With great dismay to Lakers fans, Lakers games will no longer be shown on KCAL9 or Fox Sports PrimeTicket. The Lakers signed a 20 year agreement worth $3 billion with Time Warner Cable for the rights to televise home and … Continue reading →
With the playoffs on the line until the last day of the season, the Lakers avoided missing the playoffs with a Utah loss earlier in the day! Lakers ended up playing the then 7th seed Houston Rockets for a chance to play San Antonio Spurs instead of the OKC Thunder. Many analyst will feel that playing against the Spurs is a much better match up for the Lakers. The schedule is as follows:
First the Los Angeles Lakers and now the Dodgers. Soon Time Warner Cable will have a monopoly in controlling TV rights to two of the most popular sports in the SoCal area. So far neither Dodgers or Time Warner Cable is talking but this will give them the upper hand when negotiating broadcast rights as they did with the Lakers Sportsnet.
This was supposed to be the matchup we were looking forward to in last year and this year’s finals. It didn’t materialize last year and chances are not looking good for the Los Angeles Lakers to reach this feat. The Lakers take on Lebron, Dwayne Wade, and company for the battle of superstars. Miami upgraded their roster by bringing in Ray Allen and Lakers traded for Dwight Howard. Although plagued by injuries, it is completely inexcusable with the Lakers record right now.
Today’s game will not be aired on Time Warner Cable Sportsnet but will be on TNT at 7:30Pacific Time. Don’t miss it! My prediction. Lakers win a close one in 3 points!
Breaking news! 710 ESPN reports that DirecTV as reached a deal with TWC to distribute Sportsnet. the new channel will be on 691. No terms of the deal was announced and it should be ready in time for tomorrow night’s game vs. Phoenix.
Right now the following distributors have agreements to carry TWC Sportsnet / Deportes aka new home of the lakers – Charter Communiction, U-verse, Bright House Networks, Verizon Fios, and Cox. If you are a customer of any satellite provider – DirecTV, Dish or limited to over the air channels, you will not be able to watch much of the Lakers. Here is one way some people are overcoming this which I am doing for my friend.
There are numerous remote TV streaming device which are very handy and allows you to watch whatever is on your friend or family’s TV. All you need is a friend who has the above listed providers who have Sportsnet, a streaming device and an Internet connection. Here is how it works. You plug the output of the cable set up top box to the input of the streaming device. Most streaming device has wifi but it is better if it is wired connection. Next, set up your computer, phone with 3G capability, or tablet such as iPad to be able to receive the stream. I am currently using the Monsoon Multimedia 010410VL – Vulkano Lava (4GB SD Card) – The Complete TV Companion! and it works great. I already have Sportsnet through Charter but when I am at my in laws house who doesn’t have cable, I can watch the Lakers on my phone.
Another product that does this very well is a Slingbox.
Through this, I have the Vulcano device at my house and my friend can watch remote via his phone or PC. It works very well. There are HD options as well but they are very bandwidth hungry so I do not recommend that.
Lakers took the unusual step of calling out DirecTV customers that they have alternative options. This is a very very unusual step as the past several months since the deal with Time Warner Cable was struck, they have stayed out of the spotlight of contract negotiations. They have clearly taken sides with their business partner and have no issues with singling out DirecTV and Dish. Excerpt from Lakers.com
November 07, 2012 1:38 pm PST
Dear Lakers Fans,
We know that many of you are DirecTV subscribers and remain frustrated that you can’t watch the Lakers on Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Time Warner Cable Deportes.
We want to remind you of your choices and what you can do to watch the games as well as all the immersive content on these networks. Verizon FiOS, Time Warner Cable, Cox, Charter, Bright House Networks, and AT&T U-Verse have all reached agreements to carry Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Time Warner Cable Deportes.
If you are interested in getting information about the other TV providers that service your area, visit iwantmylakers.com, enter your zip code, select your TV provider and then click continue. The next screen will list TV providers in your area that are carrying the networks and give you information on how to contact them. .
There is no denial that the Mike Brown Lakers were boring. It was like a deflated baloon or a kite that wouldn’t soar. With this lineup, there was no doubt the hype that surrounded the new squad of Steve Nash and Dwight Howard. When I watched my first Lakers preseason game, I couldn’t wait to see how the Lakers were going to use this new and upgraded tandem. I was dissapointed and hoped for things to change. I waved off the loss as any other hopeful Lakers fan did by thinking it was only Dwight’s first game back from back surgery. Don’t rush it. Or so we thought. Then came and went the first five games of the regular season and the Lakers went down 1-4. The Lakers brass of Jerry, Jim Buss, and Mitch Kupchek had enough. This marriage was not meant to be. Could it be that the poor record off the gates was impacting Sportsnet’s numbers and was giving TWC a disadvantage at negotiations with DirecTV + Dish? Certainly, Phil Jackson may have given them the top choice in terms of a championship caliber coach but the triangle takes time to learn and time is something the Lakers don’t have. Cue in D’antoni. D’antoni’s “run and gun” style basketball was coveted around the league due to their highly entertaining style. D’antoni will usher in a new generation of showtime Lakers. Do you buy it?
Shock waves were sent throughout the NBA as around 10am Pacific time, ESPN broke the news that Mike Brown has been relieved of his duty as the Los Angeles Lakers head coach. Apparently, he has DirecTV at his house so he probably wasn’t able to see how bad the team. It is hard to imagine Phil Jackson returning but he would be the first choice for Lakers fan galore.
Just when you thought and hoped that DirecTV or TWC would come to terms shortly after the beginning of the regular season, things do not look rosy. In the quarterly results all hands call, DirecTV CEO, Mike White shared a bit about the Lakers network.
DirecTV Chief Executive Mike White spoke on behalf of the company about it third quarter results and he touched upon rising costs of sports channels.
“Everybody wants a new channel and they want to stick it into the bundle and it’s not right,” White told analysts.
“I think we’re going to continue to see very, very tough discussions by all distributors with content providers, to try and mitigate these outrageous cost increases that are unaffordable to the average customer,” White said.
and it works great. I already have Sportsnet through Charter but when I am at my in laws house who doesn’t have cable, I can watch the Lakers on my phone.
There is no denial that the Mike Brown Lakers were boring. It was like a deflated baloon or a kite that wouldn’t soar. With this lineup, there was no doubt the hype that surrounded the new squad of Steve Nash and Dwight Howard. When I watched my first Lakers preseason game, I couldn’t wait to see how the Lakers were going to use this new and upgraded tandem. I was dissapointed and hoped for things to change. I waved off the loss as any other hopeful Lakers fan did by thinking it was only Dwight’s first game back from back surgery. Don’t rush it. Or so we thought. Then came and went the first five games of the regular season and the Lakers went down 1-4. The Lakers brass of Jerry, Jim Buss, and Mitch Kupchek had enough. This marriage was not meant to be. Could it be that the poor record off the gates was impacting Sportsnet’s numbers and was giving TWC a disadvantage at negotiations with DirecTV + Dish? Certainly, Phil Jackson may have given them the top choice in terms of a championship caliber coach but the triangle takes time to learn and time is something the Lakers don’t have. Cue in D’antoni. D’antoni’s “run and gun” style basketball was coveted around the league due to their highly entertaining style. D’antoni will usher in a new generation of showtime Lakers. Do you buy it?