MLB.TV suit settled

[Frayed Knot]

About a week before a trial was scheduled to begin, Major League Baseball, Comcast and DirectTV agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of fans who alleged the parties violated federal antitrust law by using blackouts to limit out-of-market broadcasts of games.
In essense, the suit claimed fans were forced to buy the entire MLB.tv package rather than spend less to buy just the team they wanted to see.

The suit was filed in 2012 and challenged MLB’s system for granting exclusive broadcast rights to regional networks and barring teams from broadcasting or streaming games outside their home territories.
According to the plaintiffs’ attorney, Jeffrey Dubner of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, MLB will now offer MLB.tv’s full package at $109.99—a 35-percent discount—and single-team options for $84.99.
In a statement, Dubner said the agreement now calls for MLB.tv to be the “least-expensive, full-season package offering among all professional sports leagues in the United States.”

[Ceetar]

figured that would happen, blackouts remain. bleh.

[Frayed Knot]

I'm not sure I understand why Comcast and DirecTV were involved in this suit.
I assumed MLB.TV was something one purchased directly from MLB - as opposed to the 'Extra Innings' package which is something that goes through your local cable/content provider.

[Ceetar]

Frayed Knot wrote: I'm not sure I understand why Comcast and DirecTV were involved in this suit. I assumed MLB.TV was something one purchased directly from MLB - as opposed to the 'Extra Innings' package which is something that goes through your local cable/content provider.

Because certain Networks were named in the suit, like YES, which one of them (Comcast I guess?) owns part of.


Which of course is the problem. The Cable companies owning the actual stations. Otherwise we could all happily say "screw you Verizon" and SNY could agree with MLB.TV to broadcast locally and just be done with it. We'd still get all the SNY tv ads locally, so they wouldn't care. It's only the middlemen that care.

[Benjamin Grimm]

In 2015, at least, MLB.TV came free to anyone who subscribed to Extra Innings.

[Guest cooby classic]

Blackouts remain?

[Frayed Knot]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: In 2015, at least, MLB.TV came free to anyone who subscribed to Extra Innings.

Right, but not the other way around.
MLB.TV is something that comes directly from MLB as opposed to Extra Innings which you purchase from your cable provider who has made an agreement with MLB to carry it.
The advantage to MLB.TV has been that it's cheaper, and now, as the result of this suit, it will be even more so plus give you the even cheaper option of only buying your team's games as opposed to the entire package just to get the one team.

The downside, of course, is that it's through the computer and whatever problems that entails.

[Edgy MD]

Frayed Knot wrote: I'm not sure I understand why Comcast and DirecTV were involved in this suit.

I assume because sweetheart deals made with these guys are part of what locks the fans out of games the games they want to see.

[Guest cooby classic]

Which makes sooooo much sense, since rural fans like me can't watch our favorite team and are drawn to the ones that broadcast in our area (Pittsburgh, a very watchable and rootforable team, in my case)

[Zvon]

Frayed Knot wrote: MLB will now offer MLB.tv’s full package at $109.99—a 35-percent discount—and single-team options for $84.99.

Have they always had team packages? Oy! I've been using MLBtv for years, never heard of that. I imagine they would rather I didn't know. The full package is still worth it, the best deal in town. These days you can pump it to your TV if you want.

[Ceetar]

Zvon wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: MLB will now offer MLB.tv’s full package at $109.99—a 35-percent discount—and single-team options for $84.99. Have they always had team packages? Oy! I've been using MLBtv for years, never heard of that. I imagine they would rather I didn't know. The full package is still worth it, the best deal in town. These days you can pump it to your TV if you want.

no, the team packages is part of the settlement.

[Frayed Knot]

Ceetar wrote: Zvon wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: MLB will now offer MLB.tv’s full package at $109.99—a 35-percent discount—and single-team options for $84.99. Have they always had team packages? Oy! I've been using MLBtv for years, never heard of that. I imagine they would rather I didn't know. The full package is still worth it, the best deal in town. These days you can pump it to your TV if you want. no, the team packages is part of the settlement.

Right. The suit was brought to stop the practice of having to buy all just to get the one you really want.

[Zvon]

Frayed Knot wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: MLB will now offer MLB.tv’s full package at $109.99—a 35-percent discount—and single-team options for $84.99. Have they always had team packages? Oy! I've been using MLBtv for years, never heard of that. I imagine they would rather I didn't know. The full package is still worth it, the best deal in town. These days you can pump it to your TV if you want. no, the team packages is part of the settlement. Right. The suit was brought to stop the practice of having to buy all just to get the one you really want.

Kool beans. I wonder if they will still allow you to go thru the teams archived games and replay 'em.

