UPDATE 2: In late September, the Colorado Attorney General announced plans to not only look into whether Comcast and DirecTV were charging customers a fee for a channel they did not have access to, but also to determine whether other non-sports related fees they were charging were on the up and up. Shortly after that announcement was made, DTV announced they had an agreement with Altitude and the channel was back up and running that very evening. This changed Altitude's tactic from wanting fans to stone the Big 3, into gushing over DTV being amazing and urging fans and bars that want to air the games to switch to DTV. Confusingly, Altitude continues to court Comcast with annoying promos during the games, while simultaneously telling people to switch from Comcast. But then, nothing is surprising in this dispute anymore. Whoever was in charge of the media blitz should be fired, they've handled it so terribly. Fortunately, I have DTV and can watch the games but I still feel for those who can't. Altitude has filed a lawsuit against Comcast, claiming they're trying to put the channel out of business so they can swoop in and buy the TV rights for the Avalanche and Nuggets for themselves. We'll see what comes of that.
UPDATE: Two weeks into the standoff, no progress has apparently been made. And Altitude has found yet another way to get on my damn nerves. They say the Big 3 have been uncommunicative, which leads me to believe the B3 said they could take or leave the original deal they offered Altitude and so the blackout continues. Last weekend, a newspaper headline reported Altitude was looking into a deal with Amazon to stream this season's games, but the text of the article actually said they had talked about it internally but had not reached out to Amazon. I get the impression it is not a realistic partnership they will seek. I'm not sure what to root for now because while watching it on TV would be the easiest route, DTV will want more money from customers for the channel if a deal is struck. Streaming games elsewhere sounds like a headache, but I'll do it if I have to.
As for Altitude getting on my nerves, that all goes back to their social media feeds. I do not follow the channel, but I follow the Avalanche and they are counting down to the start of the season (20 days away now), which includes showing bits being filmed for intermission and pre/post-game segments and the announcement of which games they will be broadcasting, albeit not to most of their fans. The channel is available in many other markets so they will still cover the games, the hometown fans just won't get to see them. On almost every post trying to hype people up for the season, someone comments about not being able to watch the games and whoever runs the Avalanche Twitter responds with, "Correct" or some other such nonsense. Altitude's on air talent continues to do videos social media talking about the blackout, as if surrendering broadcasting to its base for the season. They also point out people can still watch the games on Charter and CenturyLink services, which really grinds my gears because CL is expensive as hell, not widely available and is no longer accepting new customers, and Charter covers literally one half of one county in all of Colorado (that is not an exaggeration). If you don't foresee a way for us to view the games, say as much so we can all make our decisions about what to do. Don't go out and play victim and keep telling us to complain to our providers because obviously they don't care what we want and they've already told you to kick rocks. Furthermore, I don't appreciate news articles that have titles about how to watch the games if the channel doesn't come back, when all they say is that you can still watch them on two providers that hardly anyone can get. I'm even less optimistic now, and I wasn't very optimistic to begin with. But I'm also just so tired of money being the only thing that talks. No one should feel sorry for a billionaire that couldn't get his ducks in a row before they all exploded.
Once upon a time the owner of my beloved Colorado Avalanche decided to start up his own TV network on which to air the games of the Avs and the several other teams he owns. It was called Altitude TV and has been the home of games for Colorado's NHL, NBA, lacrosse and professional soccer teams for nearly two decades. Prior to that, the Avs games aired on a Regional Sports Network, then called Fox Sports. The reason for Altitude and the switch was basically because the team's owner, Billionaire Stan Kroenke, wanted full control over how his teams were presented. The Avalanche are on the verge of what looks to be a very promising season. They made major moves to address their weaknesses over the summer and their biggest remaining issue is signing their last big name player. Imagine my surprise when I opened up Twitter last week to find a post from the Avalanche account stating that Altitude was about to be dropped from all three major television providers because they could not come to terms on a new deal.
