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

Tobias Funke wrote:^^ TWC just did what most other corporations would do if they had the chance. Just look at DirecTV and Sunday Ticket up until recently. And really as much as its likely that they're setting the price way too high, providers looking to strike a deal may be low-balling intentionally as well, making it hard to compromise. We just dont know. This is all just business negotiations as realdeal said.

As for the Lakers org, they've shown time and time again that they'll write the big checks if they think the team can win a championship and this deal gives them more freedom to do so. Thats most important in my opinion.

OX1947 wrote:That's all you hear these days. "but you do not understand". Understand? What the hell don't we understand? There are 686,000 satellite users in LA, largest in the country for one area. So, now we have to hear how we don't "understand". As a matter of a fact, I understand very damn well. One thing I hate more then anything is when someone acts like they know what I am thinking. Someone "thinking" they know what best for you. That's why this country is in the toilet hole, because of crap like that.

OX1947 wrote:We all know what they are doing, they are trying to get people to move to their stupid worthless programming. Well guess what, a lot of us already did and they took a nice (bleep) on us. That's what this is ALL about.

OX1947 wrote:TWC can take their programming and stick it. I will never pay for their TV crap again. This is 2012, there are plenty of avenues to watch every single Laker game.

OX1947 wrote:I have no doubt the greedy (bleep) at TWC will have a deal before the regular season with with the main providers, but they could have had some really good PR by setting it up by tonight so we could see the first day tomorrow.

therealdeal wrote:Whoa whoa whoa you need to calm down towards me. I didn't do anything to you.

OX1947 wrote:That's all you hear these days. "but you do not understand". Understand? What the hell don't we understand? There are 686,000 satellite users in LA, largest in the country for one area. So, now we have to hear how we don't "understand". As a matter of a fact, I understand very damn well. One thing I hate more then anything is when someone acts like they know what I am thinking. Someone "thinking" they know what best for you. That's why this country is in the toilet hole, because of crap like that.

Great conversation for another place. But I'm not telling you what to do, so I don't know why you went off on that tangent here.

OX1947 wrote:We all know what they are doing, they are trying to get people to move to their stupid worthless programming. Well guess what, a lot of us already did and they took a nice (bleep) on us. That's what this is ALL about.

I'm sorry, but that's wrong. They're trying to get paid. Having people switch to their programming is certainly AMONG the things they want, but they know that's not exactly likely. How likely is it that most people leave those things that are comfortable for them and go do something else? Very unlikely. The majority of the money they're going to make from this is from advertising and from other providers PAYING for the channel to keep their customers. They aren't necessarily expecting many people to actually switch coverage. That's less likely than other carriers simply picking up the coverage.

OX1947 wrote:TWC can take their programming and stick it. I will never pay for their TV crap again. This is 2012, there are plenty of avenues to watch every single Laker game.

True, so why are you so upset? You can stream it, you can go to another place to watch it... I'm not sure why you're so angry honestly... I'd be more upset if I wasn't already a TWC customer, but I suppose I'm more understanding of the situation the Lakers (as in the Busses) are in. Look at it this way: if this wasn't happening, we wouldn't have the great team we have now. It's a process and you have to be patient with it man.

OX1947 wrote:I have no doubt the greedy (bleep) at TWC will have a deal before the regular season with with the main providers, but they could have had some really good PR by setting it up by tonight so we could see the first day tomorrow.

Well I'm not sure what makes them greedy unless it's greed to want to make the most money you can. Honestly, it's not their responsibility to get coverage to people who aren't on their service. That's DirecTV's responsibility. Or Cox's. Or Charter's. Time Warner did the best thing for their company and the rest of the providers need to come to an agreement. I'm not sure why you're coming down so hard on Time Warner when it's YOUR provider that hasn't come to an agreement.

