Huge props to MLB.tv and TBS

[Brock Beauchamp]

Over the past few days, I've been enjoying the hell out of some playoff baseball. That's pretty normal, except...

 

I don't have cable. In all likelihood, I will never buy cable again. Instead of blacking out US and Canadian residents, MLB and TBS have agreed to allow MLB.tv subscribers to stream games over the Internet (instead of forcing me to just use a proxy out of country, like I normally do to watch games).

 

In a sports world that is blackout-crazy, it's nice to see organizations try to work with modern users instead of fighting them and forcing them to use back alley channels just to watch a damned baseball game.

 

If only more companies would show a little foresight and work with Internet streaming instead of keeping their feet planted in 1992.

[mhanson93]

Where are you getting this info? I don't see this advertised on the MLB website. When I pull up the games it say they are blacked unless you are an international customer. All I see is ads for the crappy postseason.tv which does not include the broadcast feed.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Where are you getting this info? I don't see this advertised on the MLB website. When I pull up the games it say they are blacked unless you are an international customer. All I see is ads for the crappy postseason.tv which does not include the broadcast feed.

 

You have to be a paying MLB.tv customer, I believe. It's only a few bucks to sign up for the playoffs.

[mhanson93]

I understand that you need to pay, but it still looks like they are blacked out. Here is what I see on their website:

 

MLB.TV Postseason Live Blackout: Due to Major League Baseball exclusivities, during the MLB Postseason, all live games will be blacked out in the United States (including the territories of Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and Canada. If you are an MLB.TV Subscriber outside of the United States and Canada, each of these games will be available live and as an archived game as soon as possible after the conclusion of the applicable game. If you are an MLB.TV Subscriber within the United States or Canada or an MLB.TV subscriber in any territory, each of these games will be available as an archived game approximately 90 minutes after the conclusion of the applicable game.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/mediacenter/index.jsp?c_id=mlb

[Brock Beauchamp]

That's interesting. I believe it's only for TBS games so they may have posted a general blanket statement to avoid confusion.

[snepp]

Now all they need to do is fix those archaic blackout restrictions for the other five bazillion games during the season.

[Willihammer]

Yeah even existing customers have to put down the $5 extra for "live" postseason coverage and even then there is the usual "not as good as advertised" disclaimer. So it is evidently just $5 charity to TBS with MLB taking a slice certainly.

 

I've been pulling in streams via this proxy IP all week: 195.138.81.100 port 3128

[Brock Beauchamp]

I've been pulling in streams via this proxy IP all week: 195.138.81.100 port 3128

 

You realize that you only need to clear the authentication screen with a proxy, right? After you clear authentication, you can turn off the proxy so that you're running on your own connection. It makes finding a stable and fast proxy unnecessary. You only need to find something that can hold up for ~30 seconds.

[Willihammer]

Yep

[Brock Beauchamp]

Yep

 

It shows how little MLB cares that they don't re-authenticate on a timer. MLBAM is really progressive and I'm sure they'd like to open some of these blackout restrictions but the local cable companies are the ones fighting any kind of lifting of the blackout.

 

I'm giving them money (about one-third of a cable bill for six months of the year, actually). I want to pay to watch games but I don't want a bloated cable bill that I won't use often enough to warrant a $700 yearly bill.

 

And these media companies wonder why piracy is rampant. It probably has something to do with their refusal to cooperate with what the modern market is demanding. The old rules are no longer good enough. It's time for an a la carte model delivered entirely over the Internet.