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Blackout Rules
I live in ZIP Code 53066 (in the Milwaukee, WI TV market). My programming on cable frequently incurs blackouts of sporting events from the Chicago market. At this moment, MLB Network is broadcasting a game between the Chicago Cubs and Oakland A's, but it is being blacked out on my TV. Per mlb.com, I am only blacked out from Milwaukee Brewer games.
To make things more confusing, my Spectrum TV app DOESN'T black out this game. However, I'd rather watch it on my TV than on my computer.
My question is - who do I talk to about fixing the blackout that occurs incorrectly on my cable tv?
https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/help-center/check-local-blackouts
Comments
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Hello @Charter5Os.
Black outs for Sporting event are determined by the Sporting group and the channel itself. There can sometimes be an error on the network where it should not be blacked out. Please reach out to us when you see a game being blacked out and we can escalate to our engineers to review if the game is actually blacked out or there is another cause. I would recommend you reach out to over the phone at 1-855-707-7328 or on Social Media to have it looked at right away.
https://www.spectrum.net/support/tv/sports-blackouts-charter-tv
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@Charter5Os : Just curious if you could share whether it turns out to be the other way around with the Brewers game coming up presently on MLB Network. Also, while they're almost certainly the same feed so this is a stupid question but, just for kicks, if it's blacked out via the cable feed, is that so via both channels 84 and 666? Also just curious about how long this has been going on.
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I have the same question @HT_Greenfield,
If you are in a Milwaukee Wisconsin market, or metro-Milwaukee market, why would the Brewers franchise or Bally Sports-Wisconsin blackout their own home team game to a Milwaukee area subscriber? That makes no sense! What market is going to black out a home team?!
I am wondering the same thing as moderator, @Edward_T. I think there is a broadcast error. In addition to his recommendation. I would reach out to the Milwaukee Brewers on social media. A Chicago blackout in a Milwaukee market, I can understand that, But the Milwaukee Brewers being blacked out in a Milwaukee vicinity city? They would not do that.
I read somewhere and I don't know whether this is for home team football or baseball, but there is some kind of provision that says a home team's games have to be broadcast within a 20 mile radius of the home team's city. Outside of that radius, the teams and networks can do what they want.
Satch
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I just wanted to provide some additional context for everyone. Typically for most professional leagues, the home team is the team that is blacked out in the market area. Some leagues have provisions for if games are sold out, but usually unless the game is considered a national game, it is blacked out locally. This is why the MLB site is showing that Brewer games are blacked out in Milwaukee. I'm not familiar with MLB's rules specifically, but I do know that the NFL require a certain percentage of the seats in the stadium to be sold out in order for the game to be aired locally. Each league would have their own blackout rules, but we're not always provided the exact details unless the league makes them available publicly since we're only passing along the network feed and we have no input on what they air.
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Edit: What Edward and Renee said!
P.S.: My bad for previously chiming in without having any idea how long this has been going on, for the only other thing it might be is a temporary alt-cable-feed thing for maintenance reasons or whatever.
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@Edward_T Thanks for the link. Spectrum social media (X, specifically) has never been able to help me with this question, so I thought I would try this community.
As was pointed out, it is indeed the local team who is blacked out, directing you to watch their broadcast rather than the national one. I didn't verify it last night, but yes the Brewer game was most likely blacked out on MLB Network. The link I provided in my original post is to MLB's blackout policy, and it shows that my ZIP Code would have Brewer games blacked out.
How long has it been going on? A long time. I went back into my messages on X, and a related instance is from 2021. Coincidentally, I receive Emergency Alerts for northern Illinois in addition to SE Wisconsin (I've got pictures of those alerts going back to 2020 in the chat on X.), so my suspicion has long been that there's a mistake in the signal I'm sent or in the ability to recognize where I live. To be clear, I get Milwaukee TV Stations (not Illinois) and commercials.
So given that additional background, it seems like an engineering issue, doesn't it?0 -
@Renee_T FYI - The NFL suspended their local blackout requirement in 2015. This is likely their effort to maintain their anti-trust exemption by saying that local markets can always see their team's games free over the air.
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Hey @Charter5Os ,
Do you get Bally Sports-Wisconsin in your package? The guide shows Brewers games on there. But I don't watch baseball so I don't know if they are blacked out or not.
Satch
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@Satch Yes, I do get Bally Sports-Wisconsin. Brewer games are not blacked out on Bally. The blackout that I get hit with is that Chicago area sports get blacked out on MLB because they're offered on "local" channels in Chicago — where I'm not located and can't even access.
I'm just trying to figure out who to contact to try to get this cleared up.1 -
I understand,
You are trying to find a way as a Milwaukee area resident to watch games from, Chicago that are blacked out in Milwaukee.
Satch
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@Charter5Os : Regarding the discrepancy between your MLBN app feed and your MLBN cable feed:
If the MLBN cable feed is blocking both Brewers and Cubs games, then it's doing what you'd expect in the Kenosha/Racine area where MLBN has the Southeastern corner of Wisconsin overlapped by the home coverage areas of both the Brewers and the Cubs and where both Bally Sports Wisconsin (Brewers) and Marquee Sports Network (Cubs) are available to subscribers.
If Marquee Sports Network is unavailable in the Oconomowoc/Darien/Delavan area, then your MLBN cable feed doesn't add up and i'd call the toll-free number at the bottom of the below-linked MLB webpage and report it.