OX1947 wrote:Greed is not about making money. Greed is having power over people who you know can not do anything about it. That is why America doesn't allow Monopoly's. Making money has nothing to do with this. This is Time Warner we are talking about. This company is as popular and sustainable as Apple, Disney, GE, etc. Maybe I let myself become an idealist too much. Maybe it would have been nice after all these years that TW has deprived their customers of normal accommodations to build some good PR and allow their exclusive product to be seen by those people who have helped build the Lakers. Maybe being a cynic is an easier life.

dmaul wrote:I'm caving in and getting Time Warner. I've never had cable before because I don't really watch tv but I was hoping the deal with Direct TV would have gotten done by now just because everyone says Direct TV is the better service, the better product, more reliable signal, etc. If I have to pay to watch my beloved Lakers now then why mess around and wait for all these providers to finish jerking each other around and the fans, potentially missing the beginning of the season.

I just need basic cable + this special channel. So I called today and it will cost $29.99 for basic service plus $8.00 for TWC SportsNet, for a total of $38/month. That's for the first 12 months. Who knows how much after that. They told me it usually wouldn't increase by more than $10/month. Maybe by then the mess will be sorted out and I can jump to someone else like Direct TV.

OX1947 wrote:

JGC wrote:

OX1947 wrote:No one gives a rat's (bleep) about the PAC-12 network. This is the Lakers we are talking about.

The PAC-12 network recently struck a deal with ESPN & Fox to the tune of $3 BILLION over 12 years (that's 25% MORE on a per year basis than the Lakers deal). And this is on top of the deals with the individual providers themselves such as Dish, Cox, TWC, etc. Their coverage is reported to be around 60 million! Anyone with knowledge of the situation could not possibly conclude that no one cares about the PAC-12 Network. It might have been more accurate to say everyone cares except DirecTV! Haha.

I can only presume that your comment was made without a proper understanding of the actual magnitude of the PAC-12 Network.

Either way, the point is, DirecTV is one of the only providers in the Southland that doesn't offer the PAC-12 Network, and its massive reach, to its customers. And so there is no guarantee they will offer TWCSportsNet either.

In fact, I'd be most concerned if I was a satellite subscriber (specifically Dish first, but then DirecTV next). If TWC offers TWCSportsNet to all of the other cable companies only then that would help them in the cable vs satellite battle. Bars and residences almost always have a cable option. Of course, in the end, it will come down to who is willing to pay, and DirecTV has shown already that they won't pay a price they aren't comfortable with, even if we really want them to and lots of bars have them.

I think you presume a little too much about people you do not know. I am in the business of common sense, not wishful thinking. I am not sitting in my house WISHING for anything. It is called common sense. I have been to at least 20 sports bars in Southern California, from Hooters, to Buffalo Wild Wings to rinky dink Joe Shmoe sport bar. Not ONE didn't have DirecTV. Not ONE. You may know some, I don't. They all have Directv. Bars care about Sunday Ticket, number 1, and then everything else 2nd. And if you think DirecTV isn't going to get it's share of the Lakers in LA or the Inland Empire, well, you may want to go look at supply and demand models and Economics 101 with an emphasis in supply and demand.

JGC wrote:

OX1947 wrote:

JGC wrote:

OX1947 wrote:No one gives a rat's (bleep) about the PAC-12 network. This is the Lakers we are talking about.

The PAC-12 network recently struck a deal with ESPN & Fox to the tune of $3 BILLION over 12 years (that's 25% MORE on a per year basis than the Lakers deal). And this is on top of the deals with the individual providers themselves such as Dish, Cox, TWC, etc. Their coverage is reported to be around 60 million! Anyone with knowledge of the situation could not possibly conclude that no one cares about the PAC-12 Network. It might have been more accurate to say everyone cares except DirecTV! Haha.

I can only presume that your comment was made without a proper understanding of the actual magnitude of the PAC-12 Network.

Either way, the point is, DirecTV is one of the only providers in the Southland that doesn't offer the PAC-12 Network, and its massive reach, to its customers. And so there is no guarantee they will offer TWCSportsNet either.

In fact, I'd be most concerned if I was a satellite subscriber (specifically Dish first, but then DirecTV next). If TWC offers TWCSportsNet to all of the other cable companies only then that would help them in the cable vs satellite battle. Bars and residences almost always have a cable option. Of course, in the end, it will come down to who is willing to pay, and DirecTV has shown already that they won't pay a price they aren't comfortable with, even if we really want them to and lots of bars have them.

