And it's about damn time. Now people might have a chance to actually watch the whole game, especially those of us who work and kids who go to school in the Eastern and Central time zones.
Cue the Dodgers making the Fall Classic and everyone (I'm looking at you ESPN) slagging the league for making their fans take off work early to get to the ballpark or to wherever they'll watch the game. Living in the Eastern Time Zone, I'm certainly in favor of it, however.
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Originally posted by Guru ZimIt will be interesting to see if they can afford to give up the West coast audience for pre-game, etc.
I don't get off of work until 5pm and I don't have a TV on until 5:30. I guess this is good for radio. I don't like it, though.
Not trying to jump down anyone's throats here or anything, but this is an argument that gets made every time, and I really don't get it. If you have TICKETS to a game that's now starting at 5, yes, it sucks, and I understand that, but if you're watching on TV, why is it such a hardship that you can't see the first inning or 2, as opposed to people on the East Coast fighting to stay up to see the last inning or 2?
It isn't a "hardship" it just sucks. If really popular teams make it, people will bitch because they are missing part of the game. If not so popular teams end up playing, the networks will bitch because of lower viewership. Maybe bars will be happy, as more people go there instead of home to watch the games with an earlier start time.
Originally posted by Guru ZimIt will be interesting to see if they can afford to give up the West coast audience for pre-game, etc.
I don't get off of work until 5pm and I don't have a TV on until 5:30. I guess this is good for radio. I don't like it, though.
Not trying to jump down anyone's throats here or anything, but this is an argument that gets made every time, and I really don't get it. If you have TICKETS to a game that's now starting at 5, yes, it sucks, and I understand that, but if you're watching on TV, why is it such a hardship that you can't see the first inning or 2, as opposed to people on the East Coast fighting to stay up to see the last inning or 2?
Originally posted by StaggerLeeYou mean the Dodger fans that don't show up until the middle of the third inning?
Have YOU tried getting to Dodger Stadium through the L.A. freeways? Even when you leave an hour ahead of time, the parking situation is still a nightmare and there isn't exactly a viable public transportation system in Los Angeles to get fans to Dodger Stadium. The fans pile in late, but that's the fault of the organization and the environment more than the fans. It saddens me that the only one in the media to understand this concept is Colin Cowherd, because I really hate that guy.
Originally posted by DrewDeuceCue the Dodgers making the Fall Classic and everyone (I'm looking at you ESPN) slagging the league for making their fans take off work early to get to the ballpark or to wherever they'll watch the game. Living in the Eastern Time Zone, I'm certainly in favor of it, however.
I do find it interesting that the year the Dodgers are favored to make the World Series on the NL side is the year they decide to make start times earlier. And I don't see anyone getting off work early to see a baseball game with the economy and the job market as bad as they are. I don't throw around the term "East Coast Bias" often, but this looks like a big case of that.
I'd love to see two west coast teams (Dodgers/Mariners?) make the World Series, just to see the empty stadiums for the first three innings.
(edited by It's False on 20.5.09 1409)
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Originally posted by Guru ZimIt will be interesting to see if they can afford to give up the West coast audience for pre-game, etc.
I don't get off of work until 5pm and I don't have a TV on until 5:30. I guess this is good for radio. I don't like it, though.
Not trying to jump down anyone's throats here or anything, but this is an argument that gets made every time, and I really don't get it. If you have TICKETS to a game that's now starting at 5, yes, it sucks, and I understand that, but if you're watching on TV, why is it such a hardship that you can't see the first inning or 2, as opposed to people on the East Coast fighting to stay up to see the last inning or 2?
I like to watch the whole game?
I think his point is that it's worse to miss the last part of the game vs the first. I almost never see all of a MNF game for that very reason.
I like this too, since almost 50% (48.1%) of the population of the lower 48 states is in Eastern Time Zone. According to this guy's research, http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=714986 , the Eastern Time Zone has 141,631,478 people. The other three (Pacific, Mountain, and Central) combined have 152,840,071 people.
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Originally posted by Guru ZimIt will be interesting to see if they can afford to give up the West coast audience for pre-game, etc.
I don't get off of work until 5pm and I don't have a TV on until 5:30. I guess this is good for radio. I don't like it, though.
Not trying to jump down anyone's throats here or anything, but this is an argument that gets made every time, and I really don't get it. If you have TICKETS to a game that's now starting at 5, yes, it sucks, and I understand that, but if you're watching on TV, why is it such a hardship that you can't see the first inning or 2, as opposed to people on the East Coast fighting to stay up to see the last inning or 2?
I like to watch the whole game?
Tivo it, and watch it from the begining, you get to skip commercials and all the other crap unitil you get to the live portion.
Hey, I dig about wanting to see the whole game live, I really do. But it's doing terrible things to baseball that kids can't watch a World Series game in much of the country when they're young, and even older kids rarely get the chance to see the end of one. A look at the time of my posts will tell you I personally have no problem staying up, but a lot of people have to be up early. West coasters having to catch the first half-hour on the radio seems like a reasonable trade-off.
Originally posted by Guru ZimCan't do it with baseball. I'm too impatient. If I can know the score, I want to know it.
