The warning was for me, as my initial comment was over-the-top. When I'm in Houston, I know where to go to watch games. Out of town, it's simply not convenient for me to explore which bars might have Houston sports. All Buffalo Wild's have sports packages and it's just a shame I can't mostly watch games in Texas outside of Houston. Was looking forward to watching the Stros last night, but got thrown a curveball. I was hot for about 5 minutes... still had a fun night though.
That is something we can all agree on. Castor's job on this board is kind of like herding cats. Without that being done, this wouldn't be nearly the forum it is.
zoiks. I meant to keep the thread from derailment, and actually caused derailment. Even though it's further distraction from the topic, please let me explain--I don't mean no discussion of the news (sorry that it even sounded like "no discussion on a discussion board"). I just meant that I didn't care to wade through three or four more pages of the same tired argument in order to find either news or the gems from people like Refman who actually do similar work and can provide informed commentary. I didn't, and wouldn't, want to tell people not to discuss. Finally, that's not my place; it's Castor's and I probably shouldn't have said anything at all. my apologies. seconded. [/derail]
http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2014/06/csn_houston_still_bankrupt.php Dear Sports Illustrated: Any Prediction as to When CSN Houston Will Get On Our TVs? By John Royal Fri., Jun. 27 2014 at 6:00 AM The Houston Astros are on the cover of this week's Sports Illustrated. The photo's not a joke; neither is the story. The story goes into the radical rebuild of the club and the magazine makes the bold prediction that the Astros will win the 2017 World Series. And who knows, if the Astros really get lucky, that whole CSN Houston bankruptcy deal might actually be settled by then. The parties returned to Judge Marvin Isgur's bankruptcy court Monday. The Astros argued to have the fraud suit they filed against Drayton McLane and Comcast returned to state court. McLane and Comcast wanted Judge Isgur to keep the case in the Federal court system. There was no decision made, and the parties, like with most matters, were left hanging, waiting for somebody to come along and bail them all out. And guess what, they're all returning to Judge Isgur's court room next week so as to discuss the so-called reorganization plan. I'm pretty sure the Astros won't eagerly go along with anything offered up because Judge Lynn Hughes has yet to rule on the Astros appeal of the order putting the network into bankruptcy. One would think that Judge Hughes would've issued a ruling by now -- the appeal was filed back in March, he's heard arguments and had a couple of mediation sessions so he should be familiar with all of the details, but then again, that's the thing about Federal district court judges, they'll slap you down should you miss a deadline, but they move to a clock that's got nothing to do with reality. The bankruptcy plan won't be the only issue before Judge Isgur next week. There's an entity known as enTouch Systems, Inc. which has requested the relief of the court. enTouch, believe it or not, is a small cable TV provider that was enough of a sucker to sign up to distribute CSN Houston when it hit the air. The company's decided it's not too happy with the deal it was suckered into -- company execs claim to be paying much, much more to distribute the network than Comcast is paying. The contract between the company and CSN Houston also, supposedly, contains a clause allowing enTouch to bail out of the network should it go into bankruptcy. The company's attempted to exercise this right, but CSN Houston has failed to comply with the contract. "It's very difficult when a company like Comcast is playing on both sides of the fence and getting a highly discounted rate," J Findley, president and CEO of enTouch told the Chronicle. "It's not a level playing field." But eventually this will all get back to the bankruptcy reorganization plan and whether there's even a demand for the network that will allow the network to survive. A large amount of the purchase price that Jim Crane paid for the network comes from the perceived value of the network, and that value is based on the network being available to not only a five state network, but on a basic tier meaning that all cable/satellite subscribers are paying for the network, even those who would never think of watching a sports channel. James Moorehead, Dish Network's chief marketing officer spoke to David Barron of the Chronicle earlier this week, and he made it very clear that it'll only carry the network if it can carry the network on an a la carte basis -- i.e. the only people who'd pay for the network would be those who actually wanted the network. CSN Houston, and especially the Astros, are very much against the a la carte model because it shrinks the potential number of viewers on any given night, which in turns makes the network less desirable to advertisers. "We would love to carry (CSN Houston), but we're not doing so because they are asking for exorbitant prices that do not match our value equation," Moorhead said. "Some want it, but the vast majority does not want to pay a price increase for that type of content. "We are constantly in negotiations and would love to carry it, and we are looking for creative solutions to carry the right content. That is why we are proposing, and are willing, to do it a la carte." That's where things stand with CSN Houston. Optimism towards this network surviving behind a new organizational plan that gets the Astros the value the team desires has to be slight. Cable/satellite providers are balking at the fees. There's no real network demand among the populace. The judge responsible for ruling on the appeal of the bankruptcy order is twiddling his thumbs, and the Rockets and Astros still aren't being paid the money owed under the media rights agreement. So you should probably go out and buy that Sports Illustrated with the Astros on the cover because that's probably your best chance to actually see any photos of George Springer wearing the uniform of the Houston Astros for the foreseeable future (even if it is the throwback uniform). But it's nice to know that somebody can actually see the Astros play baseball, and that they're optimistic about the team's future.