🔗 https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/help-center/check-local-blackouts
Ref. 🔗:
↳ MLB blackout map
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The other thing I would recommend,
If you have a Twitter account discuss the problems with MLB baseball's blackout rules and tweet #baseball #streaming #sports, #broadcasts #TV #cable #(Your sports team's name.) Social media is the best way to get the word out about broadcast rules. Be respectful in your communications, and it will really get the word out there!
Satch
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Sorry, I've been traveling the last week. The problem isn't that I'm trying " to watch games from Chicago that are blacked out in Milwaukee". The problem is that those games aren't supposed to be blacked out in Milwaukee (that may be semantics, but it's a key point in this problem). I'm not in Kenosha/Racine, so that's a dead end. Oconomowoc is also not near Delavan/Darien, so that's another non-starter.
I've tried social media before and I get fingers pointed between Spectrum and MLB. I truly believe this is an issue where my signal is coming from the wrong location, and Spectrum engineering doesn't know it.
I'll keep these links handy so I have the contact information when it happens again.
Thanks!1 -
Sorry, I've been traveling the last week. The problem isn't that I'm trying " to watch games from Chicago that are blacked out in Milwaukee". The problem is that those games aren't supposed to be blacked out in Milwaukee (that may be semantics, but it's a key point in this problem).
Thanks for clarifying these issues. Does the community have any ideas for dealing with this issue?
I've tried social media before and I get fingers pointed between Spectrum and MLB. I truly believe this is an issue where my signal is coming from the wrong location, and Spectrum engineering doesn't know it.
I think that this is a more complex issue than people realize and a lot of companies like to play "The Blame Game" for these issues between the two companies. A potential solution would be perhaps a streaming company finding some way to reach an agreement with the provider (MLB, NFL, whatever) to show these games. The downside is because sports networks are the most expensive for any vendor, that it is difficult for me to see deals being struck because I can't see these sports team CEO's going, "Oh sure, we'll give away a gaming package for free for everyone online."
If this was something like a commercial movie channel, or a special interest/hobby channel it would be easier to get a deal done. But sports network deals are often the most difficult to do, and the most expensive for customers.
Satch
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Currently scheduled to air on MLB Network, and appearing neither on my computer or on TV, the Cincinnati Reds at Chicago Cubs. The contact at MLB only applies to those games on MLB.tv. They think the feed is located in an 'incorrect area'.
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Someone had posted an engineering contact link earlier for Spectrum, but that seems to have gone away. Is it available? I am more convinced than ever that this is an engineering issue with Spectrum.
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Spectrum customer service is no help. I'm told that they don't black out games, MLB does. MLB says I'm not supposed to blacked out, yet here we are, still blacked out on TV.
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I can further varify that Spectrum does not blackout games,
Someone in engineering at MLB is possibly incorrectly blocking out games that should not be blocked out on Spectrum.
Satch
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Good Afternoon,
What exactly is the blackout message that you are getting on your TV's and devices? We need a Spectrum sub in here with MLB connections to explain what is happening!
Satch
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Hello Again,
You might be able to sign up for Spectrum's MLB Extra Innings Package. They have details here:
(Information on MLB Extra Innings on Spectrum) You need a Spectrum TV Select plan to qualify, and it says that blackout rules may still apply. I don't recommend VPN networking sites out there because they can be security risks. I wish I could provide better information on this topic!
Satch
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A tech will be coming to see me tomorrow. Since nothing will be getting blacked out tomorrow morning, I'm not sure what this will resolve :-)
As the rep was mirroring my TV, what she was seeing didn't match what I was seeing. She also had no idea about my channel number (nor me hers - I have MLB on 3 different channels - who knew). What I was seeing shouldn't have been possible, but she recognized that something wasn't right.
Somehow, I'm getting a part of my signal that is intended for northern Illinois rather than SE Wisconsin. It would explain the random blackouts and the Emergency Alerts for the wrong marketplace. I don't THINK I get Chicagoland commercials on MLB Network — maybe those are 'packaged' separately?1 -
@Satch 1 - No interest in paying more for something in MLB Extra Innings — I'm more interested in getting what I am already paying for by being able to watch games that are on MLB Network and not in my area. If I had MLB Extra Innings, I'd still be subject to blackout in my area (which has already been established as not working correctly).
2 - Rather than getting "blacked out" and a message, I get alternate programing. In this case, I was getting a round table discussion of the 2016 World Series Game 7.
The tech listened to my explanation and agreed that there was nothing he could do. He is hoping to reach up the chain to someone he knows, and plans on presenting it as a safety issue by pointing out that EAS isn't properly sent to me in this area (because I am errantly getting a feed that thinks it is going into Northern Illinois).
ZIP Code 53066 is in the Milwaukee Brewers blackout area. No other teams' games should be blacked out. This is happening because something in my signal thinks it is being delivered to Northern Illinois and that I should be watching the local broadcast of the game on the Marquee Network (which isn't available here because I'm not in that market). I've been explaining this to Spectrum for at least the last 4 years now to no avail — they're unwilling to consider that possibility it seems.1 -
@Satch RE: this "I can further varify that Spectrum does not blackout games,"
Sort of true. The game gets blacked out by only offering the local broadcast, and then sending alternate programming to the channel with the national broadcast. Because I don't have access to the local broadcast, I am getting a de facto blackout by Spectrum.0
