Versus // MSG

[Vanek Nation]

So the game is scheduled to play on Versus tonight, however it is blacked in our area on that channel. MSG is carrying the game but it is not being broadcasted in HD. Why would the ONLY place in the entire country not to get the game in HD be the buffalo/Rochester area??

 

Oh yea im a bit south of rochester right now.

[Mbossy]

So the game is scheduled to play on Versus tonight, however it is blacked in our area on that channel. MSG is carrying the game but it is not being broadcasted in HD. Why would the ONLY place in the entire country not to get the game in HD be the buffalo/Rochester area??

 

Oh yea im a bit south of rochester right now.

 

The Sabres have the rights to all the advertising/air time through the first two rounds, after that it's NBC/Versus.

[Dollars 2 Donuts]

So the game is scheduled to play on Versus tonight, however it is blacked in our area on that channel. MSG is carrying the game but it is not being broadcasted in HD. Why would the ONLY place in the entire country not to get the game in HD be the buffalo/Rochester area??

 

Oh yea im a bit south of rochester right now.

 

 

As good a question is why in the world is MSG NOT showing a Playoff game in HD?

[Jonny Blings]

Boggles my mind why the fans of the team playing get to watch the game in blurry a** standard def mode while non fans around the rest of the country get to watch on HD. F'ing sham. Give me the choice to watch on HD and listen to commentators via radio. Bad enough my eyes bled all season watching away games on this shat display. I cant believe nhl games in 2010 are still only displayed in standard. Sad.

[DonInBuffalo]

Of course it's disappointing that the local market is the only place that doesn't get the game in HD. It's essentially due to a quirk in the way the NHL blackout rules work. The basic rule is that when a local team is playing, the network that holds the rights to show the game in that local market has exclusive rights to show any NHL game during that time slot. There were a few Rangers/Devils road games that were shown in HD this season, but that is only because it's the same company, MSG that was carrying that feed. So, it was relatively easy for the details to get worked out. (and even then, there were some screwups where not everyone got the game in HD)

 

Since Versus is a separate corporate entity from MSG, it was virtually impossible to work out contract details "on the fly" for the game to be shown in HD in the local market. In fact, Versus was not allowed to show any NHL game as long as MSG was showing the Sabres game here. They didn't switch over from their "alternative programming" to the late game until after the MSG coverage stopped.