Comcast Situation
by Bakasama on Nov 18, 2009 11:51 AM PST
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PrintI figured this might be a good Fanpost instead of a fanshot. I was listening to Canzano on my drive home yesterday and he has a segment called "the Skinny". In it he had information concerning the deal the Blazers have with Comcast and how Comcast is handling the negotiations with DirecTV and CSN.
The little bit of the news is that the blazers have formally told Comcast that if there is not a deal in place but the end of the calendar year then there will be penalties for Comcast.
The penalties could be that the blazers stream games on their site to allow those fans who do not have Comcast to see the game. Comcast says this would hurt their leverage and therefore their business.
Is this something the Blazers should be worrying about, especially since they just launched a video streaming service? Also from what I have researched Comcast has usually taken 2 to three years after they establish a channel to get it onto competitors broadcasts.
Thoughts?
About the 34 minute mark of the podcast linked below is where Canzano talks about the Blazers and Comcast.
http://vault.desjalogic.com/rcrweb/podcasts/sports/BFT_Tuesday_11-17-09_Hour_2.mp3
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I think comcast is making this to be a joke. They are exaggerating the amount it will hurt their business. People like me who acknowledge that they have to watch bills and can not afford $30+ for basic cable (which i would only watch the blazers, it’s an absolute joke) would rather watch streams. But the realistic situation that comcast has to realize is people who can’t afford their outrageous prices for basic cable usually end up just going to a friends or a bar. What’s hurting comcast is their prices, i wish there was some other cheap deal with less channels but apparently it’s not possible in 2009.
I just can’t believe how much cable is now, is it me or didn’t it seem wayyy cheaper back in the day?
-brandonmitchell.org
by brandonmitchell on Nov 18, 2009 12:29 PM PST reply actions
did the drama well dry up... clownzano had to go dig out ol faithful ..
The Faith don't panic, the faith freaks out, burns out farms, and torchs small villages in the name of The Faith.
At least Canzano is still fighting the good fight
Entering the third year of this fiasco, I can’t believe Canzano is the only one seemingly keeping this issue alive. Good to hear the Blazers are finally talking penalties. I’ll be interested to see what they are.
for realz
where’s my $25/month plan where I can pick six channels? Up here it’s close to $60 for cable service, and like you, all I want are blazer games.
we don’t even have a tv, so web streams are the weapon of choice. if a legit service could be put together with the quality of the recent justin.tv feeds, I’d pay a few bucks a game for sure.
the other thing that sucks is that the NBA put so much effort to get League Pass Mobile put together — without including audio league pass. I wish there was a way to listen to the radio feed on my phone somehow. Can’t stand wheeler, but at least it’d be something.
I’m still amazed there’s no blazer radio affiliate in Seattle.
I’m not a fan of Comcast, but a la carte cable would make it more expensive for everyone and/or have channels many people might want besides sports go out of business. E.g. HBO would be prohibitively expensive if a cable company could only spread it over those who subscribe to it.
Ceterum censeo Lakers esse delendam
Yes - we need a Seattle radio affiliate. Now.
or maybe yesterday.
"whoever scores the most points is probably gonna win the game"
While DirecTV and Dish
are hardly blameless in all this, Comcast seems to have made the business decision to hold Blazer coverage hostage in the hopes that (1) those who can switch to Comcast do so and/or (2) the price point for CSN is set at a level that is drives the sattelite price up, making Comcast a better option. I’m confused as to why Comcast can’t reach the same agreement it has with DirecTV for CSN Bay Area and S.Cal (which are available on the DirecTV sports pack for an extra monthly charge, bundled with ESPNU, MSG, etc.), so my guess is the reasons I mentioned above – hurt the competion, drive consumers to Comcast.
