NHL Center Ice - auto-renewal or not?

[wolfjc]

Not true. It is available to subs of TWC and Directv, whom fall into the Buffalo, Rochester, and Upstate NY DMAs. I was forced to switch to TWC after six years with E*, inorder to get MSG-B HD (Buffalo Sabres) and YES-HD. I also receive the regular MSG and MSG+ in HD. Unfortunately I doubt Dish will ever carry any of them.

In retrospect, it is a tradeoff. TWC does not offer NFL Network or the NFL Redzone Channel, plus their DVR is a Chevy when comparing it to the Cadillac of Dishnetwork's. TWC's VOD and their startover feature are great though. It ends up being a matter of wants. I have chosen to have 8 months of my Hockey Team, and my Baseball Team in HD, over 16 weeks of the Redzone Channel. I will just have to suffer and watch the CBS, FOX, NBC and ESPN coverage of the NFL. BTW, I will get to see every Buffafo Bills game in HD anyways.

What it is that MSG-HD is NOT available to any one on Center ICE the problem is that the owners of MSG are in a pissing match with the NHL all this mess has NOTHING to do with either Dish,Direct,or cable.
You can only get MSG-HD if you live in the DMA which is home for MSG-HD

 

[milleruszk]

What it is that MSG-HD is NOT available to any one on Center ICE the problem is that the owners of MSG are in a pissing match with the NHL all this mess has NOTHING to do with either Dish,Direct,or cable.
You can only get MSG-HD if you live in the DMA which is home for MSG-HD

Cablevision owns MSG and they will not let Dish, Direct or Fios have the HD feed in the NY metro area. The only way you can see the Rangers, Devils or Islanders in HD is to subsribe to Cablevision. Their commericals on local TV tout this as a selling point for their service.

 

[Islandguy43]

Cablevision owns MSG and they will not let Dish, Direct or Fios have the HD feed in the NY metro area. The only way you can see the Rangers, Devils or Islanders in HD is to subsribe to Cablevision. Their commericals on local TV tout this as a selling point for their service.

You mean to tell me. If I live in Manhattan and sub to Directv, I would not get MSG-HD as my RSN? I find that hard to believe, whereas I get MSG-HD here in the Buffalo Area with TWC now, and know some D* subs whom get MSG-Buffalo HD.

 

[dishcomm]

Cablevision owns MSG and they will not let Dish, Direct or Fios have the HD feed in the NY metro area. The only way you can see the Rangers, Devils or Islanders in HD is to subsribe to Cablevision. Their commericals on local TV tout this as a selling point for their service.

That assertion is undocumented.

 

[wolfjc]

Cablevision owns MSG and they will not let Dish, Direct or Fios have the HD feed in the NY metro area. The only way you can see the Rangers, Devils or Islanders in HD is to subsribe to Cablevision. Their commericals on local TV tout this as a selling point for their service.

No this is not the case.
The problem is that the Dolans, who own MSG-HD and the NY Rangers, are in a pissing match with the NHL over the fact that the NHL wants control of the Rangers web site.
There for there is NO MSG-HD for Center Ice. E*, D*, And any other provider of Center ICE have NO control over this sorry mess.
So quit blaming the provider for it.

 

[JohnL]

No this is not the case.
The problem is that the Dolans, who own MSG-HD and the NY Rangers, are in a pissing match with the NHL over the fact that the NHL wants control of the Rangers web site.
There for there is NO MSG-HD for Center Ice. E*, D*, And any other provider of Center ICE have NO control over this sorry mess.
So quit blaming the provider for it.

Wolfjc,

There might be good news in the future. MSG is to be spun off to a wholly owned separate entity by the end of the year. There are no specific details, but the Dolans (Owners of Cablevision) might NOT be calling the shots after the spin off.

If MSG is then a separate entity, it might be looking for more wide spread coverage, namely MSG HD in Center Ice as well as a carriage agreement for local RSN subs in Market on Dish Network (I Hope).

John

 

[buffalo_frenchy]

Wolfjc,

There might be good news in the future. MSG is to be spun off to a wholly owned separate entity by the end of the year. There are no specific details, but the Dolans (Owners of Cablevision) might NOT be calling the shots after the spin off.

If MSG is then a separate entity, it might be looking for more wide spread coverage, namely MSG HD in Center Ice as well as a carriage agreement for local RSN subs in Market on Dish Network (I Hope).

John

that s good news. End of the year 2009? perhaps we ll see some changes before the end of the season :up Although I think even more annoying that they don't show in hd the canadian vs canadian games unless it is hockey night in canada. Montreal is taking a road trip in the west and none of these games are in hd -> pathetic!

 

[Rangers484]

I have subscirbed to CI for 4 seasons and curently am on autopay with DISH. Had to call and have it added this year again.

Their auto renew doesn't seem to be automatic all all the time....

 

[milleruszk]

No one is blaming Dish, Direct or Fios for this mess. The fact remains that as a subscriber to any of those services in the NY metro area MSG HD is not available. Local teams' games are blacked out on Center Ice and are aired on MSG. These are only available in SD.

 

[AdamGott]

I am on try number 5 to get NHL Center Ice cancelled. Any doubts that I had about keeping it have long since vanished. Somehow I knew that this would be a nightmare. Dish, your customer service sucks!

 

[SpaethCo]

Cablevision owns MSG and they will not let Dish, Direct or Fios have the HD feed in the NY metro area. The only way you can see the Rangers, Devils or Islanders in HD is to subsribe to Cablevision. Their commericals on local TV tout this as a selling point for their service.

DirecTV does have MSG-HD as a regional sports net. They got access to the channel back when things started to fall apart with Voom and Dish -- CableVision gave access to the HD feed to DirecTV to try to force Dish's hand in the Voom negotiations.

Otherwise, you're absolutely correct. CableVision won't sell access to the HD feed to any other company that operates in CableVision service areas, and they refuse to provide the HD feed to the NHL to be included in the Center Ice package. They do sell access to MSG-HD to TimeWarner and Comcast, but only because their service areas don't overlap and they don't compete for customers.