When I first began following baseball, I was a sophomore in high school. Daddy was a Cardinals fan and I had always heard the games as he listened to the radio. Then I started listening on my own. At one time I even had an LP of Harry Carray calls from the '67 season (wow, I wish I could get that back.) That was when Harry actually called the game action and it didn’t hurt that his sidekick was Jack Buck.
Fast forward a few years to the time when I was in summer school at the U of A (1970). I had my horse boarded at the Washington County Fairgrounds. Every day I would go out, groom him, exercise him, etc. I tied my transistor radio to my saddle and listened as I rode. I couldn’t find the Cards, but I could get KGGF AM radio from Coffeyville, KS. They had a great signal and carried the Royals games.
I’ve been a Royals fan since then. I just cut the cord with DirecTV and moved to YouTube TV. They carry Fox Sports SW, but it carries Fox Sports MW Cardinal games. I can no longer get the Fox Sports KC network that I had on DirecTV. I’m being forced back to being a Cardinal devotee. (Oh, and why on earth do we get Fox Sports New Orleans in NW Arkansas?)
They do carry all the Cardinals games here in NWA on YouTube TV, but I’ve noticed that sometimes they will also carry a Royals game on Fox Sports Southwest Plus (if the Cardinals are not playing at the same time). I’m not sure how frequently that is. I haven’t paid attention that closely.
I’ve been saying all summer that if you’re a Cardinals fan (I’m not) and you live in NWA, you really ought to have YouTube TV. I doubt you can get Cardinals games cheaper anywhere else. When I had DirecTV, the Cardinals were the only regional team that I didn’t get. I know they had them on a high tier to make people pony up more money to see them, so whatever it cost was more than the about $120 I was paying each month. YouTube TV, of course, only costs about $54 or so each month with tax.
The Fox Sports New Orleans channel is a strange one for us to get, but they do show Rangers games through that channel. I wish I could get Astros games (my second favorite team), but that so far is the only thing I haven’t liked about having YouTube TV.
Astros and Rockets essentially have their own TV network now in conjunction with AT&T, which is not widely carried enough to interest YouTube TV or other national streaming services. I count myself fortunate that YTTV has SEC Network for the few games we play when I’m not working (I could watch it on my phone if I have a slow night at work, but that doesn’t happen much).
I was paying $141 for DirecTV, including the sports package. That got me KC and St. Louis games. I talked with someone over the weekend who was paying over $400 for DirecTV.
I’m now paying $55 per month (before taxes) for YTTV and AETN. I joined AETN at the minimum level to get their streaming service ($60). I figure that I’ll save over $1,000 in one year.
YTTV has the SEC, ACC, and BTN networks. I’m not going to miss much.
