Dish Network vs. Fox Sports Midwest
October 16th, 2009 | by David Rogers |Dish Network vs. Fox Sports Midwest
Did you see the Blues game last night? If you have Dish Network you probably didn’t. As if the whole DirecTV / Versus controversy wasn’t enough, news broke yesterday that Dish Network was refusing to air 35 (34 following the “blackout” last night – schedule below) games on the 74 game Fox Sports Midwest (FSMW) schedule. What follows is a look into the situation as well as a breakdown of who really is to blame here and who Blues fans should be angry with.
**Please also read the latest addition to this saga, a revisited look at some of the events and some other thoughts on this ordeal. This more recent story can be found here.**
Well that certainly was a surprise. News broke via various Blues sources on Twitter that Dish Network customers would be out of luck tonight if they hoped to watch the Blues take on Phoenix. What? That came out of no where. The news was almost as surprising as the whole balloon boy saga that took place earlier yesterday afternoon (which by the way, who else thought it was obvious the kid was chillin’ at home?).
Here are the facts. Fox Sports Midwest has 70 remaining Blues game on their schedule. 34 of these will not be seen if you subscribe to Dish Network. Last season FSMW televised 51 games, but raised the number to 74 following the removal of any Blues coverage from the local station KPLR. With the bump up to 74 games, FSMW decided to increase the rate for carrying the channel. Charter, AT&T and Direct all came to an agreement while Dish currently has not, leaving many Blues fans in the dark. Mediacom, a small provider which services southwest Missouri and parts of Illinois, finds itself in the same boat as Dish Network and will face the blackouts as well.
Dish Network said the price was too steep. The Blues themselves said the matter is out of their hands.
Who is to blame and who should we be mad at? A lot of talk I have heard is pointing the angry finger at Dish, but the truth appears to be cleverly hidden by those at FSMW. Take last night for instance. Roughly 10 minutes of the game was shown before being cut to other FSMW programming as a banner ran on the screen informing people they should call Dish and complain.
And there is the smoking gun. Clearly the main culprit here is FSMW who wants more money. If this truly was a Dish problem, no programming would have ran on the channel and we would have seen a blank signal last night. Instead, we see other FSMW programming that FSMW elected to run rather than the game. Dish states they are just using the feed FSMW gives them. FSMW cleverly ran a few moments of the game before yanking the signal away in order to make Dish appear to be the enemy when in truth FSMW could have shown the game but chose not to.
An e-mail from FSMW pins the blame on Dish, saying that it was Dish that elected not to show the game last night and that FSMW is offering the games, while in fact it was them who pulled the plug.
Looks like a lot of word games and a lot of misinformation here, which is a shame since it poorly reflects the club/organization who have no leverage or say in the matter.
One of the most irritating aspects of this story is that no word of it was mentioned until literally a couple hours before the game was set to drop the puck. Then a quick campaign from FSMW of “Call Dish – they are the only people to blame” ensued. How did word of this not get out sooner that the two sides were miles away from a deal? Why are people thinking this is only Dish’s fault, when they are streaming the feed that FSMW controls which means the game was pulled not by Dish, but by your friendly FSMW executives.
34 more games is an enormous amount. People will not tolerate it, and judging by some user feedback, people have already threatened ending their service with Dish.
Until this whole disagreement comes to a conclusion (if it does), Blues fans with Dish around the local area are forced to either 1) bug their friends who are not Dish subscribers to let them come over or 2) stream the game from their computer.
As many have said, this is another hit to a game that already is struggling to gain ground on the other major sports, and is the last thing that should be happening at this time. Greed might well be killing off some of the major strides hockey has taken specifically in the St. Louis market.
Has this problem had an impact on you? Sound off in the comments.
