Yea when I see that jerk on his commercials I want to punch him in the face. Get off of my TV with your lies dude
In other words, hush money. Nothing matters, at least to me, other than getting a deal done. The discount they give you is pennies on their bottom line. That's why they do it -- it keeps people off their case and allows them to negotiate with leverage, all for the minimal cost of a few pennies off their earnings report. It's the exact same thing as CSN giving free tickets to Rockets games to those that sign the petition. Just as CSN giving you a pair of free Rockets tickets shouldn't keep you from b****ing at them, AT&T giving you a free upgrade and $10/month off shouldn't keep you from b****ing at them. They're trying to buy your silence. If you're not gullible enough to fall for CSN's trick, don't do it for the providers.
Oh my goodness. They're not protecting their customers? You really believe the providers just eat those costs and the customers don't pay for every cent of that price paid to RSN's? The teams are greedy monsters. They get a price, several times the fee for other very popular channels, from the providers per subscriber regardless of whether those people want to watch games. The Astros and Rockets don't give a damn how high my cable bill is as long as they're getting paid. Why do they owe an apology because they didn't do this from the start? Are you kidding? Businesses evolve and change, nobody apologizes for that. Did the Astros and Rockets apologize for pulling games from free TV to cable TV so they could make more money? This is silly.
Disagree, a free month plus 10 per month is almost $300 cash money to me. That is a lot different than giving me a pair of tickets, where I would then have to pay for parking and spend big bucks at the game, supporting the team and owner who took the games away from me in the first place.
Restaurant conversation. Customer: This food is terrible. Waiter: I'm sorry, we'll comp your meal. Customer: Hush money eh? :grin: The difference in the two is one is a bill I already pay and is money out of my pocket while the other is just a freebie for something I didn't intend to buy.
Huh? Not sure what you're getting at. Of courses the providers pass those costs to customers. The bill you're paying now partly reflects similar RSN agreements they struck in other markets. Now they're trying to draw the line after they're the ones that opened the door and already raised bills. They sure weren't looking out for customers before. Do I expect them to apologize? Realistically, of course not. It's cut-throat business, just like it is for the ad campaign on the CSN/Astros/Rockets side. But from an ethical standpoint, they absolutely should. The only reason CSN is asking for a lofty price is because providers agreed to a comparable price in comparable markets. The providers bear some responsibility. The Astros and Rockets are businesses, too. What's in the best long-term interest for their brands is to win championships, and the best way to get there is through competitive television revenues to their rivals. Thus, the deal they're holding out for makes complete business sense. But that's not enough for most people. It seems most expect the teams to act ethically on behalf of their fans, based on things like public funding, anti-trust exemptions, etc. And that's fine. But if you're going to expect the Astros/Rockets to act in an ethical manner, I think it's a little ridiculous to make the "it's just business" excuse on the provider end. If you expect the Astros/Rockets to bring ethics into the equation, I think you also should for the providers you pay $1,000 or more per year to. And by that standard, they owe you an apology.
We have different priorities. You're looking at how it specifically impacts you. I'm looking at it from a broader standpoint of getting a deal done. Which one has more "value" to you wasn't my point. My point was that both sides are willing to make minimal sacrifices to their bottom lines to try and keep you off their case. Maybe one person prefers the tickets. Maybe they prefer the cable discount. Either way, the principle is the same -- it's a temporary measure from a giant corporation to try and distract from the overarching issue, which is whether a deal can get struck to put the Rockets and Astros on television. Don't fall for either one.
They don't owe me an apology, they owe me some of my money back and a lesser rate since I can't watch my favorite shows (Astros/Rockets). That is exactly what they gave me. You can call it whatever you want, but the bottom line is i'm not getting the shows I want from ATT right now so ATT gave me money back. I joked last week that you must work for comcast, it was a complete joke. I'm not so sure now that I wasn't right though. Your argument for comcast is unbelievable
I'd be fired in about a minute if I worked for Comcast. Wouldn't take very long for them to find some very inflammatory statements I've made about them. From all I know and have heard, they're a horrible company and I have zero interest in ever having them as a service provider. I have no doubt, and have said all along, that they have a ton of blame here. The only difference between you and me is that I think both sides are at fault. As far as your specific situation, you just don't care as much about the teams as I do, I guess. And that's your right -- I'm not judging you for it. But that may be why we come at this from different perspectives. For me, I wouldn't care if my provider gave me an entire cable package with every single channel and the highest internet speed for free. If it didn't include the Rockets and Astros, I'd be furious and the whole "discount" issue, no matter how big, would be a non-starter. Evidently, you're fine without the games as long as you pay a proportionally lower price. I'm not. I guess we can agree to disagree on this.
Your entire point is crap. 1. At no point did any provider mention a different tier until an impasse on price had been reached. 2. You keep referencing an ad campaign by the providers. I have yet to see a single print or broadcast ad from any of them regarding this issue. They have offered statements when asked. To say that they have engaged in an ad campaign is just as misleading as CSN's ads saying that the providers decided to yank the Rockets and Astros off the air. It simply is not true.
