I just got Dish Network installed yesterday (04/08) and included is all of the Fox Regional Sports channels. I am in the Twin Citites area. I was unable to watch any of the regionally broadcast MLB games even though the Twins were not playing and ESPN had no national games. Is this to be expected or is there a problem? I do have a call open with Dish as well as a technical support email, but I am looking for practical experience. If any of you guys (especially in the Houston area) can let me know if you can watch out of market games of teams other than the Astros, I would appreciate it. Thanks
I don't have Dish or satellite so this might not be helpful, but I thought you needed MLB Xtra Innings to watch out of market baseball games.
Yeah you can't watch out of market games even if you have out of market channels. It's like listening to Houston radio stations online. They black out the games.
Dish has the regional Fox sports networks. For example, I can watch the Astros pregame show on Fox Sports SW, but the game is/was blacked out.
That's how it is for NBA so I wouldn't be surprised if it's the same for MLB. With DirecTV if you have league pass the game is shown on the local FSN station as well as the league pass channel, if you don't have league pass then it is blacked out on the FSN station.
Thanks for the replies. Yep, you do have to get Extra Innings or League Pass to view the Fox regional sports programming. After googling as well, it was verified. You would think, that if you can find answers via BBS forums or googling that a customer service representative should be able to tell you the same info. Geez, I'm 50 and still naive.
i have league pass and dish and the regional sports package. what i was hoping dish would do is unlock the broadcast on the fox channels esp if like a game is being broadcast in HD on one of the channels. like there have been plenty of times i've seen rocket games on the fsn hd channel but obviously blocked out and i had to watch it on the league pass channel, same fsn feed but not hd. why i keep the regional sports coverage is for college sports, those games are not blocked out i was able to watch a lot of great college football and basketball this year.
On my Dish, I have "Alternate" HD channels that may carry the regional networks IF you have the NBA/MLB package.
Here's a question about satellite service and hopefully I will get a quick answer and not have to derail the thread. If I want to upgrade to HD, I have DirecTV, how much would it cost to do so when I am ready?
yeah i have that too but the are always blacked out i have been upset when i see a rockets game on one of the HD alternates and not being able to see it.
About the only thing those regional fox channels are good for are college sports. I usually only get those channels for college football season and get rid of them around bowl season.
Has anyone ever looked into changing your zip code to match the region you want? Any success doing that?
I thought about it when considering satellite. I ended up going with the cheapest and safest choice, a Slingbox. I believe to change your zip code, you would need to change your billing address. Not a problem if you have friends or family. With auto bill pay, you wouldn't need a paper bill. The thing that stopped me was the box is plugged into a landline. I know this is a requirement for PPV and local channels. I didn't want a landline. I also was afraid the area code wouldn't match the area code for the zip code. I didn't think of Vonage or other phone providers that allow you to pick your area code. Too much of a hassle. I'm sure people have done it and haven't gotten caught. If you can't do Slingbox, I would go with Xtra Innings.
I have Dish Network. Sometimes when there's a Rockets game on FSN, it shows up on one of the "Alternate" channels in the 440s or higher. Look through all of them. Sometimes it is says it's on two channels but only one works. If it still doesn't work, you may have to call.
The house I'm moving to is apparently leaving behind their Dish Network dish. What are monthly costs like?