List of games that might be blacked out:
Thursday Oct. 15 at Phoenix 9 p.m. FSMW HD
Friday Oct. 23 Minnesota 7 p.m. FSMW HD
Wednesday Oct. 28 at Carolina 6 p.m. FSMW
Thursday Oct. 29 Phoenix 7 p.m. FSMW HD
Thursday Nov. 5 Calgary 7:30 p.m. FSMW HD
Sunday Nov. 8 at Atlanta 4 p.m. FSMW
Thursday Nov. 12 Nashville 7 p.m. FSMW HD
Monday Nov. 23 Boston 7 p.m. FSMW HD
Saturday Nov. 28 Detroit 7 p.m. FSMW HD
Monday Nov. 30 at Columbus 6 p.m. FSMW
Monday Dec. 7 Colorado 7 p.m. FSMW HD
Wednesday Dec. 9 at Detroit 6:30 p.m. FSMW HD
Friday Dec. 11 Edmonton 7 p.m. FSMW HD
Friday Dec. 18 Tampa Bay 7 p.m. FSMW HD
Saturday Dec. 26 at Minnesota 7 p.m. FSMW HD
Sunday Dec. 27 Buffalo 5 p.m. FSMW HD
Tuesday Dec. 29 Nashville 7 p.m. FSMW HD
Saturday Jan. 2 Chicago 7 p.m. FSMW HD
Tuesday Jan. 12 Columbus 7 p.m. FSMW HD
Saturday Jan. 16 NY Rangers 7 p.m. FSMW HD
Wednesday Jan. 20 at Montreal 6:30 p.m. FSMW
Monday Jan. 25 at Calgary 8:30 p.m. FSMW
Wednesday Jan. 27 at Vancouver 9 p.m. FSMW
Wednesday Feb. 3 at Chicago 7:30 p.m. FSMW
Thursday Feb. 4 San Jose 7 p.m. FSMW HD
Friday Feb. 12 Toronto 7 p.m. FSMW HD
Saturday Feb. 13 Washington 7 p.m. FSMW HD
Tuesday Mar. 2 at Phoenix 8 p.m. FSMW HD
Thursday Mar. 11 at NY Islanders 6 p.m. FSMW
Thursday Mar. 18 at NY Rangers 6 p.m. FSMW
Saturday Mar. 20 at New Jersey 6 p.m. FSMW
Wednesday Mar. 24 at Detroit 6:30 p.m. FSMW HD
Thursday Mar. 25 Los Angeles 7 p.m. FSMW HD
Saturday Apr. 3 Dallas 7 p.m. FSMW HD
Wednesday Apr. 7 at Chicago 7:30 p.m. FSMW
By Fivehole on Oct 16, 2009
Good post. So far Mediacom in Springfield has only shown one of the four Blues games on FSMW, choosing to run Texas Tech football 2 Saturdays in a row and then a “Best damn sport show” countdown last night. I wonder if it is the same situation Dish Network has decided to pursue.
Considering I upped my service with Mediacom from a basic package to a digital pretty much exclusively to watch Blues games on FSMW, this is very disappointing.
By TJ on Oct 17, 2009
This same thing is happening in the Dallas area with the Stars games.
By Matt Reitz on Oct 19, 2009
Great post breaking it down for all of us that had no idea what was going on… This can’t be a trend that the NHL wants to have to continually deal with…
There was one thing in particular that you said that got my attention:
“People will not tolerate it, and judging by some user feedback, people have already threatened ending their service with Dish.”
I really, really hope you’re right– but I fear that you’re not. Even if the entire St Louis Blues fanbase threatened Dish Network that they were going to switch, it still wouldn’t compare with the people that have threatened DirecTV with the Versus debacle. We’re 3 weeks into the season and there’s no end in sight!
In fact, since the emotion of the opening weekend has passed, it seems like people have just moved on and accepted it. DirecTV doesn’t seem to give a damn, no matter how many freebies they’ve had to give away as a result. Comcast doesn’t give a damn– they were publicizing how they had their best opening night ratings ever WITHOUT DirecTV.
For every Blues fan… I hope the Dish Network/FSMW situation gets resolved sooner rather than later. Its a shame that a team with such potential wouldn’t be seen by everyone in St Louis.
By Craig Miller on Oct 21, 2009
In Dallas, I live in an apartment complex that only supports Dish Network. They have a main set of Dish Network dishes that are wired to all the units and is the only choice. I would change carriers but would have to move. I am hosed.
By Chris on Oct 28, 2009
I called Dish Network and complained, for me being a Blues Fan its not an even trade but and FYI to everyone with Dish I am now receiving a $10 credit for the next six months off my service. I would suggest evryone call and complain and get your credit maybe it will hurry along their negotiations
By Disgruntled STL on Dec 31, 2009
What a croc…Dish shows the game in the guide but then shows it as blacked out.
FSN is to blame. Their advertisers should complain, I’m sure they are paying rates that reflect all 74 games are on Dish. FSN could demand more from advertisers not Dish subscribers.
By tim on Jan 16, 2010
f*** off dish network i hate u
By Wayne S. on Jan 16, 2010
Stop the crap. Turn on the games and get over it! I want to talk to some one in charge! Stop using me as a pawn. I don’t like it. I wpont put up with it. Good-by dish.
By jrhine on Feb 13, 2010
Bottom line . . . Direct showed it . . . Charter showed it . . . Dish did not . . . DISH’s FAULT!