# Blackout Work-Around?



## Tince (Jul 11, 2004)

I apologize if this has already been covered...

Canzano claims that if you change your BILLING (not service) address to a location 150 miles outside of Portland, Blazer games will not be blacked out. Granted you would have to have NBA League Pass, which for major NBA fans is well worth it, and it would allow us dish subscribers to catch the Blazer games.

I already have auto-pay on my dish account, so sending my bill to a buddy outside the state wouldn't cause any delay or issue with my service. 

Can anyone confirm if this really works?


----------



## Masbee (Dec 31, 2002)

Tince said:


> I apologize if this has already been covered...
> 
> Canzano claims that if you change your BILLING (not service) address to a location 150 miles outside of Portland, Blazer games will not be blacked out. Granted you would have to have NBA League Pass, which for major NBA fans is well worth it, and it would allow us dish subscribers to catch the Blazer games.
> 
> ...


Didn't work that way for me with DirecTV a few years back. DirecTV didn't care where the billing address was. Made no difference to anything. In fact, it is still an out of state billing address right now and I am blacked out. 

What matters is the "location" address you tell DirecTV. Just call them up and say "I moved, set everything up myself, here is my new location address and zip." I did that years back. No more blackout on NBA TV.

However, locals were not available. DirecTV uses (used?) specific sats for locals and the spot beam only goes so far outside each metro local market.

When the sat box was registered for an out of state address to avoid the blackouts, it locks the box into the locals (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS) for the out of state zip code. Problem is, that was too far, and the dish couldn't see the signal for the out of area locals. But the locals it could see, where blocked by the box as those weren't my "local" stations. Arrrg!

So, I didn't get any of those channels from either location. I used an antenna, but couldn't TIVO any programs from that, and my reception was poor, which was a pain. So, I "moved" again so I could get locals. 

Don't know if the same technical difficulties would happen with Dish. If no, you are golden. If yes, maybe you have the option of using an antenna for locals. You could always get a separate DVR to record the locals.


----------



## Tince (Jul 11, 2004)

Masbee said:


> Didn't work that way for me with DirecTV a few years back. DirecTV didn't care where the billing address was. Made no difference to anything. In fact, it is still an out of state billing address right now and I am blacked out.
> 
> What matters is the "location" address you tell DirecTV. Just call them up and say "I moved, set everything up myself, here is my new location address and zip." I did that years back. No more blackout on NBA TV.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the info! 

It sounds like Canzano didn't have his facts straight, shocking! I got my hopes up but it sounded too good to be true. 

From what you're saying, it sounds like I need to choose from:
1) No local channels w/out antenna, and certainly no HD on the local channels, including Blazer games on KGW, Super Bowl, BCS games, etc etc. 
2) HD for all the major sporting events and shows, plus the Blazer games on KGW and national TV, but nothing outside of that.

I (we) shouldn't have to be making these choices!


----------



## taterz (Sep 14, 2007)

Instead of getting NBA league pass just get comcast basic as well as dish for 6months. Even if you add HD and set up its still about the same price.


----------



## dreamcloud (Aug 8, 2008)

You need comcast extended to get CSN, pretty sure basic doesn't have it


----------



## Tince (Jul 11, 2004)

taterz said:


> Instead of getting NBA league pass just get comcast basic as well as dish for 6months. Even if you add HD and set up its still about the same price.


Like dreamcloud said, I don't think that comes part of the basic package. On top of that, I normally get league pass, but I thought this might be a way to sneak some Blazer coverage without doing some drastic.


----------



## keebs3 (Feb 19, 2004)

Ok, I'm going to sound real dumb here but I have some basic questions...

I've been seeing all the posts on the Comcast/Direct TV war. About blackouts and how Comcast sucks.

Am I right in thinking that people hate Comcast because they blackout games for people who live close to downtown Portland (to increase ticket sales??). 

