Questions About Dish Network and Sports (1 Viewer)

[Bob Graham]

I've had Direct TV for about 5 years and am thinking about making the switch to the Dish Network. I've been frustrated about recent signal outages and the fact that Direct TV is willing to give away receivers and installation to new customers who are willing to sign up for a year of service, but does nothing for the customers who have been with them for years.
Anyway, I've got a few questions. First, will I be able to just replace the DTV dish on the roof of my house with a Dish Network Dish or will I have to have the DN dish installed in a new and different location?
Second, How do the sports packages on DN work? I'm a Red Sox fan living in Dallas. I don't care about the NFL or the Texas Rangers. With DTV, I could get Fox Sports SW with the Rangers, but I couldn't switch it out for NESN to watch the Red Sox. The only way I could watch Red Sox games was to purchase the MLB package which, for me, wasn't worth it. If I get NESN on DN will I be able to watch Red Sox games? How about the occasional UMASS football games that are broadcast on NESN but not available on DTV packages? And what about UMASS Softball, Lacross, etc. games where there is no corresponding package. How much of the regional Sports Networks do they black out and what are the alternatives?

 

[Jon_T]

quote:Anyway, I've got a few questions. First, will I be able to just replace the DTV dish on the roof of my house with a Dish Network Dish or will I have to have the DN dish installed in a new and different location?

Unless you have an obstruction to the 119/110 degree area, you should not have to move your dish location. You just need an unobstructed view of the satellites. You could even use the DirecTV dish and just move the dish to the west to receive Dish programming (with a Dish receiver) but you might miss out of some channels depending on what programming package you buy. The Dish Network dish is a multi-slot dish and can receive programming from 2 different satellite locations.

quote: How much of the regional Sports Networks do they black out and what are the alternatives?

You will be in the same boat with Dish as you are with DirecTV. All professional sports will be blacked out with the exception of teams that claim your zip code as part of their television market. Here is a list of teams that will not be blacked out based by your zip code. Everything else will be blacked out. http://www.qtm.net/~trowbridge/rsnteams.htm This list applies to Dish Network. Although DirecTV's list is similar, there are minor differences with "overlap" teams. The black outs are enforced by the league owners in the contracts with Dish and Directv. I have heard Directv does not black out replays of MLB games due to them having a different contract with Fox Sports and/or MLB. Dish does black out the replays.
When you order the Multi-sport package that includes all of the regional sports channels, NESN will be included. I have only heard of some college football and basketball games being blacked out (and obviously pro sports) on these channels. You should be ok with any of the other sports. I don't know how college football and basketball games are blacked out but Dish states 40% will be blacked out. If you are able to get it on Directv then you should be able to get it on dish.