Is there any hope of getting away from Charter?

[kevinfootes]

SLU will NEVER be a big-time program as long as it's airing games on the Pete Parisi channel. That was a poor decision by the old AD and administration and should be terminated at whatever cost.

[BLIKNS]

The Bills really need to get back to being on Fox-Midwest,plus CSTV,and ESPNU,and whenever possible ESPN,and the duece.I think the A-10 has a deal with Fox(I sure hope so)

[tseugnekillib]

To suggest that SLU will NEVER be a success if they remain on Charter is stupid.....but then I get Charter! What we need to be highly successful is (1) an on-campus arena, (2) continued improved recruiting and (3)solid coaching.

Being on Fox Midwest would be nice for those fans without access to Charter, but to suggest that the Charter cable system is keeping us from be successful is crazy.

[kevinfootes]

Kids want to play games on TV, games that people will watch. It's stupid to believe otherwise, and it's stupid to believe that being on the local access channel is good for the program.

Good programs are first class from top to bottom. SLU needs to improve the areas it can control first, and then line up everything else. It's like trying to buy an expensive car when you're working a minimum-wage job.

[billiken_roy]

i am not sure what you think is available channelwise that would make you happy? we couldnt be on fox due to a non-complete provision by cusa and espn was my understanding. the a-10 is also an espn conference and plays those early saturday games on espn. i would think you will run into the same provision in the a-10 conference.

channel's 2,4,5, 30 and 11 arent likely as they all have network programming to work around during the week. imo, unless you no longer want any weeknight games, the best option is charter.

i guess if i didnt have charter, and was viewing things on a satellite then i could see the b!tch. however, i have charter. imo the compromise is to get charter to provide the games on the internet that they televise on charter for a fee per game. cincy does this for any game not on national tv and i have watched a couple of games with naticat on his internet broadcast. other than the fact i wasnt getting to watch it on my select tv screen, it was actually very well done.

i contacted jim braun about it last year and it went nowhere though. so i guess more voices need to suggest it than just me.

[davidnark]

Most of Xavier's games are either on Fox Sports or one of the ESPN networks. See http://athletics.xu.edu/mbasketball/schedu...ns%20Basketball

Being that Xavier and SLU will be in the same conference starting next year, there is no reason we shouldn't be able to negotiate a similar TV package.

[Box and Won]

I wish there was some sort of compromise that could be worked out - I liked that Saturday games used to be shown on channel 5 while the weekday games were shown on cable.

[kevinfootes]

If you lived in the City of St. Louis you might be able to see how horrible Charter is. I will never give them another dime, even at the expense of missing some TV games. Many SLU games are played on Saturday afteroons. SLU could at least make something available on a better channel than public access. I know CUSA had rules, but SLU sort of threw in the towel by going with Charter. As Nark pointed out, Xavier has a Fox deal. Let's hope SLU can get something done to be more legitimate.

[billiken_roy]

my cable company is indeed charter, so not sure what your point is. personally i think they do an ok job. so what is your complaint with charter?

[huzzah]

Charter is a good choice. You can get Charter cable, including music, DSL, and Vonage, a separate transaction using the cable,and gives you unlimited long distance calling in the US + cheap overseas rates for less than $80. You also get to watch the Bills. All for less than $80. Quite complaining and hop on board.

[Cowboy]

Wow, have you ever had the opportunity to negotiate anything? Two of the keys to winning in negotiating - you must be willing to walk away and you are always better served by being in a position of strength.

I do not know any details of the deal between SLU and Charter, but wouldn't one think Charter is the one that may want to get out of the deal?? We just had a season where we lost 21 games. If we do not have games on Charter, what is the option?? No games on TV?? I do not have Charter and so must find a location to watch those road games, so that is a pain to me, but at least I can find them on tv. Charter also must give some $$$ as they have their logo on the court, so while we are trying to raise money for an arena, let's piss off a current Billiken supporter of some size (I say some size as no other compnay has their logo on our court).

To conclude, be careful what you wish for (no Charter, no tv)

[kevinfootes]

for years Charter had terrible recption on channels 2, 4, & 5. You'd call to complain and they'd promise you a service visit sometime between 7-12 or 12-5. Essentially you'd have to take 1/2 day vacation because they refused to commit to a time. They'd come by and might fix the problem for a couple of days but it would always return. They would tell you to watch those channels through your VCR because that might help. Ultimately they suggested switching to digital cable. For just $12 per month more they could fix your problem. I know at least a dozen people in the city who had terrible problems with them. Whne I ultimately switched to satellite, I got a call 5 months later from a collection agency saying I owed them over $100 in Charter late fees. I had never received an bill or a phone call. I called Charter to complain and was told "that's the way it is". The guy refused to let me speak to a supervisor. I had to make a complaint to the Better Business Bureau before they finally backed off. Charter is an amatuer operation, period.

Not to mention the fact that Billiken basketball is on the Pete Parisi channel.

[kevinfootes]

Charter is a bush-league operation with poor performance and loses customers regularly. I wouldn't consider going back to Charter without a personal apology from senior management.

[BLIKNS]

I believe alot of our tv problems came from C-USA`s agreement with ESPN.IF you are one of the sexy schools(Cincinnati,Louisville,Marquette,or Memphis)it`s great,but If not,well .

