Major League Baseball won’t respond to our letter seeking help to end the television blackout in Hawai`i of Bay Area baseball teams. Comcast and Time-Warner, the two parties that won’t cut a deal to carry Giants and A’s games in Hawai`i, just point fingers at one another.
The blackout is now in its third season. It’s obvious the two corporate giants have no interest in inking an agreement to carry the games for a relatively small audience 2,500 miles into the Pacific.
It’s therefore left to the clubs themselves to do something for the fans – grant a waiver on their “rights” that would permit MLB.com to stream the games on the Internet and on smart phone apps. The Mariners and Padres have done it; the Giants and A’s could, too.
Mario Alioto, senior vice president of marketing for the San Francisco Giants, responded to an email sent two years ago this week advising us to contact all the parties, including Dish and DirecTV. These two companies share about 6 percent of the Hawai`i market and apparently carry the Giants here. Hawai`i consumers obviously have chosen not to patronize them in any appreciable numbers.
Here’s the email we sent to Mr. Alioto yesterday appealing to him and the Giants to do the right thing for the fans – grant a waiver that recognizes Comcast’s and Time-Warner’s intransigence and allows fans of the World Champions to watch the Giants here in Hawai`i.
Mr. Alioto, you were good enough to respond to my email two years ago. It’s clear by now Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, the RSN providing Giants TV coverage, believes Time-Warner Oceanic in Hawai`i is unreasonable in not paying Comcast’s price to carry the games in Hawai`i. Just as obvious is Time-Warner’s belief that Comcast’s price is outrageous.
Baseball fans in Hawai`i have contacted Time-Warner and Comcast and have received only finger-pointing as a response. Appreciate if you will that Time-Warner Oceanic serves approximately 94 percent of the homes here; DirecTV and Dish are not realistic alternatives, so please do not suggest we all switch to those services to watch the Giants. The market already has shown an overwhelming preference for cable.
Neither side has moved an inch for the past two years. They are dug in and have moved on to other money-making opportunities, leaving blacked-out Giants fans out of sight and out of mind. There’s no reason to believe the parties will budge this year or any year ahead.
In recognition of the stalemate, the Giants organization can be the first participant in this blackout to think of the fans. The Giants can grant a waiver to allow your games to be shown in Hawai`i in the absence of an agreement between the cable company and the RSN. The Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres have done just that, undoubtedly because their fan base in the islands is relatively insignificant, and blacking out their games wouldn’t be worth the aggravation. The Giants can and should grant the waiver precisely because your following here is so big.
Enduring the blackout for the past two seasons was bad enough, but that’s been compounded now that the Giants are World Champions. MLB, Time-Warner, Comcast — they’ve shown no concern for Giants fans in Hawai`i. Show us the Giants do care. Grant the waiver and lift the blackout. Be the hero and your organization will benefit from incalculable goodwill.
Aloha,
Nicely done.
ReplyDeletei just bought mlb.tv just watch the giants and found out i cant watch them. this sucks
ReplyDeleteYou bet it sucks, Anonymous. MLB sucks you in with its overblown promise -- "Watch every game all season long" -- and don't warn you off with the caveats until they have your money. Some of us learned this lesson in April 2009. Do what we did and write to MLB; scroll down to earlier posts to find a letter to MLB's senior vp for broadcasting. Write him; tell him it's outrageous for MLB to sit on its hands while two corporations refuse to negotiate a deal!
ReplyDeleteAloha Doug,
ReplyDeleteOn behalf of all Hawai'i SF Giants fans I want to thank you for all of your persistence and hardwork, in bringing the blackout to an end. As I'm sure you've heard the blackout is over! KITV will be airing games and I'm not sure what this means for other venues where we've been unable to get our fix in the past. (mlb tv, etc). My husband is a Native San Franciscan (born and bred in the City) and a die hard Giants fan who could not be more ecstatic. All of your efforts are very much appreciated. Mahalo!
PS-On a side note, I went to high school with your son Eric. Small world. :)
Hi, Lauren, and thank you for the good words. Small world indeed -- you and Eric being in high school together. Your husband is truly the lucky one to be a Giants fan from birth practically. It came to some of much later, and Eric's brother's Ragnar's residence in the city and graduation from San Francisco State is what turned me on to the team. It's not just Giants fans who are outraged by this blackout. Phil Kinnicutt of Kailua and Jim Loomis over on Maui are Red Sox fans, and they're blacked out of watching Boston when the team plays in Oakland. They've also made a big stink, and Phil's been going at it with MLB headquarters and others for years. So it's a team effort, and we encourage you and your husband to jump into the fray. Aloha!
ReplyDelete