NHL Center Ice: okay, explain it to me one more time

[JonInMiddleGA]

I know this isn't the first time I've been slightly confused about some of the "Season Ticket" type packages for various sports, but since I ended up enjoying my mlb.com package so much last season, I thought I'd go ahead & display my ignorance again in hopes of having similar good luck.

Flipping through the channels on Dish Network tonight trying to find a little quite music for sleepy time & discovered that they're having a week free preview of Center Ice right now. Apparently they're pushing their half-season plan for $109.

Their blackout info is sketchy at best & the explanation sucks, so I'll ask the important stuff straight out in plain English here & hope somebody can either reassure me or keep me from getting disapointed.

-- I'm in the Atlanta Thrashers home zip codes, so I'm pretty sure that all of their games are blacked out; i.e. I won't get Rogers Sports West if Atlanta plays Edmonton.

What I'm trying to figure out (and failing after reading the blackout info) is whether I could watch, for example, Rangers vs Devils on Center Ice at the same time the Thrashers are playing the Coyotes on FSN (i.e. my "home broadcast").

I'm not sure if all the other games on Center Ice are blacked out any time the Thrashers are playing (and if so, only until the game ends or every game on a night Atlanta is active) or if only games involving Atlanta are blacked out.

If that question makes sense, could somebody gimme a hand with an answer please? I don't know how much I would watch to be honest, but I can pretty much bet that my son would watch at least one game a night at least 6 nights a week, and I'd rather he watch hockey than the same re-run on Nickelodeon for the umpteenth time.

Thanks in advance.

[vtbub]

IIRC, only your home team is blacked out. Out of market games are not.

[Draft Dodger]

only your local games are blacked out.

[Draft Dodger]

dola,
and, in some cases, you'll get the local broadcasts anyway. For example, I get NESN which broadcasts all the Bruins games (like anyone who can stomach Andy Brickley 82 times a year).

the first few weeks of the season were a bit chaotic and I had some games blacked out that shouldn't have been, but since then, everything's been cool.

[Ksyrup]

Aside from blackouts, I also think they cap the number of games per week. So, certain games won't be available at all. And I'm not sure how they decide which ones.

[Maple Leafs]

I believe you will even get your local team's games if they are not being broadcast locally. So if the Thrashers play in Ottawa and only Canadian TV carries the game, you should get it.

But any game that's on a local channel will not be on Center Ice.

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Aside from blackouts, I also think they cap the number of games per week. So, certain games won't be available at all. And I'm not sure how they decide which ones.

I think they only don't show them when there simply isn't a broadcast. I moved earlier this month, so I don't have my beloved Center Ice any more , but for the first half of the year the only time a game wasn't shown was when it was two western teams, or two southern teams, and there was no broadcast. Or, if Montreal has the only broadcast I don't think they show the French-language broadcast, and in that case there will be no game.

As far as I could tell, it never had anything to do with how many games in a week there were.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Aside from blackouts, I also think they cap the number of games per week. So, certain games won't be available at all. And I'm not sure how they decide which ones.

I believe this is true, but I can only recall one time in the 5 years I've had center ice where that happened, and even then I'm just assuming that that was why it wasn't on.

[Draft Dodger]

I've also heard, btw, that you can "move" by calling your satellite company and giving them your new zip code which is, by an amazing coincidence, somewhere out of your team's broadcast area. I don't know how easy/hard it is to get away with this (pls consult the license agreement that came with the receiver) but I've heard more than once about people doing it.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

I think they only don't show them when there simply isn't a broadcast. I moved earlier this month, so I don't have my beloved Center Ice any more , but for the first half of the year the only time a game wasn't shown was when it was two western teams, or two southern teams, and there was no broadcast. Or, if Montreal has the only broadcast I don't think they show the French-language broadcast, and in that case there will be no game.

As far as I could tell, it never had anything to do with how many games in a week there were.

Well, that might be. I just know I've noticed several games already this season that were going on, but weren't being shown on DirecTV. And I'm fairly certain one of them was a Red Wings game, and I'd be shocked if all of their games aren't televised.

I thought hockey had the same "up to X number of games per week" as MLB does, but I may be wrong.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I live in the Pittsburgh area, and I have not seen a single Penguins game on NHL Center Ice here. As far as I know, every one has been blacked out. I'm able to get them on FSN Pittsburgh, though.

