What's the dish? No KJZZ on DirecTV
If you're a sports fan, I've never understood why you wouldn't have DirecTV. It's the exclusive home of the NFL Sunday Ticket package. It's also aired NFL Network from the very beginning, unlike a lot of cable providers around the country.
With DirecTV, you could watch the Big Ten Network and the YES Network from the day they launched, something cable providers in Chicago and New York couldn't even deliver. But the Jazz and DirecTV apparently are agreeing to disagree right now.
The Jazz sent out a news release this afternoon announcing that DirecTV and KJZZ have suspended their broadcasting agreement effective Jan. 1. KJZZ - - a broadcast channel - - wants DirecTV to pay a programming fee, which DirecTV has balked at.
If you're keeping score with your remote control, you'll be gaining the MLB Network (Channel 213) on DirecTV tomorrow and losing KJZZ.
The Jazz are encouraging DirecTV subscribers to voice their complaints at 1-800-531-5000. In the interest of fairness, I'm also going to provide the Jazz's number (801-325-2500) if those complaints want to be voiced in the opposite direction.
Having waited more than a year after moving to Utah for DirecTV to add the mtn. network, I wonder if we aren't headed for another standoff.
Although KJZZ does televise Jazz games, the channel is home to only 16 games this season. The other 66 are on FSN Utah. If you're a DirecTV subscriber, you won't be able to watch three of the next 15 games if the impasse lasts through January.
Here's the kicker: Those three games on KJZZ also are home games. KJZZ won't air a Jazz road game until March 25. There's always the option of buying a ticket if there's a game you're desperate to see but can't right now.
I question how much leverage KJZZ has in arguing for a national carrier like DirecTV to pay a programming fee. It's not a network affiliate and it's not in a top 30 national market. Its best bargaining chip is the Jazz, yet it's not even home to a fifth of the team's games.
Given the current economy, it seems a little ridiculous of the Jazz to ask their fans to pay higher satellite bills - - which is where the programming fee will be passed along - - to watch a broadcast network they could get for free with a pair of rabbit ears.
The mtn. tried to sell DirecTV on giving a national platform to a channel devoted to Mountain West Conference sports. We all saw - - or didn't see, more accurately - - how that turned out for more than a year.
All I can say is stay tuned.
--Ross Siler
With DirecTV, you could watch the Big Ten Network and the YES Network from the day they launched, something cable providers in Chicago and New York couldn't even deliver. But the Jazz and DirecTV apparently are agreeing to disagree right now.
The Jazz sent out a news release this afternoon announcing that DirecTV and KJZZ have suspended their broadcasting agreement effective Jan. 1. KJZZ - - a broadcast channel - - wants DirecTV to pay a programming fee, which DirecTV has balked at.
If you're keeping score with your remote control, you'll be gaining the MLB Network (Channel 213) on DirecTV tomorrow and losing KJZZ.
The Jazz are encouraging DirecTV subscribers to voice their complaints at 1-800-531-5000. In the interest of fairness, I'm also going to provide the Jazz's number (801-325-2500) if those complaints want to be voiced in the opposite direction.
Having waited more than a year after moving to Utah for DirecTV to add the mtn. network, I wonder if we aren't headed for another standoff.
Although KJZZ does televise Jazz games, the channel is home to only 16 games this season. The other 66 are on FSN Utah. If you're a DirecTV subscriber, you won't be able to watch three of the next 15 games if the impasse lasts through January.
Here's the kicker: Those three games on KJZZ also are home games. KJZZ won't air a Jazz road game until March 25. There's always the option of buying a ticket if there's a game you're desperate to see but can't right now.
I question how much leverage KJZZ has in arguing for a national carrier like DirecTV to pay a programming fee. It's not a network affiliate and it's not in a top 30 national market. Its best bargaining chip is the Jazz, yet it's not even home to a fifth of the team's games.
Given the current economy, it seems a little ridiculous of the Jazz to ask their fans to pay higher satellite bills - - which is where the programming fee will be passed along - - to watch a broadcast network they could get for free with a pair of rabbit ears.
The mtn. tried to sell DirecTV on giving a national platform to a channel devoted to Mountain West Conference sports. We all saw - - or didn't see, more accurately - - how that turned out for more than a year.
All I can say is stay tuned.
--Ross Siler
3:57 PM
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1 Comments:
The worst part of this is that it won't be fully resolved for the average jazz fan until all of the games are moved to FSN Utah. KJZZ, with the currtent programming linup and the limited number of games, doesn't hold enough chips at the table. And my gut tells me that there won't be enough vocal power from the average Jazz fan to change anything. Too many local fans have too many choices for TV service to just wait around for a provider to change. This is different than the mtn., in that the Ute and Coug fans are absoulutely die-hard fans, and the most vocal fans you may ever find. Who this really is the pits for, is the fan who lives outside of the valley and is fortunate enough to get Salt Lake locals. Got this news just in time, however, as I was moments away from upgrading my DirecTV service to HD. In my heart, I am more willing to give up my mtn. rights than I am to give up my rights to a Jazz game. Here we come Dish Network (cable in Wyoming is horrible).
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