Tiger games in Hi-Def

On Sat, 24 Feb 2007 10:43:33 -0500, Rob Reichstetter
<pickthecrowdup.DeleteThis@comcast.net> wrote:

>Brian Matthews wrote:
>> Ahhh....I found this answer. It looks like Comcast will carry home
>> games in High Definition.
>>
>> "Nearly all of the 66 home telecasts on FSN will be produced in high
>> definition and televised on FSN HD, available in Southeastern Michigan
>> and some other parts of the region for consumers who subscribe to high
>> definition service provided by Comcast, Bright House Networks, WOW!
>> and DIRECTV. The schedule of Tigers games in HD will be finalized at a
>> later date."
>>
>> http://msn.foxsports.com/id/6420432
>>
>>
>> Brian
>>
>>
>
>I love it! What's the hold up for the rest of the channels? I heard
>there's a limited amount of bandwidth that Comcast will be able to use
>and will only have a handful of channels in high-def when all is said
>and done. Direct-Tv is supposedly going to have many times more channels
>in high-def in years to come. I hate satellite though, and can't even
>use where I am.
>
>I am happy that Comcast has tried. Like getting us high-def in time for
>big sporting events. I would like to know their intentions for a larger
>high-def linup.

Well satellite TV in the form of Direct-TV may not score an exlusive
deal with MLB like they've been trying to do.

MLB reportedly seeks to strike an exclusive deal with the satellite
television provider to offer its "Extra Innings" baseball package.
Disclosure of the Federal Communications Commission's investigation of
any such deal came in a letter from FCC chairman Kevin Martin that
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., released Thursday (2/22).

The programming option allows baseball fans who live outside the
markets of their favorite teams to watch them play for an extra fee.
It is currently available to a number of cable and satellite
television providers.

Kerry had asked Martin to investigate the "proposed $700 million
television deal that could deny many consumers the ability to watch
their favorite teams."

Martin, in reply, wrote Kerry: "I share your concerns regarding this
proposed deal."

The chairman added that he understood the package had been available
to 75 million cable and satellite viewers for the past several years,
and would only be viewable by DirecTV customers if a deal were signed.

"I am concerned whenever consumers cannot purchase the programming
they want or are forced to purchase programming they don't want,"
Martin wrote.

DirecTV has never confirmed that the widely reported deal even exists.
Robert Mercer, director of public relations for DirecTV, declined to
comment late Thursday.

Martin wrote that the agency has "contacted the parties and requested
additional information about their proposed arrangement. Once we have
this information, we will report to you on the deal's implications for
consumers and any recommended changes to the law to ameliorate any
harms to consumers."

Stay tuned.

Regards,
////
(o o)
-oOO--(_)--OOo-


"This greasy spoon restaurant was so bad, on the menu,
there were even flies in the pictures."
--Richard Lewis
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remove nospam to email me.

Steve
 >> Stay informed about: Tiger games in Hi-Def 

congress has never stopped direcTV from being the exclusive carrier of
the NFL sunday ticket, which is EXTREMELY more in-demand than MLB could
ever dream of their season pass becoming...the leading satellite
provider's deal with the NFL has even been renewed on at least one
occasion that i can recall...that was fairly recently, so it's likely
been inked a few different times...in other words, **precedent has
already been set,** so anyone who thinks crying to their local
representative is gonna do them any good is being naive, imho...as if
there aren't worse problems in the world for them to be sticking their
nose in anyway...i'm proud to have been a direcTV subscriber since '98,
and i will remain with them as long as they keep looking out for us
sports fans WAY more than any rip-off cable companies ever have
 >> Stay informed about: Tiger games in Hi-Def 

"John A Witzke" <JWitzke DeleteThis @webtv.net> wrote in message
news:10954-45E08668-590@storefull-3233.bay.webtv.net...
> congress has never stopped direcTV from being the exclusive carrier of
> the NFL sunday ticket, which is EXTREMELY more in-demand than MLB could
> ever dream of their season pass becoming...the leading satellite
> provider's deal with the NFL has even been renewed on at least one
> occasion that i can recall...that was fairly recently, so it's likely
> been inked a few different times...in other words, **precedent has
> already been set,** so anyone who thinks crying to their local
> representative is gonna do them any good is being naive, imho...as if
> there aren't worse problems in the world for them to be sticking their
> nose in anyway...i'm proud to have been a direcTV subscriber since '98,
> and i will remain with them as long as they keep looking out for us
> sports fans WAY more than any rip-off cable companies ever have
>



hmmm, yes. rip off cable companies.
I have problems with most of this, on soooo many levles. First of all, MLB
needs to wake up to the fact that limiting exposure in any way is NOT a good
thing. As for the rip off cable companies, they are that because way too
many people just pay the bill month after month, and, while they will
complain at home that there is nothing on, they won't complain to the cable
company, or even, God forbid, cancel the damn service! People cancelling in
droves is the only thing that would get their attention.




