more tv ore less

[susandennis]

After I finished the last entry, I started digging internetly into watching Mariners in Seattle without cable. It's pretty much not possible.

The Mariners have a 100% exclusive deal with Root Sports. And that deal says you only see the game on Root Sports and you only get Root Sports with cable TV.

I have MLB.TV but it blacks out Mariner games. It turns out even the audio is blacked out. I will be checking that tonight. I can barely get AM radio in the living room - not in the rest of the house at all. I'll be testing out the audio for tonight's game but it sounds like that's a fail.

I might be able to watch games via MLB.TV if I use a VPN but only at the router level (android aps require gps id) and in my case, I'd have to buy and set up a bridge to get that. Plus pay for VPN.

Most of this was brought on by my checking my cable bill yesterday. I could not see the actual bill yet but I could see the total $250. That's just nuts.

I even checked Comcast. I could save some by switching to them but not really enough to make up for the pain of both switching and using them. I could switch the tv only and save some.

But really, there are no good options. I did go back to the cable website to see if the bill detail was ready for viewing and it was. And the total is $200 not $250 which made me feel a lot better. It's funny how much of a difference that last $50 makes to me.

But, of that $200, nearly $100 is simply the surcharge needed to get the baseball games. So basically, to watch Mariner baseball, it cost me about $5 a game. I'm still trying to noodle out whether or not it's worth it.

Comments

[dadi.livejournal.com]

Is there something essential you have to renounce because of it? Otherwise, if you enjoy it, get it. I pay through the nose in order to be able to watch all the important (to me) European soccer matches. Husband and I kind of pay for it by preparing our coffees at home and taking them to work most days instead of getting take out. Not a big sacrifice, we have a really good coffee maker. Watching all our matches is worth much more!

[susandennis]

Good points! Nope. I can afford it without giving up a thing. I need to follow your lead and just enjoy it and be grateful that I can afford it. Thanks for the reminder!

[siobhan63.livejournal.com]

I guess that's one advantage here in Toronto that the Jays are owned by Rogers, who are also the only cable TV providers (there's also Bell, but they provide TV a different way -- fibre optics or something), and who also own Sportsnet, which is the channel that carries all of the Jays games and is part of most cable packages (except for maybe the most basic one). I'd have Sportsnet even if I didn't want it just by having cable.

[texasts.livejournal.com]

Maybe check to see if the Mariners Radio Station (whatever it is) has a web presence. KIRO? ESPN Affiliate.

[susandennis]

Mariners radio is KIRO. On it, the game is available on AM radio only. Its internet stream blacked out here in Seattle for the game. VPN might be viable but not practical for me. I live in a building that only has AM radio reception in a one tiny section of my condo and even there, not good enough really.

[texasts.livejournal.com]

Maybe one of the other stations that usually broadcasts will have something. I looked at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Mariners_Radio_Network

And KIRO is available on the tunein radio app just in case you want to try that.

[susandennis]

The Mariners agreement with Root Sports is that they have the EXCLUSIVE rights to streaming and broadcast with the single exception of AM radio. So... no app is going to work. only AM over the airwaves radio.

[meowmensteen]

For what it's worth, KIRO's HD 2 channel plays 710. If you have an HD radio, you could hear the games that way. Of course HD radio has iffy reception depending on your location too.

[susandennis]

good to know but yeah same issue... btw enjoy your aaron-free week!