MASN and COMCAST suffer from HD growing pains…Georgetown and Maryland headline weekend TV

By: Jim Williams

The Examiner

MASN announced that this season they would be telecasting 322 baseball games combined of the Nationals and the Orioles.

As we know there will be 80 in high definition – 40 each for Baltimore and Washington.  

Since that time my email box is full and I am attempting to answer the many questions that have been posed to me.

I spoke to representatives of MASN and Comcast about the issues and both sides are working together to make the HD games happen.

Yes I know it hard to believe but both sides are working on a solution. But we need to take a look at the some of the questions.   

So what does the MASN announcement mean to the fans?

If you have a standard definition TV as the vast majority of cable subscribers do it means that like last season you will be able to see your Orioles or Nationals game on either MASN or MASN2 – all 322 of them.

If you have a high definition set will you be able to get the 80 HD games?

In most cases the answer is yes.

Comcast, Cox and other cable outlets in the area are working with MASN to make sure on those nights that the network offers a game in HD that they will have a channel on their system free to carry the HD feed Due to a lack of HD channel space the cable companies will preempt programming on an existing HD channel opening space for the game to be played then the channel will return to normal programming. The details are being worked out and we will let you know the detailsas soon as we do. We will print the HD channel line up as soon as we get it.

Is MASN not doing all 322 games in HD because they are cheap?

No they are being realistic. 80 games spread out over an entire season are about the maximum amount of games they can get on the HD tier of cable in the mid Atlantic region.

Is Comcast protecting CSN by not giving MASN their own dedicated HD channel?

No in point of fact since subscribers who have HD TV are among biggest spenders when it comes to cable Comcast is actually losing a chance to make more money but not having the room for MASN HD. In fact their own channel CSN+ does not air any HD coverage of the Wizards or Capitals, so when it comes to HD channel space is tough to come by.

Why does CSN have their own HD channel and MASN is left out?

CSN began to broadcast sports in HD back in 2003 and they have had their own dedicated channel long before MASN existed and well before there was a long line of networks that wanted their own HD channels. 

Who is in line ahead of MASN for HD channels?

There are entertainment channels like FX, Bravo, Lifetime, Oxygen, BBC America, MTV and VH1 among other who want their HD space. Then comes the news networks like CNN, FOX, MSNBC, CNBC, and Bloomberg and yes the Weather Channel who is ready to launch HD channels.  

Let’s also understand that we have a very unique system with two teams in shared market. Only
New York
,
Chicago
, Los Angeles , and San Francisco-Oakland have two teams within 40 miles of each other sharing one market. New York is in some ways comparable to our market. The Yankees and the Mets have their own networks however long standing cable deals have put them ahead of our region when it comes to the HD sports food chain.

So as you see this is not as easy as it seems and while it is always nice to have someone to blame in the case of MASN and Comcast for once they are not at fault they share a common problems. Red tape, existing contracts and HD channel capacity issues. 

It is not often that we say “Wait till next year for a full compliment of home games in HD,” before the season begins but if you are a baseball fan of the Orioles or the Nationals 40 games in HD is really not too bad.     

 Best things o watch this weekend on TV:

Pleanty of good college sports lets start with basketball Georgetown is on the road against Marguette in a nationally broadcast game today @ 2pm on CBS. The Hoyas want to keep the Big East lead and land a #2 seed in the NCAA’s which would keep them in the east. They must beat Marquette and then next weekend a big home battle with Louisville will decide the Big East regular season champ.

Maryland hosts Clemson as the Terps try to keep the door open to the “Big dance.”

That game comes Sunday @ 6:30pm on CSN.

Back to Saturday LAX fans have on Channel 2 and ESPNU Denver comes to town to face UMBC in a big early season battle.

There is plenty of good college hoops with the Pac Ten and Big 12 having some key games today.

Also race fans will have a full slate of action on Speed, ESPN2 and Fox this week from Vegas.

Plenty of warm things to do inside.