Cause I've had Comcast for 2 years. I lived in Lake Oswego and now am in SW Portland. I've never had any issues watching Blazer games. Am I outside the blackout range? If I lived 5 miles closer to the city center would I be out of luck?

Just not real clear on this entire debate. I should be I know but if anyone wants to give up a few minutes to explain it I'd be gratefull 

JMK


----------



## Tince (Jul 11, 2004)

I'm speaking for other people, but here are a few reasons why people are made at comcast:

1) They think it's over-priced and/or the lowest quality provider.
2) They are locked in a satellite contract and can't switch to Comcast without a major penalty
3) Comcast/VIOS isn't offered in their area so they couldn't pay any amount of money to watch the Blazers.

As for the blackout; it really only applies to people who live within 150 miles of Portland, don't have Comcast or VIOS, but are paying for the NBA League Pass. League Pass provides basically every NBA game, but is required to block out an areas local team so the local channels get the viewership. I'm sure ComcastSportsNW could waive this, but based on the fact they won't offer their channel at a reasonable price, I can't imagine why they wouldn't want to take advantage of their strong position of having a product in high demand with full control of its rights to their competition. 

There is no doubt that the Blazers are just as much at fault for signing off on this deal before Comcast was willing to make their channel available to the majority of Oregonians. Comcast is trying to use their leverage and ask (reportedly) three times the normally asking price from satellite providers.

This whole situation is crappy and there is no end in sight. I was just crossing my fingers that I could somehow cheat the system without having to pay an extra $50 a month to have both Comcast and Dish.


----------



## Dornado (May 26, 2003)

or rock the NBA League Pass broadband and watch the game on delay. (I do this with Bulls games... wait till the girlfriend goes to sleep and voila.) They'll be blacked out initially, but you should have access to the game in the archive (usually takes a few hours after game time for it to pop up).


----------



## Tince (Jul 11, 2004)

keebs3 said:


> Ok, I'm going to sound real dumb here but I have some basic questions...
> 
> I've been seeing all the posts on the Comcast/Direct TV war. About blackouts and how Comcast sucks.
> 
> ...


To answer your question in a little more detail... 

You can watch all Blazer games on ComcastSports NW if:
1) You subscribe to Comcast or Verizon VIOS.
2) You have NBA league pass and live 150 miles or further Portland.


----------



## keebs3 (Feb 19, 2004)

Interesting...

So people getmbad cause they think its overpriced. They can't switch for cheap. And their current provider won't let them watch all the Blazer games...? 

Just seems weird to me cause eveyone I know has comcast and has never had an issue with watching Blazer games so I was a bit confused why this was such a debate... Still kinda am 

Oh well, thanks for the answers everyone!


----------



## mgb (Jun 26, 2004)

keebs3 said:


> Interesting...
> 
> So people get bad cause they think its overpriced. They can't switch for cheap. And their current provider won't let them watch all the Blazer games...?
> 
> ...


Comcast made a deal with the Blazers to carry most of their games, but they haven't made a deal with the satellite companies so their viewers can't see the games. That's why people like me, I have Directv, and people that has Dish is so mad is because they have not came to a agreement with satellite companies. I blame Comcast(and the Blazers for signing the deal without making sure a deal would get done) because from what I've heard they are charging more than they should. They would rather people switch to Comcast or at least I think so. Meanwhile the people that can't get Comcast(or Verizon now that they have made deal with Verizon) are left out in the cold because they can't sign with either company. If they don't live outside of the 150 mile area they are just screwed. Games they use to be able to get on NBA pass they no longer can get. So not only are we not getting 60 some odd Blazers games we are getting less than ever some more than others.

Last year before the season started it was promise that a deal would be made by the time the season started. No deal. No deal all the way through the season. Still no deal,,,though they are negotiating! RIGHT! BS!

