The deal is done.

[Brian]

Comcast sent out $50 vouchers for MLB.tv today. Just got mine in the mail.

 

Ditto. We signed up for it and now the games won't load. Says it keeps timing out.

[FLsouthsider]

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/press_releases/pre...sp&c_id=mlb

 

 

Cable comes through in the end.

[Chisoxfn]

Best news of the decade...best news of the decade!!! Calling cable company now.

 

I was told by Cox that it should be up by tomorrow and i'll have to call back than to sign up. Oh man, so f***ing awesome. The Sox were just waiting for all of us to get our MLB package before beginning there season

[FlaSoxxJim]

Yea!!!!!!!!!

[Scwible]

for someone who has never gotten the MLB package through cable, how much does that bad boy cost? I remember thinking about it in years prior but don't recall the cost.

[SoxAce]

Yea!!!!!!!!!

 

An outstanding post as usual Jim.

[Chisoxfn]

for someone who has never gotten the MLB package through cable, how much does that bad boy cost? I remember thinking about it in years prior but don't recall the cost.

The same as it cost via direct tv. Something like 139 when you signed up before the season and I think it goes up to like 159 or 169 afterwards. Thats less than a buck a Sox game and you get access to all the other games out there as well.

[Brian]

Awesome news. I will be calling Comcast tomorrow.

 

I ordered MLBtv yesterday with that Comcast promotion. May as well keep it since it will only cost $38 in the end.

[Chisoxfn]

IN Demand began making games available to cable systems in progress starting at 8 p.m. EDT Wednesday, president Robert Jacobson said. The package will be available for $159 this year through a free preview period that will extend into next week, he said, but the 2007 price for those subscribing after that has not been set.

Has anyone's cable company started showing the xtra innings channels (or games) yet? Also there is the price for this year (if you sign up during the preview period).

[maggliopipe]

[FlaSoxxJim]

Has anyone's cable company started showing the xtra innings channels (or games) yet? Also there is the price for this year (if you sign up during the preview period).

 

Nope. just checked.

 

I'll be working tomorrow and it's a WGN game anyway, so as long as my provider starts showing them in time for the Twins on Friday I will be happy.

 

Anybody know how much InDemand had to fork over in this deal?

[Chisoxfn]

Nope. just checked.

 

I'll be working tomorrow and it's a WGN game anyway, so as long as my provider starts showing them in time for the Twins on Friday I will be happy.

 

Anybody know how much InDemand had to fork over in this deal?

Not sure but Direct TV is not paying 700 million anymore. My guess is both providers are paying the exact same amount and I'd imagine Direct TV and In Demand are probably spending somewhere between 400-550 million a piece.

[Linnwood]

Extra Innings Is No Longer Exclusive

New York Times

By Richard Sandomir

Published: April 5, 2007

 

Cable subscribers will once again be able to watch out-of-market Major League Baseball games, ending their fears that the Extra Innings package would become the exclusive domain of DirecTV for the next seven years.

 

M.L.B. and InDemand — a consortium that is owned by the cable operators Comcast, Time Warner and Cox — agreed last night to restore Extra Innings swiftly to their systems as a free preview through sometime next week, after which it will cost a discounted $159 for a short period.

 

InDemand will make the package available today to other cable operators like Cablevision and Charter, who must make individual deals.

 

The Dish Network, DirecTV’s satellite rival, has not made a deal. “No one is locked out,” said Tim Brosnan, an executive vice president of M.L.B. But Dish said in a statement that baseball’s terms were too costly and that it was not optimistic that it could reach a fair deal.

 

The crucial part of the negotiations for baseball was InDemand’s agreement to carry the MLB Channel, which is to make its debut in 2009.

 

Between the deals made with DirecTV and InDemand, baseball said the channel will have 40 million subscribers when it starts. “We believe we have a compelling product that our fans are passionate about,” Brosnan said.

 

Robert D. Jacobson, InDemand’s president, said: “We’re very comfortable with the deal. We feel we were treated very fairly related to DirecTV.”

 

The InDemand partnership received an equity stake of a little below 20 percent in the MLB Channel, which is about equal to DirecTV’s.

 

M.L.B. will receive an average of $100 million a year through 2013 for the Extra Innings rights from DirecTV and cable operators. The size of their yearly payments will be reduced if Dish negotiates its own deal.

 

Baseball will benefit further from its majority share of the estimated $120 million in annual gross subscriber fees that the channel will generate.

 

By being the first to make a deal with M.L.B., DirecTV set the terms of negotiations with InDemand, and had to agree to give up its agreed-upon exclusivity on Extra Innings, and give up a little equity. "We were in a place where we wouldn't have done a deal if it wasn't beneficial to us," said Chase Carey, the president of DirecTV. "Why else would we have changed it?"

 

He said he did not feel any pressure as a result of last month's hearing about the deal that was held by the Senate Commerce Committee.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/05/sports/b...rect.ready.html

 

 

Baseball strikes deal to keep `Extra Innings' package on cable

By Ronald Blum, AP Baseball Writer

April 4, 2007

 

NEW YORK (AP) -- After negotiations that went into extra innings, baseball struck a deal to keep its "Extra Innings" package of out-of-market games on cable television.

