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WGN America dropping Sox, other Chicago sports


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QUOTE (1dog @ May 31, 2014 -> 12:54 AM)
No kidding, caught by your cable co? What did they do? Just curious, I have never done it, but wanted to throw it out there.

 

I take it you can't get DirecTV or Dish? You would get CSN Chicago as your regional sports network at least.

He ran a proxy off his PS3 2 years ago............MLB.TV blocked his account off some program they run to find phony IP addresses. Landlord does not allow dishes.

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There's only two reasons to watch WGN; Sports and Tom Skilling.

 

Part of the reason I'm a White Sox fan, aside from the Barons affiliation, is because of WGN. I remember watching Sammy Sosa with his jehri curl playing for the White Sox. And Cubs games too. Anyway, this sucks, but we all saw it coming.

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QUOTE (1dog @ May 31, 2014 -> 12:27 AM)
I want to feel bad for ya, but I don't understand any of this. How do you live 90 miles straight south of Chicago and your cable company is based in Missouri? And you live in the northern most point? I am not great with geography, but wtf.

 

Regardless, have you googled "how to bypass MLB.TV blackouts" or something similar? Might cost you a couple bucks for a reliable proxy, but would be worth it if you already have MLB.TV.

 

Proxies get a little dicey.. I've been using a VPN and that's been pretty fool proof. I live in the heart of "in-market." And I can still watch Sox games on MLB.tv

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QUOTE (Soxfest @ May 31, 2014 -> 01:10 AM)
He ran a proxy off his PS3 2 years ago............MLB.TV blocked his account off some program they run to find phony IP addresses. Landlord does not allow dishes.

Buy a cheap iPad. Jail break it, download a location spoofing app and you can watch via the at bat app, as it uses the tablets GPS and not IP.

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QUOTE (Soxfest @ May 30, 2014 -> 07:16 PM)
Looks like I will not see many Sox games. It is a joke to live 90 miles straight south of Chicago and no way to see Sox play many games on tv. WGN and WCIU are my only lifelines, got mlbtv but blacked out even though I have no access to Comcast Sportnet Chicago. My cable company is based out of Missouri and I live in northern most point.

90 miles huh! I've seen Red Sox or Yankee games blackout here in Rochester and it's 400 miles away..

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QUOTE (kev211 @ May 31, 2014 -> 08:10 PM)
Buy a cheap iPad. Jail break it, download a location spoofing app and you can watch via the at bat app, as it uses the tablets GPS and not IP.

Not going to work anymore since early May. MLB has followed the procedure from their Android app and changed the At Bat app for iPhone, iPod and iPad to force the use of location services. These can’t be bypassed by any vpn or proxy service. These devices now require the location services to be enabled in order for the app to function. This will give away location regardless of the DNS changes.

Edited by Soxfest
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QUOTE (Soxfest @ Jun 1, 2014 -> 12:31 PM)
Not going to work anymore since early May. MLB has followed the procedure from their Android app and changed the At Bat app for iPhone, iPod and iPad to force the use of location services. These can’t be bypassed by any vpn or proxy service. These devices now require the location services to be enabled in order for the app to function. This will give away location regardless of the DNS changes.

if you have a laptop/computer, why not use those sites with the free games?

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QUOTE (Melissa1334 @ Jun 1, 2014 -> 12:58 PM)
if you have a laptop/computer, why not use those sites with the free games?

I have the quality of streams on vipbox skips a lot. I found a way that works on my gaming system today watching game now problem solved.

Edited by Soxfest
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QUOTE (Soxfest @ Jun 1, 2014 -> 01:04 PM)
I have the quality of streams on vipbox skips a lot. I found a way that works on my gaming system today watching game now problem solved.

yea thats the site i use to watch non sox games, ppv fights, etc too

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QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jun 3, 2014 -> 11:22 PM)
Cubs booted off wgn radio after 90 years.

 

Still waiting for all of the Cubs attendance articles... This will be year #6 in a row of falling attendance, and down about 20% from the peak. Also losing media outlets now? This would be front page news for the White Sox.

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QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 4, 2014 -> 08:23 AM)
Still waiting for all of the Cubs attendance articles... This will be year #6 in a row of falling attendance, and down about 20% from the peak. Also losing media outlets now? This would be front page news for the White Sox.

 

 

The Chicago Cubs have scheduled a news conference for Thursday morning, where they are expected to announce the end of their relationship with WGN radio. The announcement would bring an end to the team’s 90-year relationship with WGN Radio, one of the longest running in American sports. According to the Chicago Sun-Times:

 

“It has been all but imminent since October, but one of the longest broadcasting relationships in American sports could officially end Thursday morning.

 

That’s when the Cubs have scheduled a news conference at Wrigley Field, where they’re expected to announce a new broadcast-rights deal with the CBS Radio family of stations, including WBBM-AM (780), WSCR-AM (670) and 105.9-FM.”

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QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jun 4, 2014 -> 03:33 PM)
That's WGN local, not WGN America. The only overlap programming between the two are sporting events and the evening news.

 

WGN evening news actually did show up in other states.

 

But yeah I'm a WGN morning man, myself.

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QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 4, 2014 -> 09:23 AM)
Still waiting for all of the Cubs attendance articles... This will be year #6 in a row of falling attendance, and down about 20% from the peak. Also losing media outlets now? This would be front page news for the White Sox.

 

Agreed. I think one of the most underrated bad marketing decisions by the Sox is their awful radio broadcasts. I don't mean Rongey, mostly Farmer and the fact the games are on a sports station (marketing to the choir so to speak.) It would be a feather in the Sox cap if they could cut a deal with 'GN radio at some point in the future. Getting rid of Farmer might be too much to ask for though since Chairman Reinsdorf loves him.

