In response to an item about the Charlotte Bobcats' decline in TV ratings — they're last in the NBA in local ratings, according to The Nielsen Company — I heard from several Bobcats fans. Turns out they're satellite TV customers, and they're frustrated because Bobcats games are being blacked out.
The Bobcats say DirecTV and Dish Network have picked up the Bobcats in the "inner market" — an NBA-designated 75-mile radius around the arena — but decided not to pick up the Bobcats feed in the "outer market," which includes Raleigh-Durham. Fox Sports says Dish also has a capacity issue.
In the Triangle, Time Warner Cable carries Fox Sports Carolinas — on channel 50 — but not Fox Sports South. The Bobcats games are aired by both networks, but if there's a conflict on FS Carolinas with a Carolina Hurricanes game, the Canes are the priority.
Of the 70 Bobcats games to be televised this year, Fox Sports Carolinas is showing 39 on Time Warner Cable channel 50.
The 65 Canes games on TV go to all of North Carolina except the western-most counties, according to the NHL team. There and in South Carolina, the franchise's so-called "outer market," about 50 games are available on TV.
Bottom line: Until the Bobcats, Fox Sports South and FS Carolinas can persuade the satellite providers to offer the NBA games in the outer market, satellite subscribers who live more than 75 miles from Charlotte are out of luck for now.
