The Fan Voice: "I Survived FSN...So Where's My T-Shirt?"

By Live or Die Magic | March 24th, 2008


Those of you who have remained Brighthouse customers throughout this current Magic season are keenly aware of the significance of tomorrow night’s game against the San Antonio Spurs. It is the last game of the season to be broadcast on Fox Sports Net. The remainder of the regular season games will be broadcast on Brighthouse-friendly Sun Sports or nationally televised on ESPN.

I am not going to rehash the issue between the Orlando Magic, Brighthouse Networks, and Fox Sports Net. By now, most everyone is aware of the details. But I will say that it appears that those Magic fans who jumped the Brighthouse ship early and switched to one of the two major satellite providers may have been the smart ones. I certainly didn’t feel that the dispute would last the entire season. Now that one season has passed with no resolution, what’s to stop the impasse from continuing indefinitely?

I never would have thought I could make it through an entire season with not being able to view such a large number of Magic games. Were it not for my ability to see many of the home games in person this season, I think I would have gone into Magic game withdrawal. But after tomorrow night, I will no longer need to worry about checking the schedule to determine if I can actually watch the game. It has made me look at a Magic telecast in a different light. What I took for granted for 18 seasons I now see as a luxury. The ability to sit in the comfort of my own home and watch a Magic away game is now at a premium.

My personal situation prevented me from leaving Brighthouse Networks. If by this coming Fall, a resolution has not been found, I and many others may find that any barriers to making the switch to a provider with an agreement with FSN don’t look quite as insurmountable.

This has been a trying season for the average Magic fan, at least those fans who subscribe to cable. We managed to make it through, though slightly worse for wear. It has been a breakout season for the Magic team on the court, but unfortunately the vast majority of Magic fans who live in Central Florida had to miss many Magic victories. Here’s hoping that the 2007-2008 Magic season is an aberration in this one respect.

Oh, and by the way, my size is XL.


This message was not subject of approval by the NBA or the Orlando Magic. The views expressed in this blog do not necessarily reflect the views of the Orlando Magic or the NBA, but solely the writer.

Crazy as it sounds, I think Brighthouse should give everyone 5 free On Demand movies, or something like that. It is ridiculous what the fans had to go through. The worst was when the game would be on NBA TV, and STILL blacked out to us.

Thank god for the Channel Surfing link enabling alot of us to see the games...

I'd have been lost without it...

Brighthouse definately needs to solve that problem before next season.

LOD I dont know about you but I watched most magic games, albeit in illegal ways but as they say, thats how the cookie crumbles.

Cox Communications finally reached a settlement in the middle of January to start showing FSN games. I really felt for you guys that had to rely on streaming links that were far from reliable. I hope its gets settled before next season starts but clearly there aren't any guarantees with this stalemate.

I've said it 1,000,000 times. Switch to DirectTV! Massive DVR space. Much more HD channels. All the Magic games! Better picture!

I guess I am on of the smart ones...I had my satelitte pointing south before the preseason started and said bye bye to cable.....

LOD Im an idiot and posted something in the old FSN/Brighthouse thread but this is what I said....

We officially made it a whole season without the Magic/FSN/Brighthouse coming to any kind of agreement. They all might have lucked out a little bit because alot of us discovered other ways whether it be switching to a dish or using Al Gore's invention to watch games.

All in all I was just wondering what anyone thought would happen next season. I really do not see a resolution unless they agree to put it on over the air broadcast again. Brighthouse has gone what 3 seasons without NFL Network so I really do not see them adding FSN. Would the loss of internet viewing make you call in to Brighthouse again. I still think it stinks that the sides never came to a resolution but kind of never expected them too. We will see what next season holds but I am not holding my breath.

quote:

Originally posted by WPMagic:
I've said it 1,000,000 times. Switch to DirectTV! Massive DVR space. Much more HD channels. All the Magic games! Better picture!

I would of gone crazy without my DirectTV

My favorite part about this whole thing is how Brighthouse said over and over that they only had our best interests in mind. They swore up and down that they couldn't add FSN without increasing the cost of their service and that would not be fair to the customers that didn't care if they had the games or not.

Brighthouse was so worried about passing cost's down to their subscribers that they just raised their service $2 per subscriber while giving their customers what? Nothing. Basically if it increases their profit they could care less about what their customers want but if they make nothing off of it then they are protecting you.

Brighthouse is a joke, I couldn't be happier with my DirectTV. I had it installed the day before the opener and I haven't missed a game. I would also add that my signal has only gone out once for about a minute during a really heavy thunderstorm. Once in the past 5 months, I'll take that if it allows me to see what I want not what Brighthouse feels like providing me.

If I'm out of my apartment before next season, getting Direct TV will be priority for me.

quote:

Originally posted by Jareth Cutestory:
If I'm out of my apartment before next season, getting Direct TV will be priority for me.

Excuses, excuses.