INDEMAND will carry MLB EI? No so fast says MLB... How about E*?

[fredfa]

Extra Innings Watch - Opening Day
Chances appear to be increasing that cable TV will retain access to baseball's out of market package
By Maury Brown bizofbaseball.com April 1, 2007

Welcome to Opening Day 2007!

As you sit down and get ready for the season, many a fan that has moved away from their beloved team is looking for anyway that they can to catch them on television. If you're on The Biz of Baseball., it's most likely because you have done so watching Extra Innings, MLB's package that allows you to watch out-of-market games.

As we reported yesterday, MLB extended the deadline with iN Demand and EchoStar to try and see if they can work a deal to keep Extra Innings on cable and DISH Networks. If they do not work out a deal, Extra Innings will be exclusively available on DirecTV as part of a 7-year, $700 million deal.

Biz of Baseball has been tracking the negotiations extensively, so much so that we have a dedicated section of the site, just for it. Selecting the link to this article, and looking at the navigation tier to the left will show DirecTV/Extra Innings as a sub-section under Media News.

If you don't want comb through the archive, here's a recap of where we stand:

• One of the key sticking points prior was matching the same number of households that DirecTV has signed on to do. iN Demand has said it will meet that provision via 80% of their digital households.

The sticking point now is the ownership equity component of The Baseball Channel. Recall that MLB has offered DirecTV a 20% ownership stake, but that is based on exclusivity. If iN Demand becomes a player, DirecTV's equity in ownership would need to be diluted.

• EchoStar, who runs DISH Networks, appears to be in the same position, and last week it was reported by the Sports Business Daily, "EchoStar's Dish Network appears much closer than cable's InDemand to striking a deal with MLB to carry Extra Innings and the planned MLB Channel, marking a potentially significant breakthrough in the distribution logjam that has lasted for months."

Like iN Demand, they too will not work a deal without ownership equity.

MLB will continue to keep the 80% ownership in The Baseball Channel, thus negotiations are now around splitting up the 20% stake between 3 parties (DirecTV, EchoStar, and iN Demand).

http://www.bizofbaseball.com/index.php

 

[hperry]

Oh I am not pissed at Dish. I am just giving them the benefit of the doubt before I order it from DirecTV.

I get home from Church about 12:15. If I dont see no baseball on Dish Network by 1:00.m. eastern time I am picking up the DirecTV remote. As I dont want to miss opening day Dodgers and Angels games.

FYI, the only regular season game today is mets at cards 8pm EST tonight.

 

[stuckingoo]

According to Swanni, Dish Network no longer involved in MLB Extra Innings talks :


http://www.tvpredictions.com/mlb040107.htm

Yup, strange how the swirling rumors imply that Dish is still in the running (as substantiated by the comments of MLB's Brosnan) and are no longer in the running. Who knows what the real truth is. Seems to me, though, if in Demand strikes a deal and Dish does not, it will make Dish look very bad. Three major players involved in the negotiations and only Dish is excluded. That is something that I would use with the CSRs I talk to when I call them up to get out of my contract.

 

[Robert NTSC Archivist]

I realised that there is no EI games until tomorrow after I posted, I referred o the opening pitch on Monday. I am sure that if it comes down to the owner ship stake split between Dish Network, DirecTV and Cable

The greedy people at MLB will be more than happy to carve a slice out of DirecTV's stake as getting guaranteed carriage by cable and Dish Network will give the MLB Channel quite a start up carriage wise.

 

[Slamminc11]

...Three major players involved in the negotiations and only Dish is excluded. That is something that I would use with the CSRs I talk to when I call them up to get out of my contract.

You can use it all you want, but trying to get out of your contract because of a channel Dish doesn't have it won't work. Read the contract you are trying to get out of. Doesn't matter if every cable, satellite, internet, OTA carries it that doesn't constitute breach of contract on Dish's part. Nice try though!

 

[FlyingJ]

Maybe not, but i do believe that there will be serious backlash against E* for not letting subs out easy that want to switch because of the MLB thing. Something that they offered and advertised for in the past. If E* were to lose HBO and Showtime, technically the contract wouldn't be breached but I'd like to see them hold anyone up from switching.

 

[Slamminc11]

Maybe not, but i do believe that there will be serious backlash against E* for not letting subs out easy that want to switch because of the MLB thing. Something that they offered and advertised for in the past. If E* were to lose HBO and Showtime, technically the contract wouldn't be breached but I'd like to see them hold anyone up from switching.

Anyone can leave Dish anytime they want. Just pay the fees for breaking your contract (if you are still in your 18 month contract) and you are out. Easy as that.
As far as serious backlash? If there were hundreds of thousands of Dish subs that subscribed to EI then that would be one thing, but the amount of people leaving Dish for Direct over EI (or in this case the amount of people who actually even care that anyone is carrying EI at all) Dish will add in new subs in what, one maybe two days. So no, no serious backlash as you predict!

