The Dodgers are going the way of the Lakers starting in 2014

DTV picked up the Lakers games quite a while ago. It leaves Dish as the only major carrier without.

Yea but they didn't get the Pac12,Dish did.I think your going to see a lot more of that,if each team or conference starts their own channel.It is overkill.
 
Well TWC seems to be onboard with a 17.6% rate increase to cover: http://www.fiercecable.com/story/time-warner-cable-raising-rates-los-angeles-system/2013-01-29

The nation's second largest cable MSO, which signed a contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers this week that will reportedly cost it more than $7 billion, will hike the fee on its local broadcast basic tier by $3 monthly to $20, according to The Los Angeles Times. That's a 17.6 percent increase.

Time Warner Cable will increase the fee on its expanded basic programming package in Los Angeles by 8.2 percent to $72.50 monthly, and its DVR rental fee will jump from $10.95 to $12.99 monthly, an increase of 18.6 percent.
 
I can guarantee you that DirecTV WILL pick up the Dodgers station. They still have a year to negotiate.

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I can guarantee you that DirecTV WILL pick up the Dodgers station. They still have a year to negotiate.

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And then they will pass along the extra cost as a surcharge to LA subs. That's the problem now - teams can get ridiculous contracts from RSNs because the RSNs can force these higher fees onto subs. Same thing with ESPN. Eventually there has to be a backlash.

Here's a thought - make the surcharge *optional*. Only those who really want the Dodgers and Lakers pay the extra cost.

Time Warner Cable has worked hard to keep our costs down and provide a wide range of choices for customers, and we have added new channels, on demand content, and HD offerings to our lineup," Time Warner Cable said in the statement.

Yup, TWC has worked to keep costs down by giving the Dodgers a single team RSN and a $7 billion to $8 billion contract. :rolleyes:
 
One drag about this is that these teams will be blacked out on MLBN and NBATV national broadcasts for those in the Time Warner coverage areas if the games are on both channels.

Same thing happens in Hawaii (and assuming California) with games on RSN Prime Sports. I'm more into hockey so if Anaheim is playing a team that I want to see and it's also on NHLN, we won't get it because we're supposed to watch it on Prime Sports.
 
I can guarantee you that DirecTV WILL pick up the Dodgers station. They still have a year to negotiate.

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Virtually no one has, or does it appear will. I feel sorry for Dodger fans, but this could be the stance carriers take that breaks the hold RSN's have. If they can manage to hold firm and not take on another (expensive) RSN, then perhaps they can negotiate better with other RSN's when the contracts come up. It's time to make them offer it as a premium.

http://forums.solidsignal.com/conte...all-unavailable-for-70-of-fans-who-s-to-blame
 
This new RSN is a pretty easy one to "draw the line in the sand" over. One pro sports team (Dodgers), no other pro sports from October thru March, no local major college sports since the Pac-12 has its own channel, asking approx. $5 a month now increasing to $8 a month over the next several years.

If one or two providers cave in then perhaps SportsNetLA limps along for a while, but IMHO it is just as likely this channel ends up just like Sportsnet Houston - in bankruptcy court.
 
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Or it ends up like CSN Philly. A cable exclusive that forces people to switch to TWC.

But the other major cable players in the area aren't signing up either: "Companies like AT&T U-Verse, Charter, Cox Communications, DirecTV, Dish and Verizon are holding steadfast in their refusal to pay Time Warner’s asking price for SportsNet LA." So unless you're willing to move to an area served by Time Warner you are out of luck.
 
This new RSN is a pretty easy one to "draw the line in the sand" over. One pro sports team (Dodgers), no other pro sports from October thru March, no local major college sports since the Pac-12 has its own channel, asking approx. $5 a month now increasing to $8 a month over the next several years.

and very limited programming. I mean looking at the opening week they have the same game on THREE times a day.
 
It makes sense to the team. Their own exclusive channel means their own exclusive income stream. As long as people agree to pay for it they will continue to do it.
I still wished I had TWC or Comcast in my area though. Cable One is like stuck in the past when it comes to quality.