--
I never read email at the Yahoo address!
 >> Stay informed about: Tiger games in Hi-Def 

This message is not archived
 >> Stay informed about: Tiger games in Hi-Def 

On Sat, 24 Feb 2007 13:39:36 -0500, JWitzke.DeleteThis@webtv.net (John A Witzke)
wrote:

>congress has never stopped direcTV from being the exclusive carrier of
>the NFL sunday ticket, which is EXTREMELY more in-demand than MLB could
>ever dream of their season pass becoming...the leading satellite
>provider's deal with the NFL has even been renewed on at least one
>occasion that i can recall...that was fairly recently, so it's likely
>been inked a few different times...in other words, **precedent has
>already been set,** so anyone who thinks crying to their local
>representative is gonna do them any good is being naive, imho...as if
>there aren't worse problems in the world for them to be sticking their
>nose in anyway...i'm proud to have been a direcTV subscriber since '98,
>and i will remain with them as long as they keep looking out for us
>sports fans WAY more than any rip-off cable companies ever have

Extra Innings started out as a satellite ony package. It was
initially only offered on DirecTV in 1996, the package has been
available on cable since 2001, and on Dish Network since 2004.

Members of Congress and the NFL have been sparring over the latter's
decision to use DirecTV as the exclusive provider of the Sunday Ticket
package.

In early December 2006, Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) introduced a
bill that would repeal the NFL's antitrust exemption under the Sports
Broadcasting Act of 1961. Currently, the NFL negotiates the broadcast
rights for all of its 32 teams. Specter’s bill would repeal that
ability and set up a scenario in which teams would negotiate
television deals separately. "As I look at what the NFL is doing today
with the NFL channel with the DirecTV ... a lot of people, including
myself, would like to be able to have that ticket," Specter said. How
Specter factors into the MLB deal with DirecTV has more to do with
just his interest in protecting consumers. As noted, Specter is a
senator from Pennsylvania. Comcast is headquartered in Philadelphia,
and owns In Demand, the company that provides MLB Extra Innings on
cable.

Since the November elections and chairmanship realigment in January
2007, Specter is no longer the Chairman. Senator Patrick Leahy
(D-Vt.) toke control as chairman of the committee. Specter however
still wields considerable power in Congress, and Leahy hasn't exactly
been in MLB’s corner in the past. Leahy helped narrow the scope of
baseball's antitrust exemption during the 2002 Congressional hearings
on the exemption, saying in his opening statement at the time,

Between the narrowness of the way the Supreme Court had
perpetuated baseball’s antitrust exemption-- only as it applied to
labor-management relations-- and our work in the Congress, in which we
struck the last remaining remnant of the judicially-created exception
to the applicability of the antitrust laws, it seems that there is no
longer any basis to contend that a general, free-floating baseball
antitrust exemption somehow continues to exist.

So DirectTV's monopoly over NFL out of market viewing and MLB TV's
proposed deal with DirectTV look to both being in danger of going down
this year. I certainly support stripping DirectTV of its NFL
stranglehold and I do not support their attempt to monopolize MLB out
of market games either.



Regards,
////
(o o)
-oOO--(_)--OOo-


"This greasy spoon restaurant was so bad, on the menu,
there were even flies in the pictures."
--Richard Lewis
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remove nospam to email me.

