Extra Innings Cable Package

[Snodgrass'Muff]

Anyone know much about this?  I'm looking at my options for next season.  I have MLB.TV already, so I'm all set for 2014, but figured if I can get a live feed that is consistently live and and not 30 seconds to 2 minutes behind, and can avoid hiccuping and random blackout restrictions for games that aren't actually blacked out, it's worth looking into.  Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it's even close to worth it so I'm wondering if I'm misreading something.
 
Through Optimum's webpage on it it would cost $195 rather than the $129 I pay for MLB.TV and scrolling through their schedule, I'm not seeing the Red Sox come up more than twice or three times a week meaning they aren't scheduled to show all Red Sox games, just some of them.  Maybe their page wasn't displaying the information correctly, though.
 
So question 1: Do they show all out of market games?
Question 2: Does the service offer anything to make it worth spending and additional 65 bucks a year?

 

[DJnVa]

There's the typical blackout restrictions that should be the same as MLB.TV.
 

• On Sundays, MLB games that start after 5pm ET are not available on MLB EXTRA INNINGS. Check availability on ESPN, ESPN2 and local RSN. Learn more.
• On Saturdays, any MLB game that starts within three hours before or after the start of a game that is broadcast on FOX will not be available with on MLB EXTRA INNINGS. For example, if FOX broadcasts a game starting at 4:10 p.m. ET, any other game starting between 1:10 p.m-7:05 p.m. ET will not be available with on MLB EXTRA INNINGS.
  Learn more.

Other than that, you should get everything on there.
I had it 2 seasons ago and don't recall any games not available outside of those listed above.

 

[NWsoxophile]

I have it. It's $195 spread out over 4 payments. As far as I can tell they show all out of market games. The one thing that is odd is that of all the games offered daily, only 1, sometimes 2 are available in HD. I used to go with MLB.TV, but I just got so tired of computer freezes and the repetition of the same 2 commercials that it was worth it to me to spend more. 

 

[75cent bleacher seat]

You wont always get the Remy & Orsillo broadcast on away games....

 

[Snodgrass'Muff]

You wont always get the Remy & Orsillo broadcast on away games....

 
This may or may not be a bad thing, depending on your disposition.
 
Thanks for the replies.  I'm not sure the $65.00 difference is justifiable if all it does is reduce the lag and delay slightly.  I guess I'll see how I feel after another season of MLB.TV, though.

 

[canderson]

I have both. Note the FOX blackouts no longer are a thing, all games are available on EI/MLB.tv.

I haven't had a game this year where NESN wasn't available (except last night, EI had the FOX feed). MLB.tv is so shaky here I got EI because Directv made MLB.tv free this year w/ a subscription.

 

[Rasputin]

You wont always get the Remy & Orsillo broadcast on away games....

 
Yes you will. I had it through DirecTV and not once did I have to watch an opposing broadcast.
 
I switched to mlb.tv this year and will be switching back next year. Maybe it's my internet--though I don't know why that would be--but the experience of mlb.tv this year has been vastly inferior to the extra innings package. 
 
I mean, you just turn ont he TV and the game is there. If you aren't doing a ton of traveling, it's great.

 

[75cent bleacher seat]

 
Yes you will. I had it through DirecTV and not once did I have to watch an opposing broadcast.
 
I switched to mlb.tv this year and will be switching back next year. Maybe it's my internet--though I don't know why that would be--but the experience of mlb.tv this year has been vastly inferior to the extra innings package. 
 
I mean, you just turn ont he TV and the game is there. If you aren't doing a ton of traveling, it's great.

 
Perhaps it's  different in different regions....the years I've had it with TW the home broadcast was not always available.

 

[Rasputin]

 
Perhaps it's  different in different regions....the years I've had it with TW the home broadcast was not always available.

 
DirecTV isn't different in different regions save for the local channels.
 
And frankly, if I had a cable provider that didn't give me the home broadcast all the time, I would switch.
 
DirecTV will give you every broadcast of every game that goes out on a regional sports network which translates to about 99% of the broadcasts. There are some that are broadcast on over the air channels that they don't have but that's very very few games.
 
This is excepting national broadcasts, of course.

 

[75cent bleacher seat]

 
DirecTV isn't different in different regions save for the local channels.
 
And frankly, if I had a cable provider that didn't give me the home broadcast all the time, I would switch.
 
DirecTV will give you every broadcast of every game that goes out on a regional sports network which translates to about 99% of the broadcasts. There are some that are broadcast on over the air channels that they don't have but that's very very few games.
 
This is excepting national broadcasts, of course.

 
If you say you always got the home broadcast I believe you...I'm also saying when I subscribed to EI thru TW I would not always get the home broadcast....sorry for any confusion I  created

 

[Rasputin]

 
If you say you always got the home broadcast I believe you...I'm also saying when I subscribed to EI thru TW I would not always get the home broadcast....sorry for any confusion I  created

 
Yeah, and I'm saying it isn't a regional thing, it's a carrier thing and if Time Fucking Warner isn't giving you all the broadcasts you should tell TimeFucking Warner to kiss the fattest part of your ass.

 

[RSN Diaspora]

When I had Comcast, I only got one broadcast of the game, sometimes home, sometimes away. And only a couple would be in HD.
 
Now that I have DirecTV, I get the home and away broadcasts of every game on EI, and always in HD. Point DirecTV.

 

[RSN Diaspora]

 
Yeah, and I'm saying it isn't a regional thing, it's a carrier thing and if Time Fucking Warner isn't giving you all the broadcasts you should tell TimeFucking Warner to kiss the fattest part of your ass.

 
It's worth noting that not everyone has that option. When I had cable, it was because I was in a condo or apartment without a clear view of the southern sky or a place to mount a dish. Now that we own a house, we have a dish because we can. Plus, inasmuch as I hate feeding the unholy alliance between DirecTV and the NFL, I love having Pats games at home.

