YouTube TV Drops Fox Sports Regional Networks

[Yoke]

 

If cable would let me go month-to-month like the streaming services do, I'd go back. My fear is the instant I sign up for Comcast I'm gonna get a notification that they've also dropped FSN. At that point, it'd be worthless to me.

 

All I want is the Twins games, nothing else. This shouldn't be so difficult.

That was what I was nervous about, but I don't have a contract with Spectrum, so it worked out best case scenario. I was researching all of the different streaming services when we were going to get rid of Sling, and they were either cheap, or had what I wanted, and there wasn't much in the middle of the Venn diagram.

 

I would use the whole year either way, though, since the two main things I watch are the Twins and the Wild.

[wavedog]

Fortunately I live in Texas so I can watch the Twins on MLB.tv .   It is crazy when you are better off as a fan living far away from your favorite team.   Common sense will prevail soon I hope - you should be able to just buy a package with all your teams games on it.    I switched to Youtube TV last July - so now I will be cut-off from all the local pro Baseball, Basketball and Hockey games but I will still keep it for now because we saved over $50 per month versus U-Verse.   I just won't be able to watch the Twins play any games against the Rangers or Astros.       

[Rich]

 

And miss the Game Thread? You’ve got to be kidding!

 

You don't have to miss the Game Threads if your in the blackout area. I've been on MLB.TV for many years and never missed any threads. You can also keep up to date with Audio and game day.    

[SF Twins Fan]

Either need to switch to Hulu or go to Reddit.

[dex8425]

Long time youtube tv subscriber here. I'm ticked. I'm switching to Hulu live TV, which is more expensive and worse than youtube tv. There's only 50 hours of cloud dvr, which my wife is not gonna like. We're also cutting off three other people who use my family sharing with yttv from watching the twins by switching from yttv to hulu. 

 

Ridiculous how difficult it is to watch Twins games. This is 2020. 

[TwinsFan50]

I personally don’t do it, but it’s pretty easy to find these games online .......

 

 

What can be searched to find the games...

[nicksaviking]

We should almost hope for Comcast and Hulu to drop the Fox Sports channels as well to force MLB's hand.

[Paul]

I lost the Twins with Dishnet. Seems to me that Sinclair desires a certain return to justify their purchase price. It also seems to me that carriers have drawn a line. It seems the logical conclusion is the rights contract with MLB will expire and Sinclair will expire with it. Or, Sinclair will aquiesce. 

[Squirrel]

I have friends in Chicago who are Cubs fans. And the new Cubs network, Marquee Sports Network, is the only place to watch games. And you have to pay for the service. Even if you are local. Yes, you are blacked out if local, unless you buy in. How's that for cornering the market? Oh, and it is also owned by Sinclair. I have a friend who has said he's about done with the Cubs and is ready to take all his shirts and drop them off at the Cubs' offices and let them know he will now be cheering on the White Sox. This is the most ridiculous form of media money ... owners reaping the rewards and all it does is turn off the fans.

[Vanimal46]

I use a site called suppose.tv to compare TV providers. You just enter your location in the top left, select what channels you want below that, and it shows you what providers offer that in your location and how much they cost.

 

https://www.suppose.tv/tv?m=15&f=1l15l160l250l100l1l0lll1&r=BJKPJZU4U

 

YouTube TV was indeed the best deal ($50) for Fox Sports North before this mess. Now it is Hulu Live TV ($55). Another, more expensive streaming option is AT&T TV Now (formerly DirecTV Now, $80).

 

They also show satellite providers, but those usually come with a contract. At least streaming providers are just month to month and can be picked up or dropped at any time.

Has anyone used AT&T Now? I did a trial run over a year ago when they were branded DirecTV Now and their user interface was awful.

[Vanimal46]

I’m torn... I’m out of market so I watch Twins games through MLB.tv. Out of principle, I’m ticked that YouTube TV is dropping channels while keeping the price the same. Not that I really watched Fox Sports South... If they’re taking away this channel as a result of rising costs, shouldn’t this cost savings be reflected in our monthly bill?

[Musk21]

 

I’m torn... I’m out of market so I watch Twins games through MLB.tv. Out of principle, I’m ticked that YouTube TV is dropping channels while keeping the price the same. Not that I really watched Fox Sports South... If they’re taking away this channel as a result of rising costs, shouldn’t this cost savings be reflected in our monthly bill?

Did your price go up after they added PBS and PBS Kids in December?

 

They're not going to raise and lower the monthly fee for every change.

[Vanimal46]

Did your price go up after they added PBS and PBS Kids in December?

 

They're not going to raise and lower the monthly fee for every change.

Apples and oranges... Live sports vs. channels we can all get with an antenna.

