# Directv and CBS renew exclusivity deal for March Madness



## DCSholtis (Aug 7, 2002)

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/aboutus/headline.jsp?id=01_29_2003A

IMHO this is GREAT news for us DTV sports fans...Its the only time I watch College Basketball...


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## James_F (Apr 23, 2002)

And its a bargin!


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## DCSholtis (Aug 7, 2002)

Yeah Im surprised the price....Thats the bigger shock..Damn now Im gonna be switching between the NBA pack....NHL Center Ice....the start of the MLB season.....now THIS....damn I better make sure I got real fresh batteries...


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## John Corn (Mar 21, 2002)

I'm jealous!!


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## DCSholtis (Aug 7, 2002)

Hey John there is plenty of time....Make the switch...join the rest of the sports fans..I knew Charlie wouldnt get his hands on this...after all it WOULD cost more than those Cricket Tourney rights he bought...


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## James_F (Apr 23, 2002)

I had it last year and really enjoyed it.


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## John Corn (Mar 21, 2002)

:lol: I've been thinking about coming over to the darkside.

I sure hope Charlie gets me MLB EI. 

Cricket......:down: I watched about 5 minutes of it the other night, I can't figure out what the heck is going on. I no nothing about Cricket.


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## DCSholtis (Aug 7, 2002)

Ive had march madness the last 2 seasons and I agree it is a good pack....C'mon John...dump ole Charlie already.....


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## John Corn (Mar 21, 2002)

Honestly, I do think about getting D*.
I'm with you guys, I don't watch alot of college basketball either, but I do watch the March Madness, when I can, I LOVE IT.


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## marko (Jan 9, 2003)

Time Warner cable here in Raleigh NC gives has had this the past 2 or 3 years for free. This is the one time I regret having satellite, and not having cable. Maybe I will sign up for a couple of weeks, then cancel.


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## James_F (Apr 23, 2002)

I thought this was DirecTV only for the last couple years...


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## marko (Jan 9, 2003)

> _Originally posted by James_F _
> *I thought this was DirecTV only for the last couple years... *


hum, guess not. WRAL in Raleigh transmitted these channels on some of their upper digital channels. You needed digital cable to get it, but if you had that it came in free (or be able to pick up a digital signal through the air). This wasn't really time warner providing it, but wral the local cbs station. Here is an article midway down that describes their first ncaa broadcast in 2000.

http://www.wral.com/News/623644/index.html


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## James_F (Apr 23, 2002)

OK but that was in 2000, what about 2001-2002?


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## marko (Jan 9, 2003)

> _Originally posted by James_F _
> *OK but that was in 2000, what about 2001-2002? *


Yep, had to invite myself over to my brothers house a few times(who had time warner digital cable) to catch some games that weren't shown on the main local cbs station. That was the best article I could come up real quick that actually mentioned the broadcast. Can't see why it won't be on again this year, as it is nothing time warner is really doing to bring this to us, but WRAL. Of course, you hear many advertisements on the radio for Time Warner cable advertising the fact that all the games are on tv.


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## Guest (Jan 31, 2003)

Are the games shown on my local CBS blacked-out???? This sounds like a great package......


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## James_F (Apr 23, 2002)

Are you sure you are not confusing ESPN Full Court with DirecTV's package? It says that that its an exclusive deal with DirecTV. :shrug: Now I can believe that your CBS station might be offering this, but I can't imagine you cable company not advertising it on their website if its true.

http://www.twc-nc.com/digital_cable/sports_packages.htm


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## marko (Jan 9, 2003)

> _Originally posted by James_F _
> *Are you sure you are not confusing ESPN Full Court with DirecTV's package? It says that that its an exclusive deal with DirecTV. :shrug: Now I can believe that your CBS station might be offering this, but I can't imagine you cable company not advertising it on their website if its true.
> 
> http://www.twc-nc.com/digital_cable/sports_packages.htm *


Yep, 100% sure it was NCAA tournament regional action on the main wral channel, and 3 other games displayed in the digital tier of time warner cable. Like I said, I don't know if they are going to be showing it again this year. I do know there was a ton of radio commercials advertising Time Warner Cable because of these ncaa commercials last year.

Here is another link stating how TWC and WRAL broadcast the games.
http://www.cbc-raleigh.com/capcom/news/2001/wraltv_01/ncaa_multicast/ncaa_multicast.htm


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## James_F (Apr 23, 2002)

I don't doubt they did it in the past, that link was from 2001. Keep us updated if they do it again. I think the fact this is a "local" CBS station doing this and not some TW deal they signed with CBS. Interesting stuff and lucky for you!


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## marko (Jan 9, 2003)

> _Originally posted by James_F _
> *I don't doubt they did it in the past, that link was from 2001. Keep us updated if they do it again. I think the fact this is a "local" CBS station doing this and not some TW deal they signed with CBS. Interesting stuff and lucky for you! *


Hah, lucky for me if I actually had digital cable. The only time I truly miss digital cable is during that time of the year.


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## James_F (Apr 23, 2002)

Or if you had DirecTV


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## John Corn (Mar 21, 2002)

*sigh*....I'm still jealous, I should lock this thread it's making me mad.


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## DCSholtis (Aug 7, 2002)

> _Originally posted by John Corn _
> **sigh*....I'm still jealous, I should lock this thread it's making me mad.  *


Go ahead John....make our day....:rolling: Like James and I told you before....leave that Cricket setup that His Cheapness runs....make the move to a provider who actually provides...REAL sports..


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## John Corn (Mar 21, 2002)

I've always been a big sports fan, at the time I left my crappy cable company I never was able to purchase any sort of sports packages. When shopping for DBS, programming and pricing seemed to be important to me, so I chose Dish.

Guys, I can't tell you how much I LOVE having NHL Center Ice and the NBA Season Pass, what I really want is MLB Extra Innings.
I'm such a Cleveland Browns homey that the NFL Sunday Ticket isn't really that important to me. 

I doubt that I will renew the NBA Season Pass next year, the 2 sports packages I really want are MLB and NHL, I'm really getting hooked on hockey.

With all that mumbo jumbo I just typed, What I'm really trying to say is: If Dish Network does not get MLB Extra Innings by the beginning of the season, I will honestly really consider changing over to DirecTV.

That is a GREAT little package DirecTV has put together for those March Madness games......I would have boughten that package to watch in a NY minute.


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## DCSholtis (Aug 7, 2002)

Welcome to the Darkside, John.............Hell you just wanna get your hands on a PVR that actually works....You cant fool me, John.....:rolling: BTW I may also dump the NBA Pack next year too.....same situation as college Basketball in that its only exciting once the post season hits...I have had most of the Directv Sports packs ever since I signed up to D* in 94-95...somewhere in there....(Except the Soccer packs.....I mean how in the hell can the Euros claim that to be football anyway..)


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## platinum (Oct 28, 2002)

Switch to the darkside John a NY minute goes fast, the MLB EI kicks ass it's worth every dime.


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## James_F (Apr 23, 2002)

Heck most Digital Cable system have MLB EI....


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