There was plenty of confusion Tuesday night as Bruins fans had trouble finding OLN or found it wasn't available on their cable or satellite system.
Enough viewers did find OLN to give the Bruins-Canadiens game a 1.8 rating, a drop of roughly a point from the encouraging ratings the team has earned this year on NESN, but also a sign that many viewers were able to find the telecast, which was exclusive to OLN, even though it wasn't in HD and the less-than-sharp picture brought back memories of decades-old Bruins telecasts on Channel 38.
Those who had trouble finding the game called their cable systems, as well as the Globe, WEEI, NESN, and OLN. Their complaints are being heard because OLN will have exclusive (no NESN) coverage of seven more Bruins games this season, the next Nov. 8 at Philadelphia.
Comcast, which owns OLN, didn't report any problems, nor did Cox, with systems in Rhode Island and Connecticut.
However, Bruins fans found themselves shut out completely on Dish Network, the result of a national dispute between the company and OLN that is keeping the system's subscribers from seeing OLN's hockey telecasts.
Even though OLN is on Dish's 180 tier, the network is withholding NHL games to the system. OLN is negotiating to get a spot on Dish's less-expensive 120 tier. OLN spokeswomen Amy Phillips said, ''Traditionally the NHL, like all major professional sports, has been broadly distributed on a basic tier. We believe that hockey fans deserve the right to watch the hockey the way they watch all other major professional sports, and we are actively working with Dish to do that."
Adelphia subscribers found plenty of confusion due to OLN's placement on different tiers. In New Hampshire and Rhode Island, the channel is found on the digital basic tier. In Maine, it's split, on analog in half the state, on digital elsewhere.
In Massachusetts, however, OLN was only available to Adelphia's digital-plus customers.
''The bottom line is that if you get OLN, you should get the hockey," said David Daniels, director of product marketing for Adelphia's Northeast Region.
''We got calls Tuesday from all over. There was no rhyme or reason to it. The people at our call centers found that, in many cases, people were looking for the game on NESN and didn't know where to find OLN."
However, other callers, including a sports bar on the South Shore, said they only got a message saying, ''If you want this program, call OLN at . . ."
RCN spokeswoman Brooke Tyson reported no complaints; however, WEEI personnel said they couldn't find the game at the radio station, and director of operations and programming Jason Wolfe said the station is served by RCN.
Like the new rules on the ice, it seems the new distribution rules off it will require some adjustments.
Enough viewers did find OLN to give the Bruins-Canadiens game a 1.8 rating, a drop of roughly a point from the encouraging ratings the team has earned this year on NESN, but also a sign that many viewers were able to find the telecast, which was exclusive to OLN, even though it wasn't in HD and the less-than-sharp picture brought back memories of decades-old Bruins telecasts on Channel 38.
Those who had trouble finding the game called their cable systems, as well as the Globe, WEEI, NESN, and OLN. Their complaints are being heard because OLN will have exclusive (no NESN) coverage of seven more Bruins games this season, the next Nov. 8 at Philadelphia.
Comcast, which owns OLN, didn't report any problems, nor did Cox, with systems in Rhode Island and Connecticut.
However, Bruins fans found themselves shut out completely on Dish Network, the result of a national dispute between the company and OLN that is keeping the system's subscribers from seeing OLN's hockey telecasts.
Even though OLN is on Dish's 180 tier, the network is withholding NHL games to the system. OLN is negotiating to get a spot on Dish's less-expensive 120 tier. OLN spokeswomen Amy Phillips said, ''Traditionally the NHL, like all major professional sports, has been broadly distributed on a basic tier. We believe that hockey fans deserve the right to watch the hockey the way they watch all other major professional sports, and we are actively working with Dish to do that."
Adelphia subscribers found plenty of confusion due to OLN's placement on different tiers. In New Hampshire and Rhode Island, the channel is found on the digital basic tier. In Maine, it's split, on analog in half the state, on digital elsewhere.
In Massachusetts, however, OLN was only available to Adelphia's digital-plus customers.
''The bottom line is that if you get OLN, you should get the hockey," said David Daniels, director of product marketing for Adelphia's Northeast Region.
''We got calls Tuesday from all over. There was no rhyme or reason to it. The people at our call centers found that, in many cases, people were looking for the game on NESN and didn't know where to find OLN."
However, other callers, including a sports bar on the South Shore, said they only got a message saying, ''If you want this program, call OLN at . . ."
RCN spokeswoman Brooke Tyson reported no complaints; however, WEEI personnel said they couldn't find the game at the radio station, and director of operations and programming Jason Wolfe said the station is served by RCN.
Like the new rules on the ice, it seems the new distribution rules off it will require some adjustments.
