Houston Astros owner Jim Crane weighed in on negotiations as part of a radio interview with Barry Warner on SportsTalk 610 in Houston on Thursday. "These deals have gone down to the wire in other big markets," Crane said. "We want a competitive deal for the city of Houston. We want a rights fee that is competitive with the Angels and the Rangers. There may be some short-term pain, but we're interested in long-term goals. "DirecTV has 17 deals with Comcast. We want a market deal, the same rights deals as other teams have. We want to be a top six market and we have to get a fair deal. We don't want to jeopardize our future with a below-market deal."
Don't know where you live but I live in Lufkin 120 miles from Toyota Center. I've had LP for about 8 years. Rocket games have always been blacked out for me even archived games. For some reason i thought since they were not on local tv here I would be able to watch the games. I can kind of understand the games being blacked out here but even the replays?
Let me clarify...CSNH is on Consolidated (the phone co.) and I believe they are on whatever the cable company is here. I have Dish. Dish has always been good about providing the teams in situations where whatever channel was not available here. For example we have FSSW but they would put FSNH on an alternate channel when the Rockets and Astros would play.
Translation: Our team sucks but we want to get paid like teams that have superstars and make the playoffs. That's fair market value buddy, pay me.
I like how Crane says "down to the wire" as if the Rockets haven't just spent an entire season without a deal getting done.
The sad thing about this to me, is that CSN doesn't have 1 deal with a major provider (other than Comcast obviously). At&t, Time Warner, Dish, DirecTv...I'm sure I'm missing others. They can't get one domino to fall, just keep waiting on DirecTv to give in. Pathetic.
Ok Mr. Adult, You are right you have no "boys" in this fight, so quit fighting it and go to the game threads, you see you are capable of commenting on the team, you watch it, most of us on this thread don't And you want us to talk rationally so we can come up with a strategy to get a deal done? Really Mr. Adult? We, here on clutchfans, are gonna come up with the solution. So if we stop cursing and blaming sides, then we can get a deal done? Hmmmmm, i'm not sure ole Hutchings is holding out because some of us on here are cussing about not being able to watch the games. I don't think he is making the horrible commercials telling lies about other distributors because we are blaming one side and not the other. If you really think that a deal is going to get done, because the people on this thread quit cursing and talk like adults, then i'm not sure what to say man. If you do believe that, then yea you might be an adult (i don't know who you are so will assume that you are), but you aren't a very smart adult Also, if my cursing has offended you then I appologize, I really do
I also like how Crane brings up the Angels and Rangers, both of whom are broadcast on Fox Sports Net, which is where the Astros and Rockets were (and where everybody could see them) before they were moved to a channel most people don't get.
The jury is obviously out on whether or not Crane will be a good owner, it becomes more and more clear every time he opens his mouth that he doesn't give a crap about his fans though
“When we saw DirecTV, they said they had only lost a few customers,” - Jim Crane Customers that have no access to Comcast or are locked into contracts with a different provider, have nothing to switch to. Logic much?
He also said about fans that want to watch "they can switch to comcast" Fu** you Crane, you aren't going to dictate to me who I get my television service from. Just go away Crane, sell the team and go away
Rest of the quote: “When we saw DirecTV, they said they had only lost a few customers,” Crane said. “Well, guess what: When they lose a few thousand customers, they’re going to pay that rate pretty quickly, and everything is going to start running pretty smooth." Really? If DirectTV "only lost a few customers" because of a good, playoff bound, Rockets team, do you really think they're going to lose "a few thousand" because of a gutted Astros team that has finished dead last 2 years in a row and is the odds on favorite to achieve that mark of futility again? I've watched every nationally televised Rockets game this season (I know, not many). I'm debating whether or not to watch the Astros opener on Sunday. If I didn't switch during basketball season, I'm sure as hell not switching during baseball season. If I was going to switch providers, I would've done it already. I have to believe the vast majority would have too.
Another quote from Crane “When we saw DirecTV, they said they had only lost a few customers,” Crane said. “Well, when they lose a few thousand customers, guess what: They’re going to pay that rate pretty quick, and everything is going to start running pretty smooth. “Everybody is waiting until the last minute to see who is going to blink. I can guarantee you we will not blink. We’re in it for the long run. Folks, this isn't going to be settled for a long, long time
This pretty much sums up CSN's "negotiating" strategy since the beginning. They determined what the price is going to be and they are waiting for enough people to switch to force the carriers to accept that price. Demanding your preconceived price with no room for movement isn't actually a negotiation. This will likely never be settled. Prepare to live life like they do in Portland...without your team. I have been an Astros fan since 1979. I have had 27 game packages in the past. I have always gone to games. I won't anymore. It is one thing to have a temporary impasse that leads to missing games. It is something very different when the owner of the team ( and 46% of the channel) comes right out and says that they aren't going to budge on that price and essentially that they are not negotiating in good faith. You would expect that they would actually negotiate in good faith so their fans can see the team. Nope. They don't care, and that comes from the top of the organization. Screw them. I'm done.
http://blog.chron.com/sportsmedia/2...rs-wont-blink-in-price-carriage-negotiations/ After reading this and Crane's comments... really starting to dislike the guy.
http://blog.chron.com/sportsmedia/2013/03/crane-csn-houston-partners-wont-blink-in-price-carriage-negotiations/ There are 2 things that jump out at me more than just Crane being his typical clown self: While I still hate Comcast, this is making me think that DirecTV really is holding this up because they refuse to put CSN Houston on the basic tier. If that's true, then F them! RSNs have been a part of the basic package for everyone in their local area. Why do they want to change it now? This whole thing sucks more and more every day.
that's a bit biased in comcast stating the FSN is more expensive since it comes with FX and other fox related channels. This is only CSN. If DirecTv and other providers put it on basic tier, they will have to charge everyone for CSN and there's probably more people who don't watch the Rox and Stros than who do
I agree that the price quote from CSN is BS. But if it's true that DirecTV is trying to put CSN on a higher tier, that's just as much BS. Everywhere else in the country, the RSN(s) that carries the local teams is on the basic tier. They're all to blame and they're all assclowns at this point.
