Go Figure

[Diamond Jim]

This evening I settled down to watch the Cubs and the Cardinals on ESPN 2, but the game was blacked out. I called NPS to find out why and they ran a recorded message saying that the game would be blacked out in the Chicago/St Louis area. Fine with me, I am 5 hours south of Chicago, 4 hours east of St Louis and about 70 west of NPS. I called NPS and talked to a live operator, this woman had no idea what was going on. I told her that I was no where near the Chicago or St Louis area and would she be kind enough to turn the game on. She told me she couldn't do that and when I ask why she got to stutterin' and stamerin' around and didn't make much sense. I ask again and this is what she came up with, "we don't have a major league team in our area so that is why it is blacked out." I told her that didn't make sense and she politely told me that's the way it is and excused herself, then "click." I am wondering what are the black out rules and how are they applied?

 

[charper1]

From all the reading I have done over the years, you distance is not really the determining factor. It is what broadcasting rights are applied on to your zip code.

 

[Diamond Jim]

Yea, I kinda figured that because when I complain the first thing they ask is "what's your zip code?" I talked to an NPS supervisor today and she told me that it is ESPN that flips the switch on blackouts, I always thought that it was the programing service. She also told me that she had people from as far away as Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and the Dakotas calling to ask why they were blacked out. She was baffeled also. My son fired off an e mail to ESPN to find out what the blackout policy is. Also the Pacers/Bulls game was to blacked out in my area, which I understand because I am only 70 miles from Indianapolis, so we turned on the game to see if it was, it wasn't and they never did black it out. As I said, go figure. For the record, I understand why games are blacked out.

 

[charper1]

Here is some further info I have:

Q: WHAT ARE BLACKOUTS?
A: 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: 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.

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.

Q HOW ARE HOME MARKETS DETERMINED?
A: Counties/Zip Codes (by MLB)

 

[Diamond Jim]

Thanks Charper, ESPN did give me a detailed answer, which of course makes no sense. I will post it when I get a chance.

 

[charper1]

Was the crux of the reply that they are upholding the rules as set by the leagues and the market areas?

 

[Diamond Jim]

Basically, it said all of Indiana is in the Cubs market, so that's why the games are blacked out. Like I'm gonna decide that I'm going to a game then decide I am not going to drive the 4 hours because it's on TV. They also said that they would provide another game in place of the black out game, which didn't happen. That's what pi**ed me off the most, I just wanted to watch baseball, I didn't care who was playing.

 

[charper1]

Yep, I really wish we could get enough people at once to fight the leagues and the affiliates/NAB and stop all this protected market crap. Those days are over, just provide us with great product and prices and people will choose you. I can agree that a 45 - 60 mile radius of the broadcast tower should be blacked out if the games are not 85% SOLD or more by game time to protect the teams (ANY league/pro or NCAA), but stop punishing those outside that radius and allow US to choose what we want to watch and when. This is the same way I feel about local affiliates and their protected ad revenue markets as well. Why should the network care if I watch my affiliate or not? I would rather dump their crappy picture and just pick up a HD network feed. (I know this part deals with pay satellite). Look at all the bandwidth that would be retrieved. Have SD & HD network feeds for each time zone provided for c-band, DBS and cable directly from the network themselves. What is that for the 6 networks and 5 zones 30 feeds total x2 for the exact same feeds in SD (minus local independents). Eliminate the local affiliates from the "network bandwagon" and allow the users to decide when, what and how we choose to view the networks. Let the "locals" buy syndicated programs and provide their own local news, sports and interest stories on their own dime like radio and let them compete to survive that way.

ABC
CBS
NBC
FOX
UPN
WB

East & Atlantic combined
Central
Mountain
Pacific & Alaska combined
Samoa, Hawaii, Aleutian combined

RANT OVER, I'm sorry!

 

[Diamond Jim]

I couldn't agree with you more!!!!!!