While it’s annoying, at least I have the option – I live in Northeast, so I could switch to Comcast – but after dealing with them in college, I’d rather send my money elsewhere. Horrible customer service, dodgy broadcast (I would hope this has improved), and high fees (I get a way better deal for what I want to watch with the dish). That, and JustinTV makes my “principled” stand more palatable. However, the organization really should have negotiated a better deal for the sizable chunk of folks who couldn’t get Comcast even if they wanted to. This is one of the few points I agree with Canzano on – the Comcast debacle is a black eye for the organization, and rather than dodging questions like a politician, Laryy Miller should get on this problem.
I hate Comcast
Card carrying member of Team Bayless
Start Rudy
But Laaawwy Miller wants . . .
the Blazer brand to go all over the World !
To bad he can’t even get it to the rest of Oregon !
Blazer business management is pathetic !!!
This HORRRRRRIBLE deal has left a BAD taste in many
Blazermaniacs throats !!
It's GO time !
just give me the opportunity
I have dish network. Where I live just outside of portland, Dish or direct is my only choice. Not having even an option to buy games is what is most frustrating. With a family, I can’t just go to the bar or elsewhere to whatch the game. I propose an opportunity to whach games as pay per view on dish or direct. 3.99 seems like an acceptable price. same as a movie. If they could do that, the problem could be solved and they would make there money.
Yeah that sucks for sure.
As I’m sure Blazers games are blacked out on Dish League Pass. I have LP and haven’t missed a game yet. My one complaint is that only about half of them are in HD. Other than that it’s great. Really I can watch any and every NBA game I want to. If you counted just the Blazers games, it would cost about 2.50 per game, as some are on TNT or ESPN. But I find myself dropping in on other games much more frequently than I figured I would.
An Oregonian in Texas.
by NoiseMekanik on Nov 18, 2009 2:22 PM PST up reply actions
Verizon FIOS is a halfway decent option if you can get it
CSN is broadcast in widescreen 480P. It actually comes in horizontally compressed and I have to stretch it to make it look correct. It’s not true HD, but FIOS has probably the best SD picture available. For HD snobs like myself it’s a little annoying, but it’s definitely not as bad I as expected it to be. Last year, CSN looked terrible.
I take it back
Last night was just plain ol 4:3 SD. Comcast Sucks.
I've been with DirecTV since 1996
and I’m not switching for one channel. I have 3 DVR’s and I’m not going through the hassel of having comcast come out and run new lines ect…. I just wish they would be more reasonable with the satelite companies on their pricing structure. I hope it’s true that the Blazers are going to get tough with Comcast. I’d pay to see them streamed on the net if that was my options.
I'm sorry to hear that.
If you can get comcast or verizon and choose to stick with directTV then you should reevaluate your fandom. I hate comcast just like everyone who bleeds scarlet red and black, so I switched to verizon when it was available, and now I can see all of the games and screw that Oregon Hating Company Crapcast!
3rd down... chainsaw noise please.
he is more loyal to directv than he is the blazers
jk
i can’t wait for fios to be in my neighborhood.
meWOW
by Philthyanimal on Nov 18, 2009 11:53 PM PST up reply actions
Directv
They are also having a dispute w/comcast about the Versus channel. Their negotiations failed and they had to pull the channel. So now I can’t watch the NHL, Tour de France, Bull riding, MMA, Indy racing, the list goes on. That’s not even mentioning the Blazers! I may have to go to Dish, I will not cave in to Comcast!
COMCAST SUCKS!!
"Let's win the playoffs!!!!!"- Rudy Fernandez
why dont directv and comcast just play fair
directv should give up exclusivity of nfl league pass, and comcast can give them versus and csn.
meWOW
by Philthyanimal on Nov 18, 2009 11:54 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
I like your style philthyanimal.
a Television utopia, I can imagine it now…
3rd down... chainsaw noise please.
IF they are making progress
it is only because Comcast has gotten as far as they can with their current strategy. By this point, anybody who was going to switch/ subscribe to Comcast just for CSN/Blazers has already done so.
