[Fumblerooskies]

Looks like MLB made a deal with the cable companies...

Major League Baseball and a consortium of cable companies said last night they had a deal to keep the out-of-market "Extra Innings" package available to cable subscribers.

A key to the deal is an agreement to broadly distribute the planned MLB Channel, set to launch in 2009, presumably to a minimum of 80 percent of digital subscribers - currently about 25 million homes. (Cable companies also will gain part ownership of the planned new channel.)

http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/ ... -headlines

I have the package on DirecTV, and the Strike Zone Channel (733) is great...they show all the big AB's of the stars, game changing situations, and all the ends of games...bouncing back and forth. Who needs a remote. Also new this year is the Game Mix...8 games at once!

[Sly Fox]

I'm glad to see something is staying on cable. We get enough rain here in Houston that I'm avoiding switching to DirecTv or Dish Network like the plague.

And yes, I have both at work. These free preview weeks are awesome.

[LUconn]

That's a myth the cable company planted in your brain. I've only lost the signal one time and it was because the dish was covered with snow.

[Sly Fox]

I have both DirecTv & Dish Network at work (and I've used both for 7-8 years) and we have issues with signal on a far too regular basis. But we get much more rain down here in Houston than you guys do in the 'Burg.

[Hold My Own]

I cant decide if I'm going to get it this year...it just seems like $190 for everything is alot of money to be spending....but I do love baseball....hmmmmm

[Libertine]

Actually, Foxy, LUConn's right. If you're having problems with satellite, it ain't b/c of the signal. Wind and rain do not affect the signal itself. I'd say that the culprit is faulty installation. You've probably got water condensation on a part that should've been protected or, more likely, the dish itself isn't properly bolted down.

[Fumblerooskies]

Just order an HD receiver...so I can watch the games on HD...starting TOMORROW...
...and oh, yes...it is MASTERS WEEKEND.

Easter present for ME!

[LUconn]

golf is the best sport for HD. When ever I walk in the room and see that wonderful grass in all of it's highly defined vibrance, I can't look away.

[Fumblerooskies]

I am going to try hard to have an HD antenna in for Sunday so I can get local channels.

[El Scorcho]

I'm glad to see something is staying on cable.

Satellite can't compete with cable for Internet, which is why I'll never switch. Until Verizon finishes rolling out their FiOS (fiber to the premises) service nationwide, cable will win by default for me.

[Libertine]

I'm glad to see something is staying on cable.

Satellite can't compete with cable for Internet, .

So true. I have satellite modem (thanks to living in the sticks) and, it certainly beats dial-up, but it's nowhere close to cable for speed.

[Sly Fox]

So you guys who have DirecTv or Dish Network are telling me you have no signal interference during storms? We pay a team of engineers triple-digit salaries to make sure that doesn't happen and it does even on our 35-foot C-band dishes.

[LUconn]

one time I had a channel not work because it was on some particular transponder on the sattelite. I just marveled at the fact that I was interacting with something that was orbiting the earth and then I changed the channel. I've been through a couple of storms, (I've only had it a year) and havent had any outages due to that.

[Libertine]

So you guys who have DirecTv or Dish Network are telling me you have no signal interference during storms?

I have no signal interference during storms. Next time, don't attach the C-Band dish to your house. I know it's Texas but not everything has to be bigger.

[Hold My Own]

Not here...once it was a flood like and it flickered...but I kept the signal maybe once or twice a year will I lose it for longer than 3 minutes

[El Scorcho]

Sounds like the problem must a Texas thing.

That's an easy problem to solve.

[flameshaw]

I have had DTV for donkeys years. The only time I have problems is when a storm is approaching. Signal is distorted anywhere from seconds to 2-3 minutes and that is all. The only time it really bothers me is if I am watching a hockey game or the Sopranos.