 

[HokieEngineer]

MLB EI games have shown up in the Dish EPG on channels 625-639. These weren't listed a few days ago. Hopefully this is a good sign! The first few days have "free preview" listed in the description as well.

 

[IceRunner]

I'm not seeing the EI games listed on my on-screen guide. Is that a screen shot that you attached?

 

[laman400]

Only channel 625 is showing up on my ALL Channel list. Does my 311 receiver need to be turned off for awhile to get channels 626-639 added to my ALL Channel list?

 

[gjh3260]

Maybe not, but i do believe that there will be serious backlash against E* for not letting subs out easy that want to switch because of the MLB thing. Something that they offered and advertised for in the past. If E* were to lose HBO and Showtime, technically the contract wouldn't be breached but I'd like to see them hold anyone up from switching.

I agree I dont think it would look good for E* to lose MLB EI since they had it in the past. If they never carried EI thats one thing. Since I am more of a hockey fan who knows if E* will carry the Center Ice package next season? The same situation could happen there as with EI. Personally I want my RSN in HD. My contract ends in October and if the HD RSN's are not activated by then its bye E* and hello D*. (In October the HD RSN's will have been uplinked for over a year.....thats more than long enuf for E* to have turned them on.)

 

[parraga]

Bad Charlie

Gee, no football no baseball. What else can happen.

 

[iceturkee]

not to throw a monkey wrench into this but it is april fools day, remember?

 

[HokieEngineer]

The channels wont show up on your receiver until they make them available to subscribers. The screenshot posted just shows the EPG data for all the MLB channels. They didn't have any games listed under the MLB channels a few days ago, and now they do, which I am taking as a good sign.

 

[uhlesses]

Just got off the phone with one of Dish's CSR's. Told her I wanted to order the Extra innings package. She said that Dish was still in talks with MLB and that they would know something by midnite. They are not taking any orders at this time. Looks like the midget is stepping up to the microphone folks.

 

[FlyingJ]

I just can not believe that this would go on this long without some kind of deal being done. I predict that Cable is in, E* I still think is 50/50.

 

[Robert NTSC Archivist]

There going to hash this out till the fat lady sings at midnight no doubt.

Give the CSR's a break (I worked as one for three months) we will know here before the word trickles down to them

 

[gjh3260]

Just got off the phone with one of Dish's CSR's. Told her I wanted to order the Extra innings package. She said that Dish was still in talks with MLB and that they would know something by midnite. They are not taking any orders at this time. Looks like the midget is stepping up to the microphone folks.

He is probably pulling out a couple wrinkled dollar bills and hopes that does the trick for MLB

 

[stuckingoo]

From the Biz of Baseball:

'UPDATE: 17:03:33 PDT: Word is the sides are still talking at this hour. Stay tuned and let us know your thoughts via the comments.'

 

[fredfa]

MLB Extra Innings talks continue in extra innings
Source: No assurances, but iNDemand, Dish deal Monday?
By Paul J. Gough The Hollywood Reporter April 2, 2007

NEW YORK -- Major League Baseball over the weekend extended the deadline for negotiations on the Extra Innings package with both In Demand and Echostar.

MLB had originally given the two companies until Saturday, the day before the beginning of the regular season, to come to terms over the out-of-market package that both had carried until the end of last season. But that deadline was extended until Sunday and perhaps into Monday to try to work a deal out although it wasn't clear whether one would be forged with either Echostar, the parent company of Dish Network, or In Demand, which is the negotiating company for big MSOs Cox, Time Warner Cable and Comcast.

"Talks are still ongoing," a MLB spokeswoman said mid-afternoon Sunday. She declined to detail the talks further.

Another source said the parties hoped to wrap up a deal by Monday but that there were "no assurances."

MLB in early March had reached an exclusive deal with DirecTV worth a reported $700 million over seven years. MLB agreed to extend for three weeks a negotiating window with In Demand and EchoStar to match the DirecTV terms -- which would be signficantly less financially without an exclusive -- and commit to carrying The Baseball Channel in a similar amount of cable and satellite households when the channel launches in 2009.

DirecTV committed to carrying the network in about 15 million households on its basic tier; it also received an ownership stake.

The MLB-DirecTV deal hasn't escaped notice from Washington, where the FCC has asked for more information and lawmakers including Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., have asked MLB and the companies to come to some sort of agreement for the good of displaced baseball fans.

Kerry got agreement last week from MLB President/COO Bob DuPuy and In Demand president Robert Jacobson for a face-to-face meeting ahead of Saturday's deadline.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr...sion/news/e3id1c3d218198539cbc254fb984436f4b0