No pregame show for Islanders on MSG Plus in '08-09
Former Isles mouthpiece Chris Botta is getting feisty in his blog, taking shots at two of Cablevision's prized possessions: Newsday (for lack of Isles coverage this week) and MSG Plus (for lack of Isles pregame shows).
The weird thing is there will be pregame shows for the Devils, the Isles' spiritual siblings in non-Rangers-land.
On the other hand, "Islanders Illustrated" will be shown regularly before games, a magazine-style show for which the Devils do not have an equivalent.
How do I feel about all this?
I feel it's more important to have a nice postgame, because hardly anyone watches pregame shows anyway. And the diehards who need more info he can get plenty of stuff on the Islanders' Web site, Newsday, Newsday.com and Logan's blog.
As for Botta's assertion Newsday already is tilting its coverage toward Cablevision owned teams . . . I don't know. If I'm supposed to be doing that, Mr. Dolan has done a poor job of letting me know, because I have heard nothing along those lines.
OK, now I'm really done for today. I need to put on my Rod Gilbert jersey and paint my face blue to prepare for the weekend.
E-mail
Facebook
Digg
Delicious
Comments (16)
I wish people would stop assuming Botta is the 'voice of Islander fans.' He's actually a big part of the reason the Islanders are in this mess today. Just know, he does NOT speak for all Islander fans, just the dumb ones...
Is Botta still whining? Tell Botta that when MSG stops losing millions broadcasting Islander games that nobody watches, then maybe they can have a pregame show.
Neil...you can spin it any way you want...it still doesn't change the fact that MSG+ (Dolan) will not air any Islanders pre-game shows for the WHOLE season...while both the Devils and Rags (Dolan again) will indeed be televising pre-game shows. It may be a coincidence that Newsday is also owned by Dolan...but the fact remains...LACK of Isles coverage. And what is exactly the reason for airing the Devils pre-game shows and leaving the Islanders out in the cold? I guess you must not have gotten that memo, either. If you truly "leave no stone unturned", as a journalist, whether you work for Dolan or not you should really find out the answer...in stead of covering for your boss.
What is MSG Plus going to be broadcasting instead of an Islanders pre game show? Surely not a highly watched show-there is no such thing on the MSG/MSG Plus channels.
-------
On the other hand, "Islanders Illustrated" will be shown regularly before games, a magazine-style show for which the Devils do not have an equivalent.
-------
Do you have any idea what youre even talking about?
(1) That show has one or two episodes a MONTH. If the same flippin episode is shown regularly before games over and over I wont even be watching it. How many times can you watch the same episode of a half-hour show?
(2) It is made by the Islanders themselves by their online TV group. It is not by MSG at all. They do nothing for it.
Dont sit there thinking its some glossy show. You need to learn about something before you write about it.
That being said, I actually agree with you that a nice postgame is much more important. Lets see if the Isles are allowed to have one when games run late before we start talking about them letting the Isles have that though, OK? Ill believe it when I see it. After all the preseason I got to watch, forgive me for not trusting their sorry asses.
The only time I watch MSG is when the Islanders are playing, then I just switch to SNY. That is the station the Islanders should be on, they'll get a lot more respect there than they do now.
As I recall, you can thank Spano or Howard Milstein and Co. for that. One of those ownership groups basically signed their TV stuff away to MSG for the ultra long-term because the Islanders were just about broke (or so they claimed).
The Devils' TV deal expired about 3-4 years ago and I'm pretty sure MSG renewed it before it reached open bidding. They pretty much expected to lose the rights to YES if there was any competition.
Given the timing (and their then-recent success), I wouldn't be surprised if the Devils received considerably better coverage terms from MSG than the Islanders get.
Bryan, because I agree with Mr. Botta, does that mean I am dumb? All I know is the Isles decision in terms of it scoverage goes back before Mr. Botta, but I guarantee, even if it does not, it was not Mr. Botta who decided in the early 80s to pull the Islanders off of free TV. When I was growing up in Queens in the late 70s & early 80s, the fans were split about 50-50 between the Isles and the hockey version of the evil empire...Then they pulled their games off of Channel 9, and no one in Queens could watch them any more, unless you had Wometco Home Theatre...and very few of us did...and they did not even have every game, they had about one, every two weeks. The move denied them a chance to continue to grow their Queens fan base based and basically restricted them to a Long Island team...not that you could tell by Newsday (the Long Island based newspaper, that does not even cover Queens anymore) the other day there were two rag$ articles and ZERO on the Islanders, just three days from the start of the season, so I do not want to hear about who someone speaks for...I doubt you speak for only the "smart" Islanders' fans.
Who on earth is Chris Botta?
I'm not a big fan of any of the 3 local hockey teams (though if I had to choose one, it would be the Islanders since I like Howie Rose), but this is pretty sad. To have pregame shows for the Rangers and Devils but none for the Isles after televising exactly 0 Islander preseason games is wrong. I know the Islanders get low ratings, but doesn't this lack of exposure play a part? And why aren't the Islanders yelling and screaming about being treated like this by MSG? If I were them, I would be looking to get out of their deal with Cablevision (I doubt dropping the pregame show would violate the tv contract, but maybe the Isles' legal department can get creative) and see if SNY or YES would want them.
cmm,
The dollars received by Wang for the coverage on MSG prevent any sudden switch.
It's A LOT OF MONEY.
As Neil has written many times ... the Isles and Devils are signed to MSG until way past his retirement. The real date may be 2025 or 2030.
No one in this economy [or even a boom one] will sign those terms for that kind of money again.
Besides, what outclasses "Beer Money"?
If I recall correctly, FSNY/MSG+ dropped the pregame shows for BOTH Devils and Islanders last year, and added a more relevant post-game show in its place (unless another game caused a schedule conflict). Do the Devils have both, or have they just have a pre-game show again?
Considering the regular 7:00 start time at Prudential Center (as opposed to 7:30 nearly everywhere else), it really seems odd to give the Devils a 6:30 pre-game show. So unless the Devils post-game show is being eliminated, this is really unfair to the team in New Jersey, not the one on Long Isalnd.
Devils have pre- and post-game.
Islanders have post-game.
Rangers have pre- and post-game.
So do the Knicks. So do the Nets.
If the other two teams have BOTH a pre & post game show, then it is only fitting that the Islanders should have the same. Especially considering that the Islanders pre game show was an emmy winner.
when MSG Plus was announced we were specifically told there would be MORE Islanders coverage not less. It was obviously meant simply to placate the fans short term.
How about the first period of the season opener with Islanders broadcasters? Is that equivalent?