Comcast Nationals blackout

Just moved into a new place in a new town about two weeks ago. I tune in to try and catch the Braves and Nationals tonight and I get a black screen. WTF?

I understand there is some sort of dispute between Comcast and the Nationals, with something to do with MASN (Mid-Atlantic Sports Network) and the Orioles. But why does that affect me here in the heart of Braves country?

Yeah, I know, get DirecTV. But my landlord won't allow it.

Anybody (Moddy?) know the deal with all this? It wasn't an issue in my old town and I had cable (Cable One) there as well.

Just curious, because it's a pain in the ass, the Braves and Nationals playing 19 times a year and all ...

 

No, just the Braves and the national broadcasts (ESPN, Fox, etc.). This is the first game against the Nats that's been on since I've been here, so I'm not sure if it's a regular thing or not.

I suppose I should "call my local cable provider," but I was trying to avoid 15 minutes on hold if possible.

 

We've already had several calls about it here, too. We get nothing but a black screen.

 

I was wondering what the heck was going on, too. If there is some sort of Comcast/Nats problem, I can see if it's in Washington, but this game in in Atlanta.

 

Steak, are you looking at the MASN channel or the Braves channel?
Your first post has me confused

 

I'm watching the game on Comcast Sports Southeast, which is supposed to carry games that air in Atlanta on PeachTree TV, the local independent station.

I'll try to explain this, because it's complicated:

After TBS stopped showing games, PeachTree TV bought the rights to 35 games that weren't going to be shown on the Fox regional networks that show all the other Braves games not on national TV.

Since PeachTree TV is available only in the Atlanta TV market, that would have shut out viewers in the rest of the South who had been watching Braves telecasts on one stations or another since the 1970s. To combat this, PTV created a regional network of cable systems that would show the games.

In my old town, I had CableOne, and they decided to show the PTV games on the local access channel. Comcast and Charter Cable decided to show the games on CSS. DirecTV created a special "Braves" channel.

Tonight was the first time since I moved to my new town that they were playing the Nationals, and the game was being broadcast on PeachTree TV (and thus, CSS). But I got a black screen. Nothing.

I suspect it has something to do with the Nationals, because I can remember Braves games against them being blacked out on ESPN years ago. But I'm not absolutely certain.

I was hoping someone else would know.

 

I'm actually listening on the radio, so not really. But thanks, anyway.

 

My head's spinning, but I think I understand. Thanks, Moddy, as always.