Time Warner Cable will air the Los Angeles Dodgers’ final six regular-season games on KDOC-TV, a Southern California broadcast station.
Much of the Los Angeles area has been unable to view Dodgers games throughout most of the season. Monday’s announcement by Time Warner Cable likely came as a pleasant surprise to Dodgers fans.
Terms of the deal were not divulged, but beginning Sept. 22, fans can watch the Dodgers’ final six games of the regular season on KDOC.
The Dodgers, who lead their division by three games over in-state rival San Francisco, will have their postseason games aired on Fox if they make the playoffs.
See photo: Bryan Cranston Meets His Idol, Dodgers Announcer Vin Scully (Photo)
“Time Warner Cable is part of this community and we’re Dodger fans too,” said Dinni Jain, Time Warner Cable’s chief operating officer. “Angelenos love their Dodgers, and we’re happy to give them a way to watch their beloved team during this pennant chase.”
In late July, Federal Communications Commission chairman Tom Wheeler implored the cable giant to figure out a way to get the popular baseball team back on the air.
According to Wheeler’s letter, Time Warner Cable has set up a long-term contract with the Dodgers-owned SportsNet LA, and is demanding that the network be carried on the basic service tier at rates ranging from $4 to $5 per subscriber. The price has caused subscription-TV providers to balk, leading to a prolonged blackout of Dodgers games for most of the L.A. market.
Wheeler issued the following statement Monday:
“I’m pleased that now all Dodger fans will be able to join the excitement of watching the final regular-season games in advance of the playoff race. The leadership of Representative Cárdenas and Mayor Garcetti kept this issue in the forefront and the FCC will continue to go to bat for consumers in resolving programming disputes. We hope that long-term agreements will be the next step and can be achieved quickly without depriving fans of any regular-season games next year.”
See video: Model Chrissy Teigen’s Drunken Pitch Is Almost Worse Than 50 Cent’s Throw (Video)
It could come as too little, too late in the eyes of Dodgers faithful who have been unable to watch their favorite team on TV this season as the carriage dispute continued. A long-term agreement for future seasons has yet to be reached.
“Right now, we can’t change the fact that other area TV distributors won’t carry the channel, but we don’t want anyone to miss this exciting pennant run,” Jain said. “We hope everyone will tune in to KDOC and help us cheer on the Dodgers. We will continue to work on long-term agreements with other providers in the offseason.”
Here’s the remainder of the viewing schedule, per SportsNet LA:
Here is a list of the days/games that will be available on KDOC, as well as a channel listing for each provider. pic.twitter.com/RhKMdnlmGS
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) September 15, 2014
The station and the team confirmed the news on their social media pages:
Also read: FCC Takes Aim at Time Warner Cable in Dodgers Dispute
“Big News! LA56 TV will be airing 5 and possibly all 6 of the remaining Los Angeles Dodgers regular season games including the series against the SF Giants and the Colorado Rockies starting next Monday,” KDOC said on its Facebook page.
All Dodger games Sept. 22-28 to be broadcast on over-the-air station KDOC, available throughout Southern California. http://t.co/X8D3uUqVug
– Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 15, 2014
Khalil Garriott contributed to this report.