DODGERS The TWC/SPECTRUM NIGHTMARE Thread

Discussion in 'Los Angeles DODGERS' started by THINKBLUE, Mar 27, 2014.

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When will deals strike with other providers?

  1. Opening Day

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  2. 10 games into season

    5 vote(s)
    20.0%
  3. 20 games into season

    5 vote(s)
    20.0%
  4. 30+ Games into season

    6 vote(s)
    24.0%
  5. Never

    9 vote(s)
    36.0%
  1. BlueMouse

    BlueMouse 2020 World Champions

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    I told you to keep our fling a secret.
     
  2. irish

    irish DSP Staff Member Administrator

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    my bad [​IMG]
     
  3. F YOUK

    F YOUK DSP Regular

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    It's all good fellas. Payroll is up, the guggenheims are making $ and you don't have McCourt anymore.

    Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it

    :vrp::hummer:
     
  4. BlueMouse

    BlueMouse 2020 World Champions

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    I'll take what we have now over McCourt any day. It's not even close.
     
  5. BlueMouse

    BlueMouse 2020 World Champions

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    FWIW, the mlb.tv+unblock-us is running smoothly again this year.

    I signed up for mlb.tv for the whole year, I figure even if the TV saga ends and deals are made... fuck 'em. I cancelled cable a month ago and have no plans to ever go back.
     
    MZA likes this.
  6. MZA

    MZA MODERATOR Staff Member

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    Yeah. I was skeptical at first, but I use hola blocker for chrome. Works well.

    Although MLB.tv can be pretty choppy.
     
  7. BlueMouse

    BlueMouse 2020 World Champions

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    mlb.tv is never choppy for me. Occasionally it will stop to buffer or it will get blocky, but that always clears up within a minute. Are you using a slow internet connection, or something shared by a lot of people?
     
  8. BlueMouse

    BlueMouse 2020 World Champions

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    I just looked it up, and Hola is an actual VPN service. I've tried mlb.tv over a VPN connection to my computer in San Diego, and my results were very choppy.
     
  9. DodgerLove

    DodgerLove DSP Legend

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    Do either of you have experience with unlocator? I was thinking about using their service to watch MLB.tv this year. @BlueMouse @MZA
     
  10. BlueMouse

    BlueMouse 2020 World Champions

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    I've never used it, but it looks like it works exactly like unblock-us. I don't see any reason why it won't work. Go for it.

    You can sign up for unlocator first (since they have a free trial), set it up, then go to mlb.tv/use the mlb.tv app, click on a game, and mlb.tv will tell you if you are allowed to watch the game (or if it's blacked out) even if you don't have a paid subscription.
     
  11. THINKBLUE

    THINKBLUE DSP Gigolo

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    Is the playstation 3/4 version of the MLB.TV app the best viewing experience?
     
  12. TuborgP

    TuborgP DSP Legend

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    http://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/la-sp-0308-dodgers-tv-plaschke-20150308-column.html
    But enough of the bad news. Today's latest review of “A Greed and Arrogance of Their Own” is actually filled with good news.
    y, did you see all the cool new things happening with the Dodgers in spring training?

    Joc Pederson gets five hits in his first seven at-bats? The melding of the double-play combo of Jimmy Rollins and Howie Kendrick? The lovable journeyman David Aardsma throwing one scoreless inning?

    Have you seen ... wait, oh, sorry. Of course you probably haven't seen them. Seventy percent of you have no chance of seeing them. As the Dodgers' TV blackout enters its second full season, one is reminded that even Arizona spring training is awful. The Dodgers are whittled and shaped into a 25-man unit during a month-long process, yet because the TV images are only available on that expensive rumor known as SportsNet LA, most of their loyal fans are a six-hour drive from watching it happen.

    [​IMG]
    Dodgers' Alex Guerrero says he won't go back to minor leagues

    But enough of the bad news. Today's latest review of “A Greed and Arrogance of Their Own” is actually filled with good news.

    There is a quick and easy salve for all of this. It doesn't involve Time Warner Cable making a deal with DirecTV. It doesn't have to wait for mergers or FCC approvals. It requires only that same sense of public responsibility and respect for community that exists with baseball teams in other giant markets such as New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco.

    Why don't the Dodgers and Time Warner Cable announce, right now, that they are selling 25 games this season to a local over-the-air TV station so that every Dodgers fan can stay connected during the cable wars and beyond?

    This has been done before here — last fall, Time Warner Cable put the final six regular-season games on KDOC.

    More important, this is currently being done all over the country for reasons that should make the Dodgers and Time Warner Cable blush.

    No baseball franchise is more powerful than the New York Yankees, yet their YES Network will broadcast 15 games on WPIX TV this season while the crosstown Mets will show 25 games on the same over-the-air network.

    “It continues a tradition of always offering a package of Yankee games over the air,” said YES spokesman Eric Handler.

    This tradition is practiced not only in New York, but also by the most popular teams in four of the nation's top six TV markets.

