Not being a litigious sort of person, I have no clue as to whether a class action lawsuit would be viable. As taxpayers, we did "fund" a considerable portion of the Toyota Center without a return (watching the Rockets play) on investment. Many cannot afford their handsome ticket prices and some can't attend because of health restrictions yet we have had no recourse other than to pay the taxes without any benefit. May I have some opinions from Clutchfans attorneys?
I stopped reading there. Born Texan doesnt understand how monopolies work. In my area you CANNOT GET IT AT ALL EVEN IF CUSTOMER WANTS TO PAY. ITS NOT AVAILABLE AT ALL
I asked this before and don't think I got an answer, but do Houstonians pay a tax that goes towards Toyota Center? As I understand things, Reliant is funded through hotel and rental car taxes. Is Toyota Center different?
When I spoke to Directv last week, I asked them, "Why isn't CSN available as a stand alone pay-per-view channel like HBO, Showtime ect." I told him I'd gladly pay 10.99 or whatever for the channel that way we all win. Guy I was talking too's response was that CSN refuses that option, instead demanding that CSN be included in a bundled sports package that all customers are forced to buy. CSN is apparently dictating how the providers are supposed to carry their channel to maximize their profits & reach. [1 side of story at least which may be only partially true] I think CSN (Rockets & Astros) feel they can hold out until baseball season before they have to do anything. At that point, there will have to be more pressure from everyone to get a deal done. Are all the sports bars & advertisers cool with such limited exposure of the Astros all over town? I would think not. Rocket fans are merely collateral damage in this.
I knew I couldn't be the first to propose considering a class action suit. However, I wasn't in Houston when the Toyota Center funding plans were discussed. Nonetheless, some form of focused fan action should be invoked. A lynch mob perhaps?
Consolidated Communications Hd or DVR, errrr I finally thought I found a solution to watching the Rockets' games. Turns out Consolidated Communications offers service in my area as well as Suddenlink. The bad news is that they cannot offer HD and DVR even on one TV much less 3 because of "bandwidth issues". I then thought I'll order HD on one TV (at a cost of $50/month!!!!) and get a TiVo DVR so I could record, but low and behold, Consolidated doesn't provide a cablecard so Tivo won't work either. Guess I'll go with non-HD dvr on one TV for $50 a month. Is that a hard core fan or what (maybe just an idiot)? Any ideas out there how I can record in HD?
I do know that several sports bars have purchased comcast along with their directv package so they can show Rockets games. Comcast has held the sports bars hostage too and some have caved. I watch the games at the end zone on westheimer, costs the bar extra money for comcast, costs me $2.75 per beer while i watch the game. Les is sitting back with a big ole sh** eating grin on his sorry face
Theoretically, not random. I recently discussed this with a gentleman who works at Comcast Sports Net Houston. I was curious as to why in the past 7 years I was able to see the Rockets on DirecTV without LP or any special sports package, yet, now, was not able to see them during the LP free trial. He explained that there is a 2 tier blackout which can be enforced at the discretion of a pow-wow between the team and the network (CSN Houston, in this case). The first (and I think normal) tier is 75 miles. I live outside that radius and so got Rocket games on DirecTV via Fox Sports Houston channel. The 2nd tier extends to 150 mi. radius. I would suggest your friend call the NBA office and complain. He's outside the 150mi., 2nd tier radius. (NBA#: 212-407-8000, X8122) Apparently, CSN Houston and the Rockets have decided to enforce the 2nd tier blackout, in hopes that the squeeze would elicit more subscribers from DirecTV, etc. to complain and, hopefully, influence DirecTV's willingness to agree to CSN Houston's terms. It apparently hasn't. It really looks like Rockets fans will be dependent on Astro fans to make some noise come spring... or CSN Houston (and the Rockets) will have to modify their terms if they want broader coverage. Rocket fans are the collateral damage. To make noise at the CSN Houston office, try the phone numbers at this link.
Everyone should try this. It worked quite well. Not quite as good as the high def stream from Direct TV i have grown used to, but much better than watching on my laptop. Also, I rigged up a wired connection. Using wi-fi on my laptop, the feed would sometimes stop. Using the wired connection, the game played out in it's entirety with no stops. I was using a First Row game feed.
I will occasionally stream a game.... Luckily I found this site that has torrents and will download games as I choose. .
This, sort of. I finally got fed up with a pausing and hiccuping feed, so instead I just go onto torrentz.com some time the next day and download a full perfect HD file of the game, with all the commercials edited out already. The picture is perfect, and I can watch it the next day, just like I used to when I would DVR the games anyway. Screw these CSn guys, screw the providers. Just get bittorrent, and download the games, and watch them at your leisure. Yes I know I don't get to watch them live this way, but if I really thought about it, I rarely watched them live anyway, because real life pretty much dictates that I have to watch the recorded version regardless. So, yeah, for anyone who can stomach watching the games the next day, do that.
My laptop has hdmi so I hook up my laptop via hdmi and can watch on big screen. That is when I don't go to father in law house that has Comcast.
http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=228213&page=15 He usually has them up the same night. Download by quarter or from single link, though you will need to sign up for the bigger files. The man that uploads them deserves all the rep he can get.
Quite sad we are this far into the season, and there is no deal in sight. Hate this helpless feeling of there being nothing we can do to end this stalemate.
I officially ordered Comcast, then called AT&T to cancel, and they gave me a big discount so I think I have to cancel my Comcast order now. I have called AT&T once before and internet chatted once before to complain to no avail. Both of those times were documented in this thread (phone people didn't know about the Rockets and chat guy offered me a terrible sports of mostly soccer college sports $10 value free for one month). I don't like making empty threats or lying, so I really had to purchase Comcast and then call AT&T to cancel and be straight forward with them about hating missing Rockets game and being upset that they didn't take me seriously when I called to complain. Comcast Option: Rockets Games $50 more per month than current ATT package bill ($500 gift card = less $21 per month) faster internet (from my personal experience) more channels (full premium package) 2 year contract $35 install fee So this time, they finally took me seriously and informed me of the following. ATT Counters with: $75 credit $50 lowered monthly bill for 1 year no contract semi-premium package (Showtime, Starz, NBAtv, MLB etc) After accounting for the gift card, it came down to turning in my DVR with many shows on it and paying $80 less per month w/AT&T vs not having to go to sports bars to watch the Rockets with Comcast. There was a time when I missed 0 Rockets games, but I'm older and less fanatic now...I think I'll stay with AT&T and hope they settle the situation soon.
That's the same thing that happened to myself when I called Uverse. It did take 3 times until I was able to reach one person actually interested in helping me though. You HAVE to mention what company you're planning on changing to along with your frustration about the CSN channel. My bill went from $212 a month with all channels except HBO/Cinemax, 5 boxes and the fastest internet available, to $140 a month for every single channel available including premiums, all boxes free and $20 off of my internet bill. All good for one full year. These companies are making money hand over foot, this isn't going to hurt their bottom line.
