Fox Sports Midwest - Blackout areas

[dishcomm]

My Zip Code is 61480.

I have watched Cardinal games on Dish Ch. 417 (Fox Sports Midewest) from 1999-2006.

Now I can't. AND I can't even watch Cardinal games on ESPN when they are on FSMW...BECAUSE I LIVE IN THE TEAM'S TERRITORY.

Understand NOW dishcomm?

No need to get hostile. I am simply stating facts as I know them..Again, there may be some sort of contractual disagreement..
Also please keep in mind that teams territories do change from time to time..The list I have states you are indeed within the Cards territory. But the list is at least three years old..I cannot find and updated list..It is very possible that you are no longer inside the Cards market..I don't know.There are peolple in other areas that are in the same boat as you..I believe there are people in the Mets market that do not get SNY on sat or cable but are in the Mets territory. I am in the Reds territory but do not get FSN Cincy. . However if the Reds are on ESPN the games are blacked out here. The best ways to find out are call the Cards office, MLB offices in NYC or your Sat co.

 

[TheGuv]

I sent a letter via the dishnetwork.com system to "programming".

Here's the letter and response I got.

I guess I appreciate the fact that Dish Network is still " " but...if DirectTV was able to make an agreement with Fox Sports Midwest to show the games over a week ago (approx. April 13th), why can't the Dish Network folks get a deal done also? Is this going to drag on all season? That would be a huge "drag" man!
--------------------------------------
Question: Dear Dish Network,

I have purchased the optional multi-sports package as part of my programming from DN.

From 1999 to 2006, this allowed me to watch the St. Louis Cardinal broadcasts from Fox Sports Network Midwest (FSNMW) on Dish Network Ch. 418.

However, this baseball season I am being "blocked" from watching my favorite team, the StL Cardinals, on FSNMW Ch. 418 during games.

And to make matters worse, I am also "blocked" from watching the StL Cardinal games on ESPN/ESPN2 when they are not deemed as "National exclusive games".

I had read in my local newspaper that at the start of the 2007 season, both Dish Network and DirectTV customers in central Illinois (where I live) were blocked by Fox Sports Midwest from providing the Cardinal broadcasts to their customers.

However, on approximately April 13th, I read in the newspaper that DirectTV had made some kind of agreement with Fox Sports Midwest and that DirectTV customers were not going to be blocked from recieving Cardinal baseball game broadcasts for the remainder of this season.

As of April 20, 2007, the St. Louis Cardinal broadcasts are still being "blocked" to Dish Network customers in affected areas like central Illinois.

Is Dish Network actively involved in negotiations to make some kind of agreement with Fox Sports Midwest that would allow Dish Network customers in the affected area (like myself) to view the live Cardinal baseball broadcasts on Ch. 417 FSMW?

The World-Champion St. Louis Cardinals are my favorite sports team. If I am going to be unable to watch St. Louis Cardinal games in the future on Fox Sports Midwest, I will be cancelling my Dish Network service soon and will subscribe to service from your satellite competitor.

I would appreciate a written response from Dish Network regarding this programming issue which is very important to me.
---------------------
Their Response:

Dear Customer,
We appreciate your feedback regarding the availability of your favorite baseball team’s coverage on Fox Sports Regional sports networks. Effective at the start of the 2007 Baseball season, FOX Sports Networks have changed distribution patterns for the following teams: Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, Pittsburgh Pirates, & Saint Louis Cardinals.
Customers that subscribe to the multi-sport package can no longer view the teams listed above that are not the customer's primary RSN team. What this means is that customers who were previously able to view these teams via the DISH Network Multi-Sports Package last year are currently not able to view these games in the zip codes listed below.

Detroit Tigers
Milwaukee Brewers
Minnesota Twins
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals
43400-43499
43500-43599
43600-43699
51700-51799
51800-51899
51900-51999
52100-52199
51700-51799
51800-51899
51900-51999
52100-52199
25100-25199
25500-25599
25600-25699
25700-25799
43900-43900
44400-44499
44500-44599
50000-50099
50100-50199
50200-50299
50300-50399
50900-50999
51000-51099
51100-51199
51200-51299
51300-51399
51400-51499
51700-51799
51800-51899
51900-51999
52500-52599
61400-61499
61500-61599
61600-61699
61700-61799
61800-61899
61900-61999
62300-62399
62500-62599
62600-62699
62700-62799


DISH Network did not approve of this removal and has been working diligently to work out fair and reasonable terms to continue to carry this programming. Although we are unable to discuss specific negotiations, we do thank you for your email and we will forward your comments and concerns to our Executive Staff.