Once I know the score, the early stuff is too hard to watch.
If I only watch 5 innings of a game, and all of the scoring was in the first 4, I feel cheated.
I know, maybe it's just me. I prefer to have to sit impatiently through the game.
This certainly sounds like a personal problem, not something worth punishing viewers on the East Coast over. It's doesn't get nearly as much sympathy from me as "I can't stay up past midnight to watch the end of a game because I work in the morning" does.
Forgive me if it sounds like I'm selling out my fellow West Coasters, but I'm fine with the move. I have a Gameday Audio subscription and a DVR. I'll survive. Hell, move them to 7 Eastern if you need to.
Now, if the Dodgers do make it this year, I might change my tune, but I can't afford World Series tickets anyway.
I wonder if they could figure out some sort of sliding schedule depending on which two teams were in the Series. If it's all East Coast, they could start as early as they want, since West Coast ratings would be low no matter what.
Originally posted by Guru ZimCan't do it with baseball. I'm too impatient. If I can know the score, I want to know it.
Once I know the score, the early stuff is too hard to watch.
If I only watch 5 innings of a game, and all of the scoring was in the first 4, I feel cheated.
I know, maybe it's just me. I prefer to have to sit impatiently through the game.
This certainly sounds like a personal problem, not something worth punishing viewers on the East Coast over. It's doesn't get nearly as much sympathy from me as "I can't stay up past midnight to watch the end of a game because I work in the morning" does.
I've lived on both coasts and have dealt with both situations. I prefer neither, but I would rather stay up late than miss part of the game. If all the action happens early, then you missed the set up for later. Staying up late means an extra cup of coffee or a larger Rockstar in the morning to me.
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Originally posted by Guru ZimCan't do it with baseball. I'm too impatient. If I can know the score, I want to know it.
Once I know the score, the early stuff is too hard to watch.
If I only watch 5 innings of a game, and all of the scoring was in the first 4, I feel cheated.
I know, maybe it's just me. I prefer to have to sit impatiently through the game.
This certainly sounds like a personal problem, not something worth punishing viewers on the East Coast over. It's doesn't get nearly as much sympathy from me as "I can't stay up past midnight to watch the end of a game because I work in the morning" does.
I've lived on both coasts and have dealt with both situations. I prefer neither, but I would rather stay up late than miss part of the game. If all the action happens early, then you missed the set up for later. Staying up late means an extra cup of coffee or a larger Rockstar in the morning to me.
That works well for you, but I'd say MLB is looking a lot at kids who have school being able to stay up and see more of the games. They're the next generation of fan they'll need to rope in to buy tickets and merchandise as well as pull decent ratings in the future. And I'm betting most parents would rather not let their kids have a cup of coffee and definitely not a Rockstar of any kind in the morning.
Originally posted by Guru ZimCan't do it with baseball. I'm too impatient. If I can know the score, I want to know it.
Once I know the score, the early stuff is too hard to watch.
If I only watch 5 innings of a game, and all of the scoring was in the first 4, I feel cheated.
I know, maybe it's just me. I prefer to have to sit impatiently through the game.
This certainly sounds like a personal problem, not something worth punishing viewers on the East Coast over. It's doesn't get nearly as much sympathy from me as "I can't stay up past midnight to watch the end of a game because I work in the morning" does.
I've lived on both coasts and have dealt with both situations. I prefer neither, but I would rather stay up late than miss part of the game. If all the action happens early, then you missed the set up for later. Staying up late means an extra cup of coffee or a larger Rockstar in the morning to me.
Way to miss the whole point. A solution to this problem was presented: Record the game, and watch it all when you get home, maybe half an hour late. Guru's response? "I'm too impatient." That's not a very convincing argument. And, as MUTigermask pointed out, you also don't take into account children who want to watch the game.
Originally posted by TheBucsFanWay to miss the whole point. A solution to this problem was presented: Record the game, and watch it all when you get home, maybe half an hour late.
Yeah, except that's not even remotely a solution - that's telling those of us on the West coast to "just deal with it". And given that a game will still end sometime around 10:45pm, I'm not sure how that helps bring kids to the game (unless the parents in question are far less strict than were mine).
If it's an East coast series (or even a Central and East coast series), then I have no issue with it starting at 5pm. But if it's a dual coast series, or a west coast series (which do happen from time to time), then you're screwing half of your target market, and that's doesn't make a lot of sense.
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Originally posted by TheBucsFanWay to miss the whole point. A solution to this problem was presented: Record the game, and watch it all when you get home, maybe half an hour late.
Yeah, except that's not even remotely a solution - that's telling those of us on the West coast to "just deal with it".
Wow.
No matter what, someone is going to have to "just deal with it." By saying the times should not be moved, West Coast viewers are telling East Coast viewers to "just deal with it."
But it is incredibly easier for West Coast viewers to "just deal with it" by recording the game and watching it a little later than it is for East Coast viewers to stay up late to watch the ending. Why is recording it "not even remotely a solution" then? Is it because you're impatient too?
Also, as has been pointed out, way more viewers reside on the East Coast, so seeing as how some viewers are going to have to "just deal with it" no matter what, it makes more sense for those viewers to be on the West Coast.