Tuesday, April 21, 2009

The Playoff Push-Off

For the first time in its history, Fox Sports Ohio is facing the need to juggle not one, but two playoff games involving its teams...in the same night, tonight.

Both teams, oddly enough, are in first round playoff series with Detroit...as the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers face the Detroit Pistons for the second game of their series, and new NHL playoff entrants the Columbus Blue Jackets tangle with the Detroit Red Wings in the third game of their series.

As a public service to sports fans, here is information on TV carriage for both games.

The Blue Jackets' website lists where their game will air on FS Ohio tonight here, with HDTV coverage mainly in Central Ohio.

Up here in Northeast Ohio, the Blue Jackets play second fiddle to the Cavaliers, with no HD cable or satellite carriage of the NHL game aside from DirecTV's "sports pack" subscribers.

We do know, though, that Time Warner Cable's Northeast Ohio system has a dedicated second HD sports channel (437) that the name in the program guide would suggest was meant for such overflow ("FSNBJ").

Other than that, the Blue Jackets game on the TWC NEO system would be in SD only on digital channel 310, with the Cavaliers occupying analog 30, digital 309 and HD 436.

We can't find a similar list for the Cavaliers/Pistons contest tonight, but we presume those in Columbus and south will get the FS Ohio coverage of the game on the usual overflow channel. We think TWC uses analog 24, a local programming channel, for that.

But it looks like tonight's game will air nationally on the widely carried TNT cable/satellite channel, which even has some HD carriage on Time Warner...so Cavs fans outside Cleveland will have to do very little scrambling...

4 comments:

emery_r said...

FSO gives priority to Cincinnati Reds baseball on TW's southwest Ohio systems, so the regular Reds game airs tonight on FSO (our channel 43) tonight. The Blue Jackets game will be shown on a semi-regular overflow channel, TWTV (channel 99 for most). When the conflict with hockey playoffs arose, reports in the Cincy Enquirer said it wasn't automatic that the Blue Jackets games would be shown down here, although it was assumed something would be worked out -- which it was!

Matt Boyle said...

Here in Columbus OH looks like the Reds game will air on Time Warner Channel SD Channel 24

I suspect the bluejackets will air on FSN OH's regular channel (ch 33) in Columbus

and the cavs game shows in the guide on TNT

Anonymous said...

Well I get DirecTV without the sports pack, and I am still enjoying the Blue Jackets game and in HD to boot. The game is on 680 and 680-1.

Remember that among the RSN's they maintain some overflow channels specifically for this purpose.

Steven Vondruska said...

On the Cox Cable system in NE Ohio the SD channel of FSO (ch. 14) is running the Cavs game, but the HD verison of FSO (ch. 714) is running the Blue Jackets game in HD. If you want to watch the FSO broadcast of the Cavs in HD, you have to watch WUAB.