When we said we were not going to let this go, we meant it. We had been hearing that this NHL black-out problem extended much further than just Cablevision customers, and here is more proof.
The Dish Network pulled OLN from its system because of the network's refusal to air NHL games. The Dish Network, like Cablevision, does not carry OLN on a basic tier, but requires subscribers to pay extra for additional sports channels.
OLN set a requirement that the channel must be seen by 40 percent of a cable or satellite TV system's viewers in order for it to broadcast the NHL games. It said Dish Network has failed to meet that requirement.
So essentially, what the NHL is allowing OLN to do is use hockey fans as pawns to try and force cable and satellite companies to put the network on basic tiers. We understand Comcast's desire to have OLN reach more homes, but this is no way to go about it.
What is the NHL's response?
"We are confident that Comcast will successfully resolve any OLN distribution issues,'' NHL spokesman Frank Brown said.
This is the NHL effectively abandoning its fans in favor of corporate greed. They knew of these problems when they partnered with Comcast and OLN, and Gary Bettman was fully prepared to allow them to use fans in this bully tactic.
Richard Sandomir in yesterday's NY Times also talked about these cable wars, far more eloquently than I could ever hope to.
"The games you've expected to see since last Monday have been replaced by other programs on OLN - which, until making its deal with the N.H.L., was known largely for carrying the Tour de France - because its parent company, Comcast, wants to boost the number of its own subscribers.
It is a fine aspiration for OLN, which is in about 65 million cable homes, to want to broaden its availability, especially since it reaches 25 million fewer TV homes than ESPN and ESPN2, the league's former cable networks.
But do you deprive Cablevision and DISH viewers of what they were expecting so you can pursue the goal of rapidly increasing the number of subscribers?
What do you tell viewers who have heard about OLN's Monday and Tuesday night games and believed the promise in the network's advertising slogan, "We Believe in Hockey"?"
Once again, we encourage you to contact the parties involved and let them know how you feel. It doesn't matter if you are directly affected by this, as HOCKEY fans we need to stick together until we are treated like fans of any other sport. We are the consumers, not pawns. Let them know that.
National Hockey League:
1251 Avenue of the Americas, 47th. Floor. New York, NY 10020
Phone: (212) 789-2000
OLN:
Two Stamford Plaza - 9th Floor, 281 Tresser Boulevard, Stamford, CT 06901
Phone: (203) 406-2500
Cablevision:
1111 Stewart Avenue, Bethpage, NY 11714
Phone: (516) 803-2300
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