Here’s an update on my post from Wednesday, about how Verizon FiOS only carries CSN+ in some parts of the D.C. area, causing frustrations for some Caps fans. I corresponded with representatives from both Comcast SportsNet and Verizon about the issue and want to share their responses.
But first, a quick thank you to the writers who linked to the post, sending a boatload of traffic to it. To J.P. at Japer’s Rink on SB Nation, Greg Wyshynski at Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports, Dave Hughes at DCRTV and Dave McKenna at Washington City Paper’s Cheap Seats Daily — thank you!
And thank you to everyone who Tweeted about the story or posted comments on the blog. It was great to see so many people who are passionate about the issue and watching Caps games.
Those last few paragraphs felt like the Oscars, but it was important to me that I say thank you, because I really do appreciate all the links, discussion and thoughts you’ve shared.
So, here’s what I’ve got as of right now…
Tim Fitzpatrick, VP Communications with Comcast Sports Group called me today after I had reached out to a PR professional who works with the company. I was curious to know if there was anything that could be done on Comcast SportsNet’s end to resolve the issue, especially after seeing reader Jill’s comment on my original post yesterday, where she talked about the resolution that Cox and Comcast SportsNet reached, as she states “at the very beginning of the 2008-2009 season,” when “Cox customers were without CSN+.”
While on the phone, I asked Fitzpatick to send me a statement by email, which he did: “Comcast SportsNet makes 100% of our Caps and Wizards games available to Verizon FiOS, as we do to all of our distribution partners. However because of a Verizon technical matter, FiOS customers in certain Maryland and Virginia markets are unable to see Comcast SportsNet’s Capitals and Wizards games on the “plus” channel when the other team appears on the primary Comcast SportsNet channel. For further information fans should contact Verizon directly at 888-553-1555.”
A short while later, I got a response from a member of the Verizon public relations team to an email I’d sent them earlier in the day.
Heather Wilner, Manager, Media Relations for Verizon said in her email to me, “We continue to work on making CSN+ content available to customers in the parts of the D.C. area that do not get our FiOS1 channel, which is currently the only place FiOS customers can watch these games. We are working with Comcast to make this happen, but, unfortunately, it’s unlikely it will happen this season. We continue to offer a lot of other hockey content available on other channels, including games airing on local channels, CSN on channels 76 and 576 (HD), Versus on channels 90 and 590 (HD) and the NHL Network on channels 87 and 587(HD). And we hope to be able to get you all of the Caps games in the future.”
What I want to know is, what does Verizon mean when they say they are “working with Comcast” to resolve the issue and what exactly is the issue? What is the “Verizon technical matter” mentioned in the Comcast statement?
Quite simply, why can someone in Montgomery County, for example, watch CSN+ on Verizon Fios channel 1, but then someone just up the road in a neighboring county or another part of the region can not?
Is the fiber Verizon put in the ground in one county different from the fiber they laid in another county? Is it a capacity or bandwidth issue? Is it a contractual issue? Is it money-related?
I hope Verizon does get their customers “all of the Caps games in the future,” but I want to know what’s preventing them from giving all their customers CSN+ right now. That’s the answer I want, so we can figure out if there’s anything that can be done to fix the problem.
Until I get a better answer, I plan to do something many cable companies are quite familiar with—more digging.
Note: I realize the Caps are not the only team affected by this issue with FiOS and CSN+. There are times when the Caps are on CSN and the Wizards or college games, for example, are on CSN+, and some fans of those teams are unable to watch their games through FiOS. I focused on how this relates to the Caps when I wrote that story Wednesday, because that’s what I was plugged into as a big Caps fan. But if this gets resolved with FiOS, fans of many teams could benefit.
Brian
November 20, 2009
This was an issue with DC United a few times too for me, but in a different way. DCU ended up on Plus a few times late in the season because of Caps games. No biggie – I like flipping between the two.
But people like me out in the boonies couldn’t always find the proper channel for CSN+. The page here – http://www.midatlantic.comcastsportsnet.com/pages/plus – is updated now, but it wasn’t the first time DCU was shifted to Plus. So I missed most the game since the on-screen guide wasn’t updated (the channel in Hanover used for Plus is also C-SPAN2) and the online list didn’t include Hanover among systems with Plus.
Luckily, I was flipping around during a commercial of the Caps game and just happen to end up on the right channel and saw the last 10 or 15 minutes or so.
Bill
November 21, 2009
I could be way behind on this issue, but I was under the impression that all or parts of DC don’t have FIOS at all. In other words, Verizon hasn’t put the fiber in the ground yet (or has just recently started). This wouldn’t surprise me as it is the District we are talking about. I’ve had FIOS for 3 years in VA.
Disclaimer: Contrary to my normal Internet MO, I did no research on any of the above and used only my feeble memory skills.
GH
November 17, 2010
why isn’t the FIOS1HD channel carrying the comcast HD feed for the overflow channel?
mikeholden
November 17, 2010
I do not know the answer to this for sure, but I am guessing that FiOS doesn’t have it set up yet. CSN has said they have the feed available in HD for every Caps and Wizards game: http://mikeholden.wordpress.com/2010/11/05/csn-has-caps-wizards-in-hd-tonight-simultaneously-for-first-time-ever. If it’s not showing up somewhere, it’s likely due to the carrier and not CSN. I am pretty sure FiOS has CSN+ HD in the works based on some things I read on Twitter. But I’ll reach out to some people to see if I can get a more definite answer.