Ok, does that shed a little light on why some people are mad at Comcast? As you can probably tell I'm one of the mad at Comcast people. :rant:


----------



## gatorpops (Dec 17, 2004)

mgb said:


> Comcast made a deal with the Blazers to carry most of their games, but they haven't made a deal with the satellite companies so their viewers can't see the games. That's why people like me, I have Directv, and people that has Dish is so mad is because they have not came to a agreement with satellite companies. I blame Comcast(and the Blazers for signing the deal without making sure a deal would get done) because from what I've heard they are charging more than they should. They would rather people switch to Comcast or at least I think so. Meanwhile the people that can't get Comcast(or Verizon now that they have made deal with Verizon) are left out in the cold because they can't sign with either company. If they don't live outside of the 150 mile area they are just screwed. Games they use to be able to get on NBA pass they no longer can get. So not only are we not getting 60 some odd Blazers games we are getting less than ever some more than others.
> 
> Last year before the season started it was promise that a deal would be made by the time the season started. No deal. No deal all the way through the season. Still no deal,,,though they are negotiating! RIGHT! BS!
> 
> Ok, does that shed a little light on why some people are mad at Comcast? As you can probably tell I'm one of the mad at Comcast people. :rant:


DITTO!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## HAMMERHEAD (Jul 7, 2005)

I heard from a solid source that when Dish/Direct TV struck a deal with CSN in Sacramento, they agreed to pay XXX amount per subscriber and at that time the Sac CSN station only had the Kings on board. Here in Portland, CSN has the Trail Blazers and the Ducks, yet Dish/Direct TV is not willing to pay a cheaper amount per subscriber than what they pay in Sacramento. Knowing that, it sort of shifts my blame towards Dish/Direct TV, not Comcast.


----------



## mgb (Jun 26, 2004)

HAMMERHEAD said:


> I heard from a solid source that when Dish/Direct TV struck a deal with CSN in Sacramento, they agreed to pay XXX amount per subscriber and at that time the Sac CSN station only had the Kings on board. Here in Portland, CSN has the Trail Blazers and the Ducks, *yet Dish/Direct TV is not willing to pay a cheaper amount per subscriber than what they pay in Sacramento. Knowing that*, it sort of shifts my blame towards Dish/Direct TV, not Comcast.


How do you know that? How do you know they are not willing to pay a cheaper amount per subscriber than what they pay in Sacramento? You got a link for that? A link that shows what Comcast is asking? From what Canzano said they are being ask to charge every subscriber, not just local subscribers, which is ridiculous. I wish I knew for sure. From what I've read/heard it's been Comcast that has been the hold up. After all, there has been many deals made between Comcast and Directv, not just with Sacramento, so both sides know what it takes to get the deal done. Why wouldn't Directv not sign a reasonable deal? Comcast on the other hand has plenty of reason to at least delay the signing because until they do people may switch to them as a provider. 

It would be nice though to know for a fact which side is being unreasonable.


----------



## Balian (Apr 11, 2008)

There is always the internet. You can watch streams of NBA games on a variety of sites.


----------



## dreamcloud (Aug 8, 2008)

FFS, pre-season is just a little over two weeks away, and still NOTHING. This is becoming emergency times, I want to be able to watch Greg Oden and the rest of the Blazers, wtf!

And every site that had NBA game streams got shut down so far, leaving me with no games at times last year..very frustrating. I'd have to beg in a p2p forum just for someone to stream it, which is ridicilous.. Hell I'll pay 10 bux per month for that channel on Dish Network alone even if it means I can watch the Blazers on a consistent basis..


----------



## Short Bus Ryder (Jun 8, 2007)

Wait a minute, where there people who lived in Portland last year who has comcast that had games blacked out?
I live in Portland and have comcast and did'nt have any blackout issues, I live in Milwaukie but thats pretty close. 
I've heard all the comcast gripes and and I agree its BS, but if I have Comcast and my Blazer Games get blacked out I'm going to join the fight a little more.


