MLB Extra Innings: half the channels Direct TV provides

[welshTerrier2]

Verizon Fios provides 15 MLB channels in their MLB Extra Innings package.  Direct TV provides 30 MLB channels for the same package.  There have already been numerous posts in this forum about the limited number of HD channels Verizon provides; this post is not about the HD issue.

Because Verizon has only half the number of MLB channels that Direct TV has, they cannot and do not offer a choice of home team versus visiting team announcers as frequently as Direct TV does.  I don't know about you, but I have a strong preference for my team's announcers.  Listening to a visiting team's announcers is like seeing a Broadway show without the original cast.

I called Verizon and eventually spoke with someone fairly high up in the company.  He fully understood that Verizon was offering only half the MLB programming Direct TV offers (for the same price) and promised to do some research on the issue.  He was very good about getting back to me but, when he did, he acknowledged that the news is not good.

I assumed, apparently incorrectly, that Verizon was providing less MLB programming because they had a smaller subscriber base than Direct TV and thus lacked the buying power to offer equivalent programming for an equivalent price.  This appears not to be the issue.  Verizon chose to not offer 30 channels for "internal business reasons" and apparently does not intend to offer more channels because their MLB subscribers have not raised the issue in sufficient numbers.

If you subscribe to the MLB Extra Innings package and would like your team's announcers to be available for all televised games, make some noise! Respond to this post. Give Verizon a call and tell them you want 30 MLB channels like Direct TV has instead of the 15 MLB channels Verizon offers. Maybe if enough people squawk about this, things will improve. It doesn't hurt to try.

[Carl]

Verizon gets their EI, CI, LP, DK packages from inDemand. DirecTV goes directly to the leagues.

I don't know if inDemand has plans to increase their bandwidth anytime soon.

For Verzion to carry the 60 feeds (SD/HD), they would have to route all the local RSN's nationally. Currently, they do not have the bandwidth. I am hoping that in the near furture, these packages move to an IPTV distribution model, with the hopes that we can get all of the SD/HD feeds.