After reading Pete Dougherty's column in today's Times Union (and his follow-up blog post), I believe NFL Network wants to be on the DIGITAL BASIC tier, meaning you would have to have a set top box or cable card to get the channel. This is different from the "basic" cable, whereby you plug the coaxial cable into the back of the TV and receive all the standard analog channels.
TWC wants to place the NFL Network in the Sport Tier, where you have to pay an additional $3.95/month above the cost for Digital basic cable.
Not a game fans are thankful for
Many Giants faithful won't get to see telecast because of TV dispute
By PETE DOUGHERTY, Albany Times Union, November 19, 2009 Thanksgiving arrives a week from today, but New York Giants fans may face some indigestion with their turkey.
The Giants, arguably the most-followed professional sports team in the Capital Region, have a Thanksgiving night game against the Denver Broncos, but barring a last-minute deal, a majority of area fans will not be able to see the game on television.
The Giants-Broncos meeting is part of an eight-game package shown on the NFL Network, launched six years ago but still not picked up by Time Warner Cable, which services a majority of the Capital Region.
"Granted, this is a 24-7 network, but it's really the eight live games that are the sticking point," said Jeff Unaitis, vice president of communications for Time Warner's upstate New York region. "We're just not sure that it's worth that expenditure for those eight live games, when there's so much more we can do with our limited programming dollars."
Subscribers to satellite systems DirecTV and Dish Network can access the game. Others will have to go to bars, listen on the radio, or go without seeing a matchup of two potential playoff teams.
"It really is a shortsighted argument and one that's a little hypocritical to make that this is only an eight-game network," Kim Williams, NFL Network's chief operating officer, said Wednesday in a phone interview from California.
NFL Network is in its fourth year of airing live games. In addition, the network carried all 64 preseason games -- all in high-definition, many of them live -- and features extensive draft coverage, in-season studio programming and NFL Films shows.
Added to the negotiations this year is the availability of the NFL RedZone Channel, which airs live from 1 to 7 p.m. Sundays during the season and has live cut-ins from every game played.
"We have 53 million homes and more than 300 distributors," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters in Charlotte earlier this week. "Time Warner is denying customers the opportunity to see the network And it's not just the network; it's also the NFL RedZone, which we've had an incredible reaction to from fans and the partners who are carrying it.
The issue, other than the obvious financial considerations, is that the NFL won't allow its network to be placed on a sports tier. "We feel strongly that NFL programming is not niche programming," said Williams, who called RedZone "a great sports-tier product."
Cable companies pay networks negotiated monthly fees based on the number of subscribers. If a network is on a widely distributed tier, it will collect more revenue.
Williams confirmed that no formal talks have taken place since the NFL season started in September.
Negotiations for Time Warner are conducted at the national level, but Unaitis, who is based in Syracuse, said the company's stance is consistent system-wide.
"We continue to believe this is a channel that some Time Warner customers would like to see," he said, "but it's just a really expensive programming network offered the way that the folks at the NFL Network would like to offer it.
"We continue to negotiate. We believe when there's an offer that makes sense for us, we'd love to have it on, but I can't tell you that it's going to happen any time soon."
Pete Dougherty can be reached at 454-5416 or by e-mail at pdougherty@timesunion.com. Visit the sportsmedia blog at
blog.timesunion.com/sportsmedia.
On the radioTimes Union sports media writer Pete Dougherty will discuss the Time Warner/NFL Network situation at 10:20 this morning on "Big Board Sports" with Rodger Wyland (WOFX 980 AM).
[From Pete's BlogBelow are addition excerpts from the interviews I conducted this week with the two parties:
JEFF UNAITIS, Time Warner vice president of communications, upstate New York
Overall view: “It’s expensive programming. You have as many people telling you that they would not like to pay for a network that they won’t watch if we did have it available.”
“For all but eight games, our customers are very well served by us and our programming partners, between the broadcasters and ESPN. Hundreds of millions of dollars are paid by cable customers today to bring them the NFL and the games they want to see. Clearly the fact that eight games aren’t going to be available to our customers, at least at this point, recognizing that one of those games involves the Giants, which represents an additional challenge, by and large we still think our customers get far more NFL programming than they did 10 years ago.”
