Dish Network Statement on MLB

[Peter Parker]

It is hard for me to "agree with Charlie" when i really don't know if his claims are true. I do not expect him to reveal the details of a negotiation but it is not clear at all how DISH is being asked to bear a disproportionate share or whether non EI customers would wind up paying for this.

BTW I am not even sure taht it is always true that e* is cheaper than D8 anymore. It certainly WAS true but in recent years the comparisons have been harder to make.

All I know for sure is that at this point E* is missing a lot of programming that I would watch, that they have given me inadequate responses as to why (e.g it depends on your location sir) and that i will likely switch when my commitment ends. having said that if E * offers others a package that suits their needs I can see why they would stay.

but don't expect me to swallow the E* PR line whole. I never trusted my ccable company that much and i don't trust E8 completely either.

 

[bagsy]

How much did E* pay for EI in the past? I'm guessing it was more than what their share of the $100M/yr split would be. If they don't get the package, are they going to pass on the "discount" to customers, since they will no longer be paying for EI as they did in the past? No.

 

[David_Levin]

Fine with me. I'd be thrilled if I could save some $$$ by dropping all sports off my package.

Sports has gotten too expensive to force people to take it who don't want it. Think it's time to vote for ala-carte.

 

[pdxsam]

I doubt you'll ever see ala-carte sports. Most distributors (especially Disney) want to tie everything into one big retransmission agreement these days. As long as that happens you won't be able to ala-carte sports.

 

[gjh3260]

If you really need EI, you're gonna have to leave Dish, or pony up the money to add cable or D*. E* has made a business decision that EI isn't going to help their bottom line. That's fine. I have enough HD baseball for myself now with ESPN, FOX and the RSNs. Anybody that needs more is gonna have to look elsewhere. I think the handwriting was on the wall when E* started lighting up the HD RSNs.

I agree with you 100% about EI. Dish made a business decision not to have it therefore nobody with E* will get EI. Therefore E* subs can either go to Direct or cable for their EI. What is upsetting to me is that E* lit up 7 HD RSN's and according to their press release it sounds like thats it for a while. What upsets me is what about the other subs whose HD RSN's are not lit up ?? For me it Fox Sports Net North. I want to see my local team and their 40+ HD games too. I know I won't see a credit on my billing statement because E* made a business decision NOT to light up FSN North or the remaining RSN's in certain regions of the country in HD. E* you talk about being fair. Where is the fairness here ?

 

[barnie]

Until we know what was offered a the bargaining table, it is hard to blame one side or the other. It all comes down to $$ and given E* EI base is small compared to D* and cable, the cost will be higher for Dish EI subscribers to the point where either they would switch to other providers or drop the EI package and leave E* stuck with the cost.
That is the state of professional sports (and soon college), most people cannot even take their kids to one game a year because of the cost.
Thank God we leave in a country with competition, If you really don't like what Charlie did, leave. I choose to stay because of the other things E* is offering now.
If later D* surpass E* in HD, I will bolt as well.

 

[sprintcarcrazy]

I don't want to pay for a Sports Channel that I do not watch, just like I wouldn't think it's right for everyone to foot the bill for a Nascar channel that I might watch.

Isn't the sticking point on these sports stations is that they want Dish to put it in the tiers that most or all will get and then charge them a ton because everyone can watch it ? And actually only 10 percent might ? If they want to put it in a package and charge the user 100-200 a year to get it, that's the way it should be done.

 

[harveystern]

Why is Dish still showing channel 625?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Why is Dish still showing channel 625?

We need to remember the air is thin in Denver.

Yes they should remove channel 625 and all the hidden Extra Innings channel is Dish is done with their talks.

 

[BobMurdoch]

Ominous news on Channel 625. It has gone from an info screen telling you to call and add extra innings and a phone number to a succinct "Off Air" label.

Here's the pitch. SWINNNNNG and a miss. Struck him out.

Hardcore baseball fans call now and switch to D*. Back to E*'s Poor Man's Extra Innings.... You only get to see the games when they go to Extra Innings and the blackouts are lifted on the MultiSports pak (start praying for those rain delays)....

And since InDemand reached agreement, John Kerry will shut up and go away since he can watch HIS games now. My other option Verizon Fios (just starting to turn people on in our town now) won't help either as they are locked out also....