 

Edit: By the way, they did raise prices to $50 when they added HGTV and Food Network.

[Musk21]

 

Apples and oranges... Live sports vs. channels we can all get with an antenna.

Fair enough. Just saying that there are always changes, improvements, etc. to providers/services and monthly fees don't often fluctuate. YouTubeTV also enhanced their DVR and added the 'Key Plays' feature. Netflix isn't lowering their price because they lost Disney or NBC/Universal content.

 

[snotboogie]

I've got a partial season ticket package and and get a free MLB.tv subscription as a perk.  I spend a few bucks a month on a vpn and set my vpn server outside of the Twins' blackout area. Voila. (I'll set it to Germany and imagine that MLB thinks the Kepler family is watching.)  A season-long subscription is pretty pricey, but you can watch any game.  Later in the season (after the All-Star Game?) the price drops, if you can wait that long.  

[gocgo]

Dang...I just did a Youtube TV free trial and was impressed...maybe not so much now.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Has anyone used AT&T Now? I did a trial run over a year ago when they were branded DirecTV Now and their user interface was awful.

I also used DirecTV Now and it was terrible. From what I've read, little changed with the rebranding.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

I’m torn... I’m out of market so I watch Twins games through MLB.tv. Out of principle, I’m ticked that YouTube TV is dropping channels while keeping the price the same. Not that I really watched Fox Sports South... If they’re taking away this channel as a result of rising costs, shouldn’t this cost savings be reflected in our monthly bill?

They're likely not changing costs because they're in a game of chicken with Sinclair. It would be really frustrating to end users if they dropped the price by five bucks and then raised it again next month when the FSN channels return.

 

Maybe the channels don't return in a month but I think it's likely this stand-off doesn't last forever.

[theBOMisthebomb]

Seriously? Not that "Twins Territory" is a well defined concept, but I would bet their marketing people would include Iowa. If you go by radio stations, you can get the Twins out of Mason City, Spencer, Iowa Falls, Cedar Rapids, and Des Moines. That's a lot of Iowa. The fan base has also most certainly been on the rise here in eastern Iowa. First because of the Twin's recent awesomeness, but also because the single A Cedar Rapids Kernels, which the Twins took over in 2013 and are a very successful minor league operation. Prior to that there was no Twins radio in most of eastern Iowa. Mason City may well have been the only signal. Most TV packages in Eastern Iowa carry Chicago regional sports networks, but my sense is that Twins fans rival Cubs fans from Iowa City northward.

 

Well, I was basing it on my experience going to Burlington, Iowa the last 10 years and going to a Burlington Bees game there every summer. I have never seen another Twins fan there, only Cubs, Cardinals, and Angels. People have asked me about being a Twins fan and they seem to treat it like an oddity. Obviously, there will be some Twins fans around Cedar Rapids. I am sure if you are from the area or otherwise connected you probably have better insight than my limited perspective going to Burlington Bees games.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Well, I was basing it on my experience going to Burlington, Iowa the last 10 years and going to a Burlington Bees game there every summer. I have never seen another Twins fan there, only Cubs, Cardinals, and Angels. People have asked me about being a Twins fan and they seem to treat it like an oddity. Obviously, there will be some Twins fans around Cedar Rapids. I am sure if you are from the area or otherwise connected you probably have better insight than my limited perspective going to Burlington Bees games.

To be fair, Burlington is waaayyyy closer to St Louis, Chicago, AND Kansas City than it is Minneapolis. Given that it's in the SE corner of the state, the likelihood of Twins fans living there is a lot lower than it would be to the north.

[IndianaTwin]

 

Seriously? Not that "Twins Territory" is a well defined concept, but I would bet their marketing people would include Iowa. If you go by radio stations, you can get the Twins out of Mason City, Spencer, Iowa Falls, Cedar Rapids, and Des Moines. That's a lot of Iowa. The fan base has also most certainly been on the rise here in eastern Iowa. First because of the Twin's recent awesomeness, but also because the single A Cedar Rapids Kernels, which the Twins took over in 2013 and are a very successful minor league operation. Prior to that there was no Twins radio in most of eastern Iowa. Mason City may well have been the only signal. Most TV packages in Eastern Iowa carry Chicago regional sports networks, but my sense is that Twins fans rival Cubs fans from Iowa City northward.  

 

Indeed. Though I live in Indiana, I’m an Iowan and cut my teeth on games on WHO. I was in the southeast quarter of the state. 

