),

This post includes blackout rules for ALL sporting events.

For the complete rules regarding NFL games, you will have to scroll a little more than 1/2 way down the page.

NOTE TO MODS: YES, this is only a PARTIAL EXCERPT:


"In the NFL, any broadcaster that has a signal that hits any area within a 75-mile (120 km) radius of an NFL stadium may only broadcast a game if that game is a road game, or if the game sells out 72 hours or more before the start time for the game.[5] If sold out in less than 72 hours, or is close to being sold out by the deadline, the team can sometimes request a time extension.

Furthermore, broadcasters with NFL contracts are required to show their markets' road games. Sometimes if a game is very close to selling out, but not quite there, a broadcaster with rights to show the nearly sold out game will buy the remaining tickets (and give them to local charities) so it can broadcast the game (usually, this would involve no more than a few hundred tickets because of cost). Other teams elect to close off sections of their stadium, but cannot sell these tickets for any game that season if they choose to do so.[6]

As a result, if the home team's game is a Sunday day game both networks can air only one game each in that market. (Until 2001, this rule applied whether or not the game was blacked out, however, this was changed because some markets virtually never aired doubleheaders as a result.)

Usually, but not always, when each network can show only one game each in a market, the two stations work out between themselves which will show an early game and which will show a late game. This only affects the primary market, and not markets in a 75-mile (121 km) radius, which always get a doubleheader each Sunday.

The one exception to the rule is for the Green Bay Packers, which have two overlapping 75-mile blackout zones—one surrounding the team's stadium in Green Bay and another surrounding Milwaukee. The team's radio flagship station is in Milwaukee, and the Packers played part of their home schedule in Milwaukee from 1953 through 1994. However, blackouts do not come into play for the Packers, as they have sold out every home game in Green Bay since 1960 and have a decades-long season-ticket waiting list."

When I was working in telecom and IT for Keeshin Charter Service, what is now Coach USA, in Chicago, during the late 80s and 90s, this question came up all the time as we carried all of the visiting sports teams who came to Chicago and, while I could usually get my Dad free tickets to all of the Bears games, and the company always had season tickets to both the Cubs and Sox games, there were many times when the games were blacked out in Chicago. My Dad, a die-hard sports fan, understood the NFL broadcasting rules, but many of his friends did not and any free tickets I had were quickly grabbed up during blacked out games.

 

[dvrexpander]

And have the FCC shut them down? I don't think Dish could afford that. There are federal penalties for providers who do not follow the FCC rules. You may pay for the channel, but nothing close to what Dish would pay if the give you what you want.

You missed the point, the reason for the blackout was to get people to watch the local stations that were airing that game, Great! Iunderstand that and that is fine, problem here is they could very well just have put the other game on that's out of area to other subs where it didn't matter instead of showing a blacked out screen.

It's the reason for the blackout that they've already created but instead of blacking it out in area's that don't require it they could show another game or ANYTHING.....hell even a old game! I don't give a damn, just something on the channel that makes it worth the money you've payed for.

 

[spltfngr66]

Nothing to add to the conversation other than GO COCKS!!!

 

[MCSuckaDJ]

You missed the point, the reason for the blackout was to get people to watch the local stations that were airing that game, Great! Iunderstand that and that is fine, problem here is they could very well just have put the other game on that's out of area to other subs where it didn't matter instead of showing a blacked out screen.

It's the reason for the blackout that they've already created but instead of blacking it out in area's that don't require it they could show another game or ANYTHING.....hell even a old game! I don't give a damn, just something on the channel that makes it worth the money you've payed for.

That's probably easy for a cable company with localized programming and near-unlimited bandwidth... but take into consideration what a national broadcaster would need to do:

1. Fire up a new virtual channel for each replacement feed.
2. Target only receivers in the blacked out area to temporarily re-map the EPG to the virtual.
3. Force all targeted receivers to dump and reload the channel maps (which would elicit thousands of complaint calls while customers' receivers go into EPG download mode spontaneously).
4. Put everything back the way it was after the blackout, and force receivers to reload the original EPG table (more complaints).
5. Do it hundreds of times per day for thousands of affected ZIP codes, without making any mistakes which could cost thousands of dollars in fines apiece.

 

[riga]

This is bull. I've never heard of an ESPN Thur. night game being shown on a local channel or being blacked out. Most likely a Dish SNAFU.

 

[Ronnie-]

It seems to be a mistake. Or at least that would be my guess.

 

[commodore_dude]

It is definitely a mistake. This game is only on ESPN.

 

[chicagonettech]

It is definitely a mistake. This game is only on ESPN.

You need to read the restrictions pertaining to blackouts on NFL games again.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackout_(broadcasting), and click on DID YOU MEAN BLACKOUT BROADCASTING to get to the actual content as there is no direct link to the content section.

It is not JUST whether a game is sold out or not, there are about 8 different situations where a game can be restricted, including contractual arrangements with a local station.

This is a very confusing situation for broadcasters, as well as those who want to watch the games, and is market specific in many cases. Only the Green Bay Packers [all of the time] and New England Patriots [part of the time] are exempt from the confusing rules.

