DirecTV Petition

[PaddyOU]

Hi All:

I would like to encourage all of you to read over and/or sign our petition to DirecTV regading the blackout of Indians games in many areas:

http://www.petitiononline.com/Blackout/petition.html

We are estimating that approximately ten percent of the total households in the Indians viewing area is being blacked out of games. This includes approximately 200,000-300,000 households in areas such as Toledo, Erie, parts of Columbus, parts of Akron/Canton, Buffalo, Jamestown, all of SE Ohio, and pretty much all of Ohio outside of Cleveland, Columbus, and Akron. Please help support your fellow Indians fans by signing the petition. This may be the first Indians team in many of our lifetimes to win a major sports championship for the city of Cleveland, and no fan should be deprived of watching and enjoying the season!

Patrick

[ACrank]

i am a Direct TV subscriber - and last year the only way i could see Indians games was to purchase their sports pack - for an additional $12 a month i could get all the sports channels they show, including the opportunity to watch Indian games....

i'll be the first to admit i haven't paid much attention to this issue simply because i didn't expect to be able to get Indian games without paying the $12 - and unfortunately my budget is such that at this point paying that $12 a month extra just isn't going to happen.

Is this meaning that Erie fans are blacked out from the games regardless of the sports package, or is this just that they have to get the sports package to get the games?

If its the former - then i will be happy to sign.

If its the later - then i'll probably sign anyhow, but i can't see that its going to change their policy from last year (& i'll just have to consider switching to Dish or "shudder" cable).

[PaddyOU]

Hi ACrank:

Even if you have the Sports Pack (which I subscribe to), it still doesn't matter. As a matter of fact, you can subscribe to the MLB Extra Innings package, and still not get the games if you are inside the Indians television market.

To make a long story short, anyone who is inside the Indians market (i.e., Toledo, Buffalo, Columbus, etc.) will get blacked out of any Indians game unless it is provided via their local DTV package. Since DTV didn't pick up STO for almost 200,000 customers within Indians territory, that means those people are screwed unless they switch providers.

In a nutshell, DTV has prevented almost 200,000 households from being able to see ANY Indians games, not matter how much the customers are willing to pay. That is why this is such an important issue. Which leaves DTV subscribers outside the Cleveland area with really only two options: Complain to DTV until they change their policies (which is my current approach) or switch to a different service provider (which becomes more and more of an option the longer DTV continues to tell its customers that they don't care about them).

Patrick

[PaddyOU]

Just a quick update on our petition. I am getting word (from a couple different sources) that STO and DirecTV will be sitting down sometime this week, with DirecTV ready to make a FINAL DECISION WHETHER TO TELEVISE INDIANS GAMES IN ALL AREAS. So if you haven't done so already, please consider signing our petition:

www.petitiononline.com/Blackout/petition.html

Since DTV is making a decision sometime this week, I would like to send the petition to them within the next day or so. We are currently at 424 signatures, and I am hoping to have 500 by the time we send it to DTV. So please help us out. If DTV is in fact going to make a decision this week, a petition with 500 signatures can't hurt at all.

Thanks again to all of you for your help!

Patrick

[ACrank]

have you posted this link on other Indian forums? If not - IM me - i have addresses for a few Indian forums that you might have overlooked....

[PaddyOU]

Hi Acrank:

I tried to pm you, but wasn't able to for some reason. You can just e-mail at the address I have listed on the petition site (PaddyOU@hotmail.com). I have posted the petition at Indians Ink, Indians.com, here, and a few other places. Please let me know if you have other suggestions.

Also, please feel free to post the petition anywhere that you want and/or to send it on the anyone as well. We are at 450 signatures right now, and I am hoping to get up to 500 signatures by the time I send it to DTV tomorrow night. Let's hope we get some good news by the end of the week!

Patrick

[ACrank]

Will keep it up as i can think of other places....

[PaddyOU]

We are up to 498 signatures and counting! Keep up the good work, everybody!!!

Patrick

[PaddyOU]

Hi All:

I just wanted to let you know that the online petition has been formally submitted to DirecTV. Please keep signing, though, as DirecTV will continue to monitor the number of signatures on the petition to see how many customers are being affected by this issue.

Also, if you have signed the petition (or even if you haven't), please consider calling DirecTV to tell them that you would consider CANCELLING YOUR SUBSCRIPTION IF THEY DO NOT PICK UP INDIANS GAMES. The petition is the first step in informing DirecTV of the number of customers that are upset about the black-outs. However, we also need to let DirecTV know that they will lose numerous customers if they do not do the 'right' thing and pick up Indians games for ALL their customers.

Thanks again to all of you for your support.

Patrick

[PaddyOU]

I just wanted to update you all on the DirecTV situation. I am hearing from a reliable source that Dan Fawcett (dfawcett@directv.com) is getting swamped with e-mails from upset Tribe fans. For those of you who don't know, Dan is the person who made the official decision NOT to televise Indians games in zones 3 and 4. What I am hearing is that DirecTV may reconsider their decision if enough people contact him. PLEASE make sure to contact him if you would like to see Indians game in your area. Be polite, be professional, but be firm.

Thanks to all of you for your support.

Patrick

[ferrihill]

New to the site, looking at some posts, your so right about the blackouts. I talked to several DTV reps last year, they had no clue what was up, I went to opening day last year and went to watch the second game and all I had was a black screan, I was so pissed, they told me to signup for MLB, I was in the territory then, so where was I, not in the area for one and in the area for the other, I signed your petition and there will be a whole lot more when I get done spreading the word, in the black in Cadiz, Ohio, and what really takes the cake Dish offers it any where in the US.