Steve
 >> Stay informed about: Tiger games in Hi-Def 

On Sat, 24 Feb 2007 16:32:20 -0500, "Bill Kawalec"
<billkawalec DeleteThis @yahoo.com> wrote:

>
>
>"John A Witzke" <JWitzke DeleteThis @webtv.net> wrote in message
>news:10954-45E08668-590@storefull-3233.bay.webtv.net...
>> congress has never stopped direcTV from being the exclusive carrier of
>> the NFL sunday ticket, which is EXTREMELY more in-demand than MLB could
>> ever dream of their season pass becoming...the leading satellite
>> provider's deal with the NFL has even been renewed on at least one
>> occasion that i can recall...that was fairly recently, so it's likely
>> been inked a few different times...in other words, **precedent has
>> already been set,** so anyone who thinks crying to their local
>> representative is gonna do them any good is being naive, imho...as if
>> there aren't worse problems in the world for them to be sticking their
>> nose in anyway...i'm proud to have been a direcTV subscriber since '98,
>> and i will remain with them as long as they keep looking out for us
>> sports fans WAY more than any rip-off cable companies ever have
>>
>
>
>
>hmmm, yes. rip off cable companies.
>I have problems with most of this, on soooo many levles. First of all, MLB
>needs to wake up to the fact that limiting exposure in any way is NOT a good
>thing. As for the rip off cable companies, they are that because way too
>many people just pay the bill month after month, and, while they will
>complain at home that there is nothing on, they won't complain to the cable
>company, or even, God forbid, cancel the damn service! People cancelling in
>droves is the only thing that would get their attention.

Not the only thing. All cable companies are licensed by either the
city or county they operate in. In order to get that license, they
have to abide by certain contractual obligations made between them and
the local legal body that hold the contract. If people would open
their mouths and get off their butts and go to the city council
meetings or county meetings and write letters to their representatives
complaining about the high rates and provide good arguments, that is
what will make a difference. Apathy allows the cable companies to
charge what they do. That and a lack of competition in the same area
as cable companies get exclusive rights. Satellite TV because of its
intermittent quality issues and intermittent reception issues in
certain areas, is just not a competitor to cable. At least not enough
of one to make a difference in cable's pricing.

Regards,
////
(o o)
-oOO--(_)--OOo-


"This greasy spoon restaurant was so bad, on the menu,
there were even flies in the pictures."
--Richard Lewis
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remove nospam to email me.

Steve
 >> Stay informed about: Tiger games in Hi-Def 

"SkippyPB" <swiegand RemoveThis @Nospam.neo.rr.com> wrote in message
news:i2e3u2dn3buhrgv91ft0siut1d75nk5bvt@4ax.com...
> On Sat, 24 Feb 2007 16:32:20 -0500, "Bill Kawalec"
> <billkawalec RemoveThis @yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>"John A Witzke" <JWitzke RemoveThis @webtv.net> wrote in message
>>news:10954-45E08668-590@storefull-3233.bay.webtv.net...
>>> congress has never stopped direcTV from being the exclusive carrier of
>>> the NFL sunday ticket, which is EXTREMELY more in-demand than MLB could
>>> ever dream of their season pass becoming...the leading satellite
>>> provider's deal with the NFL has even been renewed on at least one
>>> occasion that i can recall...that was fairly recently, so it's likely
>>> been inked a few different times...in other words, **precedent has
>>> already been set,** so anyone who thinks crying to their local
>>> representative is gonna do them any good is being naive, imho...as if
>>> there aren't worse problems in the world for them to be sticking their
>>> nose in anyway...i'm proud to have been a direcTV subscriber since '98,
>>> and i will remain with them as long as they keep looking out for us
>>> sports fans WAY more than any rip-off cable companies ever have
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>hmmm, yes. rip off cable companies.
>>I have problems with most of this, on soooo many levles. First of all, MLB
>>needs to wake up to the fact that limiting exposure in any way is NOT a
>>good
>>thing. As for the rip off cable companies, they are that because way too
>>many people just pay the bill month after month, and, while they will
>>complain at home that there is nothing on, they won't complain to the
>>cable
>>company, or even, God forbid, cancel the damn service! People cancelling
>>in
>>droves is the only thing that would get their attention.
>
> Not the only thing. All cable companies are licensed by either the
> city or county they operate in. In order to get that license, they
> have to abide by certain contractual obligations made between them and
> the local legal body that hold the contract. If people would open
> their mouths and get off their butts and go to the city council
> meetings or county meetings and write letters to their representatives
> complaining about the high rates and provide good arguments, that is
> what will make a difference.


Frankly, I doubt that. They're all lying weasels, beholden to them that
holds the money.




--
I never read email at the Yahoo address!



