The Dodgers have the best record in MLB, but the absence of their TV broadcasts in L.A. "isn't hurting DirecTV and others enough to make them desperate to strike a deal" that would solve the ongoing impasse, according to Jared Diamond of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. A source said that Time Warner offered SportsNet LA to "other providers at a reduced rate" before the '16 season, adding that DirecTV "hasn’t consented to a meeting 'at any price'" since April '14. What is "unusual about the fight" in L.A. is the "length of time it has gone on and the number of people affected." The Yankees-Comcast battle "impacted about 900,000 subscribers;" DirecTV, the second-largest pay-TV provider in the L.A. area behind Charter Spectrum, has "approximately 1.1 million subscribers alone." All told, about 60% of the region's 4.2 million pay-TV households "don't have SportsNet LA." Even a recent lawsuit "couldn’t pave the way to a resolution." This season, the "average monthly subscriber fee for SportsNet LA is $4.57." By comparison, Root Sports Northwest, a station owned as a joint venture between the Mariners and AT&T, "costs $4 a month on average." However, none of this is "any consolation to a frustrated Dodgers fan base that just wants to see the team play" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 7/31).