 

[glennhoffmania]

I think it's totally worth it.  I've been getting it for years.  You get almost every game in HD, and now you even get an mlb.tv account included.

 

[DJnVa]

 The one thing that is odd is that of all the games offered daily, only 1, sometimes 2 are available in HD.

 
That contradicts this:
 

• Up to 100 out-of-market games per week, with up to 99% in HD

 
So, maybe it depends on your provider.

 

[Sox and Rocks]

Have had it for about 8 years now.  It's worth every penny.  
 
Living in Colorado, the only broadcast I don't get is the opposing team's that is is playing the Rockies.  Otherwise, I have the option to watch either team's telecast for every game, all season long, especially now that the FOX blackouts have been lifted.  

 

[Plympton91]

I agree.  I've had it since 1999.  Worth every penny.
 
With DirecTV, I also pay the extra $12.99 a month to get the generic sports channels package, which includes NESN.  That means you get all the pre-game and post-game stuff, plus NESN's version of sportscenter every morning and things like the press conferences to announce big trades and signings, and the broadcast of the Duck Boat parades when Boston teams win titles.   The sports channel package also gives you a ton of college sports--the baseball regionals have been great in the past--and if you are into it, the English League Soccer on NESN and YES.
 
The only time you can't watch the NESN feed is if the Red Sox  are playing the local team.  When they play the Orioles I have to listen to the O's insufferably biased and generally completely uninformed announcing team.  It is occasionally interupted by a Jim Palmer appearance, and he's fantastic.

 

[LogansDad]

Yup, with Plympton on this one.  The only reason I justify paying for DirecTV at all anymore is the EI and Center Ice Packages, and I pay the extra for all the local sports channels.  It's a pretty sweet deal for those displaced from home (or who just want to watch a team that isn't from where they live). 
 
MLB.tv being added this year was an upgrade, but I have found it's service to be fickle at best. 
 
I'm in New Mexico, and the D-Backs and Rockies games are blacked out for me, but I get to see everything else, and I would agree that 99% of them are in HD.  And the lifting of blackout restrictions on Saturday's has been a godsend.

 

[B H Kim]

 
That contradicts this:
 

• Up to 100 out-of-market games per week, with up to 99% in HD

 
So, maybe it depends on your provider.

 
It does vary from cable provider to cable provider.  I have EI on Fios and get about 10 HD games a day.  I can only recall one time this year when the Red Sox game wasn't available in HD, and I just watched it in HD via mlb.tv (since they now include a free subscription along with EI).  I tried mlb.tv for one year instead of EI and and really missed the convenience of EI.  For me at least, the extra cost is definitely worth it.

 

[RSN Diaspora]

Yup, with Plympton on this one.  The only reason I justify paying for DirecTV at all anymore is the EI and Center Ice Packages, and I pay the extra for all the local sports channels.  It's a pretty sweet deal for those displaced from home (or who just want to watch a team that isn't from where they live). 

 
So, I've resisted the extra $13 for the regional sports channels because I assumed most of what I'd want to see on NESN would be blacked out. I realize you won't get live Red Sox or live Bruins games, but do you get tape-delayed repeats? The remainder of NESN programming? Or are there more things blacked out?

 

[HriniakPosterChild]

They used to black out pre- and post game shows on NESN because they showed more than some threshold value of MLB game highlights. YES made payments to MLB so that they wouldn't get blacked out. NESN wouldn't do that.

It has been about 7 years since subscribed to the RSN package, and things might have changed.

 

[LoweTek]

I have NESN on cable and I can watch anything except the game.

 

[Rasputin]

Yeah, I had the EI package just last year. They don't black out the pre and post game shows but they do black out the two hour replays.
 
Also, for some reason, I was able to watch the game on NESN rather than going to the EI channel. 
 
And wait...are you saying that if you got EI through DirecTV this year, it came with an mlb.tv subscription?

 

[LogansDad]

Yeah, I think pretty much the only thing I don't get is the Sox/Bruins in 2.
 
Everything is has been crystal clear HD.
 
And Ras, for your last question, at least through DirecTV, yes, we get both EI and MLB.tv.

 

[Rasputin]

 
 
And Ras, for your last question, at least through DirecTV, yes, we get both EI and MLB.tv.

 
And now I'm pissed. We switched from EI to mlb.tv this year and it has been a significantly lesser experience and now I'm fucking pissed.
 
The fuckers.
 
They better do it next year.

 

[Snodgrass'Muff]

Thanks for the further responses.  I'm sold on going with EI next year, especially if it includes an MLB.TV subscription.  The At Bat app gets a lot of use for me, and I wouldn't want to pay for it separately while coughing up $195 for EI.  Sounds like it's a pretty nice deal, though.

 

[glennhoffmania]

Thanks for the further responses.  I'm sold on going with EI next year, especially if it includes an MLB.TV subscription.  The At Bat app gets a lot of use for me, and I wouldn't want to pay for it separately while coughing up $195 for EI.  Sounds like it's a pretty nice deal, though.

It can be very useful. My wife will watch the game sometimes but certainly not every night. But with the mlb.tv thrown in I can watch on my tablet while she watches some HGTV show. Plus I use the app at work sometimes when there's a day game. But EI is definitely better when you have the option.

 

[Snodgrass'Muff]

Yeah, my girlfriend has never complained about me watching a game before, but part of that is because I only use the TV about half the time I'm in a position to watch one.  I'll frequently sit down at the desk and throw a game up on the 26 inch monitor and use headphones so she can have free reign of Netflix, Hulu, Amazon or more recently, the cable box.  It'll be nice to have the option to keep doing that to preemptively keep the peace, so to speak.