End the Hawaii MLB Blackout!

Today’s ‘Free Game’ Denied to Fans in Hawaii

2011-08-10T11:48:00.003-10:00

There’s still no deal between Comcast and Time-Warner to carry Giants games in Hawaii, and there’s no hint of a deal anywhere. That means Giants games – including the one touted today at MLB.com as the “MLB Free Game of the Day” – are still blacked out in Hawaii, thanks to Major League Baseball’s idiotic “home television territory” policy.

Hey, Bud Selig! You’re condoning something that denies innocent fans the ability to watch our teams because the suits refuse to do the deal! How can you possibly be OK with that? What’s next – muting games so we can’t even listen to them on our computers and smart phones?

At this point, we wouldn’t put it past you and your VIP-box pals.

This is how Hawaii Giants fans "watch" the games.

Giants Exec Tosses Off Our Request for Waiver; Comcast Rep Provides Same Old Song ‘n Dance

2011-04-22T15:36:00.002-10:00

We had thought Giants executive Mario Alioto might thoughtfully ponder the latest request from Giants fans in Hawaii for his organization to grant a waiver that would allow Giants games to be shown in the state, which is part of the team’s “home TV territory.” No rush, we thought, since we’re already into the third season of Giants games being blacked out here. Maybe the Easter weekend could produce a change of mind, a softening of attitudes.

It didn’t happen. Alioto quickly tossed off our email to Marisa Veroneau, Affiliate Marketing Manager at Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, whose emailed response arrived three hours after ours hit Alioto’s computer (his address is maliioto@sfgiants.com).

Veroneau’s email covered pretty much the same ground as what she wrote in March, with one major difference: She wrote then that Comcast “won’t give up until we are done” negotiating with Time Warner “to have Comcast SportsNet fully distributed in your community.” Today’s email contains no such nose-to-the-grindstone commitment. Instead, she asserts that “our Giants coverage is available to every local Hawaii TV provider, and as a result of our negotiations, DirecTV and Dish Network now carry Comcast SportsNet locally on terms that all parties are fair and reasonable.” It ends with her advice to “consider changing your service to DirecTV or Dish Network.”

That’s totally disingenuous, of course. Those two networks have managed to capture only 6 percent of the Hawaii television households, leaving the rest of them blacked out for Giants games. As we wrote in our response to Veroneau, “the market has spoken loudly about our preference, and DirecTV and Dish Network are not it. You are repeating the same mantra you’ve used for the past two years.”

Big League Stew, a Yahoo Sports column, today picked up on Ferd Lewis’s Honolulu Star-Advertiser recent column and joined the movement to end the blackout. The Stew noted an important angle worth repeating: “The MLB allows six teams to lick Hawaii’s donut (by including the state in their home territories), even if there’s no chance that its providers can pay all their regional networks for the privilege of airing their games.” With the Angels and Dodgers already in the expense column, maybe Oceanic Time Warner’s reluctance to cut a deal with Comcast SportsNet Bay Area stems from a simple inability to pay. Here’s what an Oceanic executive wrote to us in February:

“For years the only regional sports available to us was provided by Fox West and Fox Prime Ticket. Rates were very low and both have been carried on our Analog Expanded Basic for over 30 years. It wasn’t until Comcast’s recent acquisition of Bay Area Giants and Oakland A’s that there was even the possibility of carrying those teams but unfortunately, the rate being asked for access to 2 teams of interest in Hawaii makes no business sense. Because of our ‘close’ proximity to the market, they are prohibiting us to put the Giants and A’s on a sports tier. That means it would go on our standard service and all our subscribers would see a rate increase on their monthly cable bill, north of 6%.”

So there you go – a rock-ribbed standoff between two corporate giants that leaves Giants fans out of luck and thankful for whatever comes our way – like the 12 games KITV will carry this summer. We urge all baseball fans in Hawaii to write Mario Alioto at the above address and ask him to waive the “home TV territory” clause, thereby allowing Giants games to be streamed by MLB.com to Hawaii in the absence of a Comcast-Time Warner deal. The blackout affects not only Giants (and A’s) fans but also fans of all Major League teams that play the Giants and A’s during the season.

Here’s Veroneau’s emailed reply on Alioto’s behalf:

Mr. Carlson,

Mario Alioto at the Giants passed on your email to me for the latest information regarding our network’s carriage status in Hawaii. Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and our Giants coverage is available to every local Hawaii TV provider, and as a result of our negotiations, both DirecTV and Dish Network now carry Comcast SportsNet locally on terms that all parties agree are fair and reasonable.

We have offered these same terms to Time Warner Oceanic, but to date, Time Warner Oceanic has opted not to make Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and our Giants coverage available to their customers. We encourage you to contact Time Warner Oceanic to let them know you want to see the Giants on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area by emailing http://www.oceanic.com/contact_us or calling 808-643-2100 or consider changing your service to DirecTV or Dish Network.

Sincerely,

Marisa Veroneau

Comcast SportsNet

KITV Deal Snips Away at Hawaii Blackout Curtain

2011-04-22T08:22:00.010-10:00

Giants fans in Hawaii can rejoice – a little. Honolulu television station KITV has announced a deal to carry a dozen Giants games on its digital channel this season, starting on May 20 (see story below). That’s good news, and we’re doffing our cap to KITV because 7 percent of the games is better than 0 percent. But this is no time to let up the pressure to have the blackout lifted completely. We doubt MLB will do anything – it's too busy trying to save the Dodgers! – so we’re urging the Giants organization to do the right thing. Here’s our email sent today to Mario Alioto, Giants senior vice president for marketing (his address is malioto@sfgiants.com):

Mr. Alioto, I’m following up on my email of April 9th that may have escaped your attention. If it’s not available, you can read it on my End the Hawaii MLB Blackout! website under the headline Giants Could End the Blackout with a Waiver. The absence of such a waiver is noted in today’s Honolulu Star-Advertiser story on KITV’s new agreement with Comcast to carry 12 Giants games this season, a welcomed development that snips away at the blackout. But 12 games out of 162 is only 7 percent of the season. Throw in a game here or there and Giants fans in Hawaii can watch maybe 10-12 percent of the season. We’re now into a third year during which MLB.com refuses to stream any Giants games to Hawaii computers due to the “home television territory” provision.

