Thank You Charlie.

[Suppafreak]

Dear Charlie,

I found this bulletin and was not surprised at all. Frankly, I knew this would happen and I did not expect anything better from you and your company.

http://sports.blogs.mydesert.com/20...work-talks-to-carry-los-angeles-lakers-games/


Update on Dish Network talks to carry Los Angeles Lakers games
Posted: November 20th, 2012 | Author: Matt Solinsky | Filed under: Basketball, Sports Blog, TV/Media | Tags: Deportes, Dish Network, Los Angeles Lakers, Time Warner Cable, Time Warner Cable SportsNet

It does not appear that Dish Network customers will be watching many Los Angeles Lakers basketball games this season.

The satellite provider is the lone holdout to carry Los Angeles Lakers games on Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Deportes.

Time Warner Cable released an update on negotiations Tuesday evening that does not sound encouraging either:

“Despite our best efforts and their customers’ demands, DISH Network has elected not to carry Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Time Warner Cable Deportes. Given the popularity of the programming, including the country’s first Spanish-language regional sports network, we hope their position will change.

“Fortunately, because our networks are available to virtually every sports fan in the region, DISH customers are able to switch to Time Warner Cable, DIRECTV, Cox, Verizon FiOS, AT&T Uverse, Bright House Networks and Charter to get the Lakers, Galaxy and Sparks programming they desire.”


Once again Dish proved that they are "Satellite Leaders".

 

[whitewolf8214]

Typical cheap Charlie when it comes to sports

 

[Tampa8]

Don't blame you for being mad, but I nor you should be surprised. I don't know where it ends though with new RSN's popping up and wanting premium prices, and refusing to be optional for the customer.

 

[KAB]

Charlie has been more than upfront that he is not going to say "yes" to the RSN's.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Im a big sports fan, but damn, how many do they need. 10 years every team will have their own channel.

 

[KAB]

Im a big sports fan, but damn, how many do they need. 10 years every team will have their own channel.

But no carriers.

 

[navychop]

Makes me happy. Sports should be their own tier. You want, you pay. Quit jacking up my bill for stuff I don't watch.

 

[Dishman1978]

I'd be totally happy with a 100 percent sports free TV provider. Imagine how low your bill would truly be.

 

[navychop]

BINGO!

 

[brad1138]

I'd be totally happy with a 100 percent sports free TV provider. Imagine how low your bill would truly be.

Look at ESPN and FOX/Root sports vs all other channels 10-20 x as expensive...

http://allthingsd.com/20100308/hate-paying-for-cable-heres-the-reason-why/

These are the Wholesale costs to the providers. It is a few years old, but still close.

 

[whatchel1]

2 words Screw Sports.

 

[DishSubLA]

Nobody on this board should be upset about this because this is par for Charlie and Dish--and that one thing I do like about Dish. I am not interested in paying for a channel for which I have the least interest even when compared to the "crap" channels like Destination America. Again, even Charlie has said it himself over the many years on Charlie Chats, ". . . if you want that channel, then you may need to consider DirecTV ."

Charlie aint gonna lose anything of significance for the company overall by not having Lakers games. This is a story similar to the YES network. I don't think raising rates even higher than there are going to be raised is a help to any subscribers. This is a free market and people do have a choice: Dish with no Lakers, or the competition with appropriate rates to provide you with the Lakers.

 

[Claude Greiner]

If you want Sports, switch to Directv. You get what you pay for.

 

[elmafu69]

Im a big sports fan, but damn, how many do they need. 10 years every team will have their own channel.

And 5 hours of programming a week which costs 5 times a channel which has 12 hours of good shows a day. I love sports but this is ridiculous the way it is getting so expensive.

 

[frank c.]

I agree, all sports should be in a separate package or tier.

 

[satjay]

Sports fan myself, but I do think its getting a bit crazy with the RSN's and the cost. With the recent story of ESPN carrying the future college playoffs games, that's going to be an interesting showdown I think with all the providers to some degree

 

[The Fat Man]

RSNs should go back to their premium days. That way people can get what they want. Problem is the RSNs. Lucky for people in my area. Prices aren't too high, and Dish has been accommodating for us.

 

[FG48]

RSNs should go back to their premium days. That way people can get what they want. Problem is the RSNs. Lucky for people in my area. Prices aren't too high, and Dish has been accommodating for us.

I am realizing that there are a lot of Dish subscriber they do not like sports.
But also you have to realize that Dish Network has appr. 900.000 subscriber in the southern California area, maybe 200.00 of them like the Lakers to watch including me.
For these 200 thousand one of the reason to get Dish was that they could watch the lakers on Fox West. I like the Dish technology but if Dish is not going to carry the laker channel any more I am forced to look at the competition and so are the other 200 thousand Dish subscriber.
Thank you for your understanding.

 

[HanoverPretzel]

Makes me happy. Sports should be their own tier. You want, you pay. Quit jacking up my bill for stuff I don't watch.

Hey, you quit jacking up my bill for crap like everything that isn't sports.

Sports fans are the bread and butter of television services. ESPN and local regional sports networks sold a lot of homes on cable. Being able to watch more Orioles games was why my family subscribed to cable for the first time as a child, and I don't think we were the only family who became cable subscribers that way. And when Dish and Direct came along as cable alternatives, many people subscribed for the same reasons.

You know why ESPN can get away with charging so much per subscriber? It's because ESPN is what sells many customers on cable or satellite in the first place. You know why the Lakers could get their own RSN and charge so much per subscriber? It's because the main reason a lot of people in LA pay for television is to see the Lakers.

Reruns of Two and a Half Men just don't have the same type of cache or consumer loyalty. After all, if you really like that show, or any show, you can buy DVD boxed sets or rent episodes through Netflix, and so on and so forth. I don't think that really sells cable these days. It may have once upon a time a time, possibly, but not anymore.

Sports are something that people really feel they need to experience live, and the only way for many people to do that, other than being at the stadiums or arenas (Which can be cost-prohibitive for home games and isn't an option for road games most of the time), is to have a cable/satellite subscription. There are some streaming packages for some out-of-market games available, but not for the home teams (Which are blacked out most of the time- apart from the college games that sometimes air on ESPN3).

The other thing cable and satellite have going for them is live news channels.

But dramas and movies? The competition has them beat. It's an extra that's nice to have available, but I'm paying so I can see my sports teams and news (MSNBC). The rest is kind of gravy that is available a bunch of other ways, and not something I'd keep my Dish for if I wasn't getting the sports and news. Heck, I rarely even destination view new episodes of my favorite shows anymore- I usually wait and rent the DVDs from Netflix to watch on my own schedule (Might be different if I had DVR).

 

[gpollock87]

2 words Screw Sports.

and FEARnet. i have gave up asking for it.