Watching MLB without Cable or Satellite in Los Angeles, Part 2

Last year I became one of the thousands, if not millions, of cord cutters who ditched their cable/satellite subscriptions and instead put a fraction of that money to use by subscribing to on demand services such as Netflix, Hulu Plus or Amazon Instant Video, or simply redirected that money towards more practical things like food, gas and medical bills. For me in particular, I opted to purchase a Roku box, a Netflix subscription, an MLB.TV subscription as well as watching over-the-air TV. Although I had unexpected and mixed results, it was clear that I could not follow the bulk of live Los Angeles Angels games on television without paying my cable or satellite company. Instead I had to resort to watching the occasional local broadcast or paying $120 to watch the glitchy archived games via MLB.TV on my Roku device. I wondered how the 2011 season would unfold for me.

Well, the 2011 season is already underway, and this year I made a decision to hold off on paying the $120 to MLB.TV so that I could observe how other subscribers would respond to the spotty and imperfect service. It didn't take long to discover that the number of complaints about the service was already accumulating rapidly like Pittsburgh losses. Still, I might consider subscribing to the service midway through the season when the price drops significantly.

In the meantime, I'm only watching live games on the local broadcasts and listening to games on radio. Additionally, I'll watch archived condensed games, game recaps and highlights on MLB.com. All of this is without cost. So far after a few weeks, I really haven't missed watching the games all that much, especially with radio broadcasts available for every game. If anything, this is the way it was when I grew up following games in the 80's sans the internet. During that time, games were typically only broadcast on television during the weekends, so you learned the art of listening to baseball on the radio. I've found that as much as I love baseball, I don't really need to watch every single game anymore. This is coming from someone who lives and breathes baseball year-round.

The blackout policy with MLB.tv is a raw deal for consumers because it essentially forces consumers to purchase a cable or satellite subscription or else watch most of their in-market games as archived games via MLB.tv, since a much smaller percentage of games are broadcast over the air for free. So if you're a cord cutter like me, ask yourself if it's really worth paying $600 a year just to watch every one of your local team's games? Not for me and especially not in this economy. Neither does MLB really have any motivation to change such arrangements--not when teams are reaping multi-million dollar television contracts year after year. In the end, consumers, in particular the cordcutters, are the losers and big businesses are the winners. And here's the irony, I would gladly pay $120 directly to FOX in order to watch in-market games on FOX Sports West (FOX doesn't currently offer such an online service), but if I subscribed to cable or satellite (currently the only option for all live broadcasts), my cable or satellite provider would only pay FOX perhaps $2 dollars for my subscription while passing the cost on to me. It's time for FOX to move beyond the current cable/satellite deals of the past and begin offering their own subscription-based online service.

Watching MLB without Cable or Satellite in Los Angeles

THIS BASEBALL SEASON, I DECIDED that it was time to pull the plug on my cable tv subscription and instead opt for MLB.tv to watch my local Angels battle it out for another A.L. West title. My new setup consists of a $120 subscription to MLB.tv, $100 for a Roku box that allows me to stream online games to my tv, and a $30 over-the-air antenna to pick up local channels for both FOX11 and KCOP13 baseball broadcasts. For all that planning, boy, did I get a rude awakening on Opening Day a couple of weeks ago. Not only did MLB & ESPN blackout the Yankees/Boston opener nationwide (though you could watch it on ESPN3), but I realized after reading the fine print that I would be blacked out from watching my Angels LIVE.

While some fans are very much aware of MLB's blackout policy that prohibits users from watch ing LIVE, in-market games, the majority of fans aren't aware of this arcane restriction. For $120, most fans expect to be able to watch their local teams play LIVE. In fact, I would gladly pay the $120 to watch ONLY Angels and Dodger games. Unfortunately, I was one of the duped. As a result, I'm forced to watch archived games 90 minutes (yes, nine-zero) after their conclusion. That means that if an Angels games ends at 10 PM, I must wait until 11:30 PM to begin watching it. For most fans, 11:30 PM is bedtime, NOT prime time — at least not that same day.

So, without cable or satellite, I quickly came to the conclusion that MLB.tv does NOT replace cable or satellite, where I can watch an additional 130 odd games on FoxSportsNet, but instead serves as a supplemental tool for those who wish to follow teams outside their market area. Anyone considering buying MLB.tv, should seriously consider this.

