[per 610] CSN Offers 45 day free trial to providers

The Rockets were the ones who wanted and promoted the free trial.

 

Well, it's still a PR ploy and I still don't think it's likely to work.

 

If the point was to put pressure back on the providers to potentially make a deal, it probably won't... but if all they wanted was to raise awareness that the channel "could" be made available to all providers free of charge, they've succeeded.

As a "publicity" stunt, it certainly has worked... more people know about the free preview being denied than the actual details of the bankruptcy case.

The Rockets probably just want people to be able to watch their product... hence them pushing for the free preview again.

 

CSN probably knows the providers aren't interested. Just makes them look better for offering.

 

Yep. Classic move in politics.

 

...and, to state the obvious....

DirecTV also declined to accept the free-view offer
http://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/...se-in-declining-csn-houstons-free-view-offer/

AND U-verse also declined to accept the free-view offer
http://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2013/11/u-verse-declines
-csn-houstons-offer/

Personally, I thought the free-view offer was ridiculous. The carriers aren't stupid enough to fall for the old "free trial" scam.

On the contrary - they know that they have CSN by the short-and-curlies, especially if they stick together and stick to their guns. The carriers are in the position of power here, not CSN.

...and while all of this goes on, they all inspire me to watch each game on a bootleg feed.