Apathy allows the cable companies to
> charge what they do. That and a lack of competition in the same area
> as cable companies get exclusive rights. Satellite TV because of its
> intermittent quality issues and intermittent reception issues in
> certain areas, is just not a competitor to cable. At least not enough
> of one to make a difference in cable's pricing.
>
> Regards,
> ////
> (o o)
> -oOO--(_)--OOo-
>
>
> "This greasy spoon restaurant was so bad, on the menu,
> there were even flies in the pictures."
> --Richard Lewis
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> Remove nospam to email me.
>
> Steve
 >> Stay informed about: Tiger games in Hi-Def 

The DirecTV/Extra Innings pact has been treated as a done deal for the
last month or so, and so you're probably wondering, as am I, why MLB
just doesn't announce the agreement and face the inevitable regulatory
scrutiny that will ensue. Astros owner Drayton McLane, who instead
expressed concern Friday about "our good senator (John Kerry), who wants
to get an investigation. The NFL has done this with (DirecTV) and the
NBA has done it, and all of a sudden baseball is the bad guy. ...
Baseball is being held to a different standard."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/barron/4581116.html

-----------------------------------------------------

nice to see that mr. mclane, a respected MLB owner, can see the forest
through the trees...those who consider themselves big fans that wanna
see every game will make the necessary switch if they want to, just like
us NFL diehards have always done...being forced to watch only what's
being shown in my local market would feel like a prison sentence,
especially on saturday afternoons in the summer when FOX attempts to
shove the cubs or shitsox down our throats

i've never had any kind of prolonged outages, and direcTV assures all
customers that have their equipment professionally installed that they
will come out and address any troubles...it's never been an issue on my
end

i make the analogy to people that bitch about post-season games or
monday night football getting over too late...if you choose not to stay
up and sacrafice a little production at the office the next day, you're
not a real fan in the first place...BUT, you are at least given the
option
 >> Stay informed about: Tiger games in Hi-Def 

"John A Witzke" <JWitzke.TakeThisOut@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:1640-45E37ED0-1261@storefull-3234.bay.webtv.net...
> The DirecTV/Extra Innings pact has been treated as a done deal for the
> last month or so, and so you're probably wondering, as am I, why MLB
> just doesn't announce the agreement and face the inevitable regulatory
> scrutiny that will ensue. Astros owner Drayton McLane, who instead
> expressed concern Friday about "our good senator (John Kerry), who wants
> to get an investigation. The NFL has done this with (DirecTV) and the
> NBA has done it, and all of a sudden baseball is the bad guy. ...
> Baseball is being held to a different standard."
>
> http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/barron/4581116.html
>
> -----------------------------------------------------
>
> nice to see that mr. mclane, a respected MLB owner, can see the forest
> through the trees...those who consider themselves big fans that wanna
> see every game will make the necessary switch if they want to,


no they won't. Some will stand on principle and refuse to pay for TV. MLB
(and all the other sports, about which I don't really give a rat's a**)
needs to wake up and realize it is NOT good business to restrict access! It
freakin' sucks that they charge for RADIO BROADCASTS on the net! Radio
staions already paid once for those rights, and, you used to be able to find
local stations with webcasts for free. It's just greed, greed and more
greed.



--
I never read email at the Yahoo address!




just like
> us NFL diehards have always done...being forced to watch only what's
> being shown in my local market would feel like a prison sentence,
> especially on saturday afternoons in the summer when FOX attempts to
> shove the cubs or shitsox down our throats
>
> i've never had any kind of prolonged outages, and direcTV assures all
> customers that have their equipment professionally installed that they
> will come out and address any troubles...it's never been an issue on my
> end
>
> i make the analogy to people that bitch about post-season games or
> monday night football getting over too late...if you choose not to stay
> up and sacrafice a little production at the office the next day, you're
> not a real fan in the first place...BUT, you are at least given the
> option
>
 >> Stay informed about: Tiger games in Hi-Def 

This message is not archived
 >> Stay informed about: Tiger games in Hi-Def 

On Tue, 27 Feb 2007 01:19:59 -0500, "Bill Kawalec"
<billkawalec.RemoveThis@yahoo.com> wrote:

