Comcast is the largest cable company in America. They are also the most arrogant. Their Philly area Comcast sportsnet is only covered via their cable system. People who have Dish Network or Direct Tv cannot get it, despite the fact that most every other market that has a cable sports channel like Fox Sports Pittsburgh, can be seen on a dish.
Now Comcast owned OLN (formerly Outdoor Life Network) is playing hardball with Dish Network, and has
For some fans of the NHL who expected to watch this season's games on Comcast Corp.'s OLN, last season's lockout continues.That's because OLN is engaged in a gloves-off brawl with two of its distributors.
One is Cablevision, the Long Island-based cable network that provides OLN to 22,000 of its 3 million customers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The other is Dish Network, which provides OLN to 3.3 million of its 11 million subscribers nationwide, many of them in the Philadelphia area.
The two distributors have declined to abide by OLN's new requirement that at least 40 percent of their subscribers receive OLN. For both companies, that would mean moving the network to a less-expensive package of programming.
But that is not all, according to an e-mail I received from Dish, it is also that not only do they want Dish to moce OLN to a cheaper package, but also to charge more for carrying OLN. That would mean we would get OLN on a cheaper package, but it would cost us more.
Thank you for being a valued DISH Network customer. OLN, which is owned by the nation’s largest cable TV company, Comcast, has made unreasonable demands that would force millions of DISH Network customers to pay more for this channel. We regret the inconvenience, but are committed to keeping our prices the lowest possible and will not allow our customers to be bullied.DISH Network does offer other channels that provide similar programming, including the Men’s Channel and The Outdoor Channel. If you are a hockey fan, you can view your local channels for in-market games, or subscribe to DISH Network’s NHL Center Ice Package, which offers a variety of hockey games much broader than those offered on OLN. Visit "http://www.dishnetwork.com/"www.dishnetwork.com for more information
But I am screwed. Even if I subscribed to NHL center ICE. I would not get Comcast's coverage of Flyers Hockey because Comcast will not and apparently will never sell their Comcast Sportsnet feed to people who have satelite dish.
Screw Comcast.
Not to disagree or to agree on this, but thought I would write in... I work for a cable company, and we have kinda the same thing... We have the rights to all the College games in this area, but we also own the cameras that film the games, so I guess that is a contract thing that the college has with the cable company... I would say that the Philly area probably has some sort of the same with Comcast... In turn you have Dish or Direct tv, that is owned by the owner of ESPN, so none of the cable companys can get the NFL Sunday Ticket... So in turn everyone gets or loses something... I agree though, it needs to be more fair, they should all get the same stuff, then we will see who is better priced, and who had the better service...
Posted by: SlowDelSol at October 22, 2005 10:50 PM
