Comcast has negotiated another renewal of a regional sports network that relegates the channel to pricier program tiers.
Xfinity TV subscribers in Baltimore and D.C. will no longer be able to access Mid-Atlantic Sports Network channels MASN and MASN 2 in the cable operator's basic plan, and will instead have to pay $20 a month more for the Ultimate TV package to see Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals games.
With consumers not hooked on local sports teams rejecting the spiraling costs of pay TV and cord-cutting their way out of the ecosystem in increasingly large droves, this isn't the first time that the now No. 2 ranked pay TV operator has tried to make sports fans pay the freight for regional sports networks
In January, Comcast also kicked SportsNet Pittsburgh out of basic, making fans of MLB’s Pittsburgh Pirates and the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins pay more to see their teams play on television.
And back in October, Comcast also relegated Seattle Mariners channel Root Sports Northwest to Xfinity Ultimate.
Comcast will ease MASN's existing Xfinity base-tier users into the transition. They won't have to pay an additional premium to upgrade to Ultimate TV for the first three months, and they'll only take a $10-a-month hit the following three months. But starting in the seventh month, they'll be on the hook for the full $20-a-month upgrade.
The change goes into effect on Tuesday.
“We’re pleased to have reached an agreement with MASN to continue carrying its networks and making them available on our Ultimate TV level of service before MLB’s Opening Day,” Comcast said in a statement. “We appreciate MASN working with us to find a solution to maintain MASN and MASN2 on our platform that also provides our customers with a choice.”