I think you presume a little too much about people you do not know. I am in the business of common sense, not wishful thinking. I am not sitting in my house WISHING for anything. It is called common sense. I have been to at least 20 sports bars in Southern California, from Hooters, to Buffalo Wild Wings to rinky dink Joe Shmoe sport bar. Not ONE didn't have DirecTV. Not ONE. You may know some, I don't. They all have Directv. Bars care about Sunday Ticket, number 1, and then everything else 2nd. And if you think DirecTV isn't going to get it's share of the Lakers in LA or the Inland Empire, well, you may want to go look at supply and demand models and Economics 101 with an emphasis in supply and demand.

Actually, I think there is a good chance that every major provider will eventually be able to offer the Lakers. I think some providers have a greater chance than others however.

You're right that most of the sports bars have DirecTV. But a lot of them have a cable feed also. Given recent events, it is possible that DirectTV is one of the providers that doesn't strike a deal. If they can't get a deal on their terms, they have shown a willingness to walk away. (See Viacom/DirecTV dispute which is now resolved, and as I mentioned earlier Pac-12 Network, still unresolved).

This could also be a part of TWC's overall strategy to beat the satellite companies. TWC and Cox for instance don't really compete since there are very few markets where both are available. When a person signs up for Cox, they are usually not a lost opportunity for TWC, whereas every single DirecTV subscriber is a lost opportunity for TWC. I'd be willing to bet that a large number of Lakers fans would dump satellite for cable if that was the only way to get it.

So maybe they deal with the cable companies. If there's money to be made by broadcasting Lakers, Galaxy, Sparks and Pac-12 football & basketball games then surely these bars will sign up for cable (in some cases, in addition to a DirecTV feed for the Sunday Ticket). The point is, the fact that bars have DirecTV now, doesn't necessitate that TWC will offer TWCSportsNet to DirecTV like you assert.

Do you happen to have DirecTV by chance?

therealdeal wrote:

OX1947 wrote:Greed is not about making money. Greed is having power over people who you know can not do anything about it. That is why America doesn't allow Monopoly's. Making money has nothing to do with this. This is Time Warner we are talking about. This company is as popular and sustainable as Apple, Disney, GE, etc. Maybe I let myself become an idealist too much. Maybe it would have been nice after all these years that TW has deprived their customers of normal accommodations to build some good PR and allow their exclusive product to be seen by those people who have helped build the Lakers. Maybe being a cynic is an easier life.

Yes, they have the power, but that's not the point really. The point is that your provider needs to fork over the dough to make it happen. You're willing to pay 6-8 bucks right? Well it's up to your provider to settle on that because what they're trying to do is make it so you pay 2-3 bucks or so. It's their responsibility though to provide your service for you.

I think you're letting your previous interactions with TWC affect the way you're viewing this negotiation a little too much. Just my opinion. You're making it personal when it's all just business my friend.

Lakeshow75 wrote:For those of you with TWC, see you at 7pm tomorrow on channel 403!

LOS ANGELES -- A few months ago, Time Warner Cable Inc. was crying foul at the high price it had to pay to air Knicks and Rangers games in New York. Now, the shoe is on the other foot.

The nation's No. 4 TV distributor bought the regional TV rights for the Los Angeles Lakers and pro soccer's L.A. Galaxy last year for an estimated $3 billion over 20 years. It's launching two new channels based on those rights on Monday. To help pay for them, it is demanding payment from other TV distributors like Dish Network Corp. and DirecTV.

Time Warner Cable is asking as much as $3.95 per subscriber per month from competitors in the L.A. area, said a person familiar with the situation. The person requested anonymity because the negotiations are confidential and the details were not yet final.

That would make it the second most expensive regional sports network in the nation behind Comcast SportsNet Washington, which charges $4.02 per subscriber per month, according to research firm SNL Kagan.

It hasn't secured deals yet and likely won't until the regular season starts on Oct. 30.

"We think the price we're asking our distribution partners to pay is one of the better value propositions out there," said Mark Shuken, senior vice president for TWC Sports Regional Networks. Shuken declined to discuss the rates Time Warner is seeking.