If the deals stay the same in the future, I really recommend buying the package in the first week of the season (or before) if you really want it. The "early bird" price is only $129 or $139, I believe. Now half the season is gone, and you're only paying $20 or $30 less. Of course, if you're not going to watch it AT ALL in the first half of the season, I guess it doesn't matter. Still, if you think you might enjoy it during the first half of the season, it's probably worth the small extra expense.

[Honolulu_Blue]

My experience is similar to the rest. I live in DC, so the Caps games are blacked out. The problem is, however, that Caps games are on Comcast sports which DirecTv does not carry. So, if I were a Caps fan (which I am not), I wouldn't be able to catch almost any Caps games. Though I have checked and once or twice Center Ice was showing Caps games and it was the local feed (if you've ever heard the Caps' announcers once, you will never forget them. They are horrible). If your team is on an FSN channel that is normally carried by your satelite provider you should have no worries. It's like the NFL Sunday Ticket. The games being broadcast locally aren't on the Sunday Ticket channels, but are available on the local Fox/CBS channels.

Every once in a while a game isn't show, but it's quite rare. I almost always have a full slate of games to watch. I have far more hockey to watch than I can manage.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Thanks to all, you've at least reassured me that I wouldn't find myself staring at a full set of blacked out games 2 or 3 times each week (which was my biggest worry).

I'm going to let the free week run its course & see how much Will does or doesn't watch this week (with frequent reminders that so-and-so is on). Honestly, he's the one likely to spend the most time with it -- if he watches 2-3 times over the free week then I'll probably get it, if he doesn't, then it's probably just a waste of money at this point. But at least now I know that it's a good option if he's interested enough.

(Remember guys, there's no TV in the room with my computer at this point & I could count on one hand the number of hours each week that I spend purely just sitting in front of the TV. The big majority of my TV viewing is of the walk-thru variety; i.e. I walk through a room, stop for a bit, then carry on with whatever else I was doing, which 95% of the time is in this room with no TV)

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

(Remember guys, there's no TV in the room with my computer at this point & I could count on one hand the number of hours each week that I spend purely just sitting in front of the TV. The big majority of my TV viewing is of the walk-thru variety; i.e. I walk through a room, stop for a bit, then carry on with whatever else I was doing, which 95% of the time is in this room with no TV)

You would be a wise man to keep it that way. Ever since I returned to DC, a year ago now, we've had a wirless router and laptop setup. Other than Wings' games (not including playoffs of course), I am not sure how many games I would watch if I didn't have a laptop in front of me to help divide my attention. I think the HNiC games for certain and some of the better divisional rivalries (but only sampling given the current schedule).

Watching TV with the laptop in the lap is a dangerous, dangerous thing. There is no limit to the number of games I could "watch" like that, especially with TiVO where if, for example, I happen to be typing a kick ass post here at FOFC, as I am want to do from time to time, and miss a goal or a great save, I simply re-wind and experience it all over again.

I also have TV in the room with the desktop. No TiVO though, so that complicates things a little.

[Tekneek]

Did you decide to get the package, Jon?

Here are some things you should know about CI on Dish Network....

They are much better with their Center Ice package than DirecTV is. Dish Network often shows two feeds of the same game, so you can watch it via either team's feed. Sometimes they even show a third feed if it is also being shown on TSN in Canada. Additionally, they ALWAYS show the pre-show to Hockey Night In Canada at 6:30 on Saturdays while DirecTV never does. They also ALWAYS show the HNIC post-show after the second HNIC game, while it is hit-and-miss as to whether DirecTV will show it or cut off right after the second game ends.

[Tekneek]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

I also have TV in the room with the desktop. No TiVO though, so that complicates things a little.

I have a TiVo in our computer room/office, and it is pretty much always full of hockey games (although now the Australian Open is taking up some space as well).

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Tekneek

Did you decide to get the package, Jon?

Here are some things you should know about CI on Dish Network....

They are much better with their Center Ice package than DirecTV is. Dish Network often shows two feeds of the same game, so you can watch it via either team's feed. Sometimes they even show a third feed if it is also being shown on TSN in Canada. Additionally, they ALWAYS show the pre-show to Hockey Night In Canada at 6:30 on Saturdays while DirecTV never does. They also ALWAYS show the HNIC post-show after the second HNIC game, while it is hit-and-miss as to whether DirecTV will show it or cut off right after the second game ends.