I miss watching my teams badly. That being said, I am not going to be held hostage and then pay the company doing it. I would rather go without than reward that behavior. Screw them. Screw the teams for their part in this.
You have no clue man, no clue at all. In the other thread you say we could come up with a solution if we act like adults. As if the 10 or so of us who constantly post on here can make a deal happen. And you say I don't care as much about the teams as you because I'm apparently happy with my discount and not being able to see the teams? Really? Yea, that is why I continue to post, because i'm happy with my discount. Hell, on the other thread you said I can't post sensibly because i'm so upset over not being able to watch (the same games that you do watch). And you, just like the CSN people, want me to "demand" that i get the channel. Well just how the hell do you want me to demand it?? Want me to go stand naked on the corner holding up a sign that says ATT Uverse sucks cause they have intentionally took my Astros and Rockets away? Want me to stick a pole that says I WANT CSN HOUSTON up all of the upper managements ass at Uverse? WTF do you want me to do in order to demand it?
OK, I'll revise that statement to PR campaign, if the exact verbage is that important to you. I apologize that we had different definitions of "ad campaign". As for #1, you're again making matter-of-fact statements without a single link or timeline or evidence of any kind. Blanket assumptions.
And one more thing, it's real bold of you to come on here and brag that you are a bigger fan than me. This is a simple discussion for you, it doesn't affect you. You get the games. You say you would be furious at the whole "discount" issue, no matter how big. Well you can spew your words all you want, but this doesn't affect you so don't tell me how much more of a fan you are than me. I suppose if you didn't get the games you would just switch to comcast, cause that is the only option for us "lesser fans"
Stop making excuses for the providers. That's what you can do. Stop acting like a PR specialist for them. ClutchFans is a pretty big deal. So is the Chronicle, where people leave comments all the time. So is talk radio. Whatever your medium of choice is, use it. In my opinion, the biggest reason CSN Houston launched this campaign is because of all the negative feedback. It makes a difference. The providers haven't waged a similar battle, and have no reason to negotiate and come to the middle, if they think customers are happy with them. Just as you b**** in your posts about CSN asking for too high of a price, mention the fact that the providers are the ones that opened the door in the first place and now are trying to rewrite history. Don't make excuses for them via arguments they haven't even made themselves. b****ing can be a powerful force, even on message boards and blogs. Important people can and do notice. It's already forcing CSN to make modifications to their plans, and it might can on the provider end too, if folks actually tried. And eventually, if both sides are feeling the pressure and having to make concessions, it can reach a point where they get a deal done.
The biggest reason I pay a monthly cable bill is to watch the local professional sports teams. To me, that should be a priority on the provider's end. You said they don't owe you an apology; just your money back. That's where we disagree. They can give me money all they want, but until I'm given the option to watch the local teams, I wouldn't be happy and I'd be disappointed in them for playing a role in me not having the games. Is it all their fault? Nope, but they do have a role. CSN owes you an apology and so does your provider.
Oh, ok. I just didn't get it all along. I really appreciate you clearing all of this up for me. Here we go Fu** you Uverse Fu** you Dish Fu** you Directv I assume i'll be watching the games on Tuesday now. Awesome And oh yea, I'm sorry for cursing again, I know you don't like that....eerrrr, at least you don't like it directed at comcast
Not sure why i'm still arguing with you....but you are saying i'm happy to get a discount and not unhappy about the situation . . .uh, i think it's pretty fuc*ing clear i'm not exactly happy about this whole thing. IF you were in my shoes, YOU would either be pissed or switch to comcast. I'm not switching to comcast as Crane wants me to, if it makes me less of a fan and you more of a fan, then ok
You forgot **** you CSN. Nothing wrong with cursing and being pissed, so long as it goes both ways. That's constructive.
There's no excuse being made for the providers, but I recognize that they are correct in their position. Comcast wants to charge a per provider rate that doesn't make sense in this market and would be foolish for the providers to eat when they already have to pay for FSN. You say it is silly to lock into contracts like they did with FSN, but that is again you being naive. The Fox properties are SIGNIFICANTLY more valuable than the Rockets/Astros. The Rockets/Astros/Comcast are trying to get a high dollar for their network when they are in a market that doesn't support franchises that aren't stellar and even then doesn't support them to some extreme level on television. I did the math in another thread, but DTV specifically would come out ahead on this deal with mass defections actually happening but still refusing to buy the CSN deal. They simply want too much money when they are not that valuable of a package. They over estimated their worth. Edit: The one factor I think is something to demonize is the Comcast/NBC factor who, as I've demonstrated, have a history of bad faith negotiations. They are a bad company and providers hate them. Rockets/Astros made a mistake getting in bed with them.