Now that the blackout curtain has holes in it, the Giants could tear it down completely and thereby score unfathomable positive publicity for the organization by granting the waiver, as the Mariners and Padres have done. You’re at the top of the mountain as World Champions, and there’s no better time to grant it — a magnanimous gesture to your Hawaii fans that would be so recognized by all of baseball. “Classy” already describes the Giants — especially your ball park and your broadcast team, which is the best in the big leagues.

Intransigence by Ocean Time Warner and Comcast and their inability to cut a deal is a blot on the Giants — maybe not your doing but a stain nevertheless. Get rid of it by granting a waiver. Your fans in Hawaii would walk even taller, and so could you.
All the best and Aloha,

(from the 4/22 Honolulu Star-Advertiser)
KITV will air 12 Giants games
By Ferd Lewis
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Apr 22, 2011

KITV will come to the partial rescue of frustrated local fans of the San Francisco Giants, carrying 12 of the World Series champions' games this season, the station announced.

General manager Andrew Jackson said the package will begin May 20 with a game against Oakland and run through Sept. 16, with nine Giants home games and three road contests.

He said the games will be shown on KITV's digital channel, Oceanic Cable 126, and be free over the air on channel 4.2 via digital antenna.

The package is a result of negotiations with the Giants' California provider, Comcast. It comes as local fans have expressed frustration with Major League Baseball, whose policy has blacked out for nearly two years most San Francisco and Oakland A's games here on outlets other than DirecTV.

Oceanic and Comcast have been unable to reach a deal on a comprehensive package, and the Giants have so far refused to grant a waiver of their territorial rights.

KITV sports director Robert Kekaula said, "As a kid growing up in Hawaii, the uncles and aunties brain-washed us to love the Giants, and it has been sickening recently since we couldn't watch them play (on TV). But, now, we're really jacked that we can!"

Giants Could End the Blackout with a Waiver

2011-04-10T09:04:00.001-10:00

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,

Ironic: Giants on TV in Season’s First 4 Games; MLB’s Broadcasting Executive Ignores Our Plight

2011-04-03T10:35:00.002-10:00

Call it ironic or just Major League Baseball’s taunting way of sticking it to Giants fans in Hawai`i. After two seasons of blacking out the Giants here, MLB has cooperated with the networks and Time Warner Cable in allowing the Giants’ first four games of the season to be shown in the 50th State.

The opening weekend series with the Dodgers was carried on the Oceanic Time Warner cable system using four different network arrangements -- Opening Day (ESPN), Friday (Prime Ticket), Saturday (FOX’s Game of the Week) and today (ESPN’s Sunday Night Game of the Week).

But those and all other Giants games this season (as well as the past two) are not available via streaming at MLB.com and MLB’s At Bat 11 iPhone app. The games are still blocked due to the “home territory” scam and corporate intransigence.

We might be lucky enough to see the Giants on TV again when they play away games with the Dodgers, but they'll be few compared to entire 162-game season we could watch on MLB.com until 2009.

That’s when the suits at MLB decided to black out Internet streaming in deference to the regional sports networks (RSN) that hold the broadcast rights for Giants and A’s games – Comcast Sports Net Bay Area and Comcast Sports Net California respectively.

After years of “negotiations”, the RSNs and Time Warner Cable have failed to reach an agreement to carry Giants and A’s games in Hawai`i. The RSNs say Oceanic Time Warner refuses to pay its price, which Oceanic calls exhorbitant.

As a result, Giants and A’s games have been unavailable on the ‘net and for nearly all broadcast games going into the third consecutive season. MLB just looks the other way, but a more self-serving and sinister motive presumably is governing:

What's MLB's Motive?

MLB condones and even encourages the blackout to rile up Hawai`i fans enough so we’ll pressure Oceanic to cave in on the RSN price. Such a deal undoubtedly would be a financial gain for MLB in some way.

Such would seem to be MLB’s stance based on the letter sent to US Rep. Mazie Hirono late last year by Christopher Tully, the Senior VP for Broadcasting. Read it and see if you can find a hint of concern about the blackout and what it means to the fans.

Mr. Tully has not answered the letter we sent him and posted here on February 17. That enforces our belief that the suits sitting in their Park Avenue offices and VIP suites around the nation’s ballparks think the fans are last in MLB's ranking of priorities when there’s money involved. And ain't it always?

They Lie; Giants Blacked Out Again in Hawaii

2011-03-11T17:51:00.001-10:00

Despite the program guide listing on TV this afternoon (above), and despite what the morning newspaper said (below right), the Giants-Padres game was not seen in Hawaii today.

Even with inconsequential preseason games, the insatiable quest for profits among the usual suspects is keeping the World Champion Giants off about 94 percent of Hawaii’s television screens.

Blame for this despicable two-year-going-on-three blackout of Giants and A’s games in Hawaii belongs to Time Warner Cable and the two Bay Area sports networks with rights to the teams’ games – and don’t leave out Major League Baseball.

Read the email and letter correspondence in previous posts below and you’ll see finger-pointing all around. MLB executives are content to sit in their VIP box and let the corporations sort it out – fans be damned. The local Time Warner cablecaster says the sports networks want an arm and a leg to carry their games, and the networks think TW is just cheap.

Those attitudes leave Giants and A’s fans SOL, and nobody wearing a suit seems to give a rip. Maybe if every baseball fan in Hawaii who believes this condition must end were to pledge an end to spending money on baseball – games, shirts, everything – somebody in MLB headquarters might wake up.