>
>
>"John A Witzke" <JWitzke.RemoveThis@webtv.net> wrote in message
>news:1640-45E37ED0-1261@storefull-3234.bay.webtv.net...
>> The DirecTV/Extra Innings pact has been treated as a done deal for the
>> last month or so, and so you're probably wondering, as am I, why MLB
>> just doesn't announce the agreement and face the inevitable regulatory
>> scrutiny that will ensue. Astros owner Drayton McLane, who instead
>> expressed concern Friday about "our good senator (John Kerry), who wants
>> to get an investigation. The NFL has done this with (DirecTV) and the
>> NBA has done it, and all of a sudden baseball is the bad guy. ...
>> Baseball is being held to a different standard."
>>
>> http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/barron/4581116.html
>>
>> -----------------------------------------------------
>>
>> nice to see that mr. mclane, a respected MLB owner, can see the forest
>> through the trees...those who consider themselves big fans that wanna
>> see every game will make the necessary switch if they want to,
>
>
>no they won't. Some will stand on principle and refuse to pay for TV. MLB
>(and all the other sports, about which I don't really give a rat's a**)
>needs to wake up and realize it is NOT good business to restrict access! It
>freakin' sucks that they charge for RADIO BROADCASTS on the net! Radio
>staions already paid once for those rights, and, you used to be able to find
>local stations with webcasts for free. It's just greed, greed and more
>greed.

I agree. In addition, referencing the article quoted above, the NBA
has NBA League Pass which is available on cable and satellite. They
are smart enough not to restrict access like MLB is proposing and NFL
is doing.

Regards,
////
(o o)
-oOO--(_)--OOo-


"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving
cologne and they go out and smell each other."
-- Karl - age 5
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remove nospam to email me.

Steve
 >> Stay informed about: Tiger games in Hi-Def 

"SkippyPB" <swiegand RemoveThis @Nospam.neo.rr.com> wrote in message
news:lig8u293boetkasmeeg135vme7pdl0gm66@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 27 Feb 2007 01:19:59 -0500, "Bill Kawalec"
> <billkawalec RemoveThis @yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>"John A Witzke" <JWitzke RemoveThis @webtv.net> wrote in message
>>news:1640-45E37ED0-1261@storefull-3234.bay.webtv.net...
>>> The DirecTV/Extra Innings pact has been treated as a done deal for the
>>> last month or so, and so you're probably wondering, as am I, why MLB
>>> just doesn't announce the agreement and face the inevitable regulatory
>>> scrutiny that will ensue. Astros owner Drayton McLane, who instead
>>> expressed concern Friday about "our good senator (John Kerry), who wants
>>> to get an investigation. The NFL has done this with (DirecTV) and the
>>> NBA has done it, and all of a sudden baseball is the bad guy. ...
>>> Baseball is being held to a different standard."
>>>
>>> http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/barron/4581116.html
>>>
>>> -----------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> nice to see that mr. mclane, a respected MLB owner, can see the forest
>>> through the trees...those who consider themselves big fans that wanna
>>> see every game will make the necessary switch if they want to,
>>
>>
>>no they won't. Some will stand on principle and refuse to pay for TV. MLB
>>(and all the other sports, about which I don't really give a rat's a**)
>>needs to wake up and realize it is NOT good business to restrict access!
>>It
>>freakin' sucks that they charge for RADIO BROADCASTS on the net! Radio
>>staions already paid once for those rights, and, you used to be able to
>>find
>>local stations with webcasts for free. It's just greed, greed and more
>>greed.
>
> I agree. In addition, referencing the article quoted above, the NBA
> has NBA League Pass which is available on cable and satellite. They
> are smart enough not to restrict access like MLB is proposing and NFL
> is doing.



I think my view is a tad more extreme than yours though. When I say they
should not restirct access, I mean they shouldn't make you pay. Of course, I
know it's not practical to have all games avaiable on broadcast TV (although
I do think there should be more), but I don't think there should be extra
fees involved.
Whatever happened to The Baseball Network?? Was in the mid '90s, if I recall
correctly. I thought that was a good concept, because MLB was essentially
buying the air tiem, which made them, at least in part, responsible for
promoting it.





--
I never read email at the Yahoo address!




>
> Regards,
> ////
> (o o)
> -oOO--(_)--OOo-
>
>
> "Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving
> cologne and they go out and smell each other."
> -- Karl - age 5
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> Remove nospam to email me.
>
> Steve
 >> Stay informed about: Tiger games in Hi-Def 

skippy:

...the NBA has NBA League Pass

==================================

the NBA?!?!?!...never heard of it
 >> Stay informed about: Tiger games in Hi-Def