 

Under pressure from Sen. John Kerry, baseball and iN Demand reached an agreement in principle Wednesday on a seven-year contract, a deal that likely will allow the sport's new TV network to be available in at least 40 million homes when it launches in 2009.

 

Baseball announced an exclusive $700 million, seven-year agreement with DirecTV on March 8, but viewers who would have lost TV access to the games complained.

 

"The concern expressed by our fans who would have been forced to switch to alternative carriers or were unable to switch was something we tried to be responsive to," baseball chief operating officer Bob DuPuy said.

 

Kerry had asked the Federal Communications Commission to investigate the original deal, and during a hearing last week in Washington he pushed baseball to resume talks with iN Demand, owned by affiliates of Time Warner, Comcast and Cox. While baseball had set a March 31 deadline, the sides kept negotiating and announced a deal Wednesday night, an agreement that still must be finalized.

 

"All we ever wanted was a victory for the fans, and this outcome is a big step forward," Kerry said in a statement. "Everyone kept talking and pressing until we had a deal that protects the rights of most fans to follow their hometown team."

 

IN Demand began making games available to cable systems in progress starting at 8 p.m. EDT Wednesday, president Robert Jacobson said. The package will be available for $159 this year through a free preview period that will extend into next week, he said, but the 2007 price for those subscribing after that has not been set.

 

"I'm exhausted but happy," Jacobson said. "We always needed to feel like we were treated fairly relative to the other distributor. We felt like got our fair share."

 

As part of the agreement, iN Demand and DirecTV each will receive about 16 percent equity in the new network, a person familiar with the deal said, speaking on condition of anonymity because that detail wasn't announced. Under the original agreement, DirecTV was to be a 20 percent owner.

 

In Demand will make the "Extra Innings" package available to other cable companies, which also would be required to carry the MLB channel. Baseball is willing to resume negotiate with Echostar's Dish Network, baseball spokesman Rich Levin said, but DirecTV president Chase Carey said he anticipated for now that his company would be an exclusive satellite carrier.

 

The dispute was largely over baseball's desire to have a deal that will allow its network to be widely available on a basic cable tier. At 40 million homes, it would be one of the largest launches in cable history.

 

"It provides both the financial stability and the exposure to ensure a successful launch of the channel and bring the game to as many fans as possible," DuPuy said.

 

Because of the new deal, DirecTV will pay less than it would have under the original agreement.

 

"The economics are better for us on the `Extra Innings' side," Carey said. "Clearly there were benefits you had in capturing subs (subscribers). We were paying a lot of money to get it. At what price? We weighed all the positives of each."

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-t...p&type=lgns

 

So basicly DirecTV takes a 4% cut in equity stake of the new channel and pays a lot less in cash. And DISH/Echostar are still out in the cold.

[Brian]

Still not showing up on Comcast. I'm gonna call tomorrow.

[maggliopipe]

I called Comcast (well, not Comcast in Chicago but Comcast in New Hampshire) and the lady said that it wasn't going to be in their system until next week. I don't know if that means we can't order it until next week but the free preview will be starting prior to that or if nothing will be available until next week.

 

There was an announcement on probably Tuesday by iNDemand that when and if an agreement was reached, they would have it available to order for consumers within an hour. I guess that was bogus.

[WCSox]

I called Comcast (well, not Comcast in Chicago but Comcast in New Hampshire) and the lady said that it wasn't going to be in their system until next week. I don't know if that means we can't order it until next week but the free preview will be starting prior to that or if nothing will be available until next week.

 

There was an announcement on probably Tuesday by iNDemand that when and if an agreement was reached, they would have it available to order for consumers within an hour. I guess that was bogus.

 

Comcast in Oregon didn't know anything about it this morning, but still offered me the $50 voucher for MLB.TV.

[RockRaines]

I got the voucher and still will order it on Comcast. What a big win for the fans, and john freaking Kerry

[Brian]

On Comcast up in Lake County, IL, the MLB channels are up and running. Labeled NHL Center Ice but they are there for the free preview.

Edited April 6, 2007 by Brian

[IlliniKrush]

And if you have NHL Center Ice...

[Brian]

Just ordered it. Sweet!

 

Its on channels 461-470 along with NHL until their season is over but there is also 4 extra channels in the 470s with games.

[IlliniKrush]

I see the preview now. Since there are only 3 games in the NHL tonight, I see the MLB games starting with "Game 5" which is 465.

 

How much did it cost you? Did you get any sort of early bird discount?

[WCSox]

How do I go about getting the voucher?

 

Call Comcast and ask for it.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Call Comcast and ask for it.

 

I would assume now that Extra Innings is going to be available to Comcast subscribers that they will be stopping this promotion soon.

[Brian]

I see the preview now. Since there are only 3 games in the NHL tonight, I see the MLB games starting with "Game 5" which is 465.

 

How much did it cost you? Did you get any sort of early bird discount?

 

I got the early bird discount at $159. I think as long as you order it during the free preview, its $159, than it goes up to $179.

[FlaSoxxJim]

I got the early bird discount at $159. I think as long as you order it during the free preview, its $159, than it goes up to $179.

 

Preview ends the 8th, but you can get the cheap rate until april 15th, at least through my cable provider you can.