Oklahoma-Texas and Wisc-MSU games....

[Sassan]

I am in Ohio. I am getting the Wisc-MSU game.

ESPN is carrying the OK-TX game. I am blacked out, and on the alternate ESPN channel too.


Why am I blacked out if the game is carried on both channels?? If I had cable, I would be getting them both, one on ABC and one on ESPN.


Called Dish and of course they couldn't answer the question.

Thanks

 

[lsilvest]

The ESPN map shows the game on 145 in SD only for your area. 145 is most likely and ESPN alternate channel.

 

[Sassan]

I realize that, but if ABC is showing one game, ESPN is supposed to show the other. ESPN is blacked out here, so I went to the Alternate, and it is not on there either. That's the frustration.

 

[lsilvest]

It must be a Dish problem. I'm watching Tex-OU on ABC and recording the MSU-Wisc game on ESPN in HD. I can't figure out why they are only showing SD on the Tex-OU game anyway. A note on their map said that ESPN news would be on ESPN HD in your area.

I just checked and the Tex game is on 145 here in SD. There's no reason for blackout in your area and they don't blackout college games anyway.
Call Dish and ask for a supervisor.

 

[jrbdmb]

Same here in NJ. Big Ten game on the local ABC, all feeds of Texas - OU blacked out on the ESPN channels. Dish is a bunch or morons. :rant:

 

[jesch3]

A lot of games were blacked out today and also there were no Big 10 games on the Alt channels like normal. Wonder if it has something to do with the settings they gave the sports channels when they moved things around.

 

[odbrv]

I called in about the sudden use of blackouts for college games. I talked to a CSR, a CSR supervisor, and a tech support rep. None had any idea of what I was talking about. They all had the standard blackout speech. None could figure out why last week 409 was not blacked out and this week it was. Same response for each channel I questioned. I asked why the Kansas / Baylor game was being blacked out. It is in my state and goes against the blackout rules they quoted. Again they were clueless. I asked them to transfer me to whoever does the blackout programming. They had no idea who they were or how to reach them. As others on this blog have stated, I believe their dispute with Fox has made them put blackouts on at a much more restrictive manor. I hope when they settle the dispute they don't forget to reset the blackout restrictions to pre-dispute levels.

 

[Sassan]

Frustrating. Especially when you have people over cuz you're the guy with the Dish and get most of the games.

And none of the 8pm games were blacked out......but we were at the bar by then.

 

[lsilvest]

You can try calling the home office and asking for Executive Problem Resolution. You'll get a lot further than with customer service.

I wondered about the Kansas-Baylor game also (although I'm sure Kansas fans were glad they were spared). I had set it up to record on the alternate channel with no problem. Then on game day it gave me the not available in my area. FSN RM was showing the Rockies game at the time so I chalked it off to that. That's what's frustrating about the alternate HD crap, you never know for sure if the game is one you're entitled to.

 

[mhowie]

I am in Ohio. I am getting the Wisc-MSU game.

ESPN is carrying the OK-TX game. I am blacked out, and on the alternate ESPN channel too.


Why am I blacked out if the game is carried on both channels?? If I had cable, I would be getting them both, one on ABC and one on ESPN.


Called Dish and of course they couldn't answer the question.

Thanks

It was the same BS for me as well... living in the Midwest and expecting to watch the OU/TX game on ESPN. My patience is wearing thin with Dish...this was clearly their problem and who knows how long it will take to correct? Anyone with whom you might speak from a front line CSR in Bombay to an actual American tech support rep will have no idea how to correct. At least the tech support rep might have a path to route the problem so it can be addressed-- when Dish gets around to it.

Between incompetency such as this and the constant disputes with content providers resulting in lost channels for periods of time... there might indeed be "better TV"-- just elsewhere.

Does anyone know if DirecTV blacked out all these games last weekend?

 

[bgee]

I think the mistake here is thinking that ESPN shows the game not on ABC in your area and that's a mistaken impression. The ESPN game is the same nationwide and the black out you experience is because ABC is showing that same game in your area. It's just a really stupid way to do programming.