The marginal benefit of selling the channel to other services is becoming bigger than that of hoarding it in order to attract new subscribers.
Two points scored by GO’ = "thunderdunk"
Rather than blaming Canzano,
I think we should all be thanking him. He is the only one that tries to keep this issue alive! I am disappointed in Dave, Ben, Quick, Freeman, etc., that they have not taken a more aggressive stand against this comcrap. I am also disappointed in the bedgers that profess their love of Comcast, just because they got theirs, even though many of their bedge family are getting screwed. Ain’t that a huge factor in what is wrong with our society?
Since Comcast got this contract, they have not only locked out everyone w/o their service, (and a few other small cable companies), but they have also wiped out the League Pass option for almost everybody in Oregon and Washington. That is a direct attack on the satellite providers, but to what end? Most people that are struggling w/ this issue are not able to switch to Comcast. We seem to be pawns in some larger greed issue.
As far as the satellite providers culpability in this situation, it seems they are not willing to pay what Comcast is demanding. This seems obvious, but the fact that they have made deals w/ just about every other regional Comcast sports network, it looks like the sat companies don’t think this small market opportunity would be profitable at Comcasts required price.
As far as the Blazers culpability goes, they jumped at the $10 million bucks w/o providing for it’s whole fan base. Since they have bigger fish to fry (Larry Miller’s insulting remarks about global expansion) they also must not believe that the out of PDX market is lucrative enough to worry about. (While I am thinking about it, you think that might be why they kept the little Australian PG instead of Ime?. Expansion in the Australian market?)
We need to keep this story alive! Thanks Bakasama!
by crakarjack on Nov 19, 2009 12:38 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
Hey philthyanimal,
all the way through this thread you sound like a Comcast employee. Are you? Just axing.
i've said a few times that FIOS is better than Comcast
meWOW
by Philthyanimal on Nov 19, 2009 2:20 PM PST up reply actions
So, do you work for fios?
Or maybe you own stock in cable technologies? Or you just have a true love and devotion to cable? Hey, hopefully this doesn’t sound hostile, because I’m really just messing w/ you.
The stupid thing is....
if comcast was smart instead of KGW streaming games for a price ( which doesnt make cents), comcast would and then they could own everyones soul. But they are ignorant.
Momma.....der go dat man
I think there are some points that most people are missing about the coverage issues
Typically Comcast is portrayed as the evil party in this struggle, however …there is a lot blame to spread around…a lot.
- Fox Sports Net ….low balling the Blazers for the broadcast rights, forcing the team to find another provider (enter Comcast)
- Comcast for overpaying the Blazers for broadcast rights (before the economy took a dump) requiring higher licensing fees
- Direct TV for screwing with their own subscribers by using them as pawns in a battle to low ball Comcast (even after Comcast lowered it’s asking price, confirmed by Larry Miller)
- Charter for being in bankruptcy and not providing their customer’s Blazer coverage (if the pricing is feasable for Bend Broadband it should be OK for Charter)
- NBA for setting up the ridiculous blackout rules (yeah it is them…. not Comcast or even the Blazers who dictate blackout rules.). The NBA is also what is causing the live streaming to be as expensive as it is ($3.99 per game….wow!!) since they are charging most of the price for the rights to stream those games (also confirmed by Larry Miller).
Anyway the point being ….much of the stuff that Comcast gets blamed for is actually caused by other parties but Comcast has been anointed as the villain because of guys like Canzano and also because their name is on the channel everyone wants and not enough people have. Do not get me wrong ….Comcast is not blameless in this deal but they are far from the only culprit.
PS to AllHailRoy…Comcast would not be allowed to stream the games in the fashion you describe this would be restricted to Blazers with the NBA’s input….all they are allowed to do is what they have been doing….televise the games on their channel and then try to sell the channel to other providers (as well as their own customers).
"And in the end
The love you take
Is equal to the love you make." -The Beatles
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