ESPN2 black out

Ramy

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Jan 27, 2004
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The game between Cleveland and Baltimore was blacked out for me last night on ESPN2. I live in Ashland, KY and the game was at Baltimore. This is the first time in the 5 years that I have had D* that the game was blacked out. Anyone know why?
 
You must be in a claimed area that was also served be some other local affiliate (even if only via OTA) or RSN.

Maybe Sports Time Ohio or WKYC 3 (Cleavland or whatever the local retransmission in Ashland would be); local area broadcast rights holders usually have the "right of way".
 
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The O's have always been blacked out in my area...even though they are another state and 100 miles away. They were even blacked out last year since Baltimore was "sharing" the DC market. Anyway, last night the game was not blacked out on ESPN2.:confused:
 
The games will not always be blacked out the same way every time, distance is also NOT the bigest factor; neither is common sence. There is a set criteria of events or rules that are met in order to determine when and how. I have a samples here. MLB has the weirdest of all the blackout rules.


http://www.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/official_info/broadcasts/extra_innings.jsp

http://dtv.fxep.com/Blackouts.html

ZIP TOOL: http://dtv.fxep.com/

http://dtv.fxep.com/ASP/default.asp?DestPage=../OutOfMarket.html

http://www.directvsports.com/Blackout_Info/

http://www.directvsports.com/asp/active/RSN_Info.asp
 
I have ESPN2 via D*, although I didn't check it out. So, I don't know if it was available here in Georgia or not, but here it's the Braves that usually get blacked out. And it sucks to have to watch the Braves in SD, when my HD source gets blacked out. Should be an FCC rule against that sort of thing. However I did watch the game on FTA HD with my QS 1080IR receiver. It has better picture quality anyway, less compression.

Al
 
You should get the Braves via local TBS OTA HD or whomever carries them now, because they hold all the local rights down there. AND YES, you are 100% correct that the DMA system should be abolished! Complaine to the FCC and the NAB.
 
charper1 said:
The games will not always be blacked out the same way every time, distance is also NOT the bigest factor; neither is common sence. There is a set criteria of events or rules that are met in order to determine when and how. I have a samples here. MLB has the weirdest of all the blackout rules.
You definitely got that right. I've noticed on ESPN (not ESPN2), that sometimes the Braves will be blacked out on one of D* or E*, but usually not both. With E*practically always being blacked out. While D* sometimes will show the Braves. ESPN2 (only have with D*) always blacks out the Braves. Same thing happens with the Falcons on Sunday night Football. Sometimes (only for home games) D* will have them, while E* never has them. And this is not on another RSN or whatever. I'm about 75-80 miles from the Georgia Dome. A few miles closer to Turner Field though.

Al
 
charper1 said:
You should get the Braves via local TBS OTA HD or whomever carries them now, because they hold all the local rights down there. AND YES, you are 100% correct that the DMA system should be abolished! Complaine to the FCC and the NAB.
So far this year, only a hand full of games have been on WTBS and they were out of town. The only HD WTBS has is the Braves home games. So far the Braves games have mostly been split between FSN South and Turner South. I think TS has Braves in HD on select Cable Systems which I can't get.

Al
 
charper1 said:
You must be in a claimed area that was also served be some other local affiliate (even if only via OTA) or RSN.

Maybe Sports Time Ohio or WKYC 3 (Cleavland or whatever the local retransmission in Ashland would be); local area broadcast rights holders usually have the "right of way".

I am in the Cincinnati Reds area. I don't get the Cleveland Sports channels at all. It wasn't that big a deal, just didn't understand why they were blacked out. I looked on every channel that was showing the game and all of them said not available in your area.
 
Even if you get a "sports channel" or anything from and RSN or ESPN on satellite - if you are within the Grade-B claim/rights area of the OTA affiliate also showing the game you can get blacked out. This is one of the many reasons I sat the DMA system is crap. There are way too many variables and way too many markets. Open it all up and let the users decide what they want, when they want it, how they want it, and how much they are willing to pay.
 
