MLB.TV sucks. Big time.

There is so many things wrong with it.

Can't start watching the game from the beginning in the middle of the game (Extra Innings can be tivo'ed).

Have to wait at least 6 hours, which effectively means the next night, to watch a rebroadcast of the night.

MTB.TV STUPIDLY RUNS THE SCORES ON THE PAGES LEADING TO THE LINKS!

MLB.TV STUPIDLY LABELS THE HIGHLIGHTS ON THE SAME PAGE AS THE GAME! Here is a example.

(Click here link) Full Game
(Click here link) Braves turn a triple play
(Click here link) Jones hits bases clearing double
(Click here link) LaRoche hits game winning home run

STUPID STUPID STUPID

Can only watch the game on the computer (unless you have the TV hooked up to the computer)

Occasionally the connection drops and it is a HUGE pain in the ass to get back to the same point in the game.

High display resolution just isn't there. Now, supposedly last year the resolution was increased. I didn't get MLB.TV last year.

MLB Extra Innings, while more expensive, is a better option.

The worst part of MLB.TV is the blackout restrictions...(not that it affects me - just from what I've heard)

On the other hand:
1) You can watch MLB.TV from any computer anywhere
2) You can watch archived games from the entire season at any point during the season
3) You can watch games side-by-side with the abstracted Gamecast thingy

I had MLB.TV last year and never once suffered connection issues. The video quality varied, but they released this "Matrix Viewer" application that lets you watch 6 games simultaneously. They were playing with the resolution a fair bit (balancing it with bandwidth). They also added a feature to the viewer to give you an alert when a particular player was at bat or pitching (for fantasy baseball) - clicking on the alert would "change channels" to that game.

As far as the scores and highlights - you don't need to see it. Either bookmark the "media" page that has all the day's games on it or use the new Matrix Viewer.

So, in my book, MLB.TV is a better option.

Great point David. Something I've never understood about the NFL and now, it seems, MLB's decision to make their full season packages available to only a select few is that it's so self defeating. The technology exists to make every game available to every television and computer so why not do it? In places like Manhattan, where there are arguably as many fans of teams from outside the local market as anywhere in the U.S. it's not as easy as just choosing to get DTV. Why make your product harder to get no matter how soon TV and computers will be seamlessly intertwined.

Dammit!!!! This would suck. Hard. I HATE DirecTV.

If Extra Innings goes to DirectTV, I won't be getting it. As Gregg Easterbrook so often points out, neither will anyone that lives in a big city where there aren't sight lines good enough for DirectTV signals. But I'm sure MLB doesn't care about people in big cities watching their games, if DirectTV gives them enough $$$.

This is utterly insane. I've got digital cable and I'm not going to switch just for baseball games. And I'm not going to watch on my computer -- the tv monitor is bigger, plus usually I'm using the computer for other things while watching the game.

MLB, you will lose an Extra Innings customer if you do this, and MLB.TV will not pick up that customer.

I hope they recognize me as one of the lost customers if they do this. I hate the dish and why would I want to watch a game on my computer when I already bought a beautiful widescreen HD TV? I guess it's the local feed for me. Sucks I won't be able to watch me favorite team or follow my fantasy players real time.

Interesting story on the negotiations from MultiChannel:

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6404687.html

I was a little surprised that Extra Innings has so few subscribers compared to other cable sports packages. But I guess it's not really surprising with a much cheaper package available from mlb.com that actually offers more games.

If Extra Innings goes to Direct TV, I'll just use mlb.com. No big deal as far as I'm concerned. I'll still be able to watch just about any baseball game I want to watch. And that six-games-in-one screen is pretty nice, even if it still has a few glitches. By the way, for a few extra bucks, you can get a ton of minor league games from milb.com.

As a follow-up, it's amazing what a big difference in price will do. Mlb.com has picked up 1.3 million customers for its TV package, while Extra Innings has less than three hundred thousand. It's tough to charge twice what the other guy is charging and attract a lot of business, even if your quality may be marginally better.