It's good for income, as long as everyone is on board like you said. However, charging 5 dollars a month for 162 baseball games for 6 months is a bit ridiculous. With this channel, the LA metro area will have 5 regional sports networks (TWCSN, TWCSN Deportes, Sportsnet LA, Fox Sports West, and Prime Ticket) not to mention their local stations. Basically a team for every channel. I don't think cable customers who are fans of the LA Angels will be happy about them tacking on another 5 dollars to their bill. :D DIRECTV already has a 3 dollar RSN fee on them now the fee can go up with this channel. A merger with TWCSN would have been a lot smarter. The schedule works out well. Dodgers play from April-October and the Lakers play from October/November-April. The channel already has national coverage thanks to DIRECTV, even though the matches can only be shown in LA. So everyone can listen to analysts talk about how bad the Lakers are and how Puig is very annoying. Though I don't live in LA, I just feel that this is ridiculous. If I were an LA resident, I would be outraged at this.
 
I still wished I had TWC or Comcast in my area though. Cable One is like stuck in the past when it comes to quality.

It's good for income, as long as everyone is on board like you said. However, charging 5 dollars a month for 162 baseball games for 6 months is a bit ridiculous. With this channel, the LA metro area will have 5 regional sports networks (TWCSN, TWCSN Deportes, Sportsnet LA, Fox Sports West, and Prime Ticket) not to mention their local stations. Basically a team for every channel. I don't think cable customers who are fans of the LA Angels will be happy about them tacking on another 5 dollars to their bill. :D DIRECTV already has a 3 dollar RSN fee on them now the fee can go up with this channel. A merger with TWCSN would have been a lot smarter. The schedule works out well. Dodgers play from April-October and the Lakers play from October/November-April. The channel already has national coverage thanks to DIRECTV, even though the matches can only be shown in LA. So everyone can listen to analysts talk about how bad the Lakers are and how Puig is very annoying. Though I don't live in LA, I just feel that this is ridiculous. If I were an LA resident, I would be outraged at this.

You forgot about P12N LA.....I would consider that an LA RSN over TWCSN Deportes.. :-D
 
Now a week into the season and nobody else has signed on ... I guess that all the sports talking heads in LA who assumed that deals would be done my now didn't realize how out of touch with reality this new channel is.

I agree that the real solution is a consolidation of channels - LA got along fine with two RSNs for many years, now having four RSNs (and two new ones with a single team) - all wanting premium $$$ for their channel - just isn't going to work. I wonder if SportsNetLA is going to end up like ComcastHouston, because the money they are bringing in is not close to what they owe the Dodgers.
 
Now a week into the season and nobody else has signed on ... I guess that all the sports talking heads in LA who assumed that deals would be done my now didn't realize how out of touch with reality this new channel is.

I agree that the real solution is a consolidation of channels - LA got along fine with two RSNs for many years, now having four RSNs (and two new ones with a single team) - all wanting premium $$$ for their channel - just isn't going to work. I wonder if SportsNetLA is going to end up like ComcastHouston, because the money they are bringing in is not close to what they owe the Dodgers.

The sad part is that the Dodgers are a fun team to watch and the home town audience is missing it. With both channels being partially owned by TWC it seems like they are going to have to combine the Lakers and Dodgers channels into one channel. It will cost them some money but most providers wouldn't be able to turn down a channel with rights to both of those teams. The overlap between those two sports seasons is very small too.


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The sad part is that the Dodgers are a fun team to watch and the home town audience is missing it. With both channels being partially owned by TWC it seems like they are going to have to combine the Lakers and Dodgers channels into one channel. It will cost them some money but most providers wouldn't be able to turn down a channel with rights to both of those teams. The overlap between those two sports seasons is very small too.


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Realize the issue is not with Time Warner, per se, it is with the Dodgers. Their intense greed has priced their channel right out of the market. Yes, in time this channel will go the same way CSN Houston has. There is no way that they can cover the payments to the Dodgers with the obligations they have.
 
I have watched several Dodgers games on SportsNet LA with MLB.tv this year. I have watched CSN Houston and CSN Philly games too. It's sad when out of market baseball fans have more access to a team than the people living in the team's city. I'm not a fan of any of those teams but I am a fantasy baseball nut and will watch any game with relevance to me as long as my Tigers aren't playing.
 

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