Last week we told you that DirecTV was going to air an entire slate of 25 MLB Network games in 4K starting this weekend with Friday’s San Francisco-Los Angeles Dodgers contest. But a funny thing happened on Friday. Despite plenty of hype and anticipation, the game never came on and all people saw was a slide with the DirecTV logo. There was no explanation to subscribers either on their receivers or on DirecTV’s social media accounts.
Viewers who had upgraded their TV’s and DirecTV equipment to 4K and had been looking forward to seeing sone actual content in Ultra High Definition were instead left holding the bag.
Phillip Swann at TV Predictions reported that 20 minutes after the game was supposed to begin airing, it was removed from the program guide.
And it led to a lot of anger on social media:
@DIRECTV @DIRECTVService Where's the 4K baseball game with the @SFGiants and @Dodgers ch 106 is just the logo?
— Brett McClellan (@Brett_McClellan) April 16, 2016
https://twitter.com/brianlittlemls/status/721175424227614721
@DIRECTV It's your 4K channel that was supposed to show the Giants/Dodgers game tonight. Now the channel is off the guide completely.
— Dan (@Dan_Salopek) April 16, 2016
https://twitter.com/norcalwally/status/721165537565233152
@DIRECTV seriously thought u had this 4k down…can't even get this game going gotta take it down…waste of a service!!!!!
— LoLo (@ftn360) April 16, 2016
It took almost a totally unacceptable full day to get an explanation from DirecTV about why the game was never seen by 4K subscribers and a spokesman finally e-mailed the following statement to TV Predictions:
“While the game was available to our customers in HD on MLB Network, we needed to cancel the 4K broadcast due to a technical issue with a third party’s field production truck. The signal was not up to our high standards and we are continuing our testing to ensure we deliver a flawless 4K viewing experience. If viewers were inconvenienced, we certainly apologize.”
MLB Network will have another opportunity this week with the Chicago Cubs at St. Louis on April 19. Hopefully the technical issues will be fixed so DirecTV 4K subscribers can watch live games as promised.
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About Ken Fang
Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013.
He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television.
Fang celebrates the four Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.