Detroit SportsNet - New TV Home of the Tigers & Red Wings

[Ken H]

MLB Sunday Leadoff was on exclusively on Roku the last two years but is back on NBC, Peacock, and the recently resurrected NBCSN, this year.

[CurlyHoward]

Scattering games across 7000 different channels and streaming services is confusing and will make people lose interest. But who needs fans when you can get a quick buck.

The best example of this is the Yankees' own channel YES showing reruns of Italian soccer on some weekday evenings when the Yankees are playing because the Yankees themselves are on Amazon Prime instead in the NYC market.

[statmanmi]

...
Streaming DSN is also available now for fuboTV and DirecTV subscribers using their apps.
...

My son and I watched the opener within the DirecTV Stream app on Roku, with no problems whatsoever.

Wednesday evening I signed up for DirecTV--specifically the MySports genre pack, with the add-on of My HomeTeam. The genre packs have a $20 off the first two months deal. There's a 5 day free trial period, so my cost will be just under $65/month as of Tuesday, if I don't cancel. DirecTV did put through a hold transaction on my credit card for this amount.

A few non-Tigers perks with DirecTV:
* It includes ESPN Unlimited, so we were able to watch all the NCAA Hockey Tournament games yesterday...even the one that was exclusive to ESPN+ (within the ESPN app).
* All MLB games have a free trial of sorts going in DirecTV for these first few days of the season, so we could watch other games for now.
* The DirecTV credential works in the NCAA March Madness app. Thus, in our Roku last evening with that app, I had two game Multiview going to watch the second halves simultaneously of the Iowa and Purdue victories.

One negative about DirecTV: No selectable Multiview.


Regarding fubo, that's the service I've used the last several months--but I cancelled and had it conclude on Monday, since it wasn't for sure known if DSN would be included. I likely will go back to it after the DTV free trial, because:
* I had gotten to like the selectable Multiview. (Would have been great to have college hockey and baseball simultaneous yesterday.) Note though that it's only certain Roku models that support Multiview--and not the newest Ultra nor older Ultra models (just one Ultra model from about 3 years ago.)
* fubo seems to often have deals e-mailed to me, as a past subscriber (as I tend to rotate through 3 different sets of e-mails/payment methods).
* I have HBO Max Standard plan paid through mid-April, thus providing the March Madness games on the Turner stations, and some NHL hockey games. We also have Peacock+ through our Walmart+, which gives us the NBC sports that aren't already on WOOD TV8 here in the GR area. Thus, fubo lacking Turner and NBC channels isn't a concern at this time.

Go Tigers! ~~ Statmanmi

[craigrussell100]

"Detroit SportsNet isn't replacing FanDuel. It's an additional channel on cable, satellite, and streaming systems. FanDuel will be around for the duration of the Pistons and Red Wings regular seasons, then it will be gone forever."

Thats kinda what I thought...another thought--could FDSN make it with just NBA games? Like only the Pistons...and their odd mix of darts/MMA/British Basketball/The Golics, etc...

"DSN is only on the air for the live games at this time, including the 30 minute pre and post game programs."

Kinda like PASS in the old days...interesting.

[80sTalkRadioFan]

So far, the only cable provider not carrying DSN in southern Monroe County Michigan/Toledo Ohio area seems to be Buckeye Broadband. No mention of it on their channel lineup page. They dropped Fan Duel last summer and don't seem to air any of the 3 MLB teams networks, the Tigers, Guardians, or Reds. I don't have their TV service anymore, so I'm going off their channel guides: https://www.buckeyebroadband.com/lineups

[CurlyHoward]

Looks like Suckeye doesn't have ESPN at all anymore either, but at least they have CSPAN3, OAN, and the Jewish Broadcasting Service

[MWmetalhead]

Thats kinda what I thought...another thought--could FDSN make it with just NBA games? Like only the Pistons...and their odd mix of darts/MMA/British Basketball/The Golics, etc...

FDSN's parent company has indicated the network is ceasing operation once the current NHL and NBA regular seasons conclude.

I wouldn't completely rule out someone purchasing pieces of the network out of bankruptcy, but that likely would only happen if new contracts with key parties were negotiated first or if an actual team were the purchaser.

FDSN used Bankruptcy law provisions to terminate all pre-existing team or league contracts.

The Pistons appear to be taking a wait-and-see attitude with Detroit SportsNet, which is smart on their part. It would not shock me if they were to buy FDSD at a fire sale price and then reshape the network into a scaled down operation under a new name.