----------



## Tince (Jul 11, 2004)

Short Bus Ryder said:


> Wait a minute, where there people who lived in Portland last year who has comcast that had games blacked out?
> I live in Portland and have comcast and did'nt have any blackout issues, I live in Milwaukie but thats pretty close.
> I've heard all the comcast gripes and and I agree its BS, but if I have Comcast and my Blazer Games get blacked out I'm going to join the fight a little more.


People who don't have Comcast, but has NBA League Pass, will have the Blazer games blocked out if they live within 150 miles of Portland.


----------



## HAMMERHEAD (Jul 7, 2005)

mgb said:


> How do you know that? How do you know they are not willing to pay a cheaper amount per subscriber than what they pay in Sacramento? You got a link for that? A link that shows what Comcast is asking? From what Canzano said they are being ask to charge every subscriber, not just local subscribers, which is ridiculous. I wish I knew for sure. From what I've read/heard it's been Comcast that has been the hold up. After all, there has been many deals made between Comcast and Directv, not just with Sacramento, so both sides know what it takes to get the deal done. Why wouldn't Directv not sign a reasonable deal? Comcast on the other hand has plenty of reason to at least delay the signing because until they do people may switch to them as a provider.
> 
> It would be nice though to know for a fact which side is being unreasonable.


Sorry, cant provide a link. My source is solid, much better than Crapzano, so take it for what its worth. Dish/Direct TV DOES pay per subscriber in Sacramento. Comcast is asking them to do the same thing here at a cheaper rate. I'm no expert, but I think its safe to say that the Trail Blazers and Oregon Ducks are worth more to the Portland market, not less, then just the Kings are to Sacramento.


----------



## DarthBlaze (Dec 17, 2005)

dreamcloud said:


> You need comcast extended to get CSN, pretty sure basic doesn't have it


No, CSN channel 37 comes with Limited Basic cable for $7.28/month.


----------



## DarthBlaze (Dec 17, 2005)

I thought this was common sense but if you're living in an area with Comcast and AT&T before it and the home or apartment you live in previously had cable then you're getting free basic cable right now. The only catch is your TV must be fairly new, maybe 6-8 years old. The Sony Trinitron for example, connect a coaxial cable from the wall to the TV. Go into the TV's settings>channel setup>cable and change it from off to on. This has worked for me in every home or apartment for the past 6 years.


----------



## chris_in_pdx (Jul 11, 2004)

DarthBlaze said:


> No, CSN channel 37 comes with Limited Basic cable for $7.28/month.


Link? I can't find any conformation of this on Comcast's website. Hell, I can't even find out if the limited basic package still exists.


----------



## DarthBlaze (Dec 17, 2005)

chris_in_pdx said:


> Link? I can't find any conformation of this on Comcast's website. Hell, I can't even find out if the limited basic package still exists.


www.comcast.com >shop >digital cable on demand >fill out Street Address and ZIP Code >See Prices & Choose Package: scroll down to find Limited Basic Package.


----------



## chris_in_pdx (Jul 11, 2004)

DarthBlaze said:


> www.comcast.com >shop >digital cable on demand >fill out Street Address and ZIP Code >See Prices & Choose Package: scroll down to find Limited Basic Package.


Got it, but the Limited Basic package stops at channel 31. You have to choose "Limited Basic" from the drop down box menu.

