Dodgers: Spectrum Network Announce Agreement to Broadcast 6 Games on KTLA

The tragedy of the Dodger baseball blackout continues through its fourth season as the Dodgers continue to run through their competition this season. But at least there is a sign of hope for Dodger fans who have been affected by this blackout.

Spectrum SportsNet and KTLA reached an agreement to broadcast an additional six games on KTLA as the Dodgers close out the season. These six game will start on August 22nd and will take place every Tuesday through September 26. SportsNet LA’s pregame show “Access SportsNet: Dodgers” will air an hour before first pitch of each game of each telecast.

SportsNet LA KTLA Schedule

• August 22nd – 4:05 pm @ Pittsburgh Pirates
• August 29th – 6:40 pm @ Arizona Diamondbacks
• September 5th – 7:10 pm vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
• September 12th – 7:15 pm @ San Francisco Giants
• September 19th – 4:05 pm @ Philadelphia Phillies
• September 26th – 7:10 pm vs. San Diego Padres

Earlier this season KTLA and SportsNet agreed to show ten games to open the season and also showed the final home series against the Giants last season. Although there’s no permanent solution in sight, these small agreements to show Dodger games on KTLA help show DirecTV and other providers that there is still demand to watch Dodger baseball.

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According to a study done by the LA TImes, SportsNet LA broadcast this season (as of June) has attracted just under 80,000 households. During the 10-game KTLA package to start the year, the package averaged 378,000 households, including the SportsNet LA viewers.

Now it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that when the Dodgers are available people tune in, nearly five times more households tuned into the games. So there’s a clear demand for the channel to be available widely throughout Los Angeles.

These mini game plans are a nice, but are somewhat of an insulting way to get Dodger fans to see what they’re missing if they don’t have SportsNet LA. This is Spectrum’s ploy to persuade fans to switch to Charter and attract customers from DirecTV and AT&T U-Verse. Which in hindsight is not a bad plan if you ask me.

The issue is that the talks between DirecTV and Charter have stalled ever since they came to a settlement in court. Both companies got off with just a slap on the wrist, and this left the fans on the outside looking in.

Unfortunately, at this point, DirecTV doesn’t have any motivation to continue talks with Spectrum. Sure, people are complaining, but not enough viewers are actually following through and leaving DirecTV for Charter.

If you’re in this situation, by now you know that online outlets are blocked out due to “out-of-market live streaming.” So that means a subscription to MLB TV or waiting for Twitter or Facebook to stream the game wont help. Unfortunately, at this point, Dodger fans are just going to have to wait and see what progresses out of this deal.

There’s no word about the Dodgers’ owners possibly looking to restructure this deal to make SportsNet LA more available in Los Angeles, but fans can only hope they aren’t stuck with this deal for the next 21 years.

Next: Potential Playoff Bench

One thing that Dodger fans can have some peace of mind with, is that all Dodger postseason games will be televised BLACKOUT FREE. So come October, and now with this KTLA deal, late August you can watch Dodger baseball more routinely in the comfort of your homes.