WGN, Dusty and the Reds

[TRF]

I have Dish Network, so no EI package for me. I get what Reds games I can on espn and other cable networks. I noticed the Cubs are next, so I checked out WGN's schedule. Wow was I shocked. Here is the Cubs tv schedule for NL Central opponents in 2008

Pittsburgh - 10 games televised.
Houston - 8
Milwaukee - 7
St. Louis - 5
Cincinnati - 3

seriously? 10 games with the pirates? are you kidding me? Now I get that perhaps you pick those 10 games thinking the Cubs will win 7-8 of them, but only three televised games against the Reds? methinks there is an anti-Dusty bias here.

[RedsFan75]

Have you also noticed that the Reds are getting more favorable reporting from ESPN, and they frequently say our old friend Dusty...

[TRF]

ESPN is like that. They'll pimp anyone that worked at "The Worldwide Leader". I expect we'll see the Reds on ESPN a lot as Jr. gets closer to 600 too.

The WGN thing ticks me off though.

[Unassisted]

I seriously doubt that the corporate decisionmakers at Tribune Broadcasting have an axe to grind with the Cubs' former manager. More likely, the lack of Reds games on WGN has to do with the days of the week and other program commitments that conflict when the series with the Reds are scheduled.

[cumberlandreds]

WGN has cut back on their schedule a lot. I think they are only doing like 50 or 60 games this season. I look for them to go the way of TBS in the near future. They will carry only a handful of games or none at all.

[IslandRed]

WGN has cut back on their schedule a lot. I think they are only doing like 50 or 60 games this season. I look for them to go the way of TBS in the near future. They will carry only a handful of games or none at all.

Aren't the Cubs for sale?

MLB has been trying to squeeze the superstations out of the daily baseball business for a long time. When the Cubs and WGN are no longer owned by the same people, I imagine any grandfathering goes bye-bye. Not to mention that WGN would have to pony up market-value cash to the Cubs for the right to carry games; right now it's to the Tribune Company's advantage to pay artificially low rights fees in order to keep money off the Cubs' books (revenue sharing, you know).

[MartyFan]

I actually thought of this angle with EsPN when the Reds hired Baker..it makes sense, he is selling a brand and people who buy brand buy product and that goes to the bottom line too.

I love Mr. C...I think he is going to be one of the greatest team owners in the history of the Reds...maybe baseball too.

[LincolnparkRed]

I have Dish Network, so no EI package for me. I get what Reds games I can on espn and other cable networks. I noticed the Cubs are next, so I checked out WGN's schedule. Wow was I shocked. Here is the Cubs tv schedule for NL Central opponents in 2008

Pittsburgh - 10 games televised.
Houston - 8
Milwaukee - 7
St. Louis - 5
Cincinnati - 3

seriously? 10 games with the pirates? are you kidding me? Now I get that perhaps you pick those 10 games thinking the Cubs will win 7-8 of them, but only three televised games against the Reds? methinks there is an anti-Dusty bias here.

WGN takes most of the day games now and Fox Sports Net takes the evening games.The Reds are playing night games on Tuesday and Wednesday and then a day game on Thursday on all three trips to Wrigley. Most of the Pirates games on WGN are day games.

[TRF]

WGN takes most of the day games now and Fox Sports Net takes the evening games.The Reds are playing night games on Tuesday and Wednesday and then a day game on Thursday on all three trips to Wrigley. Most of the Pirates games on WGN are day games.

I count 20+ games starting at 6:00 pm Eastern time or later. Most all of those during the week.

I'm not a big conspiracy guy, but three televised games against a division rival? more televised games against weaker opponents? seems like they want to televise the wins. Wins = ratings. That means if WGN is going to get sold, it'll be worth a bit more.

[redsrule2500]

too bad. Oh well 145 FSN Games

edit: whoops didnt see you don't get FSN.....I'd get MLB.tv if i were you

[LoganBuck]

Switch to DirectTV. I was with DishNetwork for years, I made the switch I couldn't be more happy. The best part is that the channels I don't watch like MTV are sequestered with other similar channels making surfing much better.

[TRF]

Dish has my local channels. DirecTV doesn't. So it's either Dish or cable.

I can't do cable again.

[Yachtzee]

Dish has my local channels. DirecTV doesn't. So it's either Dish or cable.

I can't do cable again.

That's odd that Dish has locals and DirectTV does not. Why is that? Of course, if you have an HDTV or a TV with a digital receiver, you might be able to get the locals with a regular old pair of rabbit ears and get better reception anyway. Digital broadcast signal = no snow!