However, where it doesn't seem fair is that MLB.tv inadvertently rewards fans who live outside their team's market area, rather than the majority of fans who live in the same market as their favorite team. So, an Angels fan in New York can watch every single game live on MLB.tv (except when they play the Yankees or Mets), but an Angels fan in L.A. cannot watch any of their live games (nor the Dodgers) on MLB.tv because he lives in the Angels' and Dodgers' market area. This silliness is just one reason why the blackout policy is bad for MLB. The whole MLB blackout controversy is well documented on the web, so I won't go into that, but what I did want to share is how many games an Angels fan can watch up until the end of prime time, both live and archived.

In taking a closer look at the Angels 2010 Broadcast Schedule, WITHOUT cable/satellite, here 's the breakdown for watching LIVE Angels games:

KCOP13 (26 games)
FOX11 (6 games)
ESPN3 (2 games online)

That's a total of 34 games or 21%. Paltry to say the least.

Then, I remembered that since the Angels play at least 23 day games on FSN and at least 2 day games on MLB.tv (starting by 1:10 PM), this means that these games will most likely be archived by MLB.tv before 7 PM prime time, give or take a 17-inning nailbiter. Awesome. I could fire up the archive version and watch the game after dinner and still make it to bed on time. So, in terms of prime time or LIVE viewing, I can watch a total of 57 games (2 other games on FSN have start times pending).

So, 57 games or 35%. Not happy, but I'll take it for now.

But there's a big caveat as I write this. Currently, Roku has had numerous issues delaying the launch of their MLB Channel, now already two weeks into the season. So right now, it's either wait for those rare KCOP13 broadcasts or FOX's Saturday Baseball Game of the Week or watching games via my desktop or laptop. As much as I love watching baseball every day during the regular season, perhaps a longing makes the heart grow fonder.

Now, I could resubscribe to cable for 6 months and pay $300 just to follow every Angels game or stick with my current setup and watch 35% of the games at $120. In this current economy, it's a no brainer as on those blackout dates, I can immerse myself in the art of listening to baseball on radio, which isn't necessarily a bad thing with Terry Smith in the booth.

2010 Angels Baseball TV Schedule
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MLB.TV EXCLUSIVE Day Games = Prime time archive viewing
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6/20 CHC (TBD)
8/22 MIN 11:10 AM
9/19 TB 10:40 AM
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FSN Cable/Satellite Day Games = Prime time archive viewing
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4/11 OAK 12:35 PM
4/13 NYY 10:05 AM
4/14 NYY 10:05 AM
4/17 TOR 10:07 AM
4/18 TOR 10:07 AM
4/25 NYY 12:35 PM
5/1 DET 10:05 AM
5/2 DET 10:05 AM
5/22 STL 11:15 AM
5/31 KC 11:10 AM
6/3 KC 11:10 AM
6/6 SEA 1:10 PM
6/10 OAK 12:35 PM
6/18 CHC 11:20 AM
6/19 CHC 10:05 AM
6/27 COL 12:35 PM
7/8 CWS 11:05 AM
7/21 NYY 10:05 AM
7/28 BOS 12:35 PM
8/11 KC 12:35 PM
8/25 TB 12:35 PM
9/26 CWS 12:35 PM
9/29 OAK (TBD)
10/3 TEX 12:05 PM
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FOX Channel 11 (6 games)
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4/24 NYY
5/29 SEA
6/5 SEA
8/21 MIN
9/4 OAK
9/11 SEA
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ESPN3 (2 games free online viewing)
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5/3 BOS
7/4 KC
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KCOP Channel 13 (26 games)
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4/2 Fri LAD 7:00 PM
4/7 Wed MIN 7:00 PM
4/11 Sun OAK 12:30 PM
4/18 Sun TOR 10:00 AM
4/25 Sun NYY 12:30 PM
5/9 Sun SEA 1:00 PM
5/16 Sun OAK 12:30 PM
5/23 Sun STL 11:00 AM
5/30 Sun SEA 12:30 PM
6/11 Fri LAD 7:00 PM
6/12 Sat LAD 7:00 PM
6/13 Sun LAD 1:00 PM
6/23 Wed LAD 7:00 PM
6/24 Thu LAD 7:00 PM
7/3 Sat KC 6:00 PM
7/11 Sun OAK 1:00 PM
7/18 Sun SEA 12:30 PM
7/25 Sun TEX 5:00 PM
8/1 Sun TEX 12:30 PM
8/8 Sun DET 10:00 AM
8/15 Sun TOR 12:30 PM
8/29 Sun BAL 12:30 PM
9/5 Sun OAK 1:00 PM
9/12 Sun SEA 12:30 PM
9/18 Sat TB 4:00 PM
9/25 Sat CWS 6:00 PM