Online Radio?

[Earl E Vogel]

Hello, I found this site while searching for an answer to this question.

I listened to Red Sox games last year on weei.com or wcrn.com.

I can't hear the games on online radio this year.

Does anyone know why?

[BoSox21]

Cause MLB makes you pay $15 bucks to hear radio broadcasts of games online.

[Earl E Vogel]

Is this a new policy this year?

[Dojji]

Yeah it's a licensing agreement issue. Broadcasting online is essentially broadcasting the games nationally, and NWIH a little one or two horse radio station can pay for that. So they don't purchase the license that would allow them to do that and so they can't broadcast their streams online during games. They could get sued for a lot of money if they did.

 

It costs $20/year to afford the online radio package from MLB.com and you get access to EVERY radio stream from EVERY team. Pretty good value actually. If you can pay for Internet at all, you can afford the Gameday Audio package.

 

(I wish there was a reduced rate service that just covered WEEI for $5. But oh well)

[Palodios]

Wait... there were free online radio feeds available last year? I was looking for it for a few teams, but I distinctly remember it being unavailable.

[Dojji]

Probably if there were any, MLB Advanced Media sniffed them out like they do MLB broadcast clips on Youtube and handed them a little old C&D order.

[ORS]

Yeah it's a licensing agreement issue. Broadcasting online is essentially broadcasting the games nationally, and NWIH a little one or two horse radio station can pay for that. So they don't purchase the license that would allow them to do that and so they can't broadcast their streams online during games. They could get sued for a lot of money if they did.

 

It costs $20/year to afford the online radio package from MLB.com and you get access to EVERY radio stream from EVERY team. Pretty good value actually. If you can pay for Internet at all, you can afford the Gameday Audio package.

 

(I wish there was a reduced rate service that just covered WEEI for $5. But oh well)

MLB retains exclusive streaming rights (both audio and video) of the league's games. While you are right in that WEEI doesn't have those rights, you are wrong in suggesting that they could have them if they paid MLB. It isn't for sale.

[Dojji]

MLB is in the business of making money. it might not be for sale, but it could be for lease/license/some other form of approved, paid for distribution by anyone willing to pony up enough dough. Since no one has been willing to do that and MLB is already in the business of doing it themselves it's sort of a moot point though.

[Earl E Vogel]

I have an internet radio adapter connected to my stereo. I was able to listen online all season last year on the local MA stations that broadcast the game.

I am in NH and I have no nightime AM reception and I can't see paying $20 to listen to Sox games at my computer(that's the only team that I would listen to)

Sux that MLB thinks they don't have enough money.

[ORS]

Nice try. If this were the case, I'm sure a giant like Clear Channel would have scooped it up by now. Parse away all you want, but it's a giant money maker, and it's not for sale.

[Dojji]

I have an internet radio adapter connected to my stereo. I was able to listen online all season last year on the local MA stations that broadcast the game.

I am in NH and I have no nightime AM reception and I can't see paying $20 to listen to Sox games at my computer(that's the only team that I would listen to)

Sux that MLB thinks they don't have enough money.

 

Don't wanna pay $20 for a whole year of online baseball audio? You're cheaper than I am, and I've been without a consistent income for about 6 years now.

 

Heck you're probably paying more just to run the computer while listening to your old online stream sources.

[BoSox21]

I know for a fact that WEEI.com would switch to the Fox Sports Radio feed whenever they were airing a Red Sox game over the airwaves because of the licensing issue.

[MDF3530]

I know for a fact that WEEI.com would switch to the Fox Sports Radio feed whenever they were airing a Red Sox game over the airwaves because of the licensing issue.

Here in Chicago, 670TheScore.com switches to the Sporting News Radio feed when there's a White Sox game.

[Northern Star]

MLB retains exclusive streaming rights (both audio and video) of the league's games. While you are right in that WEEI doesn't have those rights' date=' you are wrong in suggesting that they could have them if they paid MLB. It isn't for sale.[/quote']

 

Aren't the Yankees about to charge $70 to watch streamed games on YES.com?

[soxfan17881]

Just as an aside...

 

If you live out of the blackout area for your favorite team, as I do here in PA, MLB.tv is an excellent bargain. You can watch all out of market games live - even several at once (home or away feed). They updated the player and it is a very, very good quality. With the MLB.tv Premium, which cost about $119 at the beginning of the season, you get all the radio broadcasts for every game, as well, plus the new "At Bat" feature, which is like Gameday on the juice - with the radio broadcasts built right in.

 

When you compare that to the Extra Innings package that my local cable provider offers ($250), the comparision is not even close... especially when you consider that with MLB.tv I can watch/listen anywhere I have a broadband connection and with Extra Innings it's only in one room of my home, one game at a time.

[Northern Star]

Blackout areas suck. Particularly for mlb.tv, since it's basically the same feed whether you watch on computer or cable. Guess the station doesn't make as much $ if you watch by mlb.tv.

 

Also spare a thought for the people in areas where they are blacked out for three or four teams. Ridiculous.

[Earl E Vogel]

Not only am I blacked-out on mlb.tv but I don't pay for TV at all, so no NESN either. The only Sox games that I get to see are the occasional Saturday games on Fox.

I guess I am out of luck unless I pay up.

[Palodios]

Mlb tv immediately puts up blacked out games immediately after finished. Sure, you can't watch them as they're going on, but a three hour delay is not horrible.

[BucShot]

Interesting topic. It seems MLB has pretty much locked down radio broadcasts but there are still several streaming feeds to video broadcasts. The only time I have a problem streaming games live is on Concert Night at Rays home games.

 

This is probably due to a separate contractual agreement between the Rays and MLB that blacks out the TV feed locally to boost home game attendance to help cover the costs of the concerts. ZZ Top will be at the Trop this Saturday night.

 

Out of respect for the admin here, I'd rather not post links to the sites that stream the games live but if anybody wants a few links, PM me and I'll pass those along.