First Pitch in 4 Weeks; Hawaii Blackout Still On

2011-03-03T16:55:00.007-10:00

Here’s an exchange of emails with a representative of Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, which has the broadcast rights to the San Francisco Giants and distribution rights for those games in Hawaii, which is in the Giants’ “home television territory.” The Giants open the 2011 season four weeks from today against the Los Angeles Dodgers in LA. We’re still trying to figure out whether those games will be blacked out due to the peculiarities of the Giants’ territorial deal or whether they’ll be shown thanks to the Oceanic Time Warner’s deal with the Dodgers network. Here’s the email exchange:

Mr. Carlson,
I wanted to provide you with an update on the distribution of Comcast SportsNet Bay Area/San Francisco Giants in Hawaii. We have recently secured distribution of Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and our Giants coverage on Dish Network throughout Hawaii, in addition to the network’s current availability on DirecTV. We are continuing to negotiate with other providers like Time Warner that don't yet carry the channel, and won't give up until we are done. We share your desire to have Comcast SportsNet fully distributed in your community.
Please let us know if you have any questions. Thanks again for your interest in Comcast SportsNet.
Sincerely,
Marisa Veroneau
Comcast SportsNet

Hello, Marisa. Thank you for your update on the status of negotiations between Comcast SportsNet Bay Area (CSNBA) and Time Warner Cable (TWC). Without an agreement between your companies, the San Francisco Giants will once again be blacked out for all but a relative handful of television viewers in Hawaii.

As you know, only about 6 percent of Hawaii television sets are served by Dish Network and DirecTV. Major League Baseball’s Senior Vice President for Broadcasting, Christopher Tully, has suggested to blacked-out baseball fans in Hawaii that it’s a simple matter to watch Giants and A’s games; just join one of those networks, he says. We say back to Mr. Tully and the other executives in MLB’s head office, “Get off the sidelines and stand up for the fans! Enforce negotiations or whatever it takes to end this ridiculous blackout.”

Please keep us informed of the negotiations’ status, and if you have information you think Hawai`i fans should know about what’s holding up an agreement, please share that with us, as well.

If negotiations appear gridlocked, Comcast might well consider doing something extraordinary — and extraordinarily good for your corporate image: Work with the Giants organization to waive the blackout of their games in Hawaii, just as the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres have done. We fans do not deserve to be held captive for a third season by corporate interests whose actions run counter to the best interests of the game.

Aloha.....DC

Letter to MLB: Stop Monitoring & Start Acting!

2011-02-17T14:14:00.015-10:00

The following letter has been mailed to Major League Baseball’s headquarters. If you agree that the infamous Hawai`i MLB Blackout must end, send your own letter. A third blacked-out season is about to begin.

February 17, 2011

Mr. Christopher S. Tully
Senior Vice President, Broadcasting
Major League Baseball
245 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10167

Dear Mr. Tully:

I am one of many baseball fans in Hawai`i asking Major League Baseball to intercede in the business standoff between Time Warner Cable and Comcast Sports. Two subsidiaries of the latter have television rights to Bay Area baseball teams – Comcast Sports Net Bay Area (Giants) and Comcast Sports Net California (Athletics).

As you are aware, Hawai`i is in the “home television territory” of both teams. We’re also in the home territory of four other teams – the Dodgers, Angels, Mariners and Padres. PrimeTicket and FOX Sports West, the regional sports networks (RSNs) for the Dodgers and Angels respectively, have long had a business arrangement with Time Warner to carry the two Los Angeles teams on Oceanic Time Warner in Hawai`i. The Mariners and Padres have waived their “blackout rights” in Hawai`I, even in the absence of a deal with Time Warner.

Comcast and Time Warner have not reached a similar deal, and for the past two seasons Giants and A’s games have been blacked out in Hawai`i, including streaming on MLB.com. You said in your letter to U.S. Representative Mazie Hirono (D-HI) dated December 15, 2010: “Please rest assured that MLB is committed to serving the best interests of our fans in Hawai`i and that we will continue to monitor the progress of these carriage negotiations.”

Clearly, Mr. Tully, the negotiations have gone nowhere for the past two years, and there is no indication from Time Warner and Comcast that they’re going anywhere now. Your letter also seemed to place the blame on Time Warner because “Oceanic Time Warner has not yet agreed to carry the two Comcast RSNs.” That certainly is true, but your conclusion that the fault is all Oceanic Time Warner’s seems strange in having apparently prejudged the issue in Comcast’s favor. Here is the latest email I’ve received from an Oceanic Time Warner marketing representative, dated February 15, 2011:

“For years the only regional sports available to us was provided by Fox West and Fox Prime Ticket. Rates were very low and both have been carried on our Analog Expanded Basic for over 30 years. It wasn’t until Comcast’s recent acquisition of Bay Area Giants and Oakland A’s that there was even the possibility of carrying those teams but unfortunately, the rate being asked for access to 2 teams of interest in Hawaii makes no business sense.

“Because of our ‘close’ proximity to the market, they are prohibiting us to put the Giants and A’s on a sports tier. That means it would go on our standard service and all our subscribers would see a rate increase on their monthly cable bill, north of 6%.”

Mr. Tully, this issue involves two companies that have failed to work out a deal -- one that insists on charging a fee that the other believes is too high and refuses to pay. This could go on forever, and notwithstanding your suggestion that Hawai`i baseball fans simply switch to DirecTV if we want the games so badly, that is a non-starter, and you should rethink your position. DirecTV has far fewer subscribers than Oceanic Time Warner; the market clearly has spoken with regard to which service Hawai`i subscribers prefer.

Please also rethink and/or clarify this statement in your letter to Rep. Hirono: “While we are not satisfied with the current distribution of Giants and Athletics game telecasts in Hawai`i, we continue to believe that fans in the State are best served by the broad availability of the RSNs that carry Giants and Athletics game telecasts, and we would not want to see their access be limited to the purchase of a separate subscription package.”

Your comment appears to defend DirecTV’s interests in carrying the Giants and Athletics games here. Does MLB benefit financially if DirecTV is the only carrier of games in Hawai`i? Is MLB pledged to defend DirecTV to the exclusion of any other potential service provider? Is MLB in a conflict of interest with the vast majority of baseball fans in Hawai`i – promoting MLB’s interests ahead of ours?

MLB’s “monitoring the progress” position clearly is not in the best interests of baseball fans here, so please respond to this letter by stating what MLB is doing to end the impasse between Time Warner and Comcast Sports. Please do something to actually help us! Your response will be posted at the web site printed at the top of this letter.

