True to their word, Charter Communications, who is currently in the process of purchasing Time Warner, will make SportsNet LA available to all of their customers next week, Tuesday, June 9th.
When they had originally announced that they would open up this channel for all of their customers before closing on the purchase of Time Warner I was suspicious. After all, who ever heard of a cable company being not only true to their word but also forward-thinking? This move will create a significant amount of goodwill within fan circles, and hopefully they can find a way to include other cable carriers soon.
Per their press release:
SportsNet LA will be available on Charter Spectrum TV Select, Charter’s most widely subscribed to tier of service, on channel 44 SD/ 789 HD in the Los Angeles DMA, channel 44 SD / 773 HD in San Luis Obispo, and channel 44 SD in Porterville. SportsNet LA’s Spanish-language game telecasts as well as its Korean-language Secondary Audio Programming (SAP) will also be made available to Charter customers.
“The Dodgers are an iconic franchise and part of the fabric of the community,” said Tom Rutledge, President and CEO of Charter Communications. “We are very excited to be bringing the Dodgers back to Charter customers in the LA area.”BTW, Charter is not a significant player in the Southern California market, but this move is a great start. Per a story by Michael Lev at the OC Register:
“We’re thrilled that Dodger fans will now be able to watch SportsNet LA’s 24/7 Dodger programming on Charter’s systems,” said Stan Kasten, President and CEO of the Los Angeles Dodgers. “SportsNet LA continues to deliver unparalleled coverage of the Dodgers and we hope other providers come on board soon so all fans can enjoy the network’s first-rate programming.”
Ideally, Charter adding SNLA would put pressure on other distributors to fall in line. This is the best-case scenario, but it also feels like a long shot. Although Charter carrying SNLA is obviously great news for Dodgers fans living in Long Beach, San Bernardino, Burbank, Pasadena, Glendale, Calabasas and other locales, its subscriber base of about 250,000 represents only 5.6 percent of the market. Charter is a domino; it’s not the domino.
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