MLB.TV or no?

by Peder on Mar 4, 2006 9:35 AM CST

I'm trying to decide which way to go this year and I'd love some input from you guys. For the last few years I've gotten Extra Innings through our cable provider. The cost has been about $160. I've gotten to see the majority (90%+) of White Sox games with about 60% of them with home announcers. I can use DVR to record the games but they don't announce the channel until the day of so you can't plan ahead if you're out of town.
MLB.TV will cost about half as much. Will it cover all of the games or just most? Do I get to pick home/away announcers? Can I replay past games? Are there any hidden things I should know about?

Any input will be helpful. Thanks!

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ha

A few things about MLB.tv.

*You will get all the games except the ones that are blacked out.
*The announcers you get is kind of random.
*You have to pay extra to replay the games (couple more dollars a month)
*Quality is about 85% of Television quality
*Works on RealPlayer & Windows Media Player (I suggest real)

Now the awful news:

It is an auto-renewel billing system, so if you pay for one month, they will charge you the next month automatically, same goes from year to year. Now, that wouldn't be as bad if it was easy to unsubscribe, but it isn't. To unsubscribe you have to call a 1-800 # and talk to an agent. I was on hold for over 30 mins yesterday with no luck. I'm going to try again right now.

AIM: shaftr01

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by shaftr on Mar 4, 2006 9:55 AM CST reply actions

oh yeah

You also have to call during office hours (M-F 9-5). Before all this awful unsubscription part, I was a fan of MLB.tv. I might just call my bank and tell them to not allow them to take money out of my account. That will get them to contact me.

AIM: shaftr01

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by shaftr on Mar 4, 2006 10:04 AM CST up reply actions

Blacked out games

are the Saturday games when the Sox are on Fox. (They're scheduled for 6 of these right now, but that could change.)

AIM: SouthSideCheat

by The Cheat on Mar 4, 2006 12:03 PM CST reply actions

MLB.tv

It's just the Extra Innings feed to your computer, with worse quality on a smaller screen. If Extra Innings is only $160 bucks for an entire season, the decision is really a no-brainer.

AIM: i2ockbotm

by 3E8 on Mar 4, 2006 12:05 PM CST reply actions

As soon as I cancel MLB.tv

I'm ordering Extra Innings.

AIM: shaftr01

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by shaftr on Mar 4, 2006 12:08 PM CST up reply actions

Thanks guys

Now I just need to convince the wife.

-Peder

by Peder on Mar 4, 2006 2:41 PM CST reply actions

Extra Innings

It would be great if you got mlb.tv with your Extra Innings subscription, for when you are away from your tv. This isn't a far-fetched proposal - it's exactly what you get with NBA League Pass (ie, you get free access to video of the games on nba.com as well).

This is a new feature, so hopefully MLB will learn from it.

by goldstone97 @ South Side Sox on Mar 4, 2006 3:47 PM CST reply actions

MLB pioneered streaming sporting events

thanks to the innovation of the pr0n industry.

MLBAM has loaned their services to Track & Field, various world championships, and i'm pretty sure they're running the CSTV stuff for the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

Now if they could just for a pact with OLN so they could stream the Tour de France, I'd be all set. I'd pay $20-$30 for 3 weeks of tour coverage on my computer.

AIM: SouthSideCheat

by The Cheat on Mar 4, 2006 4:15 PM CST up reply actions

If you don't have DVR like the orignal poster,

then another dimension is added to the decision because MLB.tv automatically archives every single game from the current season as well as the last for easy viewing whenever.

AIM: i2ockbotm

by 3E8 on Mar 4, 2006 4:13 PM CST reply actions