It is frustrating though after years of the Bills being on Fox-Midwest quite a bit to almost nothing.This year with the Blues not playing,and the Bills playing,but Fox-Midwest would have on a Blues higlight game from 2000,or something like that.

I just hope the school can get back on Fox,and A-10tv.

CSTV hopefully gets an agreement with the A-10.

[billiken_roy]

actually, when i switched to digital and got an amplifier, all of my tv's (i have 9. fwiw, when you split the signal i.e. multiple tv's, that is a huge problem for reception. so if you have multiple tv's, you are creating the problem) became crystal clear on all channels, so i dont think they were lying. should they have provided that equipment at no additional costs? that is a legitimate question, but still when i finally agreed to the adjustments that they said would fix the problem they indeed cleared up permanently.

[Billiphan]

Footes is right to a degree. Of all the possible channels the Bills could play on, 2,4,5,11, ESPN I & 11, and FSN, Charter is probably the least desireable.

There is a lot of complaining about the coverage the Post gives the Bills yet there are people defending their decision to be shown on a second rate cable channel. What gives?

Footes is right about the lack of quality reception and service that Charter provided. Some of you act surprised by this. Hello its the cable company!!!!!!

Billiken (9 TVS?!?!?!?!?), I don't buy your suggestion to upgrade to get rid of the reception problems. Can't we expect a good reception without having to upgrade. Some of us with only two TVs and an enjoyment of reading don't feel the need to upgrade just so the reception will come in better. I expect my cable company to get it right the first time.

The Bills deserve better. And yes, being on a crappy cable station hurts the perception of the Bills and that perception is not grea to begin with.

[ACE]

If C-USA had a non-compete, then aside from KevinFootes' personal melodrama, Charter was probably the best option. Hopefully the A-10 doesn't have a similar restriction and we can get back on Fox.

[billiken_roy]

of course i would rather the billikens were on 2,4,5, 11 or 30 or on fox sports. but i also am not naive enough to believe that weekday night games would ever get on tv. weekend night games would be getting bumped by the blues on fox. at least with charter, almost every game is on. until the billikens have the juice to demand top billing, you guys are kidding yourselves.

as to charter providing the needed equipment and such to pick up good coverage when a household has multiple tv's, just remember if they provide amplfiers and digital to every household, that minimum cost will rise accordingly for everyone. i have 9 tv's fine with me. but the single young lady with one tv that isnt home all that much might not think that is fair.

[Cowboy]

I think you may have missed my point.

No where did I defend Charter or any entity.

I simply asked that fans look at the alternatives to Charter, which at least in my mind for last season and right now, is no tv.

Would we all love to Duke or Kentucky where virtually every game is televised on a network? Absolutely. Are we there right now? Absolutely not.

[NashvilleBilliken]

How can you guys say Charter is a good place for the billikens to be? They are 100% limited to people who live in the St. Louis area. No, check that...they are limited 100% to people who live in the St. Louis area AND have Charter cable. I was in STL last season visiting friends, and I could barely find a place to watch the game. Humphrey's and Laclede's don't have it. My friends lived in Lindell Towers, and they didn't have it. That is ridiculous. Sure it is great for you all who live in St. Louis, but how about all the alumni who move from STL, but are STILL expected to fork over there $$?

I know there are certain contractual issues that we have to deal with, but we gotta find something better. We can't be taken seriously with a TV deal like that. You think recruits are just dying to be seen on Charter public access? If we can't muster up a deal similiar to Xavier's in the near future (1 to 2 years), then I will have serious issues with our athletic administration.

[billiken_roy]

so what's the alternative? you guys all preach it sucks, but what would be better? fighting the blues for weeknight games on fox? only weekend day games? good luck.

[billiken_roy]

just remember on fox, we get to fight the blues for night games. that is a battle we wont win at this point in time for billiken fans everywhere. so we end up in a scenario just like at the savvis. i.e. 2nd or 3rd in the pecking order on nights when there are other events they could televise.

as long as everyone understands being on fox or channel 11 might mean instead of 20+ games on tv, we might be lucky to get 10 on tv. we also will no longer likely have the billiken interview show that randy karraker does on charter. or if it is on, get your vcr's ready to tape the 3 am showings.

as far as an occasional billiken volleyball game, or a soccer game or a baseball game, or a women's basketball game, forget about it.

[willie]

At a tip off meeting Cheryl said something like we could go to fox for something like $10,000 a game. I assume she meant that we would have sell that amount of advertising per game. Thats a lot of pasta and Lou Fusz cars. Like everything else you need to win to attract those numbers.

[sluer]

Worse than that. I believe her number was $20,000 per game.

[NashvilleBilliken]

Honestly, I really don't have the knowledge to lay down a plan...but that wasn't really the point of my post. I was reffering more to the fact that we seem to be quite content with this deal. And we shouldn't be...it sucks. It's not my job to find a better plan. It's my job to write my check every year to SLU. And as part of that check, I would expect to be able to see a game or two. I understand that we were limited with the ESPN deal in C-USA, but now that we have moved, it should be much easier. I have seen several A-10 games this year on Fox sports, so I don't see how that going to be an issue.