Comcast Limited Basic:

2 KATU (ABC) Lifestyle 
3 KRCW-TV (CW) Lifestyle 
4 TV Guide Network News & Info 
5 KPXG (ION) Lifestyle 
6 KOIN (CBS) Lifestyle 
7 Discovery News & Info 
8 KGW (NBC) Lifestyle 
9 WGN (Chicago) Lifestyle 
10 KOPB (PBS) Lifestyle 
11 Access: Public (CAN) News & Info 
12 KPTV (FOX) Lifestyle 
13 KPDX (MY) Lifestyle 
16 QVC Lifestyle 
17 HSN Lifestyle 
20 KNMT (TBN) Lifestyle 
21 Access: Public News & Info 
22 ShopNBC Lifestyle 
23 Access: Public News & Info 
24 C-SPAN News & Info 
25 C-SPAN 2 News & Info 
26 Telemundo Multicultural 
27 Access: Education (CC) News & Info 
28 Access: Education (K-12) News & Info 
30 Access: Government News & Info 
31 Univision (KUNP) Multicultural 
98 Jewelry Television* Lifestyle 
99 Leased Access* News & Info 
164 ShopNBC* Lifestyle 
308 NBC Weather Plus* News & Info 
310 OPB Create* Lifestyle 
311 The Oregon Channel * News & Info 
315 TV Mart* Lifestyle 
317 Azteca America (KXPD)* Multicultural


----------



## DarthBlaze (Dec 17, 2005)

chris_in_pdx said:


> Got it, but the Limited Basic package stops at channel 31. You have to choose "Limited Basic" from the drop down box menu.




You're right, sorry.


----------



## LOTBFan (Jul 4, 2008)

Spend 5 bucks on a couple of pints of PBR and watch it on a big screen at any number of bars in the city.


----------



## Perfection (May 10, 2004)

LOTBFan said:


> Spend 5 bucks on a couple of pints of PBR and watch it on a big screen at any number of bars in the city.


Last summer my roommate that I moved into with didn't have cable. Trying to watch OSU in the College World Series and the NBA Draft cost so much $$$ in beer and food that it would have been cheaper to get cable for a couple of months.


----------



## DarthBlaze (Dec 17, 2005)

LOTBFan said:


> Spend 5 bucks on a couple of pints of PBR and watch it on a big screen at any number of bars in the city.


Have any recommendations?


----------



## LOTBFan (Jul 4, 2008)

downtown buffalo wild wings is a sponsor, tryon on terwillager is a favorite of mine on the west side, micky finns on woodstock in southeast... those are my favorites


----------



## Tortimer (Jun 4, 2007)

HAMMERHEAD said:


> Sorry, cant provide a link. My source is solid, much better than Crapzano, so take it for what its worth. Dish/Direct TV DOES pay per subscriber in Sacramento. Comcast is asking them to do the same thing here at a cheaper rate. I'm no expert, but I think its safe to say that the Trail Blazers and Oregon Ducks are worth more to the Portland market, not less, then just the Kings are to Sacramento.


From everything I have heard that is not true. I'm not saying I have a ton of connections but Comcast unless they lowered their asking price in the last week is asking way more then they are charging on any of their other sports networks on Dish and Directv. It isn't even close.

I can say almost for sure if Comcast is offering a lower price then they are charging on other Comcast sportsnets the deal would be done in a heart beat. You must work for Comcast or have some vested interest to even say something like this! I would love for you to provide a link or article or any info from Comcast to backup your claim.


----------



## Tince (Jul 11, 2004)

If Dish & Direct TV had a reasonable offer on the table, there is no reason to think that ONE if not both of these companies would not take advantage of it.

DishNetwork and Direct TV are in competition with each other, as well as other television providers. A lot of dish customers do not like Comcast, but would be much more likely to switch from one satellite company to another. So if Direct TV could secure CSNNW for a resonable price, they would jump all over it and quickly try to steal as many DishNetwork customers are possible. 

Your Comcast insider seems to be playing you. There is no logical reason for these companies to pass on a tool that could increase their subscribers.


----------



## mgb (Jun 26, 2004)

HAMMERHEAD said:


> Sorry, cant provide a link. My source is solid, much better than Crapzano, so take it for what its worth. Dish/Direct TV DOES pay per subscriber in Sacramento. Comcast is asking them to do the same thing here at a cheaper rate. I'm no expert, but I think its safe to say that the Trail Blazers and Oregon Ducks are worth more to the Portland market, not less, then just the Kings are to Sacramento.