[Frayed Knot]

Zvon wrote: I wonder if they will still allow you to go thru the teams archived games and replay 'em.

So for those of you who have used this regularly before, how did it work?
And by that I mean both how was the quality/reliability and so on, but also how did it physically work?

IOW:
- do you have to watch a game live in real time or can you pick it up partway through but still watch from the beginning, or freeze it for a bit then pick it up again, etc.?
- are you restricted to just computer (or tablet/phone) viewing or can it be routed through to either a 'smart' TV or to a 'dumb' one via a Roku or some such device?

[Zvon]

I was just sent a copy of the settlement. This is all good. Price relief, increased availability, single team packages and this:

Follow Your Team: MLB will allow all MLB.TV purchasers who subscribe to Comcast, DIRECTV, or certain other cable, satellite or other providers to purchase a "Follow Your Team" option that will allow them to receive telecasts of their favorite out-of-market team's broadcaster without any blackouts-even when it is playing an in-market team, so long as the purchaser receives the in-market team's programming through his or her television service. This product will cost no more than $10 more than a standard MLB.TV package, which will raise the overall price of the MLB.TV package to $119.99 for a full season in 2016 for consumers selecting this enhancement.

I think that means I'd need to have SNY to qualify. I'm only supposed to get bumped by the Phils and I do get a lot of their games thru Comcast, including all the times they play the Mets. They've been much better than when I first subscribed (used to black me out for Pitts,Balt,Wash,&Philly). As long as they only block the Phils I'm good.

The most important thing to me, aside from the live games is the archive. I have to take a look at the World Series games again to make the cards for those games. It's invaluable to be able to get to any Mets game from over the last...I don't know how many yrs.
I re- watched Santana's no-no last season for the fun of it.

[Guest El Segundo Escupidor]

Frayed Knot wrote: I wonder if they will still allow you to go thru the teams archived games and replay 'em. So for those of you who have used this regularly before, how did it work? And by that I mean both how was the quality/reliability and so on, but also how did it physically work? IOW: - do you have to watch a game live in real time or can you pick it up partway through but still watch from the beginning, or freeze it for a bit then pick it up again, etc.? - are you restricted to just computer (or tablet/phone) viewing or can it be routed through to either a 'smart' TV or to a 'dumb' one via a Roku or some such device?

Quality is great. Even many miles away.

You can pick it up partway through, you can pause, and it pick it up later. If you tune in a short time after the conclusion of the game, you have to wait a bit (usually an hour or so) while the game gets archived.

List of supported devices:
Xbox 360 / Xbox One
Playstation 3 / Playstation 4
Apple TV
WD TV
Roku
Panasonic
Samsung
LG
Sony Blu-Ray
Windows 8
TiVo
Amazon Fire TV

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/subscriptions/index.jsp?&affiliateId=MLBTVREDIRECT#connected-devices

[Frayed Knot]

I was just sent a copy of the settlement. This is all good. Price relief, increased availability, single team packages and this: Follow Your Team: MLB will allow all MLB.TV purchasers who subscribe to Comcast, DIRECTV, or certain other cable, satellite or other providers to purchase a "Follow Your Team" option that will allow them to receive telecasts of their favorite out-of-market team's broadcaster without any blackouts-even when it is playing an in-market team, so long as the purchaser receives the in-market team's programming through his or her television service. This product will cost no more than $10 more than a standard MLB.TV package, which will raise the overall price of the MLB.TV package to $119.99 for a full season in 2016 for consumers selecting this enhancement. I think that means I'd need to have SNY to qualify. I'm only supposed to get bumped by the Phils and I do get a lot of their games thru Comcast, including all the times they play the Mets. They've been much better than when I first subscribed (used to black me out for Pitts,Balt,Wash,&Philly). As long as they only block the Phils I'm good.

I believe it means that those paying the extra $10 for the privilege of naming your favorite team will get ALL the games for that team even those against a local team that would normally be blocked out via MLB.TV as long as you also receive the channel which carries that local team. In your case, as long as you get the channel that the Phils games appears on [Comcast Sports Network, right?] then your NYM games will not be blocked even when playing the Phils.

IOW, the idea behind this whole thing (I assume) is that the blackouts were specifically designed to assure the local team that customers wouldn't be canceling their service in favor of out of town games. As long as you're getting the Philly channel anyway it doesn't hurt them that you're also getting your Met games via other means.

[bmfc1]

I thinks that is exactly what it means. So for the mere cost of $10, I won't have to suffer through the Nationals broadcasters.

