Right--NFLN is available on the lowest-tier packages on satellite right now, but NFLN is in a big fight with some cable companies over carriage.
Here's how cable/satellite programming works. Some cable channels (think ESPN) are enormously popular--pretty much the reason that most people have cable/satellite. When there is a cable channel like that, the cable channel pretty much defines the rules about how it will be carried on the network (and on what channel--for instance, in the days before digital cable, it was advantageous to be on a lower channel because the picture quality was better. This is why ESPN is channel 2--the lowest channel--on a lot of cable packages). The cable channels also charge the cable companies are certain price for the right to carry the channel; last I heard, ESPN charged cable companies around $2.50 per subscriber; the cable company must pay that fee every month.
Other channels, however, are less popular (think History International) and these channels have contract terms dictated by the cable companies. In order to get on the air, the channels must pay the cable companies a monthly fee per subscriber. Bad deal for the channels who are on the outside looking in.
NFLN doesn't want to pay the cable companies to be carried and it doesn't want to be carried on the "sports tier" with channels like Golf Network or CSTV or ESPNU. DirecTV and Dish have agreed to NFLN's demands and are carrying it on the lower tier channel packages, though TimeWarner and Comcast, notably, have refused to carry it unless it is on the Sports Tier.
Both sides have dug in pretty deep and are publishing propaganda. NFL's anti-TimeWarner website is www.iwantnflnetwork.com while TimeWarner holes up at www.nflgetreal.com.
Interestingly, I recently moved to a place where I can't get satellite. I subscribed to Adelphia, the local cable carrier. Adelphia was bought by TimeWarner and my cable package remained exactly the same, except that NFLN was dropped from my HD channels. Oddly, though TimeWarner's primary reason for not carrying the NFL network is to "save subscribers money," my rates didn't go down one penny when NFLN was dropped from my channel lineup. Funny how that worked...
Well said.
NFL Network is as of December 2006 embroiled in a dispute with several cable companies, including the U.S.'s second-largest cable provider, Time Warner Cable, over carriage. NFL Network insists it be placed on basic service and wish to charge the cable companies a monthly rate of $0.70 per subscriber during the NFL season, while the cable providers wish to place it on a sports tier so as to avoid passing the cost onto those subscribers who do not wish to receive it. [6] NFL Network's position is that Time Warner's demands are unreasonable and many other providers place NFL Network on a basic tier without subscriber backlashes.
Don't forget the packaging. A lot of channels like History International are pushed by offering deals on related (ie owned by the same people) more popular channels. The Mouse is the king of this, if the cable company wants ESPN, ESPN2 and the primary Disney Channel they'll find getting them all is cheaper if they also pick up things like ESPN Classic and ABC Family. This is one of the reasons ala carte cable channel purchasing is never going to happen, given the way cable providors are pushed to purchase packages of channels it makes better sense for them to also sell in packages.
Pay TV is really a hideously over complicated world, and a lot of fun to study.