TWC/Charter/Verizon/AT&T/Cox/DTV Ch. Guide (see 1st post)

Live Streaming of the game will be here.
http://www.thefirstrow.eu/sport/basketball.html

I wish someone would explain the logic of blackouts. I know I speak for more than myself when I say if league pass wasn't blacked out here, I would get it. Instead because it is blacked out they won't get my money. Advertisers won't get my attention because I can't watch the games. That just seems like they are missing out on a lot of money. It makes no sense to blackout the games like that. I can understand blacking out the local version if there is a national version. I sort of get blacking out local games when there are still plenty of seats available. But this is stupid. Laker games are always sold out. In my case I already have the NFL package on DirectTV so I can't just switch. So my money is not going to the NBA.

dphamous wrote:Live Streaming of the game will be here.
http://www.thefirstrow.eu/sport/basketball.html

Thanks man that's certainly better than nothing. Just hope it ain't choppy or laggy due to traffic.

nthydro wrote:

dphamous wrote:Live Streaming of the game will be here.
http://www.thefirstrow.eu/sport/basketball.html

Thanks man that's certainly better than nothing. Just hope it ain't choppy or laggy due to traffic.

Unfortunately it is what is it you know? Watching the Mavs game at the moment and the quality may not be the best but it'll do.

Apologies for posting a Bill Plaschke article. He's probably right in here that many fans won't even know until tonight they don't have the 1st pre-season game.



"Lakers games become can't-watch-TV

Time Warner Cable, the team's new $3-billion TV partner, hasn't been able to convince other providers to carry the games because of cost. It's another example of how ugly the sports TV business can be.

The Lakers -- including stars Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol -- are playing their first exhibition game Sunday, but they won't be seen by viewers whose providers don't carry Time Warner Cable's SportsNet or Deportes channels.

The Lakers' first exhibition game is on television Sunday night, but not on my television, and probably not on your television.

This is not rumor. This is not urban legend. This is not some glitch. This is real.

As of now, the majority of the games played this season by the new-look, buzz-soaring, championship-or-bust Lakers will not be seen in the majority of Los Angeles households.

Odds are, you didn't know this. Chances are, you wouldn't discover it until you turned on your TV to watch Steve Nash's Lakers debut against the Golden State Warriors in Fresno on Sunday at 7 p.m. Just a guess, but you're going to wear out your thumb trying to scroll to a channel that isn't there, and then yank at your roots trying to figure out how this could happen.

Welcome to just another chapter in the ugly world of sports television business. The rich team and rich broadcast partner battle with the rich TV provider over the possession of fans who are wailing from the basement with their heads covered and their hands bound.

The Lakers' new $3-billion TV partner, Time Warner Cable, has been unable to convince the area's other giant television providers to run their two channels — SportsNet and Spanish-language Deportes — at an industry-reasonable $3.95 per person. Those other providers include DirecTV, Charter, Dish, Cox, Verizon and AT&T's U-verse, all outfits who are holding out for a better deal while their viewers will be the ones who pay.

Some say the providers are afraid to pay a fee that might be doubled when the Dodgers show up at their door next year with their own new TV network. Other says they have been empowered by their success in saving money by not showing the Pac-12 Networks, as if college football is even in the same league here as the Lakers, which it's not.

Whatever, it's so nutty, as of now, even the Lakers can't watch the Lakers. The television provider for their El Segundo headquarters building is DirecTV.

Wait, it gets worse. When their executive vice president for business operations, Jeanie Buss, goes home, she still can't watch the Lakers, shut out by a deal she helped negotiate.

"I've been a DirecTV customer for years, so I understand what everyone is going through," Buss said. "The providers have to decide whether they want to take our channel, and it's the customers who have to be vocal in letting their provider know they want it."

She wants vocal? Consider this column my scream. I've also been a DirecTV customer for years. It was sold to me as the cornerstone for sports channels. Turning on DirecTV and not finding the Lakers is like walking into a yogurt shop to discover it only sells ice cream. For them to waste this much time haggling over the hottest sports property among their 1.7 million Los Angeles households is insulting.

