NFL to Put New TV Package On Own Cable Channel (Dinosaur Media Extinction Alert)

The Wall Street Journal ^ | Jan 27, 2006 | STEFAN FATSIS and JOE FLINT

[razorback-bert]

Give me the playoffs on Sunday Ticket!

And quit blacking out the games I want to see!

[Bender2]

Re: Oh!, sorry..

Only be sorry for him if he goes back to her!

[Sam the Sham]

Yes, there is such a thing as too much football. All of it on Sunday afternoon.

If you spread it out across the week that makes the NFL channel practical. For instance, what of people who have moved and still want to follow their old teams ?

[ken5050]

Then there are us long, LONG, LONG suffering JETS fans....after this season you could put the JETS games on Al Gore's channel...and I still wouldn't watch it..

[verity]

[Sam the Sham]

I want to still follow the Giants. If they could play in midweek, so expatriate New Yorkers from all over the country could watch, that would be great.

[ops33]

Yes, its called the Pro Bowl.

[Bender2]

ver·i·ty (vr-t) n. pl. ver·i·ties 1. The quality or condition of being true, factual, or real. 2. Something, such as a statement, principle, or belief, that is true, especially an enduring truth: "The mind once suddenly aware of a verity for the first time immediately invents it again" Agnes Sligh Turnbull. See Synonyms at truth.

[Middle English verite, truth, from Old French, from Latin vrits, from vrus, true; see wr-o- in Indo-European roots.]

Just wanted to know where you stood before I invite you to the Super Bowl cookout! You want chicken, moose or squirrel?

Hey, Rocky, Bender wants us to come to the Super Bowl cookout!

[SamAdams76]

There is a bigger picture here that many don't yet see. Cable TV as we know it is going to go away (not just broadcast). In the very near future, the home computer and traditional TV will be indistinguishable from one another. All media will be available on high speed broadband and consumers will be able to cherry-pick the "channels" they want from the vast ocean of content that will be out there. Think cable "a la carte". Instead of a "package" of basic channels, you simply download the content you want for a nominal fee. So you need never worry about contaminating your home with stuff like CNN, MTV and Peter Jennings again.

We already see the rumblings of this with the TiVo, video iPod and podcasting. Instead of the lowest common denominator crap that we get with broadcasting, we will get narrowcasting to the extreme. If you are a ski nut, there will be channels dedicated entirely to skiing. If you are a weather weenie and can't get enough of studying the GFS models and isobars, you will soon have endless amounts of this nerdy stuff at your fingertips and you'll never have to suffer with "The Weather Channel" again.

All the major technology companies see this tidal wave of change coming and they are investing heavily in set-top boxes and computers that will filter this immense amount of data and deliver to you the content that you really want. Microsoft. Apple. Google. Yahoo! All these companies and many more will be the new media conglomerates.

You will soon have virtually all media ever created available to you on demand. You want to watch some obscure movie from 1931? You can have it delivered to your home in seconds. You want to see a particular episode of "The Waltons" from 1973? No problem. You want to see Game 7 of the 1951 World Series in it's entirety? No problem either.

This is what is coming down the pipe. Literally. And soon.

[Tribune7]

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.

I think that had less to do with TV and more to do with anarchy in the governing bodies.

[mikemc282002]

I hate the NFL broadcast rules. Here in Communist Massachusetts, we are CONSTANTLY fed NY Giants games regardless of the best NFC matchup. And if it's not the Giants, it's Drew Bozo and the Cowboys. I can't get the dish. It's just not worth it for me. It would be 300 channels I pay for and don't watch vs 200. I have Patriots tickets and would miss half the season anyway. It's ridiculous.

[TomGuy]

The Miss America Pageant has a similar 'brilliant' idea --- moved it to LV and put it only on cable.

3 people watched it, I hear.

[TomGuy]

WB and UPN are supposed to merge into CW.

Maybe NFL can pick up the empty slot left by that merger.

[pageonetoo]

[TomGuy]

instantly increases the value of its NFL Network, which debuted two years ago

Didn't know that, hadn't heard of it, and it's not on my cable lineup of 70 channels.

[Dysart]

NFL ping worthy

[Dysart]

I thought there was an no-compete agreement between the NFL and the NCAA that would prevent this type of package from the NFL. Maybe it's addressed in the full article which I couldn't access.

[scott says]

NFL PING

FReepmail scott says to be added to, or to be taken off the NFL Ping list...
This is a fairly high volume ping list

[ridesthemiles]

Looks like content starvation for the Dinosaur Media neworks to me...""

Dinosaur in many respects, Yes indeed.

But--- there are millions of social security retirees who cannot afford to have satellite TV. This is a disservice to them, who have been loyal supporters of the NFL teams nationwide for many, many, many years.....

Shame on the NFL.

[Ditto]

Won't that make the beer get warm?