Sincerely,
/signature/
Doug Carlson

cc: Rep. Mazie Hirono

Commish’s Office Says Local Cable’s To Blame, But It Won’t Lift a Finger to End Hawaii Blackout

2011-02-09T13:18:00.017-10:00

We’re within weeks of Spring Training and only a few more away from the regular season, and STILL there’s no breakthrough in the impasse to allow Bay Area baseball teams to be viewed in Hawaii on anything but DirecTV.

Christopher S. Tully, Senior Vice President, Broadcasting for Major League Baseball, has written to Rep. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) in response to her inquiries about the problem, which is described in detail in our earlier posts here. We have Rep. Hirono's permission to publicize the letter, which is posted immediately below this entry.

Summarizing the Issue

MLB teams all designate a “home television territory” for which a regional sports network (RSN) has the rights to distribute televised game coverage. The RSNs make deals with local cable TV and satellite systems to carry their games.

Hawaii is in the home TV territory of the San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angles and two other teams -- the Seattle Mariners and the San Diego Padres. The RSNs with rights to the Dodgers (PrimeTicket) and Angels (FOX Sports West) have negotiated deals with both Time Warner Oceanic on Oahu and DirectTV. Those teams games are available all season long, and hardly a night goes by without either a Dodgers or Angels game carried by the cable system with the largest subscriber base, Oceanic Time Warner.

However, similar agreements have not been reached by Oceanic with Comcast Sports Net Bay Area and Comcast Sports Net California for Giants and A’s games respectively. Only DirecTV has made arrangements with those RSNs, meaning only DirecTV subscribers can watch the Giants and Athletics.

Not incidentally, also unavailable in Hawaii is live streaming of Giants and A’s games at MLB.com, a channel many of us here used to watch those teams for most of the decade. MLB put an end to that option without any announcement at the start of the 2009 season. But get this: the RSNs with rights to the Mariners and Padres games have waived blackouts of those teams' games in Hawaii, so even though there's no deal to carry the M's and Padres on cable or DirecTV, MLB.com streams them live and they're occasionally carried on other networks in Hawaii. That isn't the case with Giants and A's games, which means fans of teams playing SF and Oakland in their Bay Area parks or at home anywhere in the USA also are denied the enjoyment of watching their favorite MLB team.

Disappointed by the Delay

As for baseball fans who can’t afford DirecTV, don't want it or don’t even own a TV set, MLB’s attitude seems to be, “You’re SOL, pal. This is the 21st Century. Get with it!”

Tully expresses disappointment in his letter at Oceanic’s “delay” in reaching similar agreements with the two Bay Area RSNs. For its part, Oceanic has implied that the fault isn’t theirs but the RSNs. Comcast in the Bay Area has been mostly silent and has ignored our attempts to smoke them out.

For that matter, so have the Giants, the team we follow. The only person in the Bay Area who’s taken any interest in the Hawaii Blackout is San Francisco Chronicle columnist Scott Ostler, who threw his lot in with the fans in a column late in last year’s season.

Who’s on First?

We’re still trying to understand the hold-up in resolving this mess. Although Tully lays it squarely on Oceanic Time Warner’s desk, the cable outfit is more than ready to blame others – the RSNs and even the teams. Here’s an email received last year from an Oceanic executive:

“It has nothing to do with the TV providers. The clubs don’t see a benefit in opening it up to Hawaii. I suppose they think the die-hard fans will fly to the West Coast to buy a ticket.”

So it’s the clubs? Why would the Giants and A’s not want their fans in Hawaii watching their games on cable TV? Is there something to this – that the clubs would be financially disadvantaged somehow if the RSNs arrange deals in the 50th State?

Just the Facts, Please

That comment just doesn’t make sense, so in an attempt to sort this out, we sent the following email to the Oceanic executive yesterday:

“Why were the two SoCal agreements finalized but not the other two? I’d appreciate a real simple answer to understand where everybody’s chips are at the start of the season. Beyond that question, is anything happening to reach an agreement? Are there any negotiations underway with the Bay Area RSNs? If not, why not? If so, what can we expect from them?”

MLB has brushed aside the good Congresswoman’s inquiry, implying it’s not MLB’s problem, but surely it is an MLB problem and concern. How could it not be? Giants and A’s fans are quickly losing our Aloha for MLB by being denied the enjoyment of watching their teams by corporate intransigence.

We’d Rather Fight than Switch!

And no, Mr. Tully, most of us don’t find your suggested remedy – simply switching to DirecTV – to be reasonable. If we wanted DirecTV, we’d already be subscribers. Your letter to Rep. Hirono had a spin on it as good as Barry Zito's biggest bender, but we're not going to swing at that one.

We fans are getting screwed while you sit in the Commissioner's office and monitor the screwing. We’re tired of it! Do something to bring the corporations together. Simply “monitoring the progress of these carriage negotiations” between Oceanic and the RSNs is not enough. It’s been TWO YEARS already! How much longer do you need to monitor this disaster before you step up and fix it!?

Write to MLB

Join the effort to end the Hawaii MLB Blackout. Write to this address:

Mr. Christopher S. Tully
Senior Vice President, Broadcasting
Major League Baseball
245 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10167

MLB Commish’s Office ‘Explains’ the Blackout

2011-02-09T12:48:00.009-10:00

Hawaii baseball fans have turned to our Congressional delegation in the hope federal officials might prompt some positive action from Major League Baseball in ending the blackout of Bay Area teams on the largest cable company in the state. Here’s the response to Rep. Hirano from MLB’s Senior Vice President for Broadcasting, Christopher S. Tully.

Office of the Commissioner

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

December 15, 2010

The Honorable Mazie Hirono
US House of Representatives
1524 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Rep. Hirono:

I am writing in response to your letter to Commissioner Selig regarding the availability in Hawaii of game telecasts of the Dodgers, Angels, Giants, and Athletics. By way of background, Hawaii is included within the home television territory of each of these Clubs and, accordingly, their regional sports network (RSN) rightsholders are authorized to arrange for the distribution of game telecasts of these teams throughout the State. However, in order to effect that distribution, the RSNs need to reach carriage agreements with the local cable and satellite providers.