Tell you the truth I put very little value to Crazona source, but no offense I put less to yours. It just common sense that if Directv could get it at a price like you are saying they would jump at the chance. They have for all the other CS channels except for Philadelphia and it looks like Comcast is doing the same thing here that they did in Philadelphia.



> Unlike most other cable networks, CSN Philadelphia is only distributed via microwave and fiber optics. The infrastructure Comcast uses for this was left over from the now defunct PRISM Network. *Since its programming is not transmitted by satellite, Comcast is able to avoid an FCC regulation that requires most television channels to be offered to direct broadcast satellite companies. Thus, DBS customers in the Philadelphia region do not get access to the network or any of the local teams' games.* However, cable companies other than Comcast within the designated CSN Philadelphia market do have access to the channel. *In December 2006, Comcast even made a deal to place CSN Philadelphia on Verizon's competing FiOS systems.*(_Exactly what they've done here_)[2] All of the other members of Comcast SportsNet are available to DBS subscribers, with the exception of CSN Northwest (however this is only because DirecTV and Dish Network have not been able to reach a carriage agreement with Comcast).


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSN_Philadelphia


----------



## hasoos (Jan 3, 2003)

taterz said:


> Instead of getting NBA league pass just get comcast basic as well as dish for 6months. Even if you add HD and set up its still about the same price.



Except that Comcast signal and picture sucks ***. I have seen both in person many times, and I would take my Dish over it any day of the week.


----------



## Foulzilla (Jan 11, 2005)

hasoos said:


> Except that Comcast signal and picture sucks ***. I have seen both in person many times, and I would take my Dish over it any day of the week.


This is true, although the games shown in HD looked good (on MOJO). It's just the CSN channel itself that has a poor picture. I really hope they improve it for this season, as only home games were shown HD.


----------



## HAMMERHEAD (Jul 7, 2005)

Tortimer said:


> From everything I have heard that is not true. I'm not saying I have a ton of connections but Comcast unless they lowered their asking price in the last week is asking way more then they are charging on any of their other sports networks on Dish and Directv. It isn't even close.
> 
> I can say almost for sure if Comcast is offering a lower price then they are charging on other Comcast sportsnets the deal would be done in a heart beat. You must work for Comcast or have some vested interest to even say something like this! I would love for you to provide a link or article or any info from Comcast to backup your claim.



I find this funny. So do you have a vested interest in Dish or Direct TV? Do you work for them? You ask for a link, but where is yours? I dont work for Comcast. No lie.

Like I said before, Comcast asking Dish/Direct TV to pay per subscriber here in Portland seems reasonable to me, considering they have made similiar deals with Dish/Direct TV in other markets.


----------



## Tortimer (Jun 4, 2007)

HAMMERHEAD said:


> I find this funny. So do you have a vested interest in Dish or Direct TV? Do you work for them? You ask for a link, but where is yours? I dont work for Comcast. No lie.
> 
> Like I said before, Comcast asking Dish/Direct TV to pay per subscriber here in Portland seems reasonable to me, considering they have made similiar deals with Dish/Direct TV in other markets.


I never said the Comcast asking for pay per subscriber here in Portland is unreasonable. That is exactly what they are doing. That is the way all the regional sportsnet are being paid by Directv. They pay more for local subscribers and less for other subscribers. Comcast is trying to charge way to much for the local and very unreasonable for the other subscribers that don't even care about CSNW. I just know they are not asking for less then other Comcast sportsnet carried on Directv. In fact as of a week or two ago they were still asking for more a lot more. It just seemed like your trying to spin it as a Directv/Dish and any other cable system problem not Comcast. If Comcast was offering it so cheap there would be a lot more cable companies jumping at the chance to carry CSNW. I would think Charter Comm owned by PA would have carried the channel if it was so reasonable.


----------