 

[stuckingoo]

I agree with Charlie on this one. IT makes NO SENSE for ALL the subscribers to bear the cost so the 1% who like baseball can get the MLB pack. THis is what differentiates Dish from Directv. They actually believe in ala carte and are the cheaper priced of the two. Directv is sports bent and they want it all and it costs lots of $$$$$$$ to get all those exclusive sports like NFL and now MLB. Let Directv customers bear the cost.

IF Directv wanted to be a real sports leader they wouldn't require all subs to carry a basic programming pack to receive the one or two sports packs that subs want. If they did let you sub to a sports pack without the basic programming pack , they would gain even more money from those who wanted to keep DISH or even CABLE and still use them for the one or two sports packs. At least Dish will allow you to sub to just about anything ala carte WITHOUT requiring a basic programming pack.

I think then that Dish should permit those subscribers under contract, who subscribed to EI last year, to be released from that contract. Especially considering that Dish had continued to advertise EI even after their deal with MLB expired last season. If the number is as small and insignificant as you put it, they are better off letting them sign up with DirecTV or cable rather than keeping unhappy and complaining customers on their rolls.

I would imagine the situation present with MLB is similar to NHL and NBA packages (I subscribe to Center Ice) in that the subscriber base is not very high and therefore a low priority for the carrier. I no longer have confidence Dish will maintain those contracts and will leave as a subscriber at the first possible opportunity.

 

[db2]

I agree with you 100% about EI. Dish made a business decision not to have it therefore nobody with E* will get EI. Therefore E* subs can either go to Direct or cable for their EI. What is upsetting to me is that E* lit up 7 HD RSN's and according to their press release it sounds like thats it for a while. What upsets me is what about the other subs whose HD RSN's are not lit up ?? For me it Fox Sports Net North. I want to see my local team and their 40+ HD games too. I know I won't see a credit on my billing statement because E* made a business decision NOT to light up FSN North or the remaining RSN's in certain regions of the country in HD. E* you talk about being fair. Where is the fairness here ?

I echo every word in gjh's post. LIGHT UP THE REST OF THE RSN's IN HD!!

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Channel 625 is still up, here is what it looks like in the guide

 

[NightRyder]

Yawn...No snooze ball...Boo Hoo...:river :river :river

NightRyder

 

[Tom Bombadil]

I agree that perhaps the biggest factor in this is that E* has a lower percentage of hard-core sports fans than most other programming providers. A large majority of serious sports fans sub to D* when they go DBS. D* has always had stronger sports programming.

Therefore E* would have lower EI subscription rates than D*, and probably cable. So if they sign the same agreement, the cost per EI sub is going to be higher for E* than anyone else.

So a deal that makes sense for D* may be a terrible deal for E*.

 

[mikew]

I agree that perhaps the biggest factor in this is that E* has a lower percentage of hard-core sports fans than most other programming providers. A large majority of serious sports fans sub to D* when they go DBS. D* has always had stronger sports programming.

Therefore E* would have lower EI subscription rates than D*, and probably cable. So if they sign the same agreement, the cost per EI sub is going to be higher for E* than anyone else.

So a deal that makes sense for D* may be a terrible deal for E*.

Tom hit it on the head. In the past, E* paid MLB for each sub. The new contract requires a specific dollar amount for the package and it's up to the provider to get enough subs to pay MLB. Knowing they are so far behind D* and ID*, there's no way they could get enough subs to pay for the package.

 

[Hart5150]

:shocked It is funny that every time something like this ahppens with E*, you see the same people drink the Kool-Aid.

 

[Sean Mota]

:shocked It is funny that every time something like this ahppens with E*, you see the same people drink the Kool-Aid.

Kool-Aid ​

 

[brownclown]

Agree with you,I still trying to understand if people are not happy with the Service Dishnetwork provide why just dont switch with a company willing to provide the service they want for the money they ask and stop whining about why E dont have this or that,You are not the only costumers they need to take care of,And Charlie wont loose the sleep over 55,000 or so EI over 12 plus million.

Because many of us have invested hundreds of dollars on equipment and may or may not have a commitment to fulfill. Then there is the upfront cost of direct tv, 4 room set up with 2 hd dvrs will run you 700 or so(if you have hd sets) before spending the jack for the mlb package. With the stupid lease model we can't even recoup some money by selling our equipment to pay for new leased equipment.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Channel 625 has just been removed from the guide.