Ive yelled at Dish 3 times now. Got 5$ off for 3 months twice, so 10 for 3 months and 3 months of the sports pack. Honestly, the sports pack is not worth it if anyone is thinking about getting it lol....and i just want to watch my Rockets!
Thanks for continuing to post in this thread, Clutch. Very cool of you to be involved. If we were to rise with one powerful voice, at whom would you suggest we aim it? I mean apart from elected officials, a very good idea. I agree it's good to contact our providers for the reasons you listed, but when zero of them are taking the deal wouldn't you say it's fair to assume CSN is asking too much? Everyone here is well aware that I blame Les and that I wish any outcry would be aimed at him. Because he made the deal and he has some influence as a part owner of the station. He might be able to do something. Otherwise, shouldn't we be banging on CSN to lower their asking price so we can get the channel they want us to watch?
It will be interesting to see what happens when advertising revenues fall to crap because nobody gets the channel. Ratings matter in this regard. If most of the people cannot get the channel, they aren't seeing the ads either.
Lets say Dish and DirectTV still don't have it by next year than what? Can somebody please say the channels will be back by next year at least
Frankly this is a problem that political action can solve though there are business issues involved and it is not the same as organizing for a referendum as Clutch said. Organizing a consumer boycott or pressure is a type of political movement. Not all political action involves electoral politics or referenda. Many a business has been brought to a more responsible position by such actions and so can Comcast, Les and the Rockets, urging people to make calls to Direct TV will not be as effective. I think it is much easier to pressure Les and the Rockets. Demontrations of angry fans outside and inside the Toyota Center or perhaps at the nearbye Comcast office would pick up media attention, perhaps even national media attention and help solve this rather quicker than insider going along to get along. I really don't think it would be that hard, but it might not please the Rockets and Les, though frankly I think it would be in their long term interests as well as ours, the fans. Franky this could even be fun for the right folks. I am getting ready to leave town for a few days. Someone organize a facebook group so we can get together and solve this. Frankly this will probably be too hot for clutchfans to handle. I really don't think this will be that difficult and we will be doing it for fans everywhere who are being jacked around by these corporations. Batman, I know you know we can do it. PS : I hope I am not banned for this post.
These providers would be more than happy to give us all 10 dollars off our bills, so they don't have to pay 3.40 per subscriber. Only 3 ways this ends...Fans cause such an uproar that one provider gives in (could happen before Astros season), the media puts pressure on the two sides, or the two sides come to an agreement on their own. None of those things seem very likely. So we're stuck, just like we always were. The Rockets organization doesn't care about you or your inability to watch their games on tv (no matter what they tell you), and the providers don't care that you want the channel because you're not going to give up watching television. My advice is to purchase league pass and download hotspot shield, getting rid of the local blackout. Otherwise, gotta stick with the streams.
I agree with your analysis. Hey I get my internet through Comcast, but will not buckle to their power play to drop Direct TV because I don't like Comcast's overall lineup. Does hotspotshield require a "hotspot" or can I use Comcast internet and still use league pass with hotspot shield?
Thanks I may do this. No need to suffer while we help these corporations take consumer interests into account. My understanding IIRC from an article is that in LA they got to the point where every time they showed the Comcast logo at the Laker games the crowd inside booed and they had to stop showing it. I have to think this helped with the negotiations.
Glynch, on this we agree. The fact is that CSN is asking for an insane price for a RSN. The only way to get them to come off that price and get real is to pressure the Rockets (and Astros once their season starts). Until that happens, the carriers will not buckle and increase the bill of the many to satisfy the relatively small number of subscribers for which this channel matters.
Do you think that your constant presence in this thread to defend CSN is a welcome one? I'm not trying to fight again. I am genuinely confused as to why someone who is getting all the games would keep coming in here to fake-soothe the anger so many of us are feeling. What we know is that CSN is offering the channel at X price to every local provider. And though they get calls every day and give away more and more stuff they've all said no to the price. That speaks volumes about the offer. Here's a link for you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_and_demand Your constant posting here, acting like some kind of voice of reason, speaks of your character. I thought you were a way more empathetic dude than you seem to be.
Unfortunately, whatever noise we might make could very soon be drowned out by the roar that is the Houston Texans. Imagine if they make the super bowl and then win it all! Nobody will care for the Rockets or Astros except for the diehards like us. Don't get me wrong, I love my Texans, but I also need my Rockets and Astros!!!
I'm quite sure Barron said the closest number he could get was 3.40 per subscriber. Regardless of the actual number, they more than every other channel besides ESPN. Take a look at the money sports networks make compared to other channels, safe to say the number is high
protest have a protest buy tickets to a nationally televised game and have everyone walk out after halftime this is the way for them to know the customers/fans mean business I have season tickets in 409 row 1 they are always askin ticket holders to move to the lower levels to make it look fuller they definately wouldnt want the arena empty for a nationally televised game The Diceman
I had Comcast for about 2 weeks before I couldn't stand their piss-poor picture quality and channel lineup. Tried to help out the Cfans community by streaming a little, but Comcast is utter garbage to me. I switched back to DirecTV, hopefully something gets done before the season ends. I'd rather just stick to streaming a poor quality stream than have TV service through Comcast.
NNNNOOOO!!!! Your streams were soooo good! I have DirecTV as well. All I want for Christmas is my rockets on TV. To bad it won't happen. Just hope we have these games by the years end. ****ty streaming it is for me until we get it. I am not going to com****.
Oh no, Obi Wan Kobe u were my only hope ! Ok be sure to show us which feed yoiu are bringing and hope to suck the free juice tonight. Go Rockets !
We know that it is north of $3 per subscriber. As somebody else pointed out, Barron believes it to be $3.40 per subscriber. The fact is that, even on a good night, local sports games draw extremely low ratings. From the providers' perspective, why would they agree to that large price (larger than any other basic cable channel not called ESPN) to serve a small portion of their customer base? If Barron is correct, I side with the providers on this one. Until the team and CSN get realistic with the numbers, to hell with them. I will continue to enjoy more quality family time. I have been a huge sports guy my entire life. When I stop caring at all, it should be a sign. Guys like me are their base. The longer this goes on, the further the Rockets will damage their fan base.
I also blame Les for this, along with Drayton. They made this deal with no thoughts about the fan base. Of course Drayton probably knew all along he wouldn't be around to have to deal with this mess, he just wanted the deal to be done because at that point it would increase the value of his franchise, whether deals were done with other providers or not. I think our only hope is Crane realizing that with the state of the current Astros he can't afford to have a mess like this on his hands come April. Hopefully he will pressure comcrap to make deals with other providers at that point. I honestly do not think Les is thinking ahead on this, he might have gotten his $$ for the deal already, but even with the team probably having it's best base of players since the Dream days, his fan base is dwindling and dwindling quickly