I’m pleased to advise you that PrimeTicket’s telecasts of Dodgers games and FOX Sports West’s telecasts of Angels games are carried by both DirecTV and Oceanic Time Warner Cable as part of their basic programming packages. DirecTV also distributes the Comcast Sports Net Bay Area and Comcast Sports Net California RSNs as part of its basic service, thereby making all Giants and Athletics games carried on those networks available to fans in Hawai`i. Unfortunately, Oceanic Time Warner has not yet agreed to carry the two Comcast RSNs. While we continue to be disappointed in the delay on the part of Oceanic Time Warner in carrying the Giants’ and Athletics’ RSN rightsholders, we remain hopeful that a deal will be reached.

As far as MLB Extra Innings and MLB.TV, our out-of-market subscription packages of games, they are intended to supplement the game telecasts available to fans on the RSNs distributed within their local markets. Accordingly, these subscription packages provide fans with access only to those game telecasts not otherwise available in their local market. As described above, game telecasts of the Dodgers, Angels, Giants and the Athletics are already distributed in Hawai`i via their locally-distributed RSNs. While we are not satisfied with the current distribution of Giants and Athletics game telecasts in Hawai`i, we continue to believe that fans in the State are best served by the broad availability of the RSNs that carry Giants and Athletics game telecasts, and we would not want to see their access be limited to the purchase of a separate subscription package. (Blog Comment: Please! Just label this "spin.") We want to preserve not only the access to the games that DirecTV subscribers currently enjoy as part of their basic programming package (and the existing opportunity for other fans to gain access by switching to DirecTV), but also the incentive for Oceanic Time Warner and the Comcast RSNs to finally reach carriage agreements that will afford cable subscribers in Hawai`i the same access to game telecasts of these two teams that they currently enjoy for Dodgers and Angels games.

Please rest assured that MLB is committed to serving the best interests of our fans in Hawai`i and that we will continue to monitor the progress of these carriage negotiations.

Sincerely,

/signature/
Christopher S. Tully
Senior Vice President, Broadcasting

See our comments at the post immediately above this letter.

GIANTS WIN THE SERIES! Now, Let Us Watch!!

2010-11-02T07:36:00.006-10:00

I was in a box in late September '97 when the Giants clinched a playoff spot in game #161 and Barry Bonds danced on the dugout at Candlestick. My wife and I were at PacBell Park in the early 2000s when they clinched another. We became engaged sitting in booth #73 in 2001 in the old 24 restaurant (now Acme Chophouse), and we watched Barry hit home run #73 in a game that had slipped from 9/16 to the last game of the season in early October because of MLB's pause after 9/11.

But do you suppose we've been able to watch the Giants on MLB.com or on cable TV the past two seasons? No. The "suits" at Comcast and Time-Warner have failed to reach an agreement to carry the Giants games in Hawaii (the A's also are blacked out).

MLB has placed its heavyweight rump on its collective hands -- after washing them of any responsibility -- and we fans have been the losers in this fans-be-damned outrage.

Will we celebrate out here in the Pacific during the off-season? You bet. Will we give the car an extra coat of polish as we drive around Honolulu with license plates that shout out our loyalty? Of course. And here's what else we and other baseball fans pledge to do: We'll use the off-season to fight this blackout and the corporate greed that makes it possible.

We'll use whatever political pull we can muster to confront the Commissioner's office, Time-Warner, Comcast and others -- even the Giants, who've been a silent witness to the disregard of the fans' interests in pursuit of the almighty dollar.

So let the celebration continue for months to come, but as we enjoy the moment, let all baseball fans in Hawaii, including fans of teams that also are blacked out when they play in the Bay Area, resolve to end this damnable MLB blackout before the first pitch of 2011.

THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!

2010-10-23T20:54:00.001-10:00

Suppose we'll be able to watch these guys on MLB.com in 2011? If you don't understand this post, start reading below.

Thanks to ESPN, We See Giants Win NL West

2010-10-03T15:16:00.011-10:00

The Giants clinched the National League West Division title today, and although millions of fans in the Giants’ “home territory” watched the game on the mainland, Giants fans in Hawaii were denied that pleasure until the top of the 9th inning.

That’s when ESPN inserted the final three outs into its “Baseball Tonight” show. Thank you, ESPN, for your broadcasting savvy, common sense and fan appreciation. Comcast, which owns the Giants television rights, showed once again it has no such qualities, for reasons detailed in this blog, below. Baseball fan Jim Loomis adds his perspective on his own blog.

Major League Baseball has demonstrated another quality – indifference. MLB executives stand on the sidelines, washing their hands of the Infamous MLB Blackout of Hawaii, saying in essence “it’s not my job.” They reason that since Comcast has done a deal with DirecTV, Hawaii fans are taken care of. News Flash to MLB: DirecTV has less than 5 percent of the Hawaii television market!

We now look forward to watching the Giants in the first round of the post-season, beginning Thursday against the Braves. We trust the playoffs are beyond the reach of the Comcast/MLB evil empire, but after two seasons of being blacked out on MLB.com and the largest cable system in Hawaii, nothing would surprise us now.

MLB Washes Hands of Blackout Mess; Executive Tells Hawaii Giants Fans: ‘Go Fix this Yourself’

2010-10-01T12:15:00.011-10:00

5 pm Update: Predictably, the blackout is still on.

Emails have been flying through cyberspace today on the Hawaii Giants Blackout, including one from Major League Baseball’s senior vice president for broadcasting, Chris Tully. Mr. Tully told us nothing we didn’t already know and essentially took it upon himself to wash MLB’s collective hands of the blackout.

His advice: Fix it yourself. Go tell Time-Warner you want them to cave in to Comcast’s dollar demands, or subscribe to a “more fan-friendly television programming distributor.” Can you believe it? We’re not in the Time-Warner camp, but isn’t it obvious that TWO corporations are involved in this impasse -- the other being Comcast?

That’s what we told Mr. Tully in our response, as well as our incredulity that MLB executives are once again turning their backs on the fans. Here’s this morning’s correspondence – first Mr. Tully’s email to Phil Kinnicutt followed by our response to that email in Phil’s unavoidable absence.