Is the opportunity to acquire NFL RedZone help in negotiations?“That’s putting the cart before the horse. I don’t think our customers have asked for it because they don’t know what it is. They haven’t seen it. I had to be reminded exactly what that was, as well.”
Any comforting words for Giants fans who will miss next Thursday’s game?“Understandably that’s a game they’re going to want to see, and while it is on Thanksgiving, it’s unfortunate that it’s not going to be available.”
Why not put NFL Network on basic cable?“That’s why we created the optional digital sports tier, where a lot of this programming finds a home, and the options for those customers who want to pay those additional few bucks a month an opportunity to see that programming.”
Other issues preventing an agreement:“The NFL Sunday Ticket is something that is still exclusively held by DirecTV, to the extent that we would love to offer to our customers but haven’t been allowed to by the same folks that are asking them to carry the NFL Network.”
In summary:“We certainly value sports programming. We spend a lot of our local resources with our own production, our own staff. Nobody is providing local and regional football coverage like Time Warner cable. We value the sport, just not under the terms and conditions the NFL Network is asking.”
“We haven’t really had a lot of calls from customers asking about or complaining about the lack of the NFL Network. That’s down from past years. People have understood the issue from previous years.”
“It’s a sad situation that ultimately comes down to this: We just think we can do a lot more with those programming dollars and touch a lot more of our customers for the money they’d be asking us to spend. We think we can do a lot of other things that a vast majority of our customers would prefer.”
KIM WILLIAMS, NFL Network chief operating officer
Overall view: “We’ve added to our offering NFL RedZone, which is a newly launched channel. Not only has it changed the nature of the conversation, but it from our perspective has given us something to talk about that we’re excited about, and now that it’s launched is proving, not only to ourselves but the affiliates who signed up for NFL RedZone, that it is an incredibly powerful complementary product.
Did the NFL RedZone help in negotiations?“That’s a nice thing to be talking about. That really did change the nature of our discussions. It probably gave Time Warner a little bit more pause. In the end, they made the decision that they made, but I do think that was a big difference this year.”
If other cable companies could strike a deal, why not Time Warner?“I’m as bufuddled as you. You always try to put yourself in the shoes of the others who are across the table from you. It’s not only smart business negotiation, it’s disingenuous not to do so. I have a really tough time understanding why they’re not able to make the economics work and the business model work, where other operators have, operators that are large and operators that are small. I wish I had a good answer for that.”
Is the sticking point having NFL Network on basic cable?“We have been accepting digital basic deals for quite some time now. Digital growth is important, and we feel it’s a real value-add to our partners when they can offer NFL Network on a digital tier that drives digital boxes and, by the way, all the other revenue streams that come along with digital boxes.”
Any comforting words for Giants fans who will miss next Thursday’s game?“They should know we haven’t given up. We haven’t given up from the get-go. We will continue to figure out ways that allow distributors to make the economics work. If anything, I’d want fans to know that we hear them, we feel their pain, and that we’re doing everything we can to try and make this work.”
Are negotiations currently under way?“We have not been in any meaningful conversations since summer and the beginning of the season.”
What about the argument that the NFL Network’s only value are the eight regular-season telecasts? “The National Football League is about the games. That is our product. It is clearly our crown jewel, but we enjoy year-round ratings.”
In summary:“We enjoy year-round viewership. Our (NFL) combine coverage, our draft coverage is tremendous. Our preseason coverage – we have all the preseason games, in HD, on NFL Network. Some live, some are replays. That is one of our highest-rated months, is August. Our past-the-draft coverage, which takes us from Senior Bowl to the draft, is great content.
“When you think about all of the other platforms, like our VOD offering, we have all the player profiles, it’s very compelling programming. Our America’s Game is Emmy Award-winning. Our coverage of our big events – playoffs, Super Bowl, the Pro Bowl – you get coverage you can’t get anywhere else.”
“I appreciate the argument that our games are valuable, but we launched this network long before we had rights to the games, and it was still powerful programming.”