[radioandtventhusiast]

Looks like Suckeye doesn't have ESPN at all anymore either, but at least they have CSPAN3, OAN, and the Jewish Broadcasting Service

They don't have ESPN. WNWO, the cable networks NBC used to own, and a few others too. They've really cut down on their lineup due to disputes.

[MWmetalhead]

Are they the only cable provider within the territory they (poorly) serve?

Thank goodness for streaming services.

Perhaps Suckeye should throw in the towel on offering cable video service. That's what WOW did a number of years ago. Now, they are simply a reseller of YouTube TV.

[radioandtventhusiast]

Are they the only cable provider within the territory they (poorly) serve?

Thank goodness for streaming services.

Perhaps Suckeye should throw in the towel on offering cable video service. That's what WOW did a number of years ago. Now, they are simply a reseller of YouTube TV.

In Lucas County, yes. I don't think Spectrum has service.

Buckeye has offered tech support for streaming services, but I don't know if many of their older customers they still have would understand streaming well.

Buckeye has had a contract with Promedica for years to carry their cable in their hospitals. Their lineup has always been pretty limited, going from 2 to the 60s, but with the disputes they've been having over the past year, especially, their lineup is probably a quarter if not half, of what it once was.

[DefendTheDen]

Suckeye Cable sounds like Suckyvision oh, I mean Cablevision in Kazoo in the 90s not many channels or they would add a channel that you had to pay extra for acting like they were adding channel when they really weren't. Suckyvision finally got ESPN2 in May of 1999 had to pay extra was a dollar or 2 which my parents paid for. I could only watch WOOD TV on rabbit ears in Jan 1997 to Jan 1998 as LIN & Suckyvision did not like each other 2 days before SB32 it returned. I was glad when Suckyvision left Kazoo and was bought out.

[CurlyHoward]

Are they the only cable provider within the territory they (poorly) serve?

Thank goodness for streaming services.

Perhaps Suckeye should throw in the towel on offering cable video service. That's what WOW did a number of years ago. Now, they are simply a reseller of YouTube TV.

In Lucas County, yes. I don't think Spectrum has service.

Buckeye has offered tech support for streaming services, but I don't know if many of their older customers they still have would understand streaming well.

Buckeye has had a contract with Promedica for years to carry their cable in their hospitals. Their lineup has always been pretty limited, going from 2 to the 60s, but with the disputes they've been having over the past year, especially, their lineup is probably a quarter if not half, of what it once was.

And don't forget where they have a virtual monopoly on internet service in much of Lucas County as well. Spectrum and a couple others have made inroads in the more affluent outer parts of metro Toledo, but are reluctant to deal with the older infrastructure in generally poorer parts of the county. So Buckeye gets away with charging ridiculously high prices because they have no competition and well, nobody wants to be without internet today.

Toledo was a naturally good market for cable TV at its infancy in the 70s and early 80s. Buckeye (then known simply as "The Cablesystem") provided reliable access to Detroit stations and CBET which were always in demand in Toledo because Toledo only had the big 3 networks and PBS until WUPW signed on in 1987. There was also a since-repealed MLB rule prohibiting MLB telecasts airing against local minor league teams playing games at home that made it tricky for Toledo stations to air the Tigers. Without a good antenna reception of Detroit stations could be tricky, in parts of the metro that were built before about 1990 you can still see tall rooftop or even tower antennas pointed towards Detroit. So Buckeye provided that and built up a customer base that they haven't fully bled 40 years of overcharging and lackluster service later.

Block Communications, owner of Buckeye, the Toledo Blade, the late Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and others, is a truly evil company.

[MichMash]

So here's my question. Please help me to understand this....

I registered for the DSN streaming account at the first offering (before any announcement about DSN being carried on local cable providers). I have Spectrum cable service and now DSN is available on my cable lineup (channel 291, Livonia). So, since DSN now appears on my cable package, I don't need the streaming account, right?

If I don't need streaming, I want to cancel my account by April 1, which is when they will bill me.

[MWmetalhead]

If you are able to watch DSN as part of your current cable subscription, there is no need for a streaming subscription, unless you want the ability to watch games on your mobile device.

I definitely would cancel the streaming subscription if I were you.

[Realist]

If you are able to watch DSN as part of your current cable subscription, there is no need for a streaming subscription, unless you want the ability to watch games on your mobile device.

I definitely would cancel the streaming subscription if I were you.

This is EXACTLY why I never fretted about this new network unlike some other people. So many people on FB were saying that they weren’t going to spend the money to subscribe to watch the games. All indications were that if you had cable or satellite with a sports package, you had nothing to worry about. Wha-la.