[Fman99]

Frayed Knot wrote: I believe it means that those paying the extra $10 for the privilege of naming your favorite team will get ALL the games for that team even those against a local team that would normally be blocked out via MLB.TV as long as you also receive the channel which carries that local team. In your case, as long as you get the channel that the Phils games appears on [Comcast Sports Network, right?] then your NYM games will not be blocked even when playing the Phils. IOW, the idea behind this whole thing (I assume) is that the blackouts were specifically designed to assure the local team that customers wouldn't be canceling their service in favor of out of town games. As long as you're getting the Philly channel anyway it doesn't hurt them that you're also getting your Met games via other means.

I wonder how this affects me, though, as I get SNY but not WPIX. I did end up subscribing to a DNS anonymizing service, which allows me to evade blackout restrictions of any kind due to an inability to hone in on my location. That worked for 2015, anyway.

[Zvon]

I was just sent a copy of the settlement. This is all good. Price relief, increased availability, single team packages and this: Follow Your Team: MLB will allow all MLB.TV purchasers who subscribe to Comcast, DIRECTV, or certain other cable, satellite or other providers to purchase a "Follow Your Team" option that will allow them to receive telecasts of their favorite out-of-market team's broadcaster without any blackouts-even when it is playing an in-market team, so long as the purchaser receives the in-market team's programming through his or her television service. This product will cost no more than $10 more than a standard MLB.TV package, which will raise the overall price of the MLB.TV package to $119.99 for a full season in 2016 for consumers selecting this enhancement. I think that means I'd need to have SNY to qualify. I'm only supposed to get bumped by the Phils and I do get a lot of their games thru Comcast, including all the times they play the Mets. They've been much better than when I first subscribed (used to black me out for Pitts,Balt,Wash,&Philly). As long as they only block the Phils I'm good. I believe it means that those paying the extra $10 for the privilege of naming your favorite team will get ALL the games for that team even those against a local team that would normally be blocked out via MLB.TV as long as you also receive the channel which carries that local team. In your case, as long as you get the channel that the Phils games appears on [Comcast Sports Network, right?] then your NYM games will not be blocked even when playing the Phils. IOW, the idea behind this whole thing (I assume) is that the blackouts were specifically designed to assure the local team that customers wouldn't be canceling their service in favor of out of town games. As long as you're getting the Philly channel anyway it doesn't hurt them that you're also getting your Met games via other means.

Thank you FK. Yea, I get the Phils thru Comcast. I read it but you guyz know how easily confused I am.

I wonder if they will still allow you to go thru the teams archived games and replay 'em. So for those of you who have used this regularly before, how did it work? And by that I mean both how was the quality/reliability and so on, but also how did it physically work? IOW: - do you have to watch a game live in real time or can you pick it up partway through but still watch from the beginning, or freeze it for a bit then pick it up again, etc.? - are you restricted to just computer (or tablet/phone) viewing or can it be routed through to either a 'smart' TV or to a 'dumb' one via a Roku or some such device? Quality is great. Even many miles away. You can pick it up partway through, you can pause, and it pick it up later. If you tune in a short time after the conclusion of the game, you have to wait a bit (usually an hour or so) while the game gets archived. List of supported devices: Xbox 360 / Xbox One Playstation 3 / Playstation 4 Apple TV WD TV Roku Panasonic Samsung LG Sony Blu-Ray Windows 8 TiVo Amazon Fire TV http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/subscriptions/index.jsp?&affiliateId=MLBTVREDIRECT#connected-devices

It's very easy to access games of the past. You just use a season schedule calendar that drops down and go to the year and day. And yea, you can treat it like any HD video you would view. Freeze frame, jump innings, full screen or small box. Commercial time is usually just dead space on the real old games. If you pause for a real extended period of time I think it eventually pulls you out of the game to the post game screen, which is no biggy. You can just jump back to where you were.

I only watch em on the computer but as El Segundo Escupidor said, there are many other ways to go.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: In 2015, at least, MLB.TV came free to anyone who subscribed to Extra Innings.

I had my Extra Innings turned on today and the rep told me this
was the case. Now I'm just trying to figure how to use it.

I feel like a dinosaur sometimes these days.

[Lefty Specialist]

FREE MLB.TV if you're a T-Mobile subscriber. My wife has a tablet on T-Mobile and we can get all out of market games. You have to sign up by 4/10. Amazing but true.

http://9to5mac.com/2016/04/03/how-to-free-year-mlb-tv-premium-live/

[Guest d'Kong76]

Does anyone watch MLB.TV on an Android tablet? I got a message
saying it wasn't supported or something. Maybe there's an app I need
to get?

[Benjamin Grimm]

I can watch it on an Android phone. Install the MLB AtBat app.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Thanks, will do. I was trying using Chrome and there's that Flash conflict.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Install the MLB AtBat app.

Works perfect, scary how nice the picture is.