Friday, April 24, 2009

The Rosin Bag: Rogers Sportsnet v. TSN2

Hi again, just wanted to point you towards two excellent posts regarding the war of attrition going on between Rogers Sportsnet and CTV Globemedia (TSN2). In case you're not aware, the first Jays series against the Red Sox was acquired by TSN. They then turned around and announced that it would be shown on TSN2, which Rogers customers don't have access to. Rogers owns the Blue Jays.

The Tao of Stieb lays it out no uncertain terms that the two companies are playing chicken, which could steer fans from both networks.

Out of Left Field points out that it's not the first time this happens, but this time the stakes are much higher because Blue Jays games attract exponentially more fans than Raptors or Eskimos games.

I don't have much to add to their excellent posts except to say that I've already gotten a subscription to MLB.tv, so you have to wonder how much longer I'll remain beholden to the traditional TV networks. They play this game at their own peril: I can stream from my PC to my TV so I'll get those hidden games in HD, which is exactly what Expressvu can offer*, even if I were deemed worthy of receiving it as a Rogers customer.

*Props to Zach for pointing out that TSN is offered in high definition

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