As Dish customer, I'm not at all worried. They WILL pick up the channel eventually. And so will Direct, Uverse, and FIOS if they haven't already.
I am very worried as I have uverse, and there doesn't seem to me very much interest in the rockets. What if uverse just says screw it, we don't need the rockets. Do you think Comcast will bend and lower their channel fees?
If TWC does get CSN Houston you won't get the games but you will get the behind the scenes and studio content. Similar to how Time Warner Sports channel from Los Angeles (home of the Lakers) is now showing in Austin. If you're in Austin, sign up for the cheap $39.99 cable package, and order league pass early bird and pay it off in monthly installments of $44.
I think I will down grade to the lowest Dish Network Package and add Comcast service without a contract. I will then cancel Comcast when Dish adds Comcast SportsNet. I love Dish, but i can't live without the Rockets and some of my favorite shows are on AMC.
I don't think Uverse is going to do that. They'd lose too many subscribers of Astros/Rockets fans if they did. You can't seriously sell a TV package here without including the channel where the local MLB and NBA franchises are shown.
As someone who lives in the New Orleans area, let me share with you the saga of the Hornets and their TV deal. It's been said that a major reason the Hornets moved here was due to the TV deal with Cox and the establishment of Cox Sports Television to broadcast games. It was a 10 year deal that just ended at the end of last season. For the majority(8-9 years) of that 10 year deal, the majority of the New Orleans suburbs in the affluent Mandeville/Covington/Slidell area could not watch Hornets games due to Charter Cable not carrying the Cox Sports channel. In addition, neither Directv nor Dish Network or Uverse carried it either. Dish and Charter eventually carried the channel within the past couple of years, but it was a good 8 years before that happened. I hope that since Comcast has experience with these sports channels and that since the Astros and Rockets are both part owners of the channel, the delay in getting CSN Houston on other providers and satellite is short. I know how the Hornets have been irrelevent for the majority of their time here due to lack of TV coverage. Especially with both the Astros and Rockets expected to struggle, the teams do not need to be "out of sight, out of mind."
ATTENTION SUDDENLINK CUSTOMERS. GO TO: http://www.suddenlink.com/contact-us/ Send an email requesting that Suddenlink carries Comcast Sportsnet Houston If you want the channel then DO IT.
Just got off the phone with one of the att people and they have no clue what's going on... Didn't even know that the Rockets sign with Comcast, lol...
It will on blacked out games. I talked to Directv about this last week and they have no idea if they will get it either. They said you can get the sports package but most home games will likely be blacked out.
