It's grassroots campaign time. There are WAY too many people spending their hard-earned money on Dish Network subscriptions, only to find that they can't watch their local sports team! Dish claims they follow Major League Baseball policy, yet that is clearly wrong when you enter your Zip Code on MLB.com and find the teams that you are entitled to watch in your area.
Before I go any further, I would like to point out that the reason for this blog is to bring attention to an online petition. I invite Customers that get blacked-out unjustly to sign it. The petition will ultimately be sent to Dish Network (EchoStar), but will be CC'd to ALL television providers (Cable and Satellite). Others copied on the petition will be: Major League Baseball (Corporate, Bud Selig), all of the Regional Sports networks, as well as the FCC and U.S. House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet.
The Petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/dishblk1/petition.html
I have spent hours on the phone with Dish. I hesitate singling them out like this, because I've had similar problems with DirecTV in the past. However, Dish is what I have now, and it's what I hear the most complaints about. Dish always says that blackouts are beyond their control, and that it's up to the provider. So why were Comcast customers in my town receiving the Sox game yesterday, if it was blacked out to me on Dish? Is Comcast breaking MLB policy? If so, wouldn't it be in Dish's best interests to sue them?
For the record, my Zip Code is in Connecticut, and should entitle me to Red Sox, Yankees, and Mets games...yet I get blacked out on all. (Dish doesn't carry YES Network, so it's a moot point on the Yanks). But I am a Sox fan that has lived in this same town with Comcast, and never once was I blacked out for any games besides ESPN Sunday Night Baseball, and Saturday afternoon FOX games.
** UPDATE** I had reached out to the Red Sox and NESN for assistance with this. My contact at NESN says I absolutely should be receiving the games, and they're pissed if MORE of their subscribers are having the same problem. He is contacting Dish to try and straighten things out.
I urge everyone to try calling your Regional Sports Network. Emailing seems to go into a general Inbox that might be read by an intern. I got a response to my call less than 2 hours later.
Hopefully this does the trick for me, but I'm still concerned about others "getting the shaft" from Dish. Please post comments here and sign the petition. In the petition, you should probably comment on what teams you're supposed to receive, and in what area...that might help us when we present the signatures.
Mike
Feel free to email me at: mikespublicemail AT gmail . com
No comments:
Post a Comment