DirecTV’s Dan York Believes No One Of Merit Will Pick Up SportsNet LA
A battle between TWC and the other networks has picked up recently, as Opening Day has come and gone with no sign of a deal in the near future.
According to Alex Ben Block of the Hollywood Reporter, DirecTV’s head of programming Dan York had some strong words on the subject:
‘I think it’s highly unlikely that anybody of any real merit will be carrying that network soon.’
Thus far, only Bright House Networks and Champion Broadband have picked up the channel, leaving many Dodger fans with no place to watch their team play. Fans were able to catch Sunday’s stateside opener against the San Diego Padres on ESPN, but will not be able to watch the games on Tuesday and Wednesday. It seems as if the other cable distributors are taking a stand against TWC, with DISH Network all but taking themselves out of contention for the channel.
A similar issue occurred with the Los Angeles Lakers and their new channel, TWC SportsNet, but deals were made with all major distributors except DISH Network. While DirecTV and the other major cable providers are going against TWC, their customers are being deprived of around-the-clock exclusive content. In order to try and pressure providers into getting a deal done, the Dodgers are continuing to ask fans to visit ineedmydodgers.com and fill out the necessary info to expedite the process.
The Dodgers are reaching a peak of popularity at the moment, with three million tickets already being sold for the 2014 season and season tickets reaching over 30,000 before a home game has even been played at Dodger Stadium. This makes it crucial for a deal to get done and provide Dodger fans with the channel.
Again the fans do all the work???
What about Dodger management??
They need to fix this. It was their call not ours.
pretty chicken shit if you ask me and that gos to the dodgers …
03/31/14 – Just got off the phone with Charter Cable TV and was told that “We will not be providing the new Dodgers’ channel this year sir.” I told them that I am a customer requesting the new channel and she said she would note that in my account but that it doesn’t go anywhere. If someone from corporate were to happen to look at my account notes they would see that information. Yeah, like that’s going to happen. C’mon guys, it’s the 11th hour, let’s go!