This manipulation of the fans has some roots in these parts. Way back in the day, all we got were away games on local TV stations. Then HSE came along and we got Home Games on TV. Then HSE decided to make Home Playoff Games not picked up by the Networks pay per view events. Next it were some Road Games were on local channels and everything else Home and Road were on Fox Sports Network which cut out fans without cable. Now we have a Cable TV provider holding other Cable TV providers hostage because they overpaid the Rockets for the games which means anyone without Comcast gets screwed putting most cable subscribers in the same boat with non cable subscribers. Just got an e-mail from the Rockets about me coming out to support the team and gave them a big f you, take me off your mailing list type of response.
I originally called and people had no clue what the Rockets were. See page 104 of this thread. Then someone said that got a huge discount by chatting, so I chatted this time and got offered the $10 sports package for free for 1 month. I'm not interested in soccer or the Big10 network.
i'm with this. you need to call. i didn't have to be rude...just said i'm considering other options and am ready to switch. that's all i said. ended up with something similar to what you got and still got more channels.
Yes, be in touch Saturday. I'll of course be watching a game at 4 then at 7. Maybe we could meet up or y'all come over. I'll need to check with the Mrs. too.
I was told by December 1st they would have it. This was a supervisor who was told by his seniors they would have it and still nothing.
It's pretty clear at this point that constantly asking the TV providers to get Comcast Sportsnet is not working. I wonder if calling the Rockets would make a difference.
I'm slowly reaching the conclusion that Dish, DirecTV and the like aren't bowing down to Comcast because there simply isn't enough viewer demand for the Rockets. Posters here at Clutchfans are rabid Rockets fans, but as I talk to others outside this community, no one cares about basketball, let alone the Rockets. That's a shame. The Texans have emerged, and football seems dominant once again, bumping the Rockets into the roadside ditch. The Rockets management is doing all they can to help competitors in the race for sports dollars.
Yeah, right now the Astros and Rockets only really matter to their dedicated fanbases. Which simply isn't large enough to warrant providers adding this. If this channel started up in 05 when the Astros and rockets were both hot this deal would be done already, not now. This Astros are terrible and the rockets are mediocre. Both franchises appear to have bright futures , but the casual fans only care about here and now. And it's only getting worse, out of sight out of mind. Seems like it would be smart of them to stop the bleeding and agree to short deals right now, and a couple of years down the line when demand for the product may be much higher they can renegotiate.
I just moved and took direct tv with me for another 2 years. They gave me an additional $16 off my bill for 12 months and the movers package with genie upgrade and 2 hd boxes for free. I've been happy with them so its no reason to switch for one channel especially when they make it sweet like that. That said, if it wasn't for kcplayoffs HD links in the dish forum I may have switched. Even though you're about 2 quarters behind the quality is well worth it.
J has a friend staying over Saturday night, so not sure it will work. But we need to find a game we can meet up and watch together.
I saw a commercial for NBA League pass last night and I realized: I can purchase it and watch every team in the league BUT the Rockets. Thanks, whoever's responsible for this!
That's pretty much hitting the nail on the head. I think the biggest issue is that the Astros/Rockets know their ratings (and thus, product) will be much better in coming years and want the long-term contracts priced accordingly. Unfortunately, ratings have been pretty dismal in the last 2-3 years due to down cycles for both teams, and the providers are trying to use that as precedent. Sad as it is, my guess is that it takes until February or March. These things never get done until both sides feel they've used most of their leverage. For the CSN Houston side, that'll come when both sports are affected - especially the one (baseball) with the larger ownership stake. I think at that point, it'll be clear what the "final offer" for both sides is, and they'll be able to work out a deal. That said, if there somehow isn't a deal by the end of March... this thing really could drag out years. Because if that's the case, obviously the "final offer" wasn't successful, and the only thing that could change market dynamics would be the Rockets or Astros becoming a contender... which is probably years away. But I highly, highly doubt the Astros and Rockets (especially the Astros, who own the largest stake) would let it reach that point and risk eroding the fanbases to that extent. My guess is that they want to see what the providers will pay at the peak of their leverage and hammer out whatever deal works at that point.
I finally called Directv to complain, hoping for 3 free years of cable, $200 PPV credit, a thai soapy massage, and some rims. I came out of it with $15/month HBO/Cinemax package for 3 months. It's worth a shot for yall who havent tried yet.
My understanding is DirecTV and others are acting like there's no demand, thus they're not even willing to negotiate for it. So contacting your providers is something you should absolutely do, not because they're going to give you the channel (they're not), but because by complaining, they're going to give you a discount to stay with them. This benefits you, hurts their bottom line some and it registers the complaint. Above all though, if you want to get the channel at home, we need to make noise. Lots of it. Like I said before, my view was this is nothing like the past work we did with "Save Our Rockets" because it's not a political movement. This is a business dispute. BUT, I may be wrong there. I found out some (if not all) of these providers get subsidies from the city for being in local areas. And we know of course, as has been mentioned by many of you, there were tax dollars used for the arena as well. It may be wise to make a push to contact local representatives to say this isn't acceptable, we need to be able to watch the games at home. We need to have a focus, and go hard at it -- whatever that is. The bottom line is if the demand is there, it is organized and it makes noise to the appropriate people, this will get more visibility and get resolved.
I can't really place any blame on these TV providers.Demand is low and you can't really expect these guy's to pay for potential viewership...hell,every sports franchise likes to believe they are on the way up.These guys deal in numbers that are in the present,nothing else .. As much as this sucks,because it's the Rocket's,these hard nosed negotiations keep our monthly bill from spiraling out of control. I'm probably going to reduce my package down to the lowest offered,just have locals and the use of my DVR.I hooked up a pc to my big screen and can pretty much watch anything that I'm paying for through Dish.Nothing but a bunch of useless crap on anyway.