 

[Ronnie-]

You need to read the restrictions pertaining to blackouts on NFL games again.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackout_(broadcasting), and click on DID YOU MEAN BLACKOUT BROADCASTING to get to the actual content as there is no direct link to the content section.

It is not JUST whether a game is sold out or not, there are about 8 different situations where a game can be restricted, including contractual arrangements with a local station.

This is a very confusing situation for broadcasters, as well as those who want to watch the games, and is market specific in many cases. Only the Green Bay Packers [all of the time] and New England Patriots [part of the time] are exempt from the confusing rules.

He is talking about a college game...

 

[chicagonettech]

He is talking about a college game...

I understand he is talking about a college game. As of this year, the rules for both COLLEGE and PRO games are very similar.

TO WIT:

ESPN GamePlan™ College Football


There are two main components to ESPN GamePlan:

• The first part includes the ABC Sports' regionally televised games shown simultaneously, and;
• The second part includes regionally syndicated games from top NCAA Division I conferences shown in various markets around the country.

The ESPN GamePlan subscription is subject to blackouts this year. For more information see: NCAA College Football Teams, Scores, Stats, News, Standings, Rumors - College Football - ESPN

As ABC Sports simultaneously broadcasts several games to different regions of the United States, ESPN GamePlan subscribers will receive only those games that are not shown in their local market.

As a result, if you are an ESPN GamePlan subscriber, the game(s) shown on the ABC affiliate within the local market will be blacked out.


The same applies to the regionally syndicated games;

• GamePlan subscribers will only receive only those games that are not shown in their local markets;
• Games being carried within your local market will be blacked out.

You may still receive many of these blacked out games if you have access to your local broadcast affiliates with the use of an antenna or local cable hookup.

The same issue will rear its ugly head when basketball season rolls around . . .

ESPN FULL COURT™ College Basketball

The ESPN FULL COURT subscription of college basketball games consists of two components: regionally and locally broadcast games.

• First, ESPN FULL COURT broadcasts games that are only seen in specific regions of the country. IE: the SEC Game of the Week is seen within the southeastern region of the country but not in other parts of the country.
• Second, ESPN contains games that are shown only in specific markets directly interested in the game. For example, the University of Kansas at Santa Clara game may only be broadcast in Kansas and California. As mentioned above, ESPN will also deliver this game on a nationwide basis to subscribers who could not have previously seen it. These games are also not part of ESPN or ESPN2 and cannot be seen anywhere other than ESPN FULL COURT.

ESPN FULL COURT delivers these games (and others) on a national basis to subscribers who previously could not see them. In addition to the SEC, ESPN
FULL COURT consists of weekly conference games from the ACC, BIG TEN, Big XII and Big East conferences. These games are not part of ESPN or ESPN2's college basketball broadcasts and cannot be seen on a national coverage basis anywhere other than on ESPN FULL COURT.

Blackout rules apply to ESPN FULL COURT. As with ESPN GamePlan, games which are scheduled to be shown on ESPN FULL COURT but not shown locally will be seen on ESPN FULL COURT.

Conversely, those games scheduled to be shown on ESPN FULL COURT and which are also shown locally will be blacked out on ESPN FULL COURT and seen on the local station only.

ESPN FULL COURT blackout maps are available here: ESPN FullCourt

Again, you can still receive many of these blacked out games if you have access to your local broadcast affiliates with the use of an antenna or a local cable hookup.

========================================

Even thought the concept is supposed to be simple, sports blackouts are one of the most confusing issues in today's subscription market.

The intent of blackouts is to protect the in-market rights holder from the out-of-market coverage coming into the local area.

Don't be so quick to jump on Dish Network in this case as these restrictions were negotiated between ESPN, the college athletic department who's games are being broadcast and ABC [think DISNEY].

=========================================

As I tell my doctors who's Blackberry's and iPhones I am now disconnecting from secure our healthcare networks - because they were neither issued by my department nor are they secure and in compliance with the new HITECH healthcare network security rules - with a smile on my face of course: "It's the law, Doc, please don't shoot me, I am just the messenger!"

 

[Ronnie-]

ESPN gameplan has ALWAYS been subject to blackouts. Generally speaking, in the state or region of the two teams that they play in. They do this for extra ppv revenue. This game however has nothing to do with Gameplan.

ESPN sport package (gameplan) blackout rules do not generally apply to nationally televised games on the ESPN channel, and in the case of THIS game, it is a fluke in the guide data most likely.

 

[VegasVoomer]

So do the same rules apply to baseball? I tried to watch a Yankees/A's game last night and it was blacked out and not broadcast on any other channel. Neither team is local to me. That really sucked.

 

[Scherrman]

I happens with baseball. I remember missing some Cubs games because they were blacked out. I rememeber it being blacked out on ESPN and on CSN Chicago because it was carried on a local Chicago station. I live in eastern Iowa which is about 3 1/2 hours away. For some reason I was considered in their region so it was blacked out. It doesn't happen too often though.