The teams aren't receiving ANYTHING in media rights fees. And the only reason they were entitled to any media rights fees is that the CSN agreed to pay them. Now they're not being paid at all....and they haven't been for about a year now. The Astros could make a profit on their media rights without owning an entity where the only offers made so far have been so low that the judge, himself, has said they were right to turn them down. The whole thing is a huge albatross...it was a bad deal going in that was very poorly planned. The thing needs to die...at the very least Judge Hughes needs to make a ruling, one way or the other, on the Astros motion to kill the bankruptcy. As the recent article points out, that motion has been in his lap since March. At this point, I'd be surprised if the Rockets really oppose that motion. They need to get their product on the air, too.
Wonder if the other teams will remind guys like Melo and LBJ that 60% of their town cannot see them play if they sign with Houston.
Morehead didn't say DISH wouldn't air the Network on a basic tier. He said that most of his customers don't want to pay a price increase for that type of content and that's why they aren't carrying it. I can understand for the very reasons stated why the Network wouldn't want this as a-la-carte though. And shame on CSN H for raping enTouch and shame on enTouch for agreeing to pay such an outrageous rate.
This is the kind of back and forth debate that Castor would like to end in these threads. It's rehashing the past and we have both done a good job of making our positions clear and neither of us have any idea if there's an acceptable deal on the table if the bankruptcy was killed.
So we can't discuss things...you can post some comment I disagree with...and that's ok...but we can't discuss it. I guess if you can post that one line that I wasn't supposed to respond to...maybe I should just post one line comments without directly replying to you and then you can guess if my comment was directed in response to yours. Was there some assault on you in my post? Am I really violating something by talking about where we are now in light of where we've been since this thing has been filed? Is there another subject on this entire message board that we can't discuss that someone can draw me an analogy to? We talk about racism and religion and politics and all kinds of subjects that actually inspire others to commit acts of violence. But discussion or debate about the CSN situation is just way too volatile.
I don't disagree with you... Just telling you what has been asked of us which is not to go back to the past of how this situation got here. And no you didn't assault me. Your response wasn't applicable to what I was saying and that drags us right back to the same ole same ole. Disagreeing with a comment regarding current news isn't out of line, I suppose.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Please don't hate on your humble correspondent, but it is a fact that the <a href="https://twitter.com/CSNHouston">@CSNHouston</a> bankruptcy case was filed nine months ago tonight.</p>— David Barron (@dfbarron) <a href="https://twitter.com/dfbarron/statuses/482715790957768704">June 28, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Today is the status conference.... Usually a day or so before, we hear some rumblings. Awfully quiet this time around.
Chances they keep kicking the can? Awfully high. _______________________ Disgruntled cable carrier drops complaint against CSN Houston — for now
EnTouch = Flounder CSN Houston = Otter Spoiler <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/zOXtWxhlsUg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>We are back in court. Judge is extending the reorganization period through Aug. 7.</p>— David Barron (@dfbarron) <a href="https://twitter.com/dfbarron/statuses/484421578302554112">July 2, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Judge Isgur referred to an offer that apparently has been made to the network that was discussed while we were outside courtroom.</p>— David Barron (@dfbarron) <a href="https://twitter.com/dfbarron/statuses/484422435320516608">July 2, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>No details of offer or who it is from have been made public. Jim Crane says details are confidential.</p>— David Barron (@dfbarron) <a href="https://twitter.com/dfbarron/statuses/484422556179394561">July 2, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>CSNH attorneys have to provide details of the offer to Comcast corporate by July 31.</p>— David Barron (@dfbarron) <a href="https://twitter.com/dfbarron/statuses/484422759431168000">July 2, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Geez, hurry and wait!! I'm glad its the off season but Please Please Please figure it out by the time the Rockets start.
