NCAA blackout differences between E* , D* and cable

[odbrv]

I often see posts from people whose Dish broadcast of a game on a specific chanel is blacked out, while his neighbors view it just fine on the same channels on Cable and DirecTV.

Last night it happened to me. My friend called and said the Kansas State Ladies Basketball game was on ESPN2( Suddenlink Cable). I changed channels to ESPN2 on E*. It had another game. I then went to the guide and saw the Kansas State game on 145 ESPNA. I tried it and got the blackout error message.

I called E* and was routed to Technical Support. It seems E* makes Show/blackout rules based on team states not conference states. D* and cable make the decision based on conference states. I wonder how many subscibers E* has lost do to this simply solved difference. E* trying to blame the NCAA on this one is just a big lie to cover their stupidity in a very competitive market.

 

[garys]

Blackout rules are different for cable and sat. If you can find someone to explain it, it would be great for everyone.

 

[KAB]

Same blackout rules apply to Dish and Direct. As Garys said, cable has a different set, based on coverage.

 

[DodgerKing]

Here we go, yet again, with that "lie" word being tossed around so loosely.

 

[hokie74]

Smae stupids rules on the NBA on Fox Regional Sports

I used to get Cleveland Cav's games on Time Warner in Ashland, KY but they are blacked out on DN. This is really frustrating this year now that the Cav's are actually contenders. The Indians games are not blacked out. Why the hell one but not the other? Sometimes I suspect Dish Network is run by complete idiots.

This alone will probably be enough reason for me to dump DN when my contract is up next year.

 

[lakebum431]

Dish doesn't set the blackout rules. They only follow them.

 

[KAB]

I used to get Cleveland Cav's games on Time Warner in Ashland, KY but they are blacked out on DN. This is really frustrating this year now that the Cav's are actually contenders. The Indians games are not blacked out. Why the hell one but not the other? Sometimes I suspect Dish Network is run by complete idiots.

This alone will probably be enough reason for me to dump DN when my contract is up next year.

Learn before you act.

 

[odbrv]

Today I am watching Oklahoma vs Praire View. Not because Oklahoma is in the Big 12 conference but because Prairie view is in Texas. Actually Oklahoma is closer to me in distance than Prairie view.

Why cable is treated differently than Satellite distribution is another reason all these protectionism laws need to be changed. I went to the NCAA site and all the men games are broadcast on the internet for free. I guess CBS is not as insecure as ESPN.

 

[jdmacor]

I went to the NCAA site and all the men games are broadcast on the internet for free. I guess CBS is not as insecure as ESPN.

If they didn't do this, they would lose out on potentially millions of people, because a huge amount of the tournament is televised during the work week, during work hours. Make no mistake about it, if the tournament switched to only being played on the weekend, you would not be able to watch it for free online.

 

[hokie74]

Balckout Rules

Learn before you act.

Yes, I have plenty of time to research who is subject to blackout restrictions. So who sets the rules? The teams or the NBA? Do the teams preferentially blackout satellite providers because the signals may be picked up over a larger region? Are these restrictions negotiable? Also, why does DN not make this information available on their site? I searched and all they have is a generic statement that some games "may be subject to blackout restrictions". That is not very informative. As a matter of fact it is not even worth putting out there because it contains no more information than the message that pops up on the screen.

Is sounds like my beef is more with the team or the league than Dish Network. It is frustrating that a signal available on cable would be blacked out on satellite in the same viewing area.

 

[DishSubLA]

Well, in fact, the specifics of the blackouts are in the contract, and they can vary somewhat from what cable, Direct, and Dish have agreed to. Each entity is following the contract they signed with its own minor details. There is often, in practice, due to the specific contract, a difference, most often slight, when applying the blackout rules. Some past blackout rules for Dish used to be according to zip-code. No carrier, Dish, Direct, Cable, is going to risk not following the blackout rules and lose the right to retransmit the games. There may be some erring on the safe side going on, as well.

 

[hokie74]

Thanks for the blackout info

I was obviously out of line for calling those who run Dish Network idiots. They are not idiots because they are a lot wealthier than me among other reasons. It is frustrating, however, to change providers and find such inconsistencies in the way the blackout rules are enforced. I suppose in the big picture of adding HD channels and negotiating all the HD local carry contracts this is small potatoes but it is none the less frustrating.