From: Tully, Chris
To: Phil Kinnicutt
Cc: Brosnan, Tim; Hilgefort, Susanne
Sent: Fri, Oct 1, 2010 11:12 am
Subject: Availability of Giants game telecasts in Hawaii

Attached is a copy of my letter to you dated 10/21/09. In that letter, I noted the continuing efforts of Comcast to secure distribution within Hawaii of Athletics games on CSN-California and Giants games on CSN-Bay Area.

As I’m sure you know, earlier this year Comcast Sports Net reached a deal with DirecTV for carriage of both of those networks in Hawaii. This resulted in approximately 280 telecasts of regular season games involving either the Athletics or the Giants being made available to DirecTV subscribers in Hawaii (in addition to the full slate of games of the Angels and Dodgers available through DirecTV on FSN West and FSN Prime Ticket, respectively).

We are fully aware and appreciative of the many A’s and Giants fans in Hawaii, and for that reason have included the State within the home television territory of both of those Clubs. We are basically treating fans of those Clubs in Hawaii the same as A’s and Giants fans in the SF/OAK market -- i.e., all of the CSN-BA and CSN-CA telecasts of the teams’ games are available for distributors to include in basic programming packages and “blackouts” apply only to that limited number of national network telecasts involving those teams that are distributed solely on an out-of-market basis and to our out-of-market subscription packages (MLB Extra Innings and MLB.TV).

Unfortunately, your local cable operator may not be as aware and appreciative of A’s and Giants’ fans and still has not agreed to carry these networks. Accordingly, we continue to encourage fans such as yourself to contact their cable operator to express their displeasure and/or to avail themselves of all of these games by switching to a more fan-friendly television programming distributor.

Christopher S. Tully
Senior Vice President, Broadcasting
Major League Baseball

From: Doug Carlson
Date: Fri, 01 Oct 2010 11:55:13 -1000
To: Chris Tully
Cc: Phil Kinnicutt , Jim & Paula Loomis, "jlitner@comcastsportsnet.com" , Lonnie Shupp , Alan Pollock , Scott Ostler , "flewis@staradvertiser.com" , Dave Reardon , "bob.dupuy@mlb.com" , Larry Baer , CSN Bay Information
Subject: Re: Please Lift the Blackout of Giants Games in Hawaii!

Mr. Tully, your email has been forwarded to me by Phil Kinnicutt. As I noted in my email correspondence (below your email) with Comcast in the Bay Area, we already know this. It’s not news to us — and let’s be clear, it’s also not just a Time-Warner issue. Comcast is the other “unmovable object” in this scenario, and so are MLB and the Giants, apparently.

It is inconceivable that you and other MLB executives simply wash your hands of an obvious impasse that hasn’t been solved for two years. Your advice to Time-Warner to essentially cave in to Comcast’s dollar demand doesn’t help one wit.

Where is MLB’s concern for the fans? You seem to think MLB did Hawaii fans of the Giants and A’s a favor by including us in those teams’ home territories. PLEASE, PLEASE “un-favor” us immediately, because all your generosity has gotten us is a two-season blackout! How can that possibly help us? Treat us like any other market more than 2,000 miles from the Giants and A’s and let us watch the games — and not just on DirecTV. Let us watch their games on MLB.com at home and other networks at home.

This is about money — that we all know. Now, is there room within the consciences of executives at Comcast, Time-Warner and MLB to shove the money issues aside for three lousy games in 324 — the total number over the past two seasons that this blackout has been in effect? Give us the games this weekend. Let us watch the Giants win the division or not. You have just over 4 hours to step up for the fans. Will you do it?

Doug Carlson
--
Comma`aina News — http://commaaina.blogspot.com

FOUND: Comcast Executives’ Email List; To Help Lift Giants Blackout in Hawaii, Write these People

2010-10-01T08:43:00.004-10:00

The Giants are playing for the National League West pennant today, and unless something happens in the next eight hours, Giants fans and all baseball fans in Hawaii won’t see the game. The Giants have been blacked out here for two seasons for reasons described in previous posts, below.

Here’s the URL for a list of Comcast executives you can write if you’re tired of this ill treatment because the suits can’t come to an agreement in the best interests of baseball and its fans:

http://bit.ly/csEK8q

The only interests that count so far are their own! Tell these people – be civil while you’re at it – that Comcast’s image will be immeasurably improved if they do the right thing. We recommend you concentrate on Mr. John Litner: jlitner@comcastsportsnet.com

Here’s the email we sent Mr. Litner 15 minutes ago:

Mr. Litner, I've pasted below an email sent this morning to Mr. Larry Baer of the San Francisco Giants. It is self-explanatory, I hope, and is an appeal to those involved in the Giants’ broadcasts -- including Comcast — to help lift the unsustainable blackout of Giants games in Hawaii. Today would be an excellent day to take note of the PR disaster this blackout is for everyone concerned — the Giants, MLB, Oceanic/Time-Warner and Comcast.

Please cut a deal this winter to allow the Giants games to be televised in Hawaii, but today — please let us watch the Giants win the pennant!

Thank you.

Doug Carlson
Honolulu, HI
--
Comma`aina News — http://commaaina.blogspot.com — a website with posts on the infamous Hawaii Blackout

Email to Larry Baer, San Francisco Giants:

Mr. Baer, we haven't corresponded since 2009, the first year the infamous "Giants Blackout of Hawaii" was initiated. Now as then, we Giants fans in the Aloha State can't watch your team on MLB.com or on television unless we pick up and go to a bar, where some coverage can be found now and then. That means the only people who are watching the Giants in Hawaii are those who leave the babies behind and head to a tavern to sock down some beers.

We're trying to be light about this, Mr. Baer, but lightness is hard to come by when our favorite team's televised pursuit of a pennant is denied us due to the rights owners' and Oahu's Time-Warner/Oceanic cable's inability to sign a deal. Giants management can't possibly believe this is a good situation.

Our request: Issue a papal bull or something that will allow this weekend's series with the Padres to be shown in Hawaii . Surely the Giants have influence with Comcast. Please do this, and then encourage the parties to come to an agreement over the winter. For the good of the fans, the Giants and MLB, something must be done in the best interests of the game.

