FoxSports Ohio Goes Missing

The Reds blew a solid lead by starter Johnny Cueto and the home team lost in extra innings on Sunday and why do Crew fans care? Well, some Crew fans are also Reds fans, but this hit nearly all the Black and Gold's fans in the state as the Reds went over the schedule Crew v. Red Bulls 5:00 pm start time. The game was sent to the "alternate channel"

This happens quite a bit in the era of multi sport networks. ESPN may be carrying Division III baseball loser bracket playoffs, but they won't switch away. The Crew's broadcast partner, Fox Sport Ohio doesn't switch away either, but they provide all of the games they are supposed to be running to cable providers and there is the problem.

With the Reds bullpen ensuring that they wouldn't close out the game, I switched over to Fox Sports Ohio's alternate channel on Insight Cable. I had plenty of chances to buy the most interesting jewel displays right from the comfort of my home, but at 5pm the game switched on. This wasn't the case for others. I read comments on twitter regarding problems with other providers not switching over. The Reds played on and fans missed the rare Crew goal from the run of play.

Talking with a friend who is a video engineer, the process for switching to alternate programming isn't foolproof, depending on the system. It's not quite a simple as changing a channel. Those that suffered through missing out on another Oduro unorthodox finish likely have the technical vagaries to blame. Doesn't make it any easier to swallow though.

While I was happy that Insight was already carrying the game, I'm not against calling to get the game. Call your provider and tell FSO. The cable company nearly always has it. They just might need a little nudge to get it on the right channels.