Printable View
I would love to drop my cable but Twins broadcasts keep me tethered. I looked at mlb.tv and it looks like Twins games would be blacked out here in Minnesota. Can that be? Any locals using mlb.tv? It seems absurd to pay $125 per year if I won't get the Twins games.
Local games are blacked out, and it goes by your I.P. address. You get the full game an hour or so after last pitch... I, too, would drop the $100 for it, but not if I can't watch them live. I don't know if FSN is to blame, or the local cable providers like Comcast/Xfinity (who I generally blame everything on anyway.)
The real culprit in this issue is the FCC. They established the Sports Blackout Rule following 1999 legislation. Here is the page where you can find the detailed documents. According to news reports a couple of weeks ago, there is a move by five Democratic Senators to get that rule changed.
Those of us in Iowa are also caught in this blackout rule for the Twins, but in our case it includes 6 major league teams because Iowa is supposedly in the media market for all of those teams.
I'm really hoping for a change soon, but not holding my breath.
I guess they make more on broadcast revenue if they assure the broadcaster a blackout. Still, seems like a waste of an opportunity. Clearly there would be ways around it with proxies and vpns but I guess I'll stick with cable for now. Thanks for the replies.
I am caught out here in SW Mn aalso. We had a package of channels that included espn and fsn. Cost me $22 a month. But our area REA's that had this program guit this service. The cheapest I can get the Twins (and a whole lot of other channels I don't want) is over $60 per month for two years. Yikes - What goes on here!!!!
I signed on with MLB tv in August last year. It was prorated, so I spent about $60, and it was worth it, because I was able to see Thome hit #600. My two year old saw it too, and witnessed my excitement, and ever since, he has been in to baseball.
However, I didn't renew this year. I was ticked off that no playoff games were available, and I don't have cable. Plus, maybe due to my specific internet provider, but alot of times the games would freeze or come in very low def.
I'd too would drop cable if it weren't for Wolves/Twins broadcasts only being available through TV in the local market. The way I see it though is that MLB won't make any changes because they'd erode the value of the TV contract rights. The way it's set-up now probably allows them to maximize both local TV contracts and then the national rights probably net them out to about the same. It's a premium price for both the packages whether mlb.tv or through your provider. I really don't see a path for this to change.
The blackout rule does suck. I've found the only way I can really watch baseball is on my ipad. I can follow the game and get other stuff done without being tethered to a tv. Luckily in Winnipeg none of the twins games are blacked out however all Blue Jay games are blacked out for the entire country.
This will be my 3rd or 4th year. I work evenings and don't mind watching the Twins on delay. I follow the Pirates as much or moreso than the hometown club these days, and I watch a fair amount of other games depending on pitching matchups and whatnot. I feel like I get my money's worth and then some. I haven't had cable TV in almost a decade.
Right now local TV revenue is soaring for a lot MLB teams, including the Twins. MLB does not want to stop that gravy train, so they will continue to impose the blackouts for the foreseeable future. The ridiculous part is the size of the media markets. People who aren't even able to receive FSN locally are blacked out from MLB.TV. Don't know what FSN charges the cable companies per subscriber each month, but I have a hard time believing it adds up to more than $100.00 per subscriber per year, (guessing it's closer to $50- $60) so it would seem MLB could make more selling directly to consumers, but what do I know? One thing that has become clear over the last few years is that the major media companies are going to fight the change to Internet based, ala carte, viewing of TV until they use every possible resource at their disposal.
It would all be a helluva lot easier to deal with for us consumers if they'd just let us pay for ONLY the channels we wanted.
Only time will tell....The "main stream mediaization" of the internet (internet2) Will ultimately decide what the end game is..
I couldn't live without MLB.tv. Yes, the twins are blacked out, but you can watch a replay of any game including the twins. I watch the package on the iPad and you can switch from game to game and home or away broadcast. You can even quickly do an overlay of the boxscore while watching the game. I never have a problem with feed and I'm using comcast high speed. If you enjoy watching any game you choose or even a certain team, it's well worth the price.
MLB.tv is great.
There's also MLB at bat which works on smart phones.
Okay, so it's not just me who got confused and frustrated dealing with watching Twins games on a budget.
I guess it all makes sense, economically speaking. After all, I AM willing to shell out the money to get enough cable to watch the games (even if I will bitch and moan about it the whole time). So I guess it's worth it for me, or I wouldn't do that.
so because I live in Milwaukee, if I got MILB TV would I be able to view the Brewers games?Quote:
Originally Posted by puck34
Don't think FCC has anything to do with the blackouts. The NBA package is not affected. In fact, NBA games aren't blacked out in League Pass, even when the opponent network is the only one carrying a game. This is all about MLB. They have fans willing to pay (most are 'displaced, such as Yankees fans in Kentucky) and so there's no reason to change from MLB's perspective. Even though a black-out free MLB package would be great for promoting the game and would sell like (something less cliche than hotcakes).
I am in-market for Twins games, but bought mlb.tv yesterday, so I will be able to see the AL Central rivals, plus the Rockies and Dbacks (closet fan of both, even before Cuddyer and Kubel) and be able to hear Vin Scully all game. I paid $124.99 for premium. One improvement this year is premium buyers get the At Bat app, unlocked for mlb.tv, no blackout radio and GameDay graphics, included for no extra charge. Have it set up on my iPad and iTouch and worked great for yesterday's Yanks/Phils ST game. Last season, this app cost $14.99 and if you wanted it on more than one device, you had to pay that price for each device.
The blackout rules are ridiculous. If MLB.tv (or any internet service) carries the feed from the local broacast, then the station and advertisers get what they want anyway. I'd pay for the right to watch the NFL and MLB on my various devices, but I'm not going to pay $60-100 a month for cable, I just don't watch that much tv.
Wait.. There are commercials? Can I start watching half-way through and zap the commercials like I do with my cable box? If not, it will be a deal killer. I can't stand the idea of watching the same commercials 3000 times.Quote:
Originally Posted by mike wants wins
There's no commercial on MLB.tv, just a page that say's "commercial break in progress"...Wish they could get rid of these for the archive games.