We eventually decided to pass, based entirely on the fact that Will admitted that he probably wouldn't watch more than 1 or 2 games a week & then only partially.

I'm proud of him being honest about it (first time I can really recall him passing up something by being practical) but I kinda feel sorry for him about it too. His decision was a lot about his free time or lack thereof. By the time he's home, with homework + dinner, there's maybe three hours left free each night. He said he knew he would play XBox/PS2/PC games at least part of that to relax & that the Thrashers were usually on 1-2 nights a week, leaving only a couple of shots at a CI package game other than something to put on with the sleep timer as he goes to bed. He figured that just didn't make much sense to pay $100+ for.

Okay, that's probably way more than anybody wanted to know but I wanted to give the little guy some credit for making what I thought was a pretty grown up call on it.

And, re: Dish -- I didn't realize Direct didn't do all that stuff, but the dual feeds were pretty cool & were indeed very common.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Tekneek

Did you decide to get the package, Jon?

Here are some things you should know about CI on Dish Network....

They are much better with their Center Ice package than DirecTV is. Dish Network often shows two feeds of the same game, so you can watch it via either team's feed. Sometimes they even show a third feed if it is also being shown on TSN in Canada. Additionally, they ALWAYS show the pre-show to Hockey Night In Canada at 6:30 on Saturdays while DirecTV never does. They also ALWAYS show the HNIC post-show after the second HNIC game, while it is hit-and-miss as to whether DirecTV will show it or cut off right after the second game ends.

that's interesting. I did not know that.
I'd love to be able to choose the team feed. Being able to avoid Jimmie Fox, Terry Crisp and Denis Potvin would be awesome.

[Tekneek]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

that's interesting. I did not know that.
I'd love to be able to choose the team feed. Being able to avoid Jimmie Fox, Terry Crisp and Denis Potvin would be awesome.

Yeah, I agree. My grandparents have Dish Network and I checked it out during their free preview. It was awesome. The fee for Center Ice is the same with Dish as DirecTV, Dish Network just decides to offer more value for the money to its subscribers.

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by Tekneek

Yeah, I agree. My grandparents have Dish Network and I checked it out during their free preview. It was awesome. The fee for Center Ice is the same with Dish as DirecTV, Dish Network just decides to offer more value for the money to its subscribers.

I agree -- very interesting. Time Warner's digital cable doesn't offer that.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

We eventually decided to pass, based entirely on the fact that Will admitted that he probably wouldn't watch more than 1 or 2 games a week & then only partially.

I'm proud of him being honest about it (first time I can really recall him passing up something by being practical) but I kinda feel sorry for him about it too. His decision was a lot about his free time or lack thereof. By the time he's home, with homework + dinner, there's maybe three hours left free each night. He said he knew he would play XBox/PS2/PC games at least part of that to relax & that the Thrashers were usually on 1-2 nights a week, leaving only a couple of shots at a CI package game other than something to put on with the sleep timer as he goes to bed. He figured that just didn't make much sense to pay $100+ for.

Okay, that's probably way more than anybody wanted to know but I wanted to give the little guy some credit for making what I thought was a pretty grown up call on it.

maybe for others it was more than they needed but I wanted to tell you that somebody heard you praising your son I agree, he made a grown up call on that one. Many kids, probably my 9 year old the first one, would have opted to get something extra with little regard to cost, as long as it's offered... That's something to be proud of...

FM

[judicial clerk]

they show hockey on tv? is this for the olympics or something?

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by judicial clerk

they show hockey on tv? is this for the olympics or something?

You are banished to the drunk guy thread. Thanks for playing.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

maybe for others it was more than they needed but I wanted to tell you that somebody heard you praising your son ... That's something to be proud of...

Thanks FM, I sincerely appreciate that.

I really wish I could take more of the credit for it, claim it was all brilliant parenting or something, but we seem to have been really blessed with a kid who is just something else. Pride aside, I really do get quite a kick out of just watching him be him.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Thanks FM, I sincerely appreciate that.

I really wish I could take more of the credit for it, claim it was all brilliant parenting or something, but we seem to have been really blessed with a kid who is just something else. Pride aside, I really do get quite a kick out of just watching him be him.

trust me, I know the feeling. They have a way to make you go absolutely crazy sometimes but just watching them grow is simply awesome...

FM