    In Philadelphia, 11 Phillies games will be shown on the local NBC 10. In Chicago, the Cubs will show 70 games on a combination of over-the-air stations.


    “We know that every single fan watching us is not coming to the ballpark,” he said. “But maybe by staying connected to the team they can buy a T-shirt, talk up the Giants around town, create a community feeling about the team.”

    That importance of the connection between a community and its baseball team doesn't seem to be understood by new Dodgers ownership, who have botched this deal so badly that Dodgers fans are believing even city cornerstone Magic Johnson has lost his touch.


    Also absent from the Dodgers' equation is the pressure from public officials that is placed on teams in other major markets to make their games available to the general population. Baseball folks in those towns will tell you that their neighborhood politicians would never allow them to ignore the millions of TV owners who don't have cable. That hasn't happened here. Where's Mayor Eric Garcetti? When Clayton Kershaw threw a no-hitter against the Colorado Rockies last June, Garcetti sent out a congratulatory tweet, but he has yet to fight for the millions who were unable to watch that game.

    Because Time Warner Cable controls the Dodgers' television rights, it would officially be their decision to sell some games to an over-the-air network. But they don't get it either. When contacted for this column, the company issued a couple of statements, but never answered the question.

    “We want all Dodgers fans to have access to

    SportsNet LA, so they can experience the exclusive, in-depth Dodgers programming and games they love,” said Andrew Fegyveresi, Time Warner Cable spokesman, in an emailed statement. “We are actively pursuing meaningful negotiations with operators.”

    As for the idea that they already set precedence for over-the-air telecasts last fall, Fegyveresi said, “That was a one-time effort so that all fans could watch the Dodgers in the race to win the NL West. We're hopeful that other companies will join us soon in putting fans first. Time Warner Cable loves the Los Angeles Dodgers and we want fans to be able to watch the games and other programming.”

    Seriously? If Time Warner Cable really wanted Dodgers fans to have access to SportsNet LA, if they really wanted to put the fans first, they would slide some of the games to a local over-the-air network. If the Dodgers really cared about anything other than a return on their bazillion-dollar investment, they would lean on Time Warner Cable to get it done now.

    Twenty-six games. Once a week. Maybe every Friday night so it can become a ritual?

    It would work. It has worked. Act like the Yankees. Act like the Giants. Heck, for once, just act like the Dodgers.

    bill.plaschke@latimes.com

    Twitter: @billplaschke

    Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/la-sp-0308-dodgers-tv-plaschke-20150308-column.html
     
  13. back2back x 2 + 1

    back2back x 2 + 1 DSP Legend Damned

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    Plaschke is so goddamn old that if you told him about a live stream he'd need to tinkle
     
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  14. irish

    irish DSP Staff Member Administrator

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    or go trout fishing
     
  15. BlueMouse

    BlueMouse 2020 World Champions

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    I've used the app on PS3, iPad, and Roku. The basics are the same on all, but the PS3 app has more controls - so I'd say the PS3 app is the best of those 3. But I don't have a problem using any of them.
     
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  16. THINKBLUE

    THINKBLUE DSP Gigolo

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    From what I've used (desktop, laptop, phone, galaxy tab) they are all good.

    But I've watched some videos on YouTube of people using the Ps3 for MLB.TV and it seems way easier to navigate and go in and out of different games with limited loading time. Also seems to have easier command of switching home and away feeds. You don't have to exit the game to switch the audio and such. Plus..in terms of 'hook up device to your TV' options, the PS3 looks far more like a broadcast quality image.

    What do you think?
     
  17. BlueMouse

    BlueMouse 2020 World Champions

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    I haven't noticed a difference in image quality, they all look good to me. I used my iPad last year, and it can be glitchy: sometimes the app would need to be restarted. I used the PS3 the year before that and don't remember it freezing up or taking as long to start, plus the PS3 has better controls for jumping to different innings or scoring plays. I didn't really think about it last season, but now I want to watch on the PS3 to see if it's better.

    So besides the image quality, I'd agree with everything you said.
     
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  18. irish

    irish DSP Staff Member Administrator

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    you know what would be awesome...
    if they could figure out a way to broadcast the games on TV...:sarcasm:
    yup, that would be awesome
     
  19. TuborgP

    TuborgP DSP Legend

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    As these work a rounds spread it just diminishes the value of the contract as folks can see the games anyway.
     
  20. back2back x 2 + 1

    back2back x 2 + 1 DSP Legend Damned

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    It somewhat helps put to bed the notion that these entities should " just get a deal done so everybody can watch the games " because plenty of folks are still watching games, so there's no rush to agree on a deal. It's a new age..I mean none of these entities were naive enough to think that a huge amount of Dodger fans would be missing these games anyway. They absolutely knew that all you needed was the internet and Dodger baseball would be watched regardless, so again, nobody's gonna be budging in this thing anytime soon. Again, if people don't have internet access they don't need to worry about watching baseball anyway..they need to get the internet..it's 2015 for God's sake.
     

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