Do I think a deal will get done in time for the first Lakers regular-season cable telecast Oct. 31? Yes. Absolutely. Even though their operators act like dolts when I call about a reception problem ("Sir, unplug your DVR and plug it back in. Do it again. Do it again. If it still doesn't work, please cut down all your trees."), DirecTV is not stupid, and they will add Time Warner Cable at the last minute and, the other carriers will fall in line.

But I will scream nonethless for fans unfairly caught in the middle of a business game of chicken that will at least cause them to miss three weeks of one of the team's most compelling exhibition seasons ever. Many of these fans have already logged on to http://www.iwantmylakers.com to voice their concern and figure out their options.

"Honestly, this is not uncommon, talks like these take a little bit of time," said cable-war veteran Mark Shuken, senior vice president and general manager of Time Warner Cable Sports regional networks. "What is uncommon is the interest, the chatter, the noise, the demand for the network. I've never seen anything like it before."

I don't blame the Lakers for working out the sort of TV deal that helps them pay great players like Dwight Howard. I don't blame Time Warner Cable for trying to recoup some of its huge investment. And, really, it's hard to blame the providers for trying to keep our rates low.

But if there's nobody to blame, then why do I want to blame everyone?

"The Lakers are important to L.A. fans, who can rest assured DirecTV is very engaged with Time Warner Cable on how to best make the new Time Warner Cable SportsNet available in all our local customers homes," promised Robert Mercer, DirecTV spokesman.

Yet, when the Lakers don't show up in those homes Sunday, it will be just another reminder of the insignificance of those fans to the barons who run the TV networks to which they are so addicted.

"When you love a sports team, having them on TV is like having them come to your house 100 nights a year, they're like family coming over to visit," said Julie Brennan, retired Laguna Woods businesswoman who has been vocally protesting this shutout. "And now they're not?"

In some corners, it's crazy enough that the Lakers television appearances are being peddled like street corner drugs. I was in a Best Buy store Saturday when a DirecTV salesman sidled up to me and asked if I was a DirecTV customer. I told him I was, and promptly complained about the Lakers.

"No problem," said the salesman, who gave me a brochure that listed his name as Brandon Downs. "Just call the DirecTV main number, starting in the middle of the month, if you pay $4 a month you can watch the Lakers, it's the only place outside of Time Warner that you can do it."

I couldn't believe I had not heard of this. I couldn't believe that Time Warner Cable would allow its product to be sold on a tier system. I called DirecTV about their salesman and his offer. Their spokesman said it was "silly" and completely false.

As one of millions of Southland sports fans held hostage by TV executives, I don't know what is real anymore. I only know that, to them, we aren't."


http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketbal ... 689.column

dphamous wrote:

nthydro wrote:

dphamous wrote:Live Streaming of the game will be here.
http://www.thefirstrow.eu/sport/basketball.html

Thanks man that's certainly better than nothing. Just hope it ain't choppy or laggy due to traffic.

Unfortunately it is what is it you know? Watching the Mavs game at the moment and the quality may not be the best but it'll do.

Yeah I know. Just sad cuz I'm spoiled by HD. Thanks for the link though!

nthydro wrote:

dphamous wrote:

nthydro wrote:

dphamous wrote:Live Streaming of the game will be here.
http://www.thefirstrow.eu/sport/basketball.html

Thanks man that's certainly better than nothing. Just hope it ain't choppy or laggy due to traffic.

Unfortunately it is what is it you know? Watching the Mavs game at the moment and the quality may not be the best but it'll do.

Yeah I know. Just sad cuz I'm spoiled by HD. Thanks for the link though!

Seriously! So used to watching my Laker games in HD on a 62 Inch, now I'm watching it online on a 13 inch MacBook! I just hope things will get better before season opener! And no problem at all!

JGC wrote:

cthroatgtr wrote:I wish someone would explain the logic of blackouts. I know I speak for more than myself when I say if league pass wasn't blacked out here, I would get it. Instead because it is blacked out they won't get my money. Advertisers won't get my attention because I can't watch the games. That just seems like they are missing out on a lot of money. It makes no sense to blackout the games like that. I can understand blacking out the local version if there is a national version. I sort of get blacking out local games when there are still plenty of seats available. But this is stupid. Laker games are always sold out. In my case I already have the NFL package on DirectTV so I can't just switch. So my money is not going to the NBA.

