Dodgers fans have had a tough time seeing their team on TV in Los Angeles for the last five years. That is because when Time Warner won the broadcast rights for the team it used the newly created SportsNet LA as a selling point for potential subscribers. If a competitor (such as DirecTV before AT&T was able to purchase both companies) wanted to carry Dodger games, it would be asked to pay carriage rates that were insanely high. Obviously, most competitors didn’t want to do that.
In 2014 Time Warner struck a deal with LA’s CW affiliate KTLA5 to show a select number of Dodger games. The two sides reached the same deal in 2016. Now the same deal has come around again. KTLA will not only simulcast SportsNet LA’s coverage of five Dodger games in August and September, but will also simulcast SportsNetLA’s pregame show Access SportsNet: Dodgers.
The first game that is part of the deal will be August 4 when the Dodgers and Houston Astros play in a 2017 World Series rematch. Other opponents included in the five-game package are the Giants, Cardinals, Diamondbacks, and Mets.
