tossing in a free beer cup hold when you sign up.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Give me the playoffs on Sunday Ticket!
And quit blacking out the games I want to see!
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.
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.
WB and UPN are supposed to merge into CW.
Maybe NFL can pick up the empty slot left by that merger.
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.
"Any given Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday" doesn't have the same ring to it...
>>The league now is expected to ask cable operators to make the channel part of their basic services
The same thing happened in Boston where New England Sports
Network (Red Sox, Bruins) was $10/month extra. They made a deal to get on the expanded basic tier (for a slight increase in subscriber fees!) and now both teams are exclusively on
cable. Only time during reg. season that the Sox are on
free TV is when they have a Sat. afternoon game on Fox,
while the B's only hit "free TV" when there's a game on
ABC (they have hockey now, right, or am I thinking NBC...)
Anyway, NESN wound up with many more viewers _and_ it
was a prime prize for the eventual buyers of the Red
Sox. The channel is a license to print money, in some
ways...And NESN's website is tied into the Boston Globe,
aka the New York Times Jr. (The Times owns 17 per cent
of the 2004 World Champions).
http://www.boston.com/sports/nesn/
Not a bad idea. Note that games on the NFL Network are still broadcase in the teams' home markets. Here's what I think the NFL needs to do:
Continue with local broadcast games and a few nationally broadcast games.
Continue to offer season packages like DirecTV's Sunday Ticket.
Expand season packages to include packages for a specific team, division or conference.
Offer all of the games on pay-per-view.
That way, if you don't like your local team or don't want (or can't afford) a package like Sunday Ticket you can still get the games you want in smaller packages or a-la carte.
My favorite part is the prime time Thanksgiving game. I've been wishing for years for that.
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