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I am blacked out of any games played in St. Louis, Cincinnati and Chicago that is on ESPN. I live in their market areas. What I don't understand is when I had FOX Sports Net, games were blacked out because I lived outside the teams market area. Now with ESPN I am getting blacked out and I live in their market. Someone explain that to me.

I have figured out that if the game is blacked out, I can go to the Quali TV QS1080 and find the HD feed, it is crystal clear.
 
charper1 said:
Even if you get a "sports channel" or anything from and RSN or ESPN on satellite - if you are within the Grade-B claim/rights area of the OTA affiliate also showing the game you can get blacked out. This is one of the many reasons I sat the DMA system is crap. There are way too many variables and way too many markets. Open it all up and let the users decide what they want, when they want it, how they want it, and how much they are willing to pay.


I would have to have a humongous antenna then because I live 270 miles away from Cleveland. I live 150 miles from Cincinnati and don't get any of their OTA stations either.
 
It doesn't matter if you can "really" receive them, it only matters if you zip code is claimed by the affiliates and the league; just by living in a zip you can get blacked out, regardless of what you can or can't receive .. I know it is very confusing.

Blackouts are regional television restrictions distributed in order to protect the local television rights’ holder broadcasting the game. Blackout restrictions are based on the home team’s television territory as defined by Major League Baseball.

Q HOW ARE HOME MARKETS DETERMINED?
A: Counties/Zip Codes.

Q: WHAT ARE THE NATIONAL BROADCAST RIGHTS/RESTRICTIONS?
A: During specific days/times, certain national broadcasters have exclusive television rights for distributing MLB games. No games are available on MLB EXTRA INNINGS during the following exclusive national broadcast windows:

ESPN Sunday Nights
ESPN has an exclusive national broadcast window for all MLB games on Sunday nights. No telecast can be made available for out-of-market distribution during this time. Any games that start after 5:00pm ET on these nights will not be part of MLB EXTRA INNINGS. The only games available during this time will be on ESPN or ESPN2 and your home team’s Regional Sports Network (RSN) or team affiliated Over-The-Air (OTA) station. Please see local listings for games available during these times.

FOX Network Saturdays
The FOX Television Network has an exclusive national broadcast window for all MLB games on certain Saturdays up until 7:00pm ET. No telecast can be made available for out-of-market distribution during this time and will not be part of MLB EXTRA INNINGS. The only games available during this time will be on FOX. Please see local listings for games available during these times. Any games available for the package that start after 7:00pm ET on Saturdays will be part of MLB EXTRA INNINGS.

# NATIONAL RIGHTS
If a national broadcasting service such as ABC, NBC, CBS or FOX has the national rights to broadcast an NBA, NHL or Major League Baseball® game, customers may or may not be able to receive that game through their DIRECTV subscription(s), depending on the local market in which they live. If a service that DIRECTV carries — such as ESPN, ESPN2, TNT, TBS or USA — has the national rights to broadcast a game, subscribers will be able to receive it through their TOTAL CHOICE®, TOTAL CHOICE® PLUS, TOTAL CHOICE® PREMIER or SPORTS Pack subscription, although some of these games are also subject to blackouts. Regional sports networks do not obtain national broadcast rights to professional sports.

Q: WHAT ARE THE LOCAL BROADCAST RIGHTS/RESTRICTIONS?
A: If you live in a zip code area that falls within an MLB team’s home television territory, that team’s games will be blacked-out from MLB EXTRA INNINGS. These games will generally be available on that team’s RSN or team affiliated OTA station. Blackouts protect the local rightsholders who arrange separate distribution agreements for their exclusive territories.

# LOCAL RIGHTS
If a local off-air broadcast channel (not ABC, NBC, CBS or FOX) or local cable system has the rights to broadcast a pro game in a certain region, customers in that area will be unable to receive that game through their DIRECTV® subscription(s). If a regional sports network that DIRECTV carries has the local rights to broadcast a game, customers within the region can receive that game through any DIRECTV® TOTAL CHOICE® or SPORTS Pack subscription, which includes customers' in-market regional sports network(s). Customers outside of the region will receive that game through the appropriate out-of-market pro sports subscription.
 
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