Sen. Kerry opposed to MLB's 'Extra Innings'-DirecTV deal

Associated Press ^ | Jan. 31, 2007

[presidio9]

A proposal to make Major League Baseball's "Extra Innings" exclusive to DirecTV has drawn the ire of Sen. John Kerry.

The Massachusetts Democrat said he plans to raise the matter with the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission at a hearing Thursday.

"I am opposed to anything that deprives people of reasonable choices," Kerry said in a statement. "In this day and age, consumers should have more choices - not fewer. I'd like to know how this serves the public -- a deal that will force fans to subscribe to DirecTV in order to tune in to their favorite players. A Red Sox fan ought to be able to watch their team without having to switch to DirecTV."

"Extra Innings" is a service that allows viewers to watch games involving teams not in their local markets. In past years, the service has been available through a range of providers, but a pending deal would make the service only available to DirecTV subscribers.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is a scheduled witness at Thursday's hearing of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

[Gabz]

"I am opposed to anything that deprives people of reasonable choices," Kerry said in a statement. "In this day and age, consumers should have more choices - not fewer.

ROFLMSS!!!!!!!!!

[gulfcoast6]

'Reasonable choices"? Then let us get the major networks on Direct or Dish.

[kellynch]

I cannot believe MLB would do something this stupid. The extra money comes out to be about $1 million per team. You can't even get a mediocre reliever for that money. They are cutting off their nose to spite their face. Going from potentially hundreds of millions of customers to a few million. I can't have a dish (regardless of the brand); neither can a lot of people. This is just so unbelievably stupid.

[darkwing104]

Dear John,

Did they teach you about Capitalism at Yale? Or did you flunk that also?

[Tijeras_Slim]

Shhhh... don't interrupt John when he's exceeding his capabilities again.

[flintsilver7]

It's a good thing somebody is finally standing up for this. Without NFL Sunday Ticket, DirecTV would be basically meaningless. DirecTV is not only an annoyance (the need to install a dish and the need for a land line, for example) but it isn't even available to the majority of people.

I'd just assume this would be the same NFL Sunday Ticket turned out to be - DirecTV buys themself a monopoly, and prices skyrocket.

[socal_parrot]

Kerry just doesn't want to be deprived of watching his favorite Red Sox player "Manny Ortiz".

[johnny7]

Must be talking to his favorite BoSox player... Manny Ortiz... and thinking of the big games that were held in... Lambert Field.

What a døuchebag.

[neodad]

I'm glad the Dems are in charge. Now important work will get done.

[garyb]

DirecTV is currently owned by NewsCorp. You wouldn't suppose Kerry would do something just to get at NewsCorp, would you?

Hmm, DirecTV is in the process of being sold to Liberty Media, wonder if the value of the property would be less w/out the MLB package?

[johnny7]

LOL... all this thinking has probably laid him up for a week.

[NonValueAdded]

Then why is it wildly successful for the NFL? It's all marching down the road toward pay-per-view, but don't think Kerry is worried about the fan - Big Cable was burned badly by SundayTicket and will not allow it to happen again. Bought-and-paid-for politicians will make sure of that.

[edpc]

Dear John.....we made a choice in 2004. It wasn't you.

[mmichaels1970]

It's a good thing somebody is finally standing up for this.

Do we really need a Senator to start going after "big TV"? If DirecTV is only an annoyance, they won't make money, will stop dealing with MLB, and the market will change.

I'm fairly certain that if MLB starts seeing revenues drop because of this, things will change in a hurry. I'm not certain we need Mass. Senators attempting to fix this for us.

Also, I'm a DirecTV subscriber without the NFL ticket and I still love the service. Wanna know why I love it? Because I'm paying about $60/month less for my tv/internet then I was when I was a Time Warner Cable customer for 10 years.

[flintsilver7]

Broadcasting rights isn't the NFL's only source of income - it's not even close. By last calculation, DirecTV was actually losing money to retain their NFL rights. They overpaid the NFL badly so they could basically remain in business.

This isn't a matter of "Big" anything. DirecTV forced its competition out of the market with the NFL as a willing accomplice. In my world, I call this an ill-gotten monopoly and artificially controlled demand. DirecTV did not earn exclusive rights by providing service better than any of their competitors. They simply bought it.

[BallyBill]

I like to hear about baseball. It makes me realize that spring is around the corner. I just prefer John Kerry's name not be included in the discussion.

Pitchers and Catchers please report to camp.

Go Phillies!

Play Ball!

[IamConservative]

"I am opposed to anything that deprives people of reasonable choices," Kerry said in a statement.

Should come in handy when the Fairness Doctrine is debated..

[kevkrom]

This package does nothing -- nothing -- to prevent people from getting all of the games they used to get in their home markets. It simply allows those who choose to use the service to get access to those "out of market" games they would not otherwise be able to see.

In other words, Kerry is full of s***, as usual.

[presidio9]

What a difference a couple of years make. Do you remember when Kerry was the absolute best choice they could offer for most powerful man in the world? Did you know he was in Vietnam?