Your business is greatly appreciated and we thank you for allowing us to be of assistance to you. If you have any further questions or concerns, please refer to HYPERLINK "http://www.dishnetwork.com/"www.dishnetwork.com or reply to this email.

Sincerely,

DISH Network E-Care

 

[dishcomm]

I sent a letter via the dishnetwork.com system to "programming".

Here's the letter and response I got.

I guess I appreciate the fact that Dish Network is still " " but...if DirectTV was able to make an agreement with Fox Sports Midwest to show the games over a week ago (approx. April 13th), why can't the Dish Network folks get a deal done also? Is this going to drag on all season? That would be a huge "drag" man!
--------------------------------------
Question: Dear Dish Network,

I have purchased the optional multi-sports package as part of my programming from DN.

From 1999 to 2006, this allowed me to watch the St. Louis Cardinal broadcasts from Fox Sports Network Midwest (FSNMW) on Dish Network Ch. 418.

However, this baseball season I am being "blocked" from watching my favorite team, the StL Cardinals, on FSNMW Ch. 418 during games.

And to make matters worse, I am also "blocked" from watching the StL Cardinal games on ESPN/ESPN2 when they are not deemed as "National exclusive games".

I had read in my local newspaper that at the start of the 2007 season, both Dish Network and DirectTV customers in central Illinois (where I live) were blocked by Fox Sports Midwest from providing the Cardinal broadcasts to their customers.

However, on approximately April 13th, I read in the newspaper that DirectTV had made some kind of agreement with Fox Sports Midwest and that DirectTV customers were not going to be blocked from recieving Cardinal baseball game broadcasts for the remainder of this season.

As of April 20, 2007, the St. Louis Cardinal broadcasts are still being "blocked" to Dish Network customers in affected areas like central Illinois.

Is Dish Network actively involved in negotiations to make some kind of agreement with Fox Sports Midwest that would allow Dish Network customers in the affected area (like myself) to view the live Cardinal baseball broadcasts on Ch. 417 FSMW?

The World-Champion St. Louis Cardinals are my favorite sports team. If I am going to be unable to watch St. Louis Cardinal games in the future on Fox Sports Midwest, I will be cancelling my Dish Network service soon and will subscribe to service from your satellite competitor.

I would appreciate a written response from Dish Network regarding this programming issue which is very important to me.
---------------------
Their Response:

Dear Customer,
We appreciate your feedback regarding the availability of your favorite baseball team’s coverage on Fox Sports Regional sports networks. Effective at the start of the 2007 Baseball season, FOX Sports Networks have changed distribution patterns for the following teams: Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, Pittsburgh Pirates, & Saint Louis Cardinals.
Customers that subscribe to the multi-sport package can no longer view the teams listed above that are not the customer's primary RSN team. What this means is that customers who were previously able to view these teams via the DISH Network Multi-Sports Package last year are currently not able to view these games in the zip codes listed below.

Detroit Tigers
Milwaukee Brewers
Minnesota Twins
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals
43400-43499
43500-43599
43600-43699
51700-51799
51800-51899
51900-51999
52100-52199
51700-51799
51800-51899
51900-51999
52100-52199
25100-25199
25500-25599
25600-25699
25700-25799
43900-43900
44400-44499
44500-44599
50000-50099
50100-50199
50200-50299
50300-50399
50900-50999
51000-51099
51100-51199
51200-51299
51300-51399
51400-51499
51700-51799
51800-51899
51900-51999
52500-52599
61400-61499
61500-61599
61600-61699
61700-61799
61800-61899
61900-61999
62300-62399
62500-62599
62600-62699
62700-62799


DISH Network did not approve of this removal and has been working diligently to work out fair and reasonable terms to continue to carry this programming. Although we are unable to discuss specific negotiations, we do thank you for your email and we will forward your comments and concerns to our Executive Staff.

Your business is greatly appreciated and we thank you for allowing us to be of assistance to you. If you have any further questions or concerns, please refer to HYPERLINK "http://www.dishnetwork.com/"www.dishnetwork.com or reply to this email.

