Posted on 01/31/2018 8:50:55 AM PST by EdnaMode
Fox has locked up rights to Thursday Night Football for five years, stealing the ball from NBC and CBS and breaking with the NFLs previous one-year-at-a-time approach to the nights prime-time rights.
For the broadcast network, the games will be a critical piece of programming as it prepares for life without its studio arm, which is set to migrate to Disney under the terms of the companies pending merger.
This fall, Fox will air 11 games, from the fourth through the 15th weeks of the NFL season, with simulcasts on the NFL Network and Fox Deportes in Spanish. The NFL network will carry the seven other Thursday night contests.
CBS and NBC had shared games this season, paying a reported $450 million combined, with Amazon also onboard as a streaming partner. Financial terms were not disclosed, but are believed to be well north of the previous $450M. Digital rights are still available, following successive seasons of Twitter and Amazon streaming games.
Football is in our blood at Fox and we understand that nothing beats the NFL when it comes to television that captures peoples attention, said Peter Rice, president of 21st Century Fox. Our historic relationship with the NFL dates back to the earliest days of FOX, and we couldnt be more excited to expand our deep and enduring partnership to include primetime games on Thursday night.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who has been under pressure to shore up faltering TV ratings, said the Fox arrangement continues the leagues strategy one that has prompted criticism for over-saturating the airwaves with games.
This agreement is the culmination of over 10 years of strategic growth around Thursday Night Football,' Goodell said, a period during which this property has grown from a handful of late-season games on the NFL Network to a full season of games and one of the most popular shows on broadcast television.
Oh if only I could fail like the NFL “fails”. Whatever the chattering crowd here insists is on its deathbed you should invest in, they all have profits go up.
Glad I’m not a shareholder.
Terms of the deal werent disclosed, though Reuters pegged the value at more than $3 billion, citing people familiar with the matter. CBS and NBC paid a combined $450 million for 10 games last season, and Foxs bid was higher this time around, people familiar with the matter said. The agreement also allows Fox to distribute its Thursday and Sunday games to subscribers over a wider array of digital platforms, including mobile phones for the first time.
I’m going to watch paint dry on Thursday nights during football season.
Well.... OK
I hope they like their Albatross
I am “taking a knee” when it comes to watching the NFL. I have much better things to do.
This may be a way to bail out the NFL, sweetheart media deal.
NFL clearly wants to win back the FOX viewers as NFL understands them to be.
BTW, FOX has the best football announcers, color, etc if any network. But I’ll bet that did not enter the NFL thinking. It was all about the “winning back the FOX type of viewer”.
Faux makes yet another bad choice.
This is the classic MBA family business story.
Brilliant father creates the business, makes a fortune and a great business, and then is unable to continue to work or dies.
Sons or other family members inherit the business and f___ it up, showing that fools and their money are soon parted.
Big f___ing blunder, this NFL deal will be a disaster for Fox.
Thanks!
This is a win-win for the uniparty: Getting FOX to lose money bailing out the NFL.
Like I said, glad I’m not a shareholder.
From this past December...
What the Disney-Fox deal means for ESPN, Fox Sports, and regional sports networks
On Monday nights my wife and I sort beans and try to maintain 1 500 of each type.
There is a simple answer to all this bs re what is coming to your tv without your approval for more costs/month to you.
Just cut the damn cable.
Traditional pay-TV operators are bleeding subscribers and thats not likely going to improve, as major U.S. cable and satellite providers are ringing in 2018 with price increases.
Comcast, AT&Ts DirecTV, Dish Network, and Charter Communications are among the operators that have notified customers about rate hikes set to go into effect in January for most TV packages. As usual, the providers have cited higher programming costs for jacking up their fees.
Comcast is hiking monthly rates for most bundles about $5. The X1 Starter Triple Play package will increase from $150 to $155 per month (3.3%), while the Premier Triple Play is going from $210 to $215 monthly (2.4%).
http://variety.com/2017/biz/news/comcast-directv-dish-rates-prices-increase-2018-1202647927/
It’s just Fox understanding math. The fact is ratings are down across the industry. The NBA is the only sport that isn’t suffering a ratings drop, but even their up ratings are tiny compared to the NFL. Fox’s ratings dropped an average of 20%, twice the NFL’s hit. The NFL is still the big shark in the tank, even with fewer viewers that 2 years ago they still have consistently the highest ratings. Plus the contract comes with internet distribution, the future, where most of the ratings are falling to.
I thought something similar when I saw the headline.....Sell You Fox Stock!
I agree with your comments about the heavyweight division. The klitchkos were big in europe and fought mostly in Europe. Diminshed their popularity here.
There’s four different heavyweight champs. all undefeated. need to get rid of so many associations and unify titles. I think Wilder is a greta fighter. If they took those four and did a tournament it would hype the division. When I’m czar i will get rid of these associations and have one international group.
Lastly, no one has the personality of Ali. Whatever you think of them, he kept the fans tuned in, maybe even more than Marciano who was anY guy and Louis who was not extroverted.
Wow, Fox parent stock will take a hit today!
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