With less than 90 days to go before NBC Sports begins televising the Premier League on US television, the number of TV providers who will providing access to every single Premier League match next season still only numbers five. They are Comcast xFinity TV, DISH Network, Verizon FIOS, Suddenlink and Cablevision — all of whom will be providing access to NBC Sports Live Extra as well as NBC Sports Network, etc.

If your TV provider isn’t listed above, it’s time to take action.

According to industry sources that EPL Talk has spoken to, the most effective method of getting your message through to your TV provider is to call them. With e-mails or social media, the TV providers don’t know if you’re an actual customer or not. Plus by phoning your TV provider, they’ll be able to hear the sense of urgency in your voice.

It’s important that you tell them exactly what you want. If you call your TV provider and tell them that you want to make sure you’ll get access to all of the Premier League matches on NBC Sports, you’ll likely to get a response that says you already have access to NBC Sports Network and NBC, or a similarly vague reply.

Instead it’s vital that you be as precise as possible. When you call your TV provider, tell them: “I want to get access to NBC Sports Live Extra and Premier League Extra Time.”

What is NBC Sports Live Extra?

NBC Sports Group is offering NBC Sports Live Extra to all TV providers at no extra charge, but TV providers have to agree a deal with NBC Sports in order to provide the service to their customers. Once you have access to NBC Sports Live Extra (through an authenticated login), you’ll be able to access every single game via streaming through the NBC Sports Live Extra app (available on the web, tablet and mobile devices).

What is Premier League Extra Time?

Premier League Extra Time are the overflow channels that TV providers will make available to show telecasts of live matches. So if a 10am ET Saturday match is being shown live on NBC Sports Network but there are other matches being played at the same time, NBC Sports will show the other games live on TV too on the overflow channels (Premier League Extra Time).

What You’ll Miss if You Don’t Take Action

Without NBC Sports Live Extra, you’re going to miss out on Premier League games each weekend. With it, you’ll be able to watch the games on TV as well as your web, mobile or tablet devices. NBC Sports Live Extra will show all 380 games per season.

On television, games will be shown live on NBC Sports Network (154 games per season), Telemundo/mun2 (76 games per season), NBC (20 games per season), and other NBC Universal channels (22 games). Premier League Extra Time, meanwhile, is scheduled to show 184 games.

Words of Advice

The only way to make a difference is to take action. Call your TV provider directly and tell them you want access to NBC Sports Live Extra and Premier League Extra Time so you can make sure you don’t miss a single Premier League match beginning with the August 17 kickoff.

Don’t be surprised if your call is met with a confused customer service representative or someone who is reading from a script. Be patient and explain how important it is to you. Ask to speak with a supervisor if you’re not satisfied with the response. And, if the answer they give you is not what you want to hear, consider playing the trump card by mentioning that you’re thinking about switching to a different TV provider if you don’t get access to NBC Sports Live Extra (Premier League Extra Time would be nice, but NBC Sports Live Extra is what will give you access to everything).

The customer service rep from your TV provider may tell you that a decision hasn’t been reached yet. Or he or she may not know what you’re talking about. But don’t get frustrated. Instead, before you hang up, be sure to ask that your request is noted and that it’s passed along to the people who make the decisions.

Once you’ve called, it doesn’t end there. Tell your friends who are on the same TV provider to do the same thing. Plus, be sure to follow up with your TV provider in a few weeks to find out what progress has been made, if any.

Most of us have a choice when it comes to our TV provider. Some of us are in long-term contracts. Some of us are limited to what TV providers are in our area. But all of us, myself included, are customers. Special customers who love the Premier League and who want to make sure that we don’t miss a single game.

If you have questions about NBC’s coverage plans, here’s everything you need to know about their Premier League plan.

Here are the phone numbers for the major TV providers in the US:

AT&T U-verse:

  • Phone: 1-877-U-ASK-ATT

Bright House Networks:

  • Phone: 1-888-289-8988

COX:

  • Phone (select your state from the drop-down)

DirecTV:

  • Phone: 1-800-531-5000

RCN:

  • Phone: 1-800-RING-RCN

Time Warner:

If your TV provider isn’t listed above, post their phone number in the comments thread below.

With the 2013-14 Premier League season kicking off on August 17 with new managers at Chelsea, Manchester United, Everton, Stoke and possibly other clubs, it promises to be one of the most eye-opening seasons in quite some time.

It’s time to start calling!