NESN NESN's contracts with Xfinity, Cox and Spectrum expire at Midnight on October 1

[Fenway]

NESN wants Xfinity, Cox, and Spectrum to pay more a month and keep NESN on the basic tier. The cable companies want to pay less and move NESN to a more expensive tier.

Xfinity refuses to add NESN 360 to available apps on X1 boxes saying the app does not meet industry standards and frankly it doesn't.

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[smithformeragent]

Give me an excuse to stop watching, and I’ll never come back.

 

[sarge88]

Give me an excuse to stop watching, and I’ll never come back.

I wish I were that strong!

Kids are grown…no games or meets to go to…work is a grind and one of the things I look forward to in life is watching my teams play.

 

[smithformeragent]

I wish I were that strong!

Kids are grown…no games or meets to go to…work is a grind and one of the things I look forward to in life is watching my teams play.

I definitely watch more of of habit than enjoyment at this point.

It’ll probably change a bit once my boy is old enough to understand what’s going on (if he cares about sports).

I remember my old man constantly remarking about how boring and generic the product had become in the 90s.

I’m there now.

I used to watch all 82 (live or on TiVo).

I honestly don’t think I’d miss it at this point. Plenty of other stuff to stream. My wife is ready to cut the cord, but we’ve held on basically for live sports.

Xfinity is a racket for sure, but I like being able to speak what I want to watch into the remote and not have to do all kinds of gymnastics to log into various streaming services separately to watch something.

 

[CharasLazyWrister]

Far be it from me to get on the side of mega corporations. But NESN has become so addicted to putting out a high school level production, and then demanding exorbitant fees for it (all while denying publicly there’s any actual problem), that I am sort of rooting for it to fall apart.

If it was not a jointly owned venture of the Red Sox and Bruins and the broadcasting rights to those respective team was actually up for bid, it would have been gone long ago. There isn’t a single aspect of what they do at this point where they’re not obviously cheaping out.

I’ve used the example a few times, but whenever I watch MSG, I can’t believe the difference in production quality. It’s like night and day.

 

[JAD]

When I was a kid, in my teens, there was a time when didn't miss a single Bruins game from 1972 through 1980 whether the game was on TV or radio I was there watching or listening. I remember lying in bed late at night listening to west coast games or even if my friends and I were camping out - I would have a transistor radio in the tent listening to the game. But that was long ago and far away... a much simpler time. Then in the early 80s I went away to college in the Hudson River valley and could no longer watch and try as I may could not really listen on the radio, very poor reception too much static. But I did have my subscription to The Hockey News sent to my dorm. Days before internet and cable availability.

I was back in the Boston area in '86 watching and following the Bruins through their cup runs in the late eighties. But my steadfast interest began to wane throughout the 90's as the priorities of life began to take precedence. Married and raising a family didn't allow extra spending on cable packages and NESN. I would still catch and watch games when and where I could, but I was damned if I was going to pay for something I could once watch for free. Usually, catch games at friends houses or national television or ESPN .. especially the playoffs. Yes, I had cable at that point but just basic.

How I miss the days of channel 38 Bruins broadcast. Now everybody wants you to pay. Yes, I get irked having to pay for air to fill tires at the gas station, or a glass of water in places. Those things once yse to be free. Next they'll be charging us an annual fee for the air we breathe.

Now I live in Florida, but still follow the Bruins and Hockey. Hockey being my first love of sports and truly the only sport I'm passionate about. But I don't pay to watch games be broadcast, other than my internet service and only use free streaming services. The internet fills in a lot of the missing information. I will pay to go see a game once a year (I've got tickets for March 8th in Tampa this spring - birthday gift from a lady friend) but at this stage of my life if I miss a game it's not the end of the world.

Love my Bruins and always will support them, but for me paying to watch a game when not in attendance got out of hand long ago and isolated many fans. As I've said elsewhere, I'm from a different generation before paying for something you once got for free became the norm.
You'll all find alternative ways to watch the games and maybe even save a few bucks.