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Surely, the presence of Harrelson in the booth has much more of a direct impact (both positively and negatively) on team marketing than anything Farmer and DJ do.

 

They're actually okay together now.

 

Nothing like the guys we've had in the past like John Rooney, Wayne Hagin...or even Dave Wills, now with the Rays. Just okay. And still way better than Chris Singleton on radio.

 

 

The more interesting survey would be how well Harrelson does with both men and women under age 40...especially teenagers. I have a feeling a lot of the teenagers' parents grew up with Hawk and pass on their love of the Sox through his broadcasting anecdotes, but there's that other side....the kids growing up without an affiliation or without parents who are huge baseball fans.

 

What do those kids think about him...and how is he perceived? I have a feeling those stories from the 50's, 60's and 70's are going to be of little interest to kids of today's generation, that are so addicted to their ipads, computer games and cell phones.

Edited by caulfield12
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I wonder if the WGN broadcasts have hindered both the Cubs and Sox in getting other national broadcasts. When one looks at the schedule for June, the Sox have only 2 (both on MLB Network) and the Cubs only have 3. Of course, the Red Sox have 14, Yankees have 18, and Dodgers have 10. Even the Brewers have 5, the Indians have 8, the Padres have 5, and the Twins have 6. For those of us out of town, I just hope that MLB still makes sure we have access to a minimum of 6-8 games per month on national broadcast after the WGN games disappear.

 

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/broadcasts/national.jsp

 

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At least that's Tribune CEO Peter Liguori's thinking. He's in the process of converting the company's national broadcast channel, WGN America, from a superstation into a basic cable channel, which is mainly a technical transition, except that it will require dumping Cubs, Bulls, Blackhawks and White Sox game broadcasts. He doesn't mind, because that programming hasn't been paying off anyway, and besides — he's a New York Mets fan.

 

“If the Cubs continue on this path to virtual irrelevancy, it's really not going to matter,” he said at a recent New York media conference

 

While true...that's not really endearing yourself very well to the locals.

 

 

Advertising income from that sports programming contributes just $250,000 to income, he told the audience at the MoffettNathanson Media & Communications Summit on May 15.

 

I don't see how that's possible...

 

Is this immediately and from here on out? That being said...I think it sucks....especially during the winter for Bulls games!

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QUOTE (Wanne @ Jun 4, 2014 -> 05:38 PM)
While true...that's not really endearing yourself very well to the locals.

 

 

 

 

I don't see how that's possible...

 

Is this immediately and from here on out? That being said...I think it sucks....especially during the winter for Bulls games!

 

 

Maybe he means the net revenue (after losses were subtracted due to the White Sox and Cubs) were only $250,000?

 

If that includes both the baseball teams, it's not boding well for either team getting large media rights deals going forward unless things turn around relatively quickly and product demand increases correspondingly.

 

It's definitely going to force the Bulls and Sox to be bundled together ... using that leverage of co-ownership.

Edited by caulfield12
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QUOTE (Soxfest @ Jun 1, 2014 -> 12:31 PM)
Not going to work anymore since early May. MLB has followed the procedure from their Android app and changed the At Bat app for iPhone, iPod and iPad to force the use of location services. These can’t be bypassed by any vpn or proxy service. These devices now require the location services to be enabled in order for the app to function. This will give away location regardless of the DNS changes.

 

I've gotten around blackout on a rooted Android tablet. I converted my location spoofing app to a system app and used a VPN from the same location. The trick is that if "allow mock locations" is enabled in developer settings, MLB At Bat will not let you watch. Converting the GPS spoofer to a system app allows you to spoof location without enabling mock locations.

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QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 4, 2014 -> 10:31 AM)
Surely, the presence of Harrelson in the booth has much more of a direct impact (both positively and negatively) on team marketing than anything Farmer and DJ do.

 

They're actually okay together now.

 

Nothing like the guys we've had in the past like John Rooney, Wayne Hagin...or even Dave Wills, now with the Rays. Just okay. And still way better than Chris Singleton on radio.

 

 

The more interesting survey would be how well Harrelson does with both men and women under age 40...especially teenagers. I have a feeling a lot of the teenagers' parents grew up with Hawk and pass on their love of the Sox through his broadcasting anecdotes, but there's that other side....the kids growing up without an affiliation or without parents who are huge baseball fans.

 

What do those kids think about him...and how is he perceived? I have a feeling those stories from the 50's, 60's and 70's are going to be of little interest to kids of today's generation, that are so addicted to their ipads, computer games and cell phones.

 

My anecdotal experience is that the younger people are more into because he makes the game more fun and interesting. You can actually tell when important things are happening.

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In my opinion, they’re making step after step after step that are PR nightmares,” de Castro told the Sun-Times. “At the same time, they’ve lost 35 games this year, 288 games in the last three years, and no one’s listening or watching.

 

“We’ve lost a lot of money on the Cubs, and we’ve stood behind their rebuild for years,” de Castro continued. “And we offered to continue to lose a lot of money in the future, but not the kind of money that CBS is going to lose. It’s just an amazingly layered deal. I can’t figure it out. I’ve been around the broadcast business a really long time, and it makes no sense.

 

“It would be irresponsible, financially, to pay that kind of money.”

 

The station exercised an opt-out provision in the contract last fall over declining ratings and revenue losses during a rebuilding process that resulted in a three-year franchise-record 288 losses in 2011-13.

 

That move followed the Cubs’ decision to opt out of their WGN-TV deal to seek better long-term regional TV rights fees and left the Cubs on WGN radio through this season.

 

suntimes.com

 

 

There's a shot across the bow of Ricketts and Epstein if ever there was one.

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