Sports Columnist Calls Blackout a ‘Boondoggle;’ ESPN Carrying Giants Today, but Not in Hawaii

2010-09-29T09:21:00.008-10:00

10/1 Update: The MLB Network is offering Padres-Giants and D'backs-Dodgers today. If the Hawaii blackout continues as expected, fans here -- especially Giants fans -- will once again be denied the thrill of watching their playoffs-bound team.

Dave Reardon devotes his entire column in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser today to the MLB-condoned and abetted video blackout of some West Coast teams’ games in Hawaii. Chief among them as the season winds down is the San Francisco Giants.

Reardon’s column had one minor error (selling out a ballpark has nothing to do with the blackout, which is constant), but for the most part, he’s right on the money with this observation:

“Ignorance is one thing,” he writes. “Arrogance combined with indifference is another.”

For the record, those of us who are pushing MLB to lift the blackout have received no responses to the emails sent to MLB executives this week except for one that says essentially, “It’s not my job and I’ll forward it to someone whose job it is.” Problem is, that someone hasn’t done anything to solve the problem on behalf of Hawaii baseball fans.

Giants Not on ESPN Here*

According to ESPN’s Sports Center this morning, the network is carrying tonight’s Giants-Diamondbacks game, and ESPN’s Scores website notes the same today. But not in Hawaii. No, we get Marlins-Braves at 10:30 a.m. and then no other ESPN game coverage the rest of the day.

The indifference to Giants fans in Hawaii and baseball fans in general here continues.

* It turns out you can see ESPN's coverage of the Giants at various watering holes, like Murphy's on Merchant Street, but if you are at home, you're outta luck.

Hawaii -- a Paradise? No, It’s MLB’s Wilderness!

2010-09-28T13:57:00.021-10:00

Speaking of blackouts, that's what the Honolulu Star-Advertiser is doing to news about the recent NLRB ruling affecting Times Supermarkets. Read about it here.

If you don’t think the infamous “MLB Blackout of Hawaii” is a classic Catch 22, consider this: Hawaii is in the home territory of several West Coast baseball teams even though we’re separated from those teams’ ballparks by more than 2,000 miles of deep blue sea. You can read the details of Major League Baseball’s indifference to the lack of video coverage of those teams in Hawaii in the post immediately below. Today’s post highlights two of the voices crying in our wilderness for justice from Major League Baseball.

Phil Kinnicutt

This Boston Red Sox fan’s blood boils every time his team plays the Oakland A’s because it means he can’t watch the Sox from his home in Hawaii. (Photo shows Phil with daughter Leiana at Fenway Park this month.) Maybe he should move to North Dakota, where he’d have access to all Sox games. Here’s what Phil said in an email to MLB headquarters earlier this week:

"You have an exciting pennant race going on in the National League West between the San Francisco Giants and the San Diego Padres, but what does that mean for Hawaii baseball fans? Hawaii fans are out of luck even though both teams claim Hawaii as home TV territory! Thanks to the two-year blackout of Giants games in Hawaii caused by the impasse between the rights owner and Time Warner Cable, even if a major network like FOX or ESPN or TBS or MLB Network decides to carry a Giants - Padres game nationally during the final week of the regular season, the Giants blackout will trump the national network coverage no matter where the game is played. Hawaii is out of luck! Although the Padres have granted a waiver to the TV blackout that applies to their situation, the Padres games are not carried in Hawaii by Oceanic Time Warner so it doesn't matter. We will not see any of their games unless a major network carries a non-Giants game during the final week. The Giants are blacked out period. No waiver. No coverage. Nothing. Zero. Not a pretty picture for an entire State claimed as home territory by six west coast teams, but served by only two. And MLB seems to just stand by in the wings. Isn't it time to do something about this situation?"

Jim Loomis

Another blood-boiling Red Sox fan, Jim lives on the slopes of Haleakala on Maui, but the elevation doesn’t help his reception of Sox games. They’re blacked out whenever the opposition is the A’s, but Jim also wants to watch West Coast teams – especially now, when the Giants and Padres both have a shot at making the post-season. Jim’s a train buff, and he's used his website to record a few choice words today about Major League Baseball, including these:

"For more than two years the team owners have been unable to agree with the cable companies on the financial terms that would permit the games to be carried here. Apparently they’re no longer even trying. And – what the hell – the season’s almost over anyway, so why bother? Why bother? Well, for one thing, because we’re not able to watch the concluding games of the season being played by the San Francisco Giants who are in the thick of the pennant race with a skinny one-game lead over the San Diego Padres. For three years, a handful of baseball fans in Hawaii have been pleading our case … to team owners, to broadcasters, and to Major League Baseball. You know what the bottom line is here? No one gives a rat's ass – not the ball clubs, not the broadcasters, and most especially not Major League Baseball. No one. So, instead of watching the Giants-Diamondbacks game this afternoon – it’s blacked out here, you see – I’ll put on my authentic $35 Boston Red Sox baseball cap and spend that time spreading horse poop on our pasture. And isn’t that just perfect!"

Jim’s more than a little fired up by this at this West Coast blackout, and he’s a Red Sox fan. You can imagine what the host of this blog – a Giants fan – is feeling about now. None of us can watch these two West Coast teams fight for a post-season spot. Are you reading this, MLB executives? Can you possibly imagine what you’re doing to your fan base? You’re alienating us, and if you’re doing it to us, you’re undoubtedly doing it to fans all over the country.

Is anybody at MLB assigned to think about “issues management?” You’d better, because you have an issue building up to unmanageable proportions. “Paradise” or not, baseball fans in Hawaii are mad as hell, and we’re determined not to take it anymore.

Do the right thing, MLB. End this blackout now!

(Email addresses of senior MLB executives can be found at the end of the post immediately below.)

Hawaii Baseball Fans Cry ‘Foul’ over Blackout of West Coast Teams' Games; MLB Condones It

2010-09-27T16:51:00.018-10:00

• If you're looking for the Times Supermarkets NLRB ruling, click here.

