Are going to face a reckoning. This isn't a negotiating ploy, it's the reality, that people don't want to pay for shitty sports they don't want to watch, just for the privilege of having access to regular cable. We have hit the breaking point in the past few months.
These RSNs have over promised, and the sustainability of bilking customers who never turn their channel on, has finally come to a head.
I cheer this with every fiber of my being.
And as a Chicago resident with Comcast, I continue to hope they tell Marquee to go F themselves, because I won't watch that channel, ever, because I'm not a Cubs fan. The fact that people expect me to pay for it just because I live in Chicago, to make it cheaper for other people, is some major major bullshit. You want to watch Marquee. Fine by me. Pay for it yourself, don't expect me to subsidize it for you just because we live in the same town.
It was from Matt Sarzyniak, I believe (@mattsarz), who does a good job aggregating network selections for college sports.
Anyway, he pointed out that YTTV is a presenting sponsor for both the World Series and the NBA Finals (I think they may have had a Super Bowl presence as well), and yet they're now cutting off access to over half the teams in MLB and NBA.
I am personally unaffected - I live in Michigan and have no particular need to watch any Detroit teams - but it's a tough spot for those that are affected.
Should simply pay for the service they want, and not expect their neighbors to subsidize it for them.
The whole model is bullshit.
I'm loving the Comcast/Marquee throw down. Marquee needs to realize that half the city doesn't give two shits about the Cubs, and if they only way to make the model work is to have us subsidize the cost, it's not Comcast's fault, it's the Cubs and Marquee's dogshit model.
If Cub fans want Marquee. Make it ala cart, and pay the real cost. Sorry that will probably cost the Cubs/Marquee a couple hundred million a year, but I don't think it's absurd for Comcast to push back against forcing their non Cub fan customers to subsidize Cubs TV for the Cubs fans that live here.
I think it's a bluff. If it happens, I'll drop YTTV.
Especially since today was my billing day so I am stuck with another month regardless. I've subscribed for a few months after some strong recommendations here, and I'm happy with it, but I've been eyeing other options because of the Marquee Network issue. I hope the authors are correct that it's a negotiating tactic.
I can live without the Pacers, but my kids are going to complain. The Cubs are another story, though.
I think the Cubs are surprised no provider wants to pay them. They keep talking about how the Dodgers and Yankees did this 20 years ago. Ummm, yeah. They got in when the gettin' was good. The Cubs missed the bus.
Whoever did their numbers should be fired. This tide has been coming for some time.
That they overpromised revenue based on bilking non Cub fans for carriage fees isn't the fault of the providers.
I appreciate the threats of, no provider wants to not have the Cubs eminating from the Marquee side. I think the providers have looked at the numbers and said, we have enough people that don't want to hand you $5 a month for no reason whatsoever, so we'll take our chances.
PS - for any butthurt Cubs fans, just pay for MLB.TV and a VPN that masks your location. You can watch the Cubs as much as you want, whenever and wherever you want. Moreover, we don't have to pay for it for you, you can pay for it yourself.
without local Fox Sports. If they don't get that straightened out, I will find something else, though I doubt I'd still be able to get my grandfathered rate of the DirecTV Now (AT&T Now) package I just gave up.