 

[hokie74]

Dish Network Sports Blackout Info Page

This is what I get when I enter my zip code on the Dish Network Sports blackout info page: (I tried viewing in both IE and Firefox).

Sort by Event Name: Sort by Channel: Sort by Time: System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: An error has occurred while establishing a connection to the server. When connecting to SQL Server 2005, this failure may be caused by the fact that under the default settings SQL Server does not allow remote connections. (provider: TCP Provider, error: 0 - A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond.) at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnection.OnError(SqlException exception, Boolean breakConnection) at System.Data.SqlClient.TdsParser.ThrowExceptionAndWarning(TdsParserStateObject stateObj) at System.Data.SqlClient.TdsParser.Connect(Boolean& useFailoverPartner, Boolean& failoverDemandDone, String host, String failoverPartner, String protocol, SqlInternalConnectionTds connHandler, Int64 timerExpire, Boolean encrypt, Boolean trustServerCert, Boolean integratedSecurity, SqlConnection owningObject, Boolean aliasLookup) at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnectionTds.OpenLoginEnlist(SqlConnection owningObject, SqlConnectionString connectionOptions, String newPassword, Boolean redirectedUserInstance) at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnectionTds..ctor(DbConnectionPoolIdentity identity, SqlConnectionString connectionOptions, Object providerInfo, String newPassword, SqlConnection owningObject, Boolean redirectedUserInstance) at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnectionFactory.CreateConnection(DbConnectionOptions options, Object poolGroupProviderInfo, DbConnectionPool pool, DbConnection owningConnection) at System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionFactory.CreatePooledConnection(DbConnection owningConnection, DbConnectionPool pool, DbConnectionOptions options) at System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionPool.CreateObject(DbConnection owningObject) at System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionPool.UserCreateRequest(DbConnection owningObject) at System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionPool.GetConnection(DbConnection owningObject) at System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionFactory.GetConnection(DbConnection owningConnection) at System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionClosed.OpenConnection(DbConnection outerConnection, DbConnectionFactory connectionFactory) at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection.Open() at System.Data.Common.DbDataAdapter.FillInternal(DataSet dataset, DataTable[] datatables, Int32 startRecord, Int32 maxRecords, String srcTable, IDbCommand command, CommandBehavior behavior) at System.Data.Common.DbDataAdapter.Fill(DataTable[] dataTables, Int32 startRecord, Int32 maxRecords, IDbCommand command, CommandBehavior behavior) at System.Data.Common.DbDataAdapter.Fill(DataTable dataTable) at _Default.getBlackoutEvents(String ZIP, String searchTerm) in d:\www\www.dishnetwork.com\sports\WheresMyGame\Default.aspx.cs:line 108

 

[KAB]

Thank you so much for he gobledygook.

 

[hokie74]

Thank you so much for he gobledygook.

No, thank E*

 

[snowcat]

The NCAA women's tournament on Dish has one positive and one negative IMO compared to cable.

The positive - In many cases, I get two women's games on at the same time. The "national" game is on ESPN2, while the local game in on ESPNA or one of the other alternates. Cable just gets the local game. Two can be better than one. This was useful when my local Austin Peay Lady Govs were getting creamed by Duke.

The negative - the picture quality on ESPNA just isn't the same as ESPN2-HD, even if the game isn't in HD. I saw the Vandy-Kansas State game on Monday night on ESPNA, and the ESPN2 game finished before this game. ESPN2 switched over to the Vandy game, and it definitely looked better. Plus, ESPN2 uses the extra screen space to show other scores (at least part of the time).

 

[bela_blasko2006]

Dish doesn't set the blackout rules. They only follow them.

I have been trying to get KC Royals games for YEARS and dish has blacked them out. According to MLB the entire state of Oklahoma is being claimed by the ROyals yet i have never seen a game-always blacked out. Have called dish a bunch of times and always get nowhere. Have called MLB and FOX MW and have got nowhere.