Hawaii fans of West Coast baseball teams -- and all the teams that play those teams -- have been fighting mad for all of the 2009 and 2010 seasons because of the infamous “MLB Blackout of Hawaii.” For several seasons through 2008, we enjoyed watching West Coast teams on the cable, satellite and broadcast channels available to us, as well as online at MLB.com. Then, starting in April last year, we suddenly couldn’t do that anymore – even though we had paid MLB and the cable/satellite companies for the privilege.

Major League Baseball began imposing a blackout on those teams’ games in Hawaii because, apparently, the suits at the various broadcast and cable-cast outfits with rights to the teams' games can’t get around to cutting a deal to carry those teams on their outlets here. Consequently, and because of some misguided thinking, MLB never allows Hawaii fans access to those games on MLB.com. Games almost always are also blacked out on regional and national networks like TBS, the Fox Saturday Game of the Week and even on ESPN on occasion.

Fans spent all last year and right up to today, the last Monday of the 2010 regular season, getting nowhere with MLB executives, Comcast, Oceanic Time-Warner, several baseball teams' management (notably the Giants) and maybe other intermediaries who've helped orchestrate the blackout. MLB’s top executives have been the biggest disappointment, either ignoring our emails and letters altogether or writing back with brush-offs on the theme of “it’s not my job.”

What about the fans!? What about MLB executives recognizing a public relations disaster and fixing it? Are we being unreasonable? The newspaper columnists we’ve contacted don’t think so. As Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote last September, this blackout is inexplicable except for the fact that it’s being driven by “knuckleheads.” Ferd Lewis of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser wrote last April that Hawaii fans are suffering from too much love. Every West Coast team considers the islands to be in its “home television territory.” That might make some sense on the mainland, but it’s ludicrous when the closest MLB game is more than 2,000 miles from our homes. Click here to read Scott’s column and here for Ferd’s.

We’re finally putting this issue online here at Comma`aina News. Two West Coast teams are battling to the wire in the National League West, so this seems like a good time. Will writing about it here on an obscure website do any good? Probably not, but MLB can’t hurt us any more than it already has.

Email Addresses: If you want to register your opinion with MLB's headquarters staff, you can start with Chief Operating Officer Bob DuPuy, whose email address is bob.dupuy@mlb.com (we've given up writing the Commissioner). Here are others you can copy on your email: chris.tully@mlb.com - john.mchalejr@mlb.com - allan.selig@mlb.com - rob.manfred@mlb.com

Blackouts in Hawaii Black Eye for MLB

2010-09-27T16:40:00.004-10:00

Sports columnist Ferd Lewis reflects on what it's like in Hawaii to be wanted too much.

By Ferd Lewis
April 18, 2010
Baseball fans in Hawai'i, we are wanted.

Right up and down the West Coast. The San Francisco Giants want us. The Oakland Athletics, too. Not to mention the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

All have claimed us and designated these islands as part of their "home markets" for broadcast purposes. Few areas in the country are apparently so coveted.

But before feeling too good about it, recognize the situation for what it is, a form of second-class status that has done us no favors and diminished us in a way that defies geography and snickers at common sense.

Because with being part of the designated "home markets" for those teams comes the head-scratching restriction that home games not sold out 48 hours are blacked out on many cable outlets and channels here, including MLB Extra Innings and MLB.com.

"Unfortunately, games involving Giants, A's Dodgers and Angels remain on the black-out list," Lonnie Shupp, director of program services for Oceanic Time Warner Cable, wrote in an e-mail Friday in response to questions.

Never mind that unlike someone living smack dab in the middle of San Francisco or Los Angeles, when you reside here there is no hopping into a car or jumping on a bus to get to a Giants, Dodgers, A's or Angels game. We know, we've tried and it gets wet.

You'd think that being separated by 2,500 miles of Pacific Ocean might qualify for some sort of an exemption. But that would be to assume logic plays some part in all this. And, after two years of checking, be assured it plays very little.

Apparently only Seattle passed geography 101 because, Oceanic said, the Mariners a while ago lifted their blackout "as a test" and have, so far, not reinstated it.

Or, perhaps like somebody involved with the Giants some years ago there was what the San Francisco Chronicle termed an "in-house error" made and, unlike the Giants, not caught. Presumably the offending Giants' employee was sent to the deep minors.

A number of Hawai'i residents have repeatedly tried to make their case to the powers that be — MLB, the clubs, their rights holders, cable networks. In the process they have run into more walls than Ken Griffey Jr.; seen more fingers pointed and less action than a session of Congress.

And here we are wading into another season and still no relief in sight. "We have pleaded our case for years to MLB to no avail," Shupp wrote. "Sorry, it is difficult to understand and very frustrating."

In the meantime, baseball fans, be wary of MLB doing us any more favors.

Scott Ostler's Knucklehead of the Week: The MLB-Giants-MLB.com-Cable TV Axis of Evil

2010-09-27T14:55:00.010-10:00

San Francisco Chronicle sports columnist Scott Ostler is always on the lookout for a stuffed shirt to deflate, and he's found quite a few of them mixed up in the "MLB Blackout of Hawaii." Here's what Scott wrote about the many Knuckleheads perpetuating this boneheaded PR disaster:

Scott Ostler, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, September 12, 2009
(09-12) 20:46 PDT -- The Axis is putting the squeeze on Hawaii, shutting that state out of telecasts and Internet feeds of Giants' games.

It's very complicated, but in brief: Five teams (Giants, A's, Dodgers, Angels, Mariners), with approval of MLB, claim Hawaii as home territory for broadcast rights.

I'm not sure why those teams don't also claim Montana, which is actually closer.

Giants' rights-holder Comcast has not reached a deal with Hawaiian cable carriers to carry Giants' games, so the games are blacked out there. Also off-limits: MLB.com game feeds.

Why single out the Giants? Because they are popular in Hawaii, and because they have ignored SOS pleas from their fans on the islands.

In past years, Hawaiian subscribers to MLB.com got Giants' games. Unannounced, that stopped this season. A TV source tells me that those feeds were an in-house error that was detected and corrected this season.

It's all another example of big bidness screwing the fan. As in: NFL blackouts.

Hey, Hawaii: If the Giants make the playoffs, we'll send you results via postcard. Aloha!
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