Dodger Blues

First pitch for the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chavez Ravine is Saturday evening, when they’ll play the Angels in a spring training matchup. They’ll start the season on Monday for the official home opener against the Padres. And they’ll be looking to advance further into the playoffs than they did last year, when they came up short. But most fans who want to see the game on TV will again be out of luck because of continuing drama beyond the stadium. Two years ago, Time Warner Cable signed an $8 billion deal with the Dodgers for exclusive rights to televise its baseball games on a new channel: SportsNet LA. Up to now, however, it hasn’t been successful in negotiating deals from other cable and satellite providers to carry that network. The company reportedly wants $4-5 per subscriber to pick up SportsNet. KCRW's Steve Chiotakis spoke to a few people about the ongoing dispute: Mark Van Gessel, who owns Hinano Café and sports bar in Venice; David Carter, head of the Sports Business Institute at USC’s Marshall School of Business; and Bill Shaikin, sports reporter for the Los Angeles Times.