Was UMBC Blacked Out in Your Area?

[classof70]

In an effort to improve the collective knowledge base for televised games and blackouts, I am curious as to who - amongst non-Time Warner subscribers - was and wasn't blacked out of the UMBC game last night.  If you are not a Time Warner subscriber in Wisconsin, I would appreciate if you could answer the following:

1) Were you blacked out? NO
2) Your cable/satellite provider DIRECT
3) Your location/DMA (city/state) St. Louis
4) What channel/website (SNY, Full Court, ESPN3, WatchESPN) SNY--I think.

Future out-of-market viewers of MU games thank you for your input.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

1) Were you blacked out? NO
2) Your cable/satellite provider Comcast
3) Your location/DMA (city/state) CT
4) What channel/website (SNY, Full Court, ESPN3, WatchESPN) SNY

[GO_MU02]

1) Were you blacked out? YES
2) Your cable/satellite provider Comcast
3) Your location/DMA (city/state) Springfield, IL
4) What channel/website (SNY, Full Court, ESPN3, WatchESPN) SNY

2nd time this year that its been blacked out.  Glad I'm paying extra every month to have access to SNY and ESPNU.  Comcast sucks.

[ChicosBailBonds]

This is driven by 3 digit and 5 digit zip code authorizations.  Each distributor is told in advance what zip codes (first three digits or to a the full 5) that need to be excluded from receiving the broadcast.

It is up to the distributors to execute that properly which doesn't always happen.  I've also seen cases where the rights holder (i.e. TWC) says a game should be blacked out and the distributor has flat out told them to pound sand because of interpretation of the broadcast rights.

Those that are blacked out in the Wisconsin zip codes around Milwaukee is not a surprise as TWC effectively bought those rights and they are saying if you want to watch MU games, you must subscribe to their service.  How far out they have purchased rights for, defined as a core territory, is what is unknown.  The fact that some Indy people didn't get the game sounds to me like operator (distributor) error more than likely because it would be highly improbable that TWC's core territory extends that far.

I wrote this back in 2010, but much of it pertains today.

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2010/11/television-blackouts-in-wisconsin-for.html

 

[MU82]

Watched it on ESPN3 in N.C.

[77ncaachamps]

1) Were you blacked out? NO
2) Your cable/satellite provider. AT&T
3) Your location/DMA (city/state). SAN JOSE, CA
4) What channel/website (SNY, Full Court, ESPN3, WatchESPN). ESPN3

[Benny B]

This is driven by 3 digit and 5 digit zip code authorizations.  Each distributor is told in advance what zip codes (first three digits or to a the full 5) that need to be excluded from receiving the broadcast.

It is up to the distributors to execute that properly which doesn't always happen.  I've also seen cases where the rights holder (i.e. TWC) says a game should be blacked out and the distributor has flat out told them to pound sand because of interpretation of the broadcast rights.

...

The fact that some Indy people didn't get the game sounds to me like operator (distributor) error more than likely because it would be highly improbable that TWC's core territory does not extends that far.

 

Fixed the second part for you.

As to the first part, blacking out a game does not sound like a passive activity.  To black out a game in Indianapolis - for instance - someone actually has to flip a switch, push a button, type some code... something that will "activate" the blackout.  It's not as though the feed comes through the system to the cable operator with a blackout already attached (making it up to the cable operator to "remove" the blackout).  If such is the case, and assuming that ESPN's own blackout maps are accurate, then would it not be fair to say that someone at Comcast is voluntarily - but incorrectly - applying blackouts to Springfield and Indy?