Bob Toevs, a spokesman for Dish, confirmed that talks are ongoing, but said "it will have to be a good value for us and, most importantly, for our customers." DirecTV said in a statement that it is "very engaged" in talks to carry the channels, but said it has a responsibility to its customers to "avoid any extraordinary increases" in their monthly bills.

The main reason to buy the rights is to contain rising sports costs, Shuken said. It's better to be a rights buyer, he said, rather than to haggle with other channel operators and be subject to "big bumps" in prices every few years.

That makes sense, according to Tom Eagan, an analyst with Canaccord Genuity, who estimates the deal will be break-even or slightly positive in the end, but give the company more certainty about its future costs.

"I think we've all been consistently amazed by the increasing costs of sports," Eagan said. "I think Time Warner Cable feels there's some value to owning the rights and the actual channels as well."

Time Warner Cable will bear production costs and has spent money on a new studio in the suburb of El Segundo. It has hired familiar on-air talent like former Laker James Worthy and reporter Chris McGee, who worked the sideline for Fox Sports West, which carried most of the Lakers' home games for more than a decade before this deal.

Offsetting those costs, Time Warner Cable will gain revenue by selling commercial time and the channels -- Time Warner Cable Sportsnet and the Spanish-language Time Warner Cable Deportes -- to other TV providers.

It's not unusual for a TV distributor to get into the business of buying sports rights directly.

Comcast Corp., the nation's largest TV provider, operates 11 regional sports networks, including one in Houston that will be the exclusive home of the NBA's Houston Rockets and also launches Monday. SNL's Kagan said there are about 40 regional sports networks across the country. Many are owned by cable TV companies.

Assuming that deals are reached with all of its competitors, the new Lakers channels will be available to almost all of the 4.8 million people who already pay for TV in Los Angeles, including the 1.7 million who get service through Time Warner Cable.

But Los Angeles also has around 686,000 homes that get their TV signals for free via antenna, the highest number of any market in the nation, according to SNL data.

That means that fans who were used to watching Lakers' away games for free on KCAL 9, a CBS Corp. TV station, will now have to pay for TV from a provider that carries the channel. Either that or hit the local sports bar when the Lakers are out of town.

Tobias Funke wrote:^ How'd you watch games before without having cable?

purp n gold wrote:Time Warner is gonna drag this out until the regular season... try and convert as many subscribers as they can out of fear.

If not, the Lakers have like 30 games on national broadcast right?

dmaul wrote:

Tobias Funke wrote:^ How'd you watch games before without having cable?

I watched on KCAL and whatever games they broadcast on ABC. The home games I'd listen to on the radio, 710 AM. Made me sad when KCAL was gone.

JGC wrote:

OX1947 wrote:I have no doubt Directv will have it. I would guess 90% of all bars have Directv because of the Sunday Ticket. Those bars are not going to leave Sunday Ticket and southern cal can not have a bar without Laker games. My guess is TWC will be on Directv when it matters, when the regular season starts. And that is fine by me. This is 2012, any backstage show stuff TWC has in the mean time will get posted on youtube and torrents are available for preseason games.

Let me guess. You have DirecTV. Because the lack of doubt that DirecTV will have it sounds more like wishful thinking! Haha.

As a Cox subscriber though, if DirecTV is the only one other than TWC to get Lakers games, I would switch in a moment's notice.

But the bars argument, while a good one, is more hope than logical. I mean, Pac-12 Network is not on DirecTV and one would think So Cal could not have bars without USC and UCLA games right?

Bars will need to ramp up and offer multiple solutions (i.e. DirecTV and TWC) so they can offer their customers all of the available content.

dmaul wrote:I'm caving in and getting Time Warner. I've never had cable before because I don't really watch tv but I was hoping the deal with Direct TV would have gotten done by now just because everyone says Direct TV is the better service, the better product, more reliable signal, etc. If I have to pay to watch my beloved Lakers now then why mess around and wait for all these providers to finish jerking each other around and the fans, potentially missing the beginning of the season.

I just need basic cable + this special channel. So I called today and it will cost $29.99 for basic service plus $8.00 for TWC SportsNet, for a total of $38/month. That's for the first 12 months. Who knows how much after that. They told me it usually wouldn't increase by more than $10/month. Maybe by then the mess will be sorted out and I can jump to someone else like Direct TV.