Dodgers fans strike out with TV deal

The Los Angeles Dodgers host the Philadelphia Phillies again tonight at Chavez Ravine. First pitch is at 7:10. The Dodgers won last night.

Good luck in watching the game, though, if you’re not one of the more than 40,000 going to the game tonight, or a subscriber to Time Warner Cable.

The cable giant signed an $8 billion deal with the Dodgers to create SportsNet LA, which is the sole home of the team’s game – replacing broadcast TV stations which carried the games for years and years.

The thought was Time Warner would negotiate with other cable and satellite outlets for them to carry the games. But that, as yet, hasn’t happened, to the dismay of a lot of fans.

Chris Erskine is a columnist with the LA Times and he’s been covering this dismay for months now, and joined KCRW’s Steve Chiotakis with his reaction.