tossing in a free beer cup hold when you sign up.
Posted on 01/28/2006 5:20:39 AM PST by abb
The National Football League has decided to televise a package of games on Thursday and Saturday nights starting next season on its own cable channel, rather than selling the package to another network.
The decision Friday came after talks ended with Comcast Corp. on a joint venture that would have placed the eight late-season games on the company's OLN network or created a new sports network, people familiar with the talks said.
The games mark the first time the league has ventured outside of its traditional Sunday and Monday nights for a regular television package. Industry executives had estimated the value of the Thursday-Saturday games at about $400 million.
By keeping the games in-house, the NFL foregoes that income. But it also instantly increases the value of its NFL Network, which debuted two years ago and shows old games, highlights and other original nongame programming. An NFL spokesman declined to comment.
"Live games changes the value of the NFL Network to the cable companies because their subscribers are going to insist on it," says Marc Ganis, a sports consultant who has worked with the NFL. "You've moved it from a highlights channel to one that has must-have programming."
The NFL Network is available in about 30 million homes, mostly on a premium digital programming tier. The league now is expected to ask cable operators to make the channel part of their basic services. That could triple the number of homes in which the channel is seen. In addition to appearing on the NFL Network, the eight Thursday and Saturday games also are expected to air on broadcast television in the participating team's markets.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
tossing in a free beer cup hold when you sign up.
I remember reading about this about a year ago when ESPN was in talks to take over the MNF telecast after ABC said it was going to abandon the effort (citing low ratings), and that the NFL Network was thought by many to be getting into the football telecast mix.
I'm glad the OLN offer didn't fall through because DISH Network dumped OLN after that network blacked out NHL hockey telecasts and in the same process, OLN sought to increase its rates and at the same time, wanted to be placed in the basic package, which would have increased the basic package rate above that of the mid-tier package which happens to be the most popular of the three-tiers DISH offers.
NFL Network is a great channel, and alot of it's programming is first-rate.
God, grant me the serenity.....
Is there such a thing as too much football ?
Dad, that's not the way you spell Cialis!
Better be offered in HD...I hate watching games that are not HD.
Maybe the network can counter with a series on gay environmentally conscious football players.
It is true the media is in major decline, but rather than marking the decline of the media, I am going to stick my neck out and predict that this marks the top of NFL and it is the NFL that is now facing a serious decline in popularity because its "price" is at a high in the extreme.
Just look at Boxing. Back in the '70s, everyone used to watch and talk about every major bout. Then it turned into a cable-only affair and it started a nosedive. Now that it is purely pay-per-view, I don't know anyone into boxing anymore.
Monday Night Football, Thursday Night Football, Saturday Night Football, plus three games on Sunday.
That keeps me off the streets, away from expensive bars and restaurants and home in front of my Sony 37 incher.
Life keeps getting better all the time.
You like warm beer?
I guess I should have told ya'll that is a picture of my ex-wife and that beer stayed just above freezing through out our entire marriage...
If I subscribed to Sunday Ticket and now they don't offer all the games, I would be kind of pissed. It has to de-value some of their other deals.
Oh, you know her then...
You make a good point. However, "cable" TV for the masses may not be far off. As soon as cable and internet over power lines is perfected, "broadcast" will go away....
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