These are good suggestions... I like the first especially. Are you talking about some graphical counter displaying "21" on the front page that increments with each new game, then you click it and it goes to some explanation page? I like the graphical view possibilities... the explanation page would do what though -- tell people to call their provider? I wish there was something more to do outside of that.
The graph could be based on several different factors - # of households in Houston total. # without CSN Houston. I believe there are some numbers floating about for each of the major providers percent of market share. I think we will have to apply pressure to the indvidual providers. I like most others, got giddy when I was able to get a discount from my provider, but in the long run that was foolish of me. Uverse got what they wanted. A customer without a voice for a year. Yes, love the Games without Rockets idea. Could be both on the board and the front page. I think you are underestimating the power of your site. I would also love to highlight the worst case doomsday scenario of Portland. Let's just beat a drum. No one may sing along, but at least we are trying.
I'm glad to see you have decided not to deny yourself some Rocket enjoyment, albeit of a limited nature due to that greedy or perhaps stupid Alexander. I'm not sure he realizes how many fans will lose interest; nor has he calculated whether this lost interest will be compensated by Comcast cash.
It is just inexcusable that this wasn't taken care of before the season. I can just punish them by not giving them my money though and I think a lot of other people are doing the same. I would always go to a few games a year but not this year. They must really love those less than a dollar tickets that were on stubhub last night because that is what you get for screwing over your fans. An empty building.
I hate the argument of "well when you get the channel, you'll love it"...I get that we all would like coverage of our teams, but it doesn't make up for the time lost. And there's definitely no assurance we'll ever get the channel. Plenty of different providers out there, and a lot of people with no choices to switch to. Complete garbage, and it's kind of sad how much support there is for the channel.
It's not an argument... it's not a statement to refute the anger for not having it. It's just true -- for a Houston sports junkie like me/us, it's good stuff. I have the channel (and if I didn't, I'd have to go out and find a way to watch), so it hasn't impacted me personally as much, and I also kind of watched this with the assumption that a solution would be here by the season's start, and then "a week or two away" rumors, etc. We're 6 weeks in and no word of real progress, so I'm just wanting to get ideas on where we can channel our efforts to make our voice heard. Just complaining about it here hasn't helped much up to this point. The goal should be just to get the channel, period... so what can we do?
Well, that's silly. My earlier dickishness aside, if the shoe was on the other foot, I wouldn't be mad at the other people who were able to see the channel and love it.
Got a call from a Rockets sales rep and told her I was protesting and not going to any games from this point on until they figure this out and will continue to watch it by streaming it online.
The one thing I think has been missing is a chart - a BIG chart - with a run-down of the costs involved for the other NBA franchises, the costs charged to the television providers in those markets, and exactly where in that 'ranking' the Rockets currently sit, vis-a-vis their current asking price. In other words, I want to know, as a fan, exactly where the Rockets' current product is positioned - as a cost - relative to all the other NBA franchises. So, in other words, the 'per customer' costs to the service providers, viewership, exactly who originates those products (Comcast, Fox, etc), any delays involved between origin and availability (such as the kerfuffle we are dealing with now), any 'tiers' involved, and the 'starting price' and the 'final price. I want to know where we stand compared to everyone else in the NBA. That will help us know exactly where to direct our ire. Because if the asking price is right in line with everyone else's product, then the ire should be pointed at the service providers. But if it is a ridiculously high price, then the bullseye goes straight to Comcast and the team owners. I hope that makes sense. Seems like such a diagram would make a nice full-page ad for someone, one way or the other.
There's NOTHING we can do. It's totally up to these "smart" business people that think losing fans is the best way to go. It's really a shame because the team is the most exciting they've been in years and a lot of new fans could be made if they could WATCH THE GAME.
There is not a tangible thing we can do besides tell them we are displeased. There is only asking them to get the deal done. They obviously havent listened to anger, do you really think they are going to respond to asking nicely? I am lucky enough to know multiple people with Comcast so I have seen almost all of the games but having to move for every game is getting tiresome. You just need to tell them that their business model is terrible, they are losing fans because of it and the disdain for them is growing stronger. Anger is the only motivation for any business because it loses profit. They have already shown they are purely about money and have zero regard for the fans. Any other reason giving is an out and out lie.
I propose a big graphic at the top of this forum and a matching one on the actual clutch fans main page. This graphic would be in a bright color, so attention is drawn to it and would show a ticker that very easily shows how many games/time missed along with a link to a petition website. The petition website would be a pledge by anyone who signs it not to support Toyota, C&D Scrap metal, Jack in the box, or any other Rockets sponsor until this issue is resolved and would list out the number and names of all who signed it. I do not hold the providers responsible for this, I hold the Rockets, Astros and Comcast responsible. I would do this if I had the know-how. I can certainly contribute some cash to make that happen.
One last thing. Again nothing we can do will actual help but now that you have access, how about you set up a poll (its not really a poll but more of a running tally) that has Uverse, Direct and Dish on there just to show how many of the "hardcore" fans who frequent this are being denied the ability to watch the team they love. It wont change anything but they could at least see how many regular viewers they are missing out on.
It's not silly at all. If I had a channel only 40% of Houston had, and basically nobody else in Texas had...I wouldn't be talking it up. We're now two and a half months into the station being launched, and aside from a few hardcore fans here and there, not a whole lot of bad things being said. Which is silly.
Well it definitely seems like it's being put out there as justification of some sort. If people had to choose between coverage of their teams or the actual games, it's no contest. And it's been more than 6 weeks, it's about 10 weeks into negotiations...and everybody knew about the channel a while ago. You ask what we can do, the answer is nothing. We're helpless in this situation whether people wanna believe it or not. Calling providers doesn't help, they just give you the same line every time then give you discounts. Asking the teams doesn't solve anything because they act ignorant and point to CSN handling the negotiations, which is true, but only because the teams gave up that right. Can't talk to CSN Houston about it because they don't seem to have anything to say. BTW this isn't aimed at you, but at the situation.
The fact of the matter is that, regardless of what we do, this is not going to be resolved until CSN lowers the asking price for the channel. The providers have made it very clear that they are not going to allow a regional sports channel be the most expensive non-premium channel on the lineup not called ESPN. CSN could take less per subscriber or continue to take their nothing and like it.
Clutch, where is the holdup with the deal? Is it a monetary amount that the 2 parties (CSN and the providers) cannot agree upon? Or are there other stipulations that the parties are not seeing eye to eye? As a customer, I don't mind paying a couple of dollars extra... which I've conveyed to my provider. Very frustrating for the fans, to say the least.
