[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.

[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.

[Publius Valerius]

You don't need a land line for the Dish to function; you just need a land line to buy pay-per-view and things like that.

DirecTV TELLS you that you need a land line, but it's a dirty little secret that you don't.

Interestingly, years ago, when my dish was being installed, the installer told me that if you don't have the phone line hooked up, you can still order PPV, receive the PPV, but you won't be BILLED for the PPV until you plug in your receiver to the phone line. I have no idea whether or not this is true because I never tried it, but it's an interesting bit of information that, for some reason, I haven't forgotten.

[codercpc]

Maybe I am misunderstanding what you are complaining about, but before DirectTV came out with their NFL Sunday Ticket, I could not watch my favorite team (Vikings) because I was in the Packers home market. So for my family it was a huge deal. I don't know how you can claim a monopoly when it is actually an added value that wasn't available to me until DirectTV offered it.

Are you claiming that cable should show each and every game available for free, because there might be someone that can't afford a dish? I really must not understand the complaint.

[RockinRight]

I disagree with your assessment.

Satellite has a superior picture quality, and IS available to a majority of people. In fact, places that don't get cable can often still get DirecTV or DISH network.