Sincerely,

DISH Network E-Care

First, I am a bit suprised you even got a response. More so because of the amount of detail in the message...
So it is the FOX RSN"s that made this decision...Hmmm
You are now in what I call a baseball territory vaccum..You are in the Cards territory but cannot watch the games on their RSN because of some technical sh*t....You are not alone,.,,Mets fans in eastern CT are in the same boat. The Mets claim the Eastern half of the Nutmeg State as theri territory..But the kicker is, SNY, the Mets primary TV carrier is not offered as a home RSN in that area..So even if one subs to MLB EI the Mets are still blacked out...It is stupid, I know...
My thinking is ,if a team wants me to be in their teritory, they MUST provide a way for me to watch their games on tv..Otherwise, that team forfeits my zip code...
I realize I am spewing logic...But no one who matters is listening..Look like yer going to become a D* sub..Good luck!

 

[kevine323]

I live in western Arkansas and my RSN is Fox Sport South West. I noticed at the start of the season, on my alternate sports channels (ALT XXX), the Cardinals were listed. I figured that they were blacked out like all the other games, but i checked anyway. Sure enough, there they were, on Fox Sports Midwest. Now I've been watching them and the Astros (FSSW) every night. On the rare occasion that the Cards are blacked out (less than 10%), I can still watch FSSW. BTW, I'm on the Dish DVR Advantage with no extra channel packages.

 

[JeremyL]

Here's a crazy idea - how about MLB do away with all the blackout restrictions and let us watch whatever team we want?

Just because I live in Central Illinois doesn't mean I'm a Cardinal, Cub or White Sox fan.

 

[Buzzdar]

But according to MLB it does.

 

[trido]

ODD tonites game

Well tonite on ch 418 is STL cardinals pregame, But on the FSn MW HD channel 368 they have the FSN WISC feed it isi in HD.

maybe they just share all the feeds be interesting to see what HD announcers they have will it FSN WISC or the FSN MW cardinal announcers.
Confused but it is FUN

 

[tucksat]

Cards blacked out on espn in Oklahoma

I have never seen this before. I understood it when xtra innings blocked out the Cardinals..."Hey honey, let's not watch the Cards on tv, lets just drive to S.L. tonight, it's only an 8 hour drive and besides, Missouri touches Oklahoma, so it's right in our back yard". So, tonight I go to plain old espn and it's a blackout.

Sorry, I love baseball and I just had to tell someone.

P.S. We bought some Rangers tickets on ebay and just happened to be at Arlington on the 20th when Sammy hit # 600. Kind of cool no matter who you were rooting for.

I'm a satisfied dish customer and installer of 5 years and I doubt they like it any better than I do. I sure hope they do something. I called customer service but after 15 minutes on hold I said "whatever"

 

[jhamps10]

I have never seen this before. I understood it when xtra innings blocked out the Cardinals..."Hey honey, let's not watch the Cards on tv, lets just drive to S.L. tonight, it's only an 8 hour drive and besides, Missouri touches Oklahoma, so it's right in our back yard". So, tonight I go to plain old espn and it's a blackout.

Sorry, I love baseball and I just had to tell someone.

P.S. We bought some Rangers tickets on ebay and just happened to be at Arlington on the 20th when Sammy hit # 600. Kind of cool no matter who you were rooting for.

I'm a satisfied dish customer and installer of 5 years and I doubt they like it any better than I do. I sure hope they do something. I called customer service but after 15 minutes on hold I said "whatever"

I know the reason why you couldn't watch the game on ESPN. Because it was on FSN Midwest, and most games when they are on both FSNMW and ESPN, they blackout ESPN. it happens on cable,directv, fios,at&t, and dish network, this is not a new thing at all.

 

[tucksat]

I'm not in the FSN Mw, I'm in the FSN SW, and like I said, it has never happened before.

 

[tsduke]

I'm not in the FSN Mw, I'm in the FSN SW, and like I said, it has never happened before.

Both Tulsa and Oklahoma City have these teams in their market. The problem is, that doesn't mean you get their FSN standard with E*.

• Texas Rangers
• St. Louis Cardinals
• Kansas City Royals
• Houston Astros

 

[mdonnelly]

I'm not in the FSN Mw, I'm in the FSN SW, and like I said, it has never happened before.

If you really like baseball, sign up for the Multi-Sport package. It's about $5/month, you'll get FSN MW, and the Cards won't be blacked out. That's what I do. You won't get the Royals, because they're on some 3rd world sports network this year. But next year they're going to FSN MW.

I wish Dish would give us FSN MW and FSN SW as part of the AT2xx package here in Oklahoma, but they don't.