[Tibs]

Looks like last night YouTube TV and Sinclair agreed to a temporary extension for the channels

[Otto von Ballpark]

Looks like last night YouTube TV and Sinclair agreed to a temporary extension for the channels

Yup. No timeline yet, though:

 

https://twitter.com/TeamYouTube/status/1233578974443339776?s=20

[Richie the Rally Goat]

Anyway, while I despise Amazon for a multitude of reasons, this is why I wanted to see them gobble up the FSN regional brands when they went on the block.

 

Amazon would actively work to destroy the regional model blackout system, which would be a win for consumers. It's 2020, there's no effing reason for this kind of nonsense to exist anymore. Why would FSN care if someone from Colorado wanted to give them money to watch baseball, basketball, and hockey?

 

Frankly, the entire system is idiotic.

to that end, why doesn’t the NFL or MLB or any of the major sports including MMA just self distribute and keep ALL of the revenue? They already have the infrastructure and wouldn’t lose out on cable revenue w/ MLB Network already available....

It’s just mind blowing how badly I want to give them my money and they just don’t want to take it....

 

The stupid part is, I’m blacked out on both the Twins and the Brewers, and Vikings and Packers, but for no amount of local cable money can I get the Packers or the Brewers. I don’t want the Brewers but there are plenty of Brewers fans here who have no legal way of watching them.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

to that end, why doesn’t the NFL or MLB or any of the major sports including MMA just self distribute and keep ALL of the revenue? They already have the infrastructure and wouldn’t lose out on cable revenue w/ MLB Network already available....
It’s just mind blowing how badly I want to give them my money and they just don’t want to take it....

Networks are giving the teams/leagues billions of dollars a year for exclusive local/national streaming rights. It would be pretty hard to make up that lost revenue selling direct to the consumer. (Although I agree the current situation could definitely be improved!)

 

 

The stupid part is, I’m blacked out on both the Twins and the Brewers, and Vikings and Packers, but for no amount of local cable money can I get the Packers or the Brewers. I don’t want the Brewers but there are plenty of Brewers fans here who have no legal way of watching them.

Not sure where you are, but in places where media markets overlap, some streaming providers provide both team's channels. For example, River Falls, Wisconsin is blacked out from both the Twins and Brewers on MLB.TV, but if you subscribe to YouTube TV in River Falls, it appears that you get both Fox Sports North and Fox Sports Wisconsin. (For now, anyway )

 

You can enter a zip code here and see what you'd get on YouTube TV:

https://tv.youtube.com/welcome/#id-70channels

[adorduan]

 

Networks are giving the teams/leagues billions of dollars a year for exclusive local/national streaming rights. It would be pretty hard to make up that lost revenue selling direct to the consumer. (Although I agree the current situation could definitely be improved!)

 

 

Not sure where you are, but in places where media markets overlap, some streaming providers provide both team's channels. For example, River Falls, Wisconsin is blacked out from both the Twins and Brewers on MLB.TV, but if you subscribe to YouTube TV in River Falls, it appears that you get both Fox Sports North and Fox Sports Wisconsin. (For now, anyway )

 

You can enter a zip code here and see what you'd get on YouTube TV:

https://tv.youtube.com/welcome/#id-70channels

Yeah, it's kind of weird, but here is Des Moines with Hulu, i get Fox North, Fox Midwest, and the Chicago sports channels, so I can see several different teams. Before i had to use MLB.tv and a vpn to see the Twins.

[Vanimal46]

 

This is an announcement I’m excited about. Please make more games available on Prime.

[Puckett34]

 

This is an announcement I’m excited about. Please make more games available on Prime.

I'd tack on several extra dollars per month on my prime subscription for Amazon to take over the regional sports networks. Or at least the option to do so.

 

Maybe a tiered level like MLB.tv does it. A single team price or all game price.

[biggentleben]

I wrote about this when Sinclair bought the RSNs: http://videobaseballscout.com/starting-9-sinclair-broadcast-group-enters-mlb/

 

TL;DR - Sinclair is terrible and will be really, really bad for MLB fans.

 

I mentioned in the piece that teams still retained streaming rights, and that is the leverage that the Cubs and Yankees used to create deals for their own networks after the buyouts (that the news all stated that YES was included with this is not entirely true as YES has independent negotiating ability that they were able to leverage their streaming rights to get from Sinclair, and thus you see the Prime deal). Teams operating their own streams for local fans is where this is likely headed, but it would require financial investment.

 

Let's just say that I wouldn't blame YouTubeTV for this one bit. This is what Sinclair does. There have now been a half-dozen significant disputes with distributors for RSN contracts since Sinclair took over, leaving thousands with some amount of time where they were unable to see their favorite team. That's in 10 months. You really think things will get better with SBC the longer they own the RSNs?!

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

This is an announcement I’m excited about. Please make more games available on Prime.

Aaaaand that's why I wanted Amazon to buy the FSN system.