High-def slow to come into Mid-Atlantic Sports Network picture

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Mar 31, 2008 by Liz Farmer

For sports fans, there's nothing like the quality of high definition television -- other than the thrill of the real thing -- and this baseball season the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network is stepping into the action.

Although not quite as robust an HD network launch as in other markets, Monday night's Orioles game against the Tampa Bay Rays is scheduled to be the network's first broadcast in high definition, and the first of 40 O's and 40 Washington Nationals games broadcast in the crystal-clear picture.

Despite fan displeasure that just one-quarter of the two teams' games will be broadcast in high definition, MASN spokesman Todd Webster said the move is a signal that it is establishing itself as the region's baseball network.

"During our first [full] year, it was important to have the best possible talent crew and production to really being the fans closer to the team," said Webster. "So now in our second year we're taking the next step. Despite the relative minority of households that have HD sets, people who are sports fans are more likely to have HD."

According to the Consumer Electronics Association, about 30 percent of households nationwide own an HD television set, although Webster said the number is about 10 points lower in MASN's market. The association also conducted a survey in 2006 that found about half of HDTV owners bought their sets to watch sports.

Half of the high definition broadcasts will be of away games to ensure that season ticket holders will get a chance to enjoy the new enhancement, Webster said.

That is, as long as those sports fans don't subscribe to the Dish Satellite Network, owned by EchoStar, or Verizon's FiOS TV. Webster said that while MASN had been talking "for a number of months" with all the cable providers in the region about carrying the HD broadcasts, they had not come to an agreement yet. He said some providers may not have enough broadband capacity to carry another HD channel, but directed more specific questions for the holdup to the carrier companies.

Sandra Arnette, spokeswoman for Verizon, said the company "does not discuss future plans for FiOS TV" and declined to say how many subscribers in Maryland would be affected "for competitive reasons."

EchoStar spokesman Parker McConachie also would not comment on any negotiations and declined to elaborate when asked whether an HD sports network was something the company would strive to provide for its customers. EchoStar also does not provide regional information.

MASN has reached agreements with its major cable and satellite providers -- including Comcast, the largest carrier in the region -- to broadcast the games in HD. The network will not have a dedicated HD channel, but will appear in the provider's HD tier when a high definition game is on.

MASN has somewhat of a strained relationship with the cable carrier since a 15-month legal battle in which Comcast sued the Orioles -- majority owner of MASN -- seeking to carry O's games on its own sports network beyond the 10-year contract that was set to expire after the 2006 season. In August 2006, MASN won the broadcasting rights to both teams while Comcast agreed to carry the network.

Now, MASN is suing Comcast for its "threat" to block MASN's ability to air regional advertising this baseball season, according to a complaint filed this month in Baltimore City Circuit Court. Representatives from both companies declined to comment.

DirecTV will also have a dedicated HD channel for the MASN.

Other team-affiliated networks such as the Boston Red Sox's NESN and New York's YES networks broadcast all their baseball games in high definition. When YES HD launched last year, it carried all home and away Yankees and New Jersey Nets basketball games on four providers, which gave about 95 percent of the existing YES audience access to high definition, according to the magazine Broadcasting and Cable at the time. Now, 16 providers carry the HD network, according to the YES Web site.

Those who follow MASN question whether the network and the Orioles are doing enough for its sports fans in the Baltimore- Washington corridor.

"Forty games is not a lot," said Steve Davis, who hosts Sportsline on Baltimore's WBAL Radio. "It's not what other teams do for their fans. [The Orioles and Nationals are] the last teams in HD -- there's 32 teams in Major League Baseball and the last two in are on MASN."

Davis added that "for sports fans, there's nothing like HD" for its detail and quality of picture, and that with the declining yearly attendance at Camden Yards -- it's been two seasons since the ballpark hit the 2.2 million mark -- the team was missing an opportunity to show its fans it means business.

"I don't know if it sends any message but I think it's fair to say it doesn't look good," said Mark Viviano, who hosts his sports talk show on Baltimore's ESPN Radio and is sports news director at WJZ, ABC's Baltimore affiliate.

"For a franchise that struggles to win this is something that'll be heaped upon them in the loss category," Viviano said. "People call in my show and say, 'Typical Orioles, they don't have games in HD, they've been losing for 10 years, same old, same old.'"