Blackouts essentially protect an investment. In this case, TWC is trying to protect their investment of the TWCSportsNet channel and the $4B they paid to broadcast Lakers games exclusively on that channel. They want to maximize distribution of the channel as much as possible to the other providers. To do that, they have to try to make Laker games unavailable anywhere but on the TWCSportsNet channel. This will maximize demand by customers for the TWCSportsNet channel and as a result, applies pressure on the other providers to pay for the ability to carry it and retain their customers.

That would make sense if their channel was available to all but in this case it is not. So their advertisers aren't reaching me because I can't watch it. I was willing to give the NBA money which would be watching the TWC broadcast and benefit their advertisers which is what is giving them money but instead I can't. So their advertisers are getting screwed. I am sure that some NBA League Pass money goes to TWC in this case so they are actually losing out on that money as well. So it is lose lose and they aren't protecting anything. In fact if the broadcast was available to me I wouldn't be considering league pass anyways. The original blackouts were to ensure people bought tickets first, which isn't an issue here. I would add that if the channel was available to all the blackout in league pass would provide no pressure to anyone and simply mean that the NBA and its benefactors receive not revenue from league pass for local viewers. Again no benefit.

Blackout rules are stupid and long past there time. It will do nothing but encourage people to find alternative (meaning illegal) means to watch. The internet let that cat out a long time ago.

can't help but to feel bad for all the loyal fans over the years who cannot afford cable and relied on watching away games on kcal...but this channel is amazing, I'm glad i switched to TWC before all this tv deal happened.

For those of you looking for somewhere to watch the games online, time warner cable sportsnet is streaming all the pre-season games live on their website:

http://www.twcsportsnet.com/sportsnet/live-tv.html

The catch is, you need to know someone whois a time warner cable customer that can give you a valid username and password to log on and watch. Just throwing this out there in case it helps someone out.

Lakeshow75 wrote:For those of you looking for somewhere to watch the games online, time warner cable sportsnet is streaming all the pre-season games live on their website:

http://www.twcsportsnet.com/sportsnet/live-tv.html

The catch is, you need to know someone whois a time warner cable customer that can give you a valid username and password to log on and watch. Just throwing this out there in case it helps someone out.

Issue: you need to be in a TWC area to access this

Defeats the purpose for me but hopefully many others will be able to access the livestream

Can someone who has Time Warner, just give us their username and password? I highly doubt that, but is their any username or password I can use for this!!! I can't take this anymore. The family is here in Hawai'i right now, all having a huge party with pizza and drinks, and we can't watch the game. So pissed right now!!!

Go here, you can watch it like you have Time Warner, got it from the streaming thread.

http://nbaliveonline.com/streaming/

This channel is constantly pixelating and breaking up. What's the point of putting on a new channel if it looks like crap?

Yeah the stream is working but it looks like crap(kinda like kcal )

I'll take what I can get. Very grateful.

I like how James Worthy still calls Pau PAUL KASOL and instead of length it's LEMMFF.

Doc Brown wrote:

Vito Andolini wrote:I like how James Worthy still calls Pau PAUL KASOL and instead of length it's LEMMFF.

You should have linked your "eso es grammatically incorrect" gif instead

Loving this new channel!

Vito Andolini wrote:I like how James Worthy still calls Pau PAUL KASOL and instead of length it's LEMMFF.

Must have attended same school as Charles Barkley.

easyguy wrote:Go here, you can watch it like you have Time Warner, got it from the streaming thread.

http://nbaliveonline.com/streaming/

Many thanks my friend. adthe and firstrow's links for this game are all down now.

atdhe.net is back up? i thought that site got taken down by the govt. I still get the message every time i check there.

Vito Andolini wrote:I like how James Worthy still calls Pau PAUL KASOL and instead of length it's LEMMFF.

I swear the other day he said something like "THANG" and quickly corrected himself. The suits are trying to keep the brothas down nahimsayin

Greatest of All Time wrote:

Vito Andolini wrote:I like how James Worthy still calls Pau PAUL KASOL and instead of length it's LEMMFF.

I swear the other day he said something like "THANG" and quickly corrected himself. The suits are trying to keep the brothas down nahimsayin

He's got too much funk in him to be held down. "Coach" Dave Miller on the other hand, has too much coffee or some ish. He's too happy and cheesy.