The Dodgers recently signed an $8-billion, 25-year deal to create their own channel with Time Warner Sports. Negotiations with DirecTV to carry that channel aren't going well.
Time Warner says, "DirecTV has advised us that they will not carry the Dodgers this year, and they have walked away from the negotiating table."
DirecTV says that's simply not true.
"Fans have already seen through Time Warner Cable's deception and this is yet another transparent attempt to manipulate all TV customers throughout the region. We do intend to keep working," said DirecTV.
In addition to DirecTV, DISH FiOS, U-Verse, Charter and Cox are all not currently carrying the channel. That means more than 70 percent of the Los Angeles market is not able to watch the Dodger games.
It all basically comes down to money and a concept called subscription fees. Every channel charges a cable or satellite provider a different amount of money for the right to carry it.
ESPN charges the most of any cable channel -- more than $5 per subscriber per month, according to the firm SNL Kagan. In 2012, Time Warner launched a Lakers channel, reportedly at close to $4 a month. They reportedly want to charge about $4 a month for this new Dodgers channel.
Fans that flock to sports bars to watch games might be out of luck as well. Most sports bars carry DirecTV because of its sports packages.