 

[mhowie]

I think the mistake here is thinking that ESPN shows the game not on ABC in your area and that's a mistaken impression. The ESPN game is the same nationwide and the black out you experience is because ABC is showing that same game in your area. It's just a really stupid way to do programming.

ABC showed the Big 10 game in my area. Dish erroneously blacked out the ESPN game (OU/TX)- because most of their employees are fundamentally idiots. It will be interesting to see if they have corrected this for the coming weekend(s). It wouldn't surprise me if they have not as a focus on customer satisfaction does not seem to be high on their radar.

 

[oldave]

Out here in middle Georgia, the local ABC affiliate carried the ACC Network instead of ABC, so I was stuck with ESPN Gameplan in SD for the OU-Texas game.

During "local" breaks, the ESPN Gameplan slides were up, showing blackouts for particular games. For OU-Texas, MOST of the country west of the Mississippi was blacked out on ESPN Gameplan because of ABC carrying the game. I thought that was a big area to black out until I realized the goal was to force people to watch the OTA ABC (and associated local advertising).

Dish couldn't do anything about that... ESPN set those rules.

I do think ESPN should have lifted the blackout for those areas where the local ABC station didn't clear the game.

 

[Jim5506]

These "blackouts" have been happening since college football started and I think ABC/ESPN is behind it, not Dish.

They control where the games go, Dish has no incentive to anger subs more than normal by using blackouts on ESPN - which I have only ever seen when a MLB game was broadcast from a team in my territory and being carried on another Dish channel (usually the RSN).

 

[mhowie]

These "blackouts" have been happening since college football started and I think ABC/ESPN is behind it, not Dish.

They control where the games go, Dish has no incentive to anger subs more than normal by using blackouts on ESPN - which I have only ever seen when a MLB game was broadcast from a team in my territory and being carried on another Dish channel (usually the RSN).

http://i53.tinypic.com/23hrm8z.jpg

Dish screwed up. I don't find any similar threads at the DirecTV forum.

 

[lsilvest]

ESPN's map for this area (Colorado) for this Saturday has the Arkansas-Texas A&M game on ABC, and the Mich-MSU game in SD on both Dish ESPN alternate and DirecTV and they show the Clemson-NC game as game plan. The Dish guide shows a game on ESPN HD as either Mich-MSU or Clemson-NC. Guess I'll just have to check and see if it's really on in HD.

 

[GoWulfpack919]

Typically the in market game is on ABC while the mirror game (next closest out of market), as they call it, will be on ESPN2. This means the in market game is blacked out on Gameplan and/or ESPN3.com

As for the guy in Georgia, the ACC Network game this past week was FSU v UVA and started at noon. Didn't OU v TX start at 3:30? At 3:30 you should have gotten VT and NCSU on ABC and gotten OU v TX on Gameplan.

 

[GoWulfpack919]

ESPN's map for this area (Colorado) for this Saturday has the Arkansas-Texas A&M game on ABC, and the Mich-MSU game in SD on both Dish ESPN alternate and DirecTV and they show the Clemson-NC game as game plan. The Dish guide shows a game on ESPN HD as either Mich-MSU or Clemson-NC. Guess I'll just have to check and see if it's really on in HD.

Here is a good source

http://www.hdsportsguide.com/news/2010/abcespn-college-football-maps-330-pm-eastern-109/

 

[Sassan]

It IS a Dish problem. Time Warner and other local cable companies had Wisc-MSU on ABC here in Ohio, and Tx-OU on ESPN. DirectTV had it right too.


Dish showed the game as blacked out. Either they did not sign a good contract, thus Tx-OU blacked out in Ohio (illogical), or something else is messed up, i.e. Dish.

 

[mhowie]

It IS a Dish problem. Time Warner and other local cable companies had Wisc-MSU on ABC here in Ohio, and Tx-OU on ESPN. DirectTV had it right too.


Dish showed the game as blacked out. Either they did not sign a good contract, thus Tx-OU blacked out in Ohio (illogical), or something else is messed up, i.e. Dish.

Bingo. And I'm certain OU and TX fans living in the Midwest who sat down at 3:30pm to watch the game were blindsided by this latest example of Dish Network incompetence.