Story printed in today's
Albany Times Union
Chiefs-Broncos no-show for manyTime Warner Cable customers won't see NFL Network game[/color]
By BRYAN CHU, Staff writer
First published: Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Capital Region NFL fans who are Time Warner Cable subscribers will be left stewing on the sidelines Thursday night when the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos cap a daylong football feast with a game on NFL Network.
Warner, the third-largest pay-TV service behind Comcast and DirecTV, will not carry the 8 p.m. game. The cable conglomerate has not reached an agreement with NFL Network, which will televise eight regular-season games, starting with the Chiefs-Broncos matchup.
Warner has more than 400,000 Capital Region subscribers and 10.9 million customers nationwide.
NFL Network, which has been in existence for three years, is airing five Thursday night games and three Saturday night games through the end of the season.
NFL Network, according to Time Warner, wants $137 million to join the basic cable-lineup. Time Warner wants to put NFL Network in its sports-tier package, which includes such channels as NBA-TV and Outdoor. The sports package costs an $1.95 in addition to the $59 basic digital package, which includes the digital box.
Peter Taubkin, vice president of Time Warner in Albany, said of NFL Network's asking price, "That's a cost that will affect all customer bills. We've been ready to carry their programming, but get real, we don't believe customers that do not want the programming should have to pay for it."
Taubkin said NFL Network's asking price would make it among the five most expensive program providers on Time Warner, a list that includes such heavyweights as ESPN. That's a lot to ask, he said, for an outlet that is not among the top 30 in national viewership.
"They take eight games that were available on other networks before and then increase the rate by 250 percent," Taubkin said. "We as a company have an appropriate destination for it, and they have not been able to agree with it."
NFL Network spokesman Seth Palansky said four of the country's five largest subscription-based programming providers are offering NFL Network in their basic packages, leading him to question why Time Warner is holding out.
"A cable company not carrying live NFL games is like a movie theater not carrying popcorn," Palansky said. "We don't understand it. We are not trying to offer people the Ping-Pong network. Our service should not be hidden behind extra costs for our fans to get."
NFL Network is airing regular-season games for the first time. Its content before now largely has consisted of highlights, features and analysis.
Providers such as Dish Network, DirecTV and Cox, which does not serve New York, have not increased their basic cable fees in adding NFL Network.
"I would not tie any rate hike to NFL Network," said Robert Mercer, director of public relations for DirecTV. "Average annual increases of 3 to 4 percent are related to overall cost of programming and investments we've made to enhance our services."
DirecTV, which serves the Albany area, charges $44.99 for its basic package, which includes NFL Network. The Broncos-Chiefs game will be on Channel 212.
Network has a $29.99 package with 80 channels, including NFL Network. Cory Vasquez, manager of corporate communications for Dish Network, said having NFL Network was important to its viewers.
"We felt the NFL network is worthy enough, and we wanted to make sure we got that to our customers at no additional cost," he said.
said NFL Network does not want to force price hikes, and he believes there shouldn't be.
"It appears Time Warner's position is to get more money out of customers' pockets, which is something we don't want to give them that right," Palansky said, explaining NFL Network's reluctance to be part of the sports tier. "We give them 300 hours of advertising time, and they can sell commercials. The whole point in giving them that is so they don't have to pass along costs to consumers."
Palansky said 40 million homes have access to NFL Network, making it the fastest growing sport network ever.
Cable companies Cablevision and Charter Communications also are involved in the dispute. Other cities affected include Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Green Bay, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Orlando, New York City, San Antonio, St. Louis and Tampa.
Bryan Chu can be reached at 454-5414 or bchu@timesunion.com.
