What are blackouts when it comes to satellite television? Are they a
technical glitch or caused by some other factor? Sports blackouts are a
common problem in every distribution service, including cable networks,
network TV stations as well as satellite providers. Blackouts are not a
technical glitch; rather, some networks are legally required to
blackout their viewers because another network has exclusive
broadcasting rights in a certain area. Therefore, DirecTV never
intentionally causes blackouts, nor does it suffer from poor
communication. Rather, the provider has to follow certain restrictions
as ordered by various sports leagues or other copyright holders such as
the ESPN Channel and TNT Network. Read More
How can you better understand the phrase blackout? It has more to do with
copyright law than anything else. If a national broadcasting service has
national rights to broadcast a game from a major league such as the NBA, NFL,
NHL or MLB. However, this does not mean that you will have to miss the game
entirely. There's not much sense in having a sports package if you can't watch
live games! The situation may merely call for you to channel flip between your
sports package channel and another channel that has exclusive broadcasting
rights. (With satellite TV you get all of the channels available) Thus, all you
have to do is find the broadcasting network, whether it is a cable station like
ESPN or ESPN2 or a network like CBS.
Nevertheless, most customers report
positive experiences with satellite TV regarding game coverage and only a
minimal amount of blackouts. Even if there is a problem with viewing a game,
DirecTV offers a backup plan. For example: say a local off-air broadcast channel
has the rights to broadcast a game in a specific region; that means customers in
the area would not be able to receive the game feed through a satellite TV
subscription. However, if a regional sports network DirecTV carries has these
broadcasting rights those customers can view the game through a Choice or Sports
Pack special subscription.
Some sports packages that might be affected by blackouts include NFL Sunday
Ticket, NBA League Pass, NHL Center Ice, ESPN Gameplan, ESPN Full Court, MLB
Extra Innings, MLS Direct Kick, Mega March Madness and Setanta Sports. Another
reason why some games might be blacked out (though a very rare one) is in the
event that the home team fails to sell out the stadium at least 72 hours in
advance. Blackouts are sometimes ordered in attempt to protect the home game
attendance and assure the entertainment value of a full stadium. In this event,
it is likely that the provider will be denied distribution.
However, most sports fans never seem to mind blackouts, either because they
rarely deny the viewer access to the game. It's mainly just a formality of
switching over to a station that has the right to broadcast a live event.
Blackouts are not technical-in fact, satellite TV statistically performs better
than cable television when it comes to clear reception and uninterrupted
service.
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Satellite TV).
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