If there's one thing Canzano does well

[RoyToy]

it's ripping Comcast and keeping this ridiculous situation in the spotlight.

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/or...f/2009/10/canzano_trail_blazers_start_an.html

His scoop on how Comcast is negotiating is interesting.

 

[Enzo Aix]

I wounder how much money comcast is not making from not giving in ?

 

[B-Roy]

I wounder how much money comcast is loseing from not giving in ?

None, I would assume.

 

[TehChad]

Good article, and from my own inside knowledge, I can confirm about what Canzano says regarding the way Comcast negotiates. Pretty much 'our way or the highway'. Neither side is budging since they BOTH feel like the leverage is on their side. In a nutshell, Comcast is basically saying 'Hey, look at us, we got exclusive rights to this great team. You want it too?? Then pay the fuck up'. DirecTV, Dish, and all the other companies are saying 'Completely unreasonable, and nobody else is biting either, so back the fuck down'. Hence, here we are.

When neither side will budge in negotiations, the best solution is almost always arbitration. Let a neutral party with good knowledge of this sort of thing decide what's fair for both sides. This whole situation makes me sick..I'm sure you've all seen my signature below many times now, and I will continue to have the signature until a deal is reached. If anyone else wants to start using it as well, feel free. I've now convinced almost two dozen subscribers to cancel their service, many of which had the whole package: TV, Internet, and Phone. I couldn't be happier with my efforts, and it's amounting to a LOT of money...I'll let you do the math.

This is one of the most exciting times in Blazers history, and yet a HUGE portion of the state of Oregon can't watch, no matter what they do. Pathetic...

 

[ehizzy3]

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

I canceled Comcast, catch every game on the internet (live) and then can run a cable to a flat panel. It's easy & free. I'm no longer a slave to Comcast.

 

[Stevenson]

I canceled Comcast, catch every game on the internet (live) and then can run a cable to a flat panel. It's easy & free. I'm no longer a slave to Comcast.

What sites show it live, and what sort of cable do you use? Is it just like watching it on TV?

Thanks

 

[jlprk]

I hate to add intelligence to this thread, because I am sworn to Athena to do the reverse, but may we look at the mathematics?

Most cable carriers have not signed onto Comcast's syndication of the Blazers. Comcast is 20% of the way into its 10-year contract. If it had demanded 80% of its price, and gotten all carriers on board from the get-go, it would have made as much profit as it would if it signed them all on right now.

But even that reduced amount isn't happening. Comcast has lost big on this contract. Its sole motivation now is to not lose face by reducing its price to the remaining carriers.

If it had demanded 70% of its price, and gotten 100% of the carriers onboard by a year from now, it would....goodbye, Athena is calling.

Like Odysseus, I am now banished to the Sea.

 

[Mediocre Man]

So someone with NBA league pass on Directv isn't allowed to watch Blazer games, even if they live in say NY?

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

What sites show it live, and what sort of cable do you use? Is it just like watching it on TV?

Thanks

Most I catch on justintv.com, but others I go to the O-Live forum and there are always links. I don't know the name of the cord (non geek), but it plugs into a TV or monitor. Sometime the picture is great, sometimes not so great, but it beats paying money to Comcast.

 

[Enzo Aix]

I wish they would cave and use that money to up their product not just the Blazers games but every thing on that shitty channel.

 

[Wheels]

"Throw in, too, that the regional network blocked a plan to have the Blazers games delivered over the internet."

Is that referring to the feed that people were talking about with the Blazers showing them and possibly charging? I hope not

 

[hasoos]

I think the fans should find an angle to file a lawsuit against them. If they could find a "volunteer" lawyer so it doesn't cost the fans anything, then it will start costing Comcast money. For instance, by not letting the games be broadcast on NBA League pass for customers in Portland, isn't a customer in Portland receiving less product for their money than say, an NBA League pass customer in Wyoming? They are paying the same price. Why isn't the coverage the same? There has to be some angle there for a lawsuit. We just need a nasty lawyer to find that angle, and start costing comcast and/or the Blazers money.

 

[ABM]

Most I catch on justintv.com, but others I go to the O-Live forum and there are always links. I don't know the name of the cord (non geek), but it plugs into a TV or monitor. Sometime the picture is great, sometimes not so great, but it beats paying money to Comcast.

Don't you still subscribe to Comcast basic cable and internet, though? You may not be a full-fledged slave, but yet reside in half-way house.

 

[Trailblazed&Confused]

So someone with NBA league pass on Directv isn't allowed to watch Blazer games, even if they live in say NY?

NBA League Pass is an out-of-market sports package. It pretty much scoops up all of the national tv coverage rights not picked-up by programmers and then bundles them into the package. The Traiblazers sold most of the local coverage rights to CSN, who pays a certain amount for those coverage rights. Since NBA LP is an out-of-market package, and the dispute is over local coverage, subscribers from outside the local market area (the area CSN owns the rights to) should not be affected.

Generally, program providers make their money on a per-subscriber basis - meaning they get paid for every subscriber in the programming tier that offers the channel. For better or worse, the Blazers' fanbase is fairly localized to Portand and Oregon. For a local cable company that serves the Portland-area, putting CSN in a lower-tiered programming package is not a big deal because of the high concentration of Blazer fans. For a national programmer, such as Directv or Dish, this represents a big problem because they are potentially paying CSN to offer the channel nationally when the vast majority of interested parties will be in PDX or the NW. Who knows whether the carriage rights would even include national rights to the games.

Unfortunately, since the dispute is between Comcast and other interested parties, arbitration is not going to assist us- the fans. While we want to see the games on any carrier, we do not have a legal right to receive the games. Since Comcast owns the local rights to the games, they can ask for whatever they want. Depending on whatever contact the Blazers have with Comcast, they may be able to enter the dispute by demanding that Comcast lower the asking price, but I doubt they have much power in the process other than telling CSN that there is no way they renew the contract.

In short, we're probably screwed......

 

[Mediocre Man]

So what was Canzano's point then about blocking league pass on Directv? It's not like anyone in the Portland market could watch them anyway on league pass.....right?

 

[BLAZINGGIANTS]

First off, I hate Comcast. It's so ridiculous the monopoly they have. Verizon FIOS is not allowed anywhere that Comcast already exists. I was so tired of Comcast I finally told my wife to cancel it, and let's switch to Dish Network, DirecTV or similar. We called to cancel, and they asked why we were cancelling, so we said we're switching. They gave us more channels at price 20% less than we were previously paying.

It's all moot now. We're in the process of moving. So I called to cancel Comcast at our place. Told them we were moving into a neighborhood that has Verizon FIOS, and told Comcast to "F OFF!" So, it's been a great week for me. We're moving, I get Verizon FIOS (which offers a pretty solid package in the Portland Area at a reasonable price, and of course, I still get the Blazers), and I got to tell Comcast to "Fuck off!" Comcast responds by, "We'll do our best to get Comcast to your new house. How can we keep you as a customer??" I respond with....<dial tone>

 

[Trailblazed&Confused]

So what was Canzano's point then about blocking league pass on Directv? It's not like anyone in the Portland market could watch them anyway on league pass.....right?

It sounds like he's talking about blacking the games out League Pass subscribers in the Trailblazers' market, which is not the purpose of the package. Since the package is for out-of-market subscribers, it never offered in-market coverage of games, even in the FSNW days. Unless something is changing for this season, fans outside the home market should get games on NBA LP.

 

[Enzo Aix]

I live in Eugene and before the comcast deal I got all portland games not on TNT, ESPN or what ever local network who had the game on it.