Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
How to watch Dolphins’ first preseason game despite a TV blackout
Hey, DirecTV and Uverse subscribers in Broward and Miami-Dade: Don’t let the fact that WFOR-Ch. 4 is blacked out on the TV system that you pay hard-earned money for prevent you from enjoying Thursday’s Miami Dolphins preseason debut.
There are plenty of other ways to watch the game, even if some require parting with more of your hard-earned money.
No-duh way: Get into the car and go to the game. StubHub shows plenty of upper deck and corner seats available for less than $10 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.
Simplest, cheapest ways: Dig those old rabbit ears out of the closet and hook them up to your TV. You’ll need a coaxial cable going into the TV, but most antennas sold over the past decade have them. Have your TV scan for antenna channels. If WFOR or West Palm Beach-based WPECCh. 12 don’t show up, move
the antenna to a window and scan again.
Or you could subscribe to CBS All Access and watch the game via the app’s 24-7 live WFOR feed. You can watch for seven days for free, then pay
$6.99 a month for the live feed and on-demand programming with ads ($9.99 without ads).
Simplest, moderate cost ways: Go to the store and buy an antenna. Some of the most inexpensive versions are like diner placemats with a connected cable. Amplify their signal-attracting ability by plugging them in. Outdoor ones look like what your parents had atop their house in the 1960s. They’ll cost a bit more.
Still simple, costs-more
ways: Get yourself a hotel room in Palm Beach County. The CBS affiliate there, WPEC-Ch. 12, has different owners and isn’t affected by the blackout.
Invite yourself to a friend’s house. Sure, your friend probably had other activities planned, but who wouldn’t want to see you for three hours? Make sure you bring some food and drink. And get something good, not that cheap stuff.
Simple but somewhat
pricier way: Go to a restaurant or bar that’s showing the game. You might want to call ahead and make sure they planned ahead.
Popular sports bars in South Florida, most of which subscribe to DirecTV, are working on their backup plans.
“Most of our restaurants have antennas,” said Julian Diaz, operations supervisor for Flanigan’s Seafood Bar & Grill, which has 18 locations in Broward and MiamiDade counties. “We’ll be racing around to make sure the antennas work and that the managers know how to switch the TV systems over.”
Shuck ‘N Dive, a New Orleans-style restaurant and bar at the Victoria Shoppes on North Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale, said they won’t have any problem pulling in the game because they have Comcast as a backup TV provider.
Bokampers Sports Bar & Grill, with locations in Fort Lauderdale, Miramar and Plantation, also has Comcast and can show the game, according to a manager.
Diana Ayers, general manager of the Quarterdeck Seafood Bar and Neighborhood Grill on East Las Olas Boulevard, said she needed to call her corporate office “and see what they might be planning.”