AndaPanda 2 Report post Posted October 19, 2011 I live in Helena,MT and the the only local sports channel is Altitude. I am wondering if anyone else that has Center Ice is being blacked out of games outside of their local markets? I tried to watch the Red Wings and Wild on Saturday and was blacked out of that one. Tonight, I was going to watch Cunucks and Rangers and I am blacked out of that one. Just wondering if anyone else is having any issues? Thanks in advance. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crashnburnluder 385 Report post Posted October 19, 2011 So far I havnt ha any blackout issues unless the game is being aired on NHL Netowrk or Versus/NBC. I know I ran into problems being in the Philly area with Pittsburgh's broadcasts. Comcast didn't carry FSN Pittsburgh, but for some reason Philly was still part of their broadcasting blackout area. So if you had Comcast you couldn't watch a pens game at all. Even through center ice. It was considered Local. If you had Direct TV you didn't have FSN Pitt as a regular channel but if you had the package, then you could get the games. It was incredibly weird. Now that FSN Pittsburg no longer shows Pens games I can no longer get them because Root is only a Comcast channel and Direct Tv doesn't carry it, I'm still in the same area do its considered a blackout zone on center ice.... Go figure... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rrasco 1,312 Report post Posted October 19, 2011 What service provider do you have? What channels are being blacked out for you? For starters, Center Ice is free until Oct 23, so you should be able to use the Center Ice channels to get the feeds...unless it's nationally televised and you would have to watch on that channel (NHLN, VS, NBC). If you have Directv, they unlock the RSN channels for the game and you can watch on that instead, even without Sports Pack. For example, I watch 663 (FSD) for Wings games, but I could alternately watch on one of the Center Ice channels (~740-780). Some providers only allow you to watch on the Center Ice channels, normally because they don't offer all the RSNs. *cough* TWC *cough* If you get the Sports Pack from Directv you get Root Sports. I do. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wings4Life19 150 Report post Posted October 19, 2011 i'm in Casper,WY, not to far from you andapanda, and had the same problem with the det-min game. I work alot of evenings so haven't been able to notice any other blackouts. I go through Optimum and called them when I noticed the wings game was blacked out and the only thing he thought it could be was that the arena didn't want the game shown in center ice, but that was purely speculation on his part. he said that they would call me when they found out what the reasoning behind the blackout was but haven't heard back as of yet Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drumnj 459 Report post Posted October 19, 2011 Now that FSN Pittsburg no longer shows Pens games I can no longer get them because Root is only a Comcast channel and Direct Tv doesn't carry it, I'm still in the same area do its considered a blackout zone on center ice.... Go figure... FSN Pittsburgh doesn't exist anymore, because it became ROOT Sports (along with 3 other channels). It became ROOT Sports because it was given to the DIRECTV group from News Corp (Fox Sports) for News Corp shares. So, Directv should be showing their own network. Root Sports Pitt - Channel 659 As for living in Helena, you should only be blocked from watching other feeds when the Avalanche play. I'd call up your provider and see what's going on, they might have you zoned incorrectly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Shoreline Report post Posted October 19, 2011 I hope you get it solved, OP, hate to see paying customers not get to see the games they paid for. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AndaPanda 2 Report post Posted October 19, 2011 Thank you everyone for you replies. I have Optimum as a service provider. Wings4Life19 - Please keep me updated on your situation because it sounds like we are in the same boat. If I hear anything on my end, I will let you know. I work a lot of nights so I record all the Wings games and it is frustrating coming home and not being able to watch them. drumnj - Thanks for the advice to call Optimum and see about the zoning, I will do that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Donaldjr2448 43 Report post Posted October 19, 2011 Thank you everyone for you replies. I have Optimum as a service provider. Wings4Life19 - Please keep me updated on your situation because it sounds like we are in the same boat. If I hear anything on my end, I will let you know. I work a lot of nights so I record all the Wings games and it is frustrating coming home and not being able to watch them. drumnj - Thanks for the advice to call Optimum and see about the zoning, I will do that. The Wings/Wild game was on the NHL Network on Saturday and if the Wings are ever on the NHL Network or VS or NBC they will not be shown on Center Ice! Kinda Dumb, but its the way the NHL runs it! Even this saturday the Wings game will be blacked out since the Wings/Caps game will be on NHL Network. As for the Altitude network, you are some 12+ hours from the Denvoer market, so not sure why those would be blacked out unless they are already on your cable subscriber's lineup! Hope that helps! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SFwingsfan 23 Report post Posted October 20, 2011 (edited) The Wings/Wild game was on the NHL Network on Saturday and if the Wings are ever on the NHL Network or VS or NBC they will not be shown on Center Ice! Kinda Dumb, but its the way the NHL runs it! Even this saturday the Wings game will be blacked out since the Wings/Caps game will be on NHL Network. As for the Altitude network, you are some 12+ hours from the Denvoer market, so not sure why those would be blacked out unless they are already on your cable subscriber's lineup! This is really odd because in the Chicago market on Comcast, the Wings/Wild was not on NHL Net but was part of the regular CI broadcast schedule for that night. I watched the FSN local feed on CI. NHL Net was showing NHL on The Fly and not a full game. That being said about last Saturday, you are 100% correct about games that are broadcast on NHL Net (and also VS and NBC) not appearing on CenterIce. This basically means that if you live outside Michigan the only way to watch every single regular season Red Wings game is to have CenterIce, NHL Network, VS, and NBC. If you don't have all of these you'll miss at least a few games this season. Edited October 20, 2011 by SFwingsfan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rrasco 1,312 Report post Posted October 20, 2011 I do not believe the game against the Wild was on NHLN. When a game is on national television, they black out the other channels because the national station has broadcasting rights for the game, in other words, they are paying for the right to show you commercials. They don't want you to watch another channel because then you wouldn't see their commercials. That's where all the money is in television, advertising. I think in most cases, if a game is on national television, it is not broadcast on the RSN as well. In some cases, yes, but not always. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AndaPanda 2 Report post Posted October 20, 2011 I am beginning to think that this issue is with my cable provider Optimum. I called them and asked about this and they gave me some pretty interesting answers. I have contacted the Wild and they responded with a few other questions to help figure out why the game was blacked-out for me. Thanks to all who have responsed and I will keep everyone updated. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drumnj 459 Report post Posted October 20, 2011 Wings were not on NHLN last Saturday. First Wings game on NHLN this season will be this Saturday (vs Caps). Nearly every state (except Alaska, Washington and Oregon) is tied to a market for an NHL team. So for Montana, the closest US team would be Colorado. Those 3 are probably considered Vancouver territory, but can't get Rogers SNET in the states...so thus not blackout markets Canadian broadcasters haven't been allowing HD broadcasts on satellite (maybe cable too) with CenterIce for at least the past season. US satellite companies can't carry the channel full time, so there is probably some contract related issues which is why some (most, all) Canadian feeds aren't in HD. You can get VS, NHLN and NBC blacked out too...if you live in the regional market and the games isn't exclusive. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red Kingdom 4 Report post Posted October 21, 2011 About a month ago, Detroit played Chicago in a preseason game in Chicago. The game was carried by Versus which means it was a nationally televised game, therefore, it was exclusive to Versus. However, everybody in the country got to see the game except fans in Detroit. For some reason it was blacked out here. In Chicago, it was carried on Comcast Sports Net and that's how they got to see it. It should not have been blacked out here, because FSN Detroit had no coverage of it. But it was. The OP should not have been blacked out for the Det-Minn game whether the Avs were playing or not. I to have Center Ice and when the Wings play, I don't get all the other games on CI blacked out. I think some of the providers have some real nincompoops working for them that don't know just how the blackout rules work. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red Kingdom 4 Report post Posted October 21, 2011 A bit off topic..... Anyone else a bit peeved at the fact that HNIC isn't in HD on the NHL Network? In fact the NHL Network isn't carrying these games as they did in years past. IMHO there's no reason why DirecTV (or any satellite/cable/telephone provider) cannot provide an HD feed when 1 is available. I noticed last Saturday that NHL Net did not have the early HNIC game on. But the last couple of years, I would watch the early game on NHL Net and in full HD, too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
