I thought it was pretty disgusting that when I switched from Cablevision to Verizon FIOS (TV and Internet) I lost MSNBC. For me that meant Imus, Matthews and Olbermann were gone. It turned out to be a pleasure not to have to waste time with Imus and Matthews is so full of himself, he was no loss either. Plus, at 5:00 PM I put on TLC with "Take Home Chef," which is fun to have on and not as frustrating as Hardball. Keith was a loss but I wasn't watching news that often by 8:00.
But now, DirectTV signed a 7 year deal with Major League Baseball, taking away the "Extra Innings" package from ALL the cable and fiber optics viewers. I really don't care about that but my poor father-in-law, a Met fan living in Florida, is now out of luck. I hate the arrogance of these bastards who are allowed to change every one's quality of life with the signing of a contract. Something has to be done about this. This poor 85 year old man is not going to buy a computer and get $45 per month broadband to see his Mets. This is really going to fuck over our nations retired people who move to warmer climates. Bud Seelig is a real SOB for doing this.
Check out the article here: http://www.associatedcontent.com/...
For the last several years, 750,000 households around the country were in baseball heaven. Thanks to the Major League Baseball "Extra Innings Package," baseball fans could pretty much watch any game, anywhere. A Yankee's fan in California could catch every homerun from the comfort of his west coast home. For less than the cost of a family of four to enjoy one game from sitting in the stands, the "Extra Innings Package" pretty much gave subscribers every American League and National League game on a silver platter, complete with virtual stadium dog, cheesy fries and a beer. It was awesome and, truth be told, made shopping for Father's Day a breeze.
And look at this great alternative:
The only alternative that baseball fans have is the premium package available online at www.MLB.tv. For $19.95 a month or $119.95 annually, they can watch the whole season of baseball on their computers. This, of course, assumes that they have a high quality connection which would allow for a smooth feed during the game. Anything less than high speed means more time spent buffering than streaming, more paused screens and missed plays than anything else. Maybe fans could pull their pennies and get a discount on group therapy.
So, that means 6 months of high speed broadband at $45 per month, or $270. $120 for the ESPN package for a total of over $400 per year with tax. Then there is the cost of a computer with a good monitor, another $800, and the cost of someone to set it up and teach them how to use it, another $300. Let's not forget the bills to the psychiatrist when being on the computer drives them crazy.
Many of these people, who will lose their baseball, live in condos and co-ops and cannot get DirectTV setup as they aren't allowed to have satellite dishes or antennae.
How can we allow these old bastards like Steinbronner, Dolan of Cablevision and Bud Seelig of MLB, turn the tables on so many people. Congress gives Major League Baseball protection against anti-trust actions and then they go ahead and commit anti-trust actions. I would think this would piss off all the congressmen in Florida, North Carolina, Arizona and anywhere that has a large retirement population.
I hate this stuff!