RealGM

TSN and Rogers Cable confirmed on Sunday that they have come to an agreement on distribution for the TSN2 service.

Beginning on Tuesday, TSN2 will be available to Rogers subscribers on a free preview on Rogers Digital Channel 1. At the end of the month, TSN2 will be available to Rogers Digital VIP cable subscribers at its permanent channel location on channel 98. As part of the agreement, TSN2 HD will be available to customers who subscribe to TSN and have the HDTV Specialty Theme Pak.

Rogers customers will have access to hundreds of live sporting events on TSN2, including this week's key three-game series featuring the Toronto Blue Jays taking on the Boston Red Sox in a battle for first place. TSN2 will have exclusive and complete coverage of the series beginning on Tuesday, May 19 at 7 p.m. ET.

''We are thrilled to have a deal in place to bring TSN2 to Rogers customers,'' said Phil King, President of TSN. ''TSN has always been about giving fans more choice when it comes to watching live sports. Our agreement with Rogers now gives their customers access to hundreds of exclusive live events each year – including NHL, NBA action along with every inning from this week's highly anticipated Jays-Red Sox series.''

http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/story/?id=279043

I figure most of you saw this on the Raptors forum, but I'm just making sure no one misses out watching the series.

regardless of the fact that it's good news that all you Rogers guys can watch the upcoming series, it's still a joke when you put it in perspective.

Every other provider around ante'd up when push came to shove for the benefit of their customers

Finally Rogers is going to do it because the Jays are in 1st place and attendance among other things is starting to take off big time. It's a crucial series with the Red Sox that we are all obviously pumped for. Basically if the fanbase was unable to watch this road series, there was probably going to be outrage, subscription cancellations and headaches for everyone. Thats not the only area they would lose out on though. They'd lose interest in their own product (the jays) while companies like Bell and Cogeco serviced customers ability to watch a Rogers owned team.

I'm just saying, it's kind of a sad state of affairs because the timing of this for Rogers makes it very clear where their priorities stand. When Raptors fans and Leafs fans struggled with tv scheduling all of this season Rogers dug their heels in with TSN because it was an MLSE owned product.

It's really disappointing to know that the only thing thats causing them to give in right now is a series with the Red Sox. Obviously Rogers negotiated the right for TSN2 to broadcast the games and thus really had no other choice but to pick up the rights to broadcast TSN2 but it's irrelevant. Deep down, I hope you all know that the only reason this is happening right now is because it's in the best interest of Rogers and has nothing to do with the fans or the subscribers of Rogers TV.

I'm personally disgusted with Rogers antics throughout this whole process of getting the deal done, and their resolution isn't much of celebratory point at all. If it weren't for their ownership of the Jays and the elevated interest because of Boston and the fact that we're leading the AL, they'd still be in a corner with their foot on the brake like the stubborn little **** they are.

/rant

thank goodness.... thanks for the news, and nice rant there charger , haha, and I fully agree 100%..

If it's only on preview channel 1, does that mean I won't be seeing it in HD?

That's still a major piss-off for me (since I pay $20/month for HD just to watch sports!)

finally...i mean really finally....praise the lord for having the VIP pack.

better late than never.

now i don't have to go to my parents house to watch.

WOOT

IT'S ABOUT FRIGGIN TIME!

I got a email from rogers telling me about this, but the HD channel part is cut off. If anyone figures out what that channel is please post it here. The HD preview channel.

EDIT: NVM I found out its channel 501.

Rogers 501 was dead last night from the second inning on. The first two innings were crap anyway - lots of weird pauses and pixilation. I called Rogers and they said they were trying to fix it.

I couldn't find it in standard def. I didn't know it was on #1, and I couldn't find it elsewhere. Rogers are a bunch of toolbags but Bell Expressvu sucks so bad that I can't threaten to leave.

Wouldn't it be nice if there was some real competition in this market?

If we get swept by the BoSox I directly blame TSN2

victor page wrote:Rogers 501 was dead last night from the second inning on. The first two innings were crap anyway - lots of weird pauses and pixilation. I called Rogers and they said they were trying to fix it.

I couldn't find it in standard def. I didn't know it was on #1, and I couldn't find it elsewhere. Rogers are a bunch of toolbags but Bell Expressvu sucks so bad that I can't threaten to leave.

Wouldn't it be nice if there was some real competition in this market?

Haha bell express vu doesn't suck at all. It's 10 times better than Rogers cable. The only draw back is that inclimate weather can cause signal disruption but it's very seldom that it happens, and general only goes off for 1 to 3 minutes. I can give you 15 reasons why the actual service is better (not the least of which is the fact that the HD is a true HD feed and not some compressed bull like cable)

Not to mention that they had TSN2 the day it launched and didn't have to wait out Rogers ante'ing up for the good of themselves.

Next.