My initial reaction to the Altitude news was to be pissed at DirecTV, not that I need more reason to feel that way towards them. But the last week has brought some clarity about where my anger should be directed. It's quite rare for all three TV providers to go to war with the same channel, which leads me to believe some blame lies on the shoulders of Altitude. The last week has seen the channel release a pair of open letters to fans and launch a campaign that's appeared on the internet, social media and newspapers urging fans to contact their providers and demand the channel back. In much of this campaign, Altitude seems to play the victim. "The Big 3," as they're calling Dish, Comcast and DirecTV, have decided to try and take them out and only fans can save them. Or so they want us to believe. The majority of comments on Twitter from fans are begging for a streaming option so people can cut the cord, but the network says that's not possible because they can't afford it. Fans tweet at their provider and get canned answers about the whole mess being Altitude's fault. It's gotten particularly nasty with Dish and Comcast, one not seeming to care if they ever get the channel back and the other claiming Altitude's greed is the only reason it was lost in the first place. I've noticed many other fans realizing there's blame on both sides recently. Altitude's on-air talent tries to talk them to their side of the aisle, but let's face it - if all three companies are having negotiation troubles with you, then you might be the problem.
Of course we don't get the full story on negotiations but the jist of it is that Altitude entered negotiations seeking an increase in the price the Big 3 pay to carry their channel, while the providers sought a 50% reduction in the price they pay, as well as moving the channel to a higher package tier, thus costing customers who keep cable just to watch sports that much more money for the privilege. Altitude wanted the increase to be gradual, not kicking in until next year. When that was rejected, they offered to keep the deal the same as the recently expired one, with no increase at all. That was also rejected. It seems the Big 3 will only agree to what their own terms are and nothing less. We don't know what other offers from either side have been put forth. Altitude's current state reminds me of that of a teenage girl acting on impulse. It's almost like when talks break off and they're not going their way, they release more information on Twitter about how they're being bullied. The thing is there's not much more the fan base can do here. We can all threaten to cancel our service til we're blue in the face but the Big 3 know that a lot of that is probably just talk. People threaten to cancel all the time. And in the case of DirecTV, there's always the 50/50 chance that someone who cancels their satellite service circles back around to their streaming options, so they're not really losing anything. At the end of the day, this is a dispute where fans are the most affected but have no real leverage. These carriers and Altitude need to sit down and figure it out, and they need to do it before October when the NHL and NBA seasons begin. This is not a small, local company fighting the good fight against three conglomerates. This is a network owned by a billionaire who is fighting other billionaires who could not care less about fans.
This whole thing really just bums me out and really is taking away from my excitement for the Avs season. If I can't watch it, what's the point in looking forward to it? I don't like cable providers, I think they way overcharge for what they give you. I got DTV a few years before AT&T purchased them and it has gone downhill faster than any company I've ever seen. They no longer care about DTV customers because they have so many other ways to make money, including their ever evolving streaming options which ATT clearly sees as the future. In fact, the CEO said this year that he doesn't want to bother with customers who are on discounted TV plans because they don't make the company enough money. The only reason I even still bother with them is because of local sports. Altitude does not broadcast on any streaming network and Avs games are blacked out locally on the NHL's streaming service. I don't watch live television at all (aside from sports), so cutting the cord is something I would do in a heartbeat if I could still watch the games. And it's something I will do if Altitude is not back on my television by opening night. I may still be forced to do it if DTV tries to force an upgrade to another package just for one channel. Mind you, they charge an $8 regional sports fee for what amounts to two channels, one of them an RSN that they own and thus don't pay to air. They're basically charging us $4 for their own network just because they can. And the extra $4 that's supposedly for Altitude remains on the bill, even though the network is not available right now. Even if the Big 3 got the deal they wanted out of this, they'd still raise prices. The greed is just disgusting. But I'm also irked with Altitude. Clearly, they knew this negotiation was coming and you're telling me no exec had even preliminary talks with the Big 3 to see what the official talks might entail? You were able to plan a media blitz against your fans but had no contingency plan in place for them to watch your teams if the bottom fell out? Every suggestion fans give is met with a, "No, we can't, it's too expensive" response from Altitude. They say they can't make a deal with a streaming service like Hulu because it's not sustainable. There are a good number of sports teams, NHL and NBA, who stream their games on platforms like this. If anyone is equipped to test the streaming waters and be a guinea pig, it's Kroenke and his billions. If he wasn't so damn stubborn, he could sell the rights to another RSN and let them deal with TV negotiations. Perhaps they could even just stick it to the Big 3 and air games over the air. I find it hard to believe that the handful of options you've been given are all completely un-doable. And if that's the case and you need the Big 3, or even just one of the Big 3, to continue to survive as a network then you never should've taken the battle public. It just makes you look weaker and gives those 3 no incentive to continue negotiating when they know what dire straits you're in. You need them, they don't need you and they don't really care if they piss off their customers. They have nothing to lose.
