posted under: Cowboys, NFL Network, Packers, Time Warner Cable sucks
I Can Watch The Packers Game If Jerry Says “Yes”
Here in Central Texas, as in Madison and other parts of Wisconsin outside Green Bay and Milwaukee, millions of football fans will be getting the business and missing the biggest game of the year because of the standoff between Big Cable and the NFL over carriage of the NFL Network. This is the second year in a row that Packer fans have gotten the shaft, but this season it’s more troubling because there’s so much riding on this game.
The dispute between Time Warner Cable and the league is far from black and white because there is no good guy in this fight, just two greedy corporations trying to maximize profits. Both sides are slinging the mud to sway the hearts and minds of cable customers: The NFL is running radio ads featuring Jerry Jones telling people to switch to satellite service, while Time Warner has set aside a blank teaser channel for the NFL Network with a message saying the league has refused offers to carry the game, but that TWC will show it “if Jerry says ‘yes.’”
I’ve made no secret here of my ill feelings towards Time Warner Cable, but it goes far beyond their refusal to really negotiate with the NFL on this issue. I dislike any kind of gatekeeper that dictates what content we can and cannot access; it’s an outdated business model that has reached the end of its usefulness, but the cable companies have refused to let go. If someone somewhere launched a competing television service that offered true choices to the customer it would all but kill Big Cable and any other service that limits consumers to a small slice of the content available.
The funny thing is the real villain in the dispute over access to pro football games isn’t Big Cable or the NFL; the problem is CBS and FOX. The league I’m sure would jump at the chance to offer a product like Sunday Ticket on cable and the cable companies would gladly carry it because of the huge pile of money they would all make, but the TV networks that pay billions a year to carry regular season games would throw a hissy fit because of the revenue their local affiliates might lose. They only allow Sunday Ticket on satellite because they know penetration will never be significant enough to dent their ad sales.
Until someone devises a scheme that ensures enough money gets funneled to all the right pockets while giving consumers real choice, football fans will continue to get the raw end of the deal. The only real winners here are the tavern owners only too happy to supply suds and grub to displaced fans just trying to watch the game. (And thank the heavens that they do.)
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November 27th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
I have DirecTV with Sunday Ticket, and I feel dirty for having caved and purchased it, but it’s still cheaper than going to the sports bar every Sunday to see the Packers here in Kansas City.
Just FYI, Sunday Ticket does not carry the games that are being carried locally. If the Packers are on local broadcast, I have to tune to that channel to watch the game, not to the Sunday Ticket channels in the 700s.
I think the reason that DirecTV has the exclusive on Sunday Ticket is that they pay the NFL a hell of a lot of money for that exclusivity. It certainly is the only reason that I went with DirecTV, and I’m sure I’m not alone in that. Not that I have anything against their service, it just kind of rubs me the wrong way that I can’t have both the On Demand services that cable offers and Sunday Ticket. Because of the dumb exclusivity, I have to choose.
I think that the NFL is really in danger of killing the golden goose by pissing off fans with this dumb NFL Network squabble.
November 27th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
There’s no doubt that the real losers in this dispute are the fans. No doubt. But, it seems that the cable companies are being greedier than ever. You’re right on when you say that cable should give us better access to the channels we want. I hate that I have channel upon channel of programming that I don’t care for - and then the cable companies use the line that their customers don’t want NFL Network. They don’t care what we want….all they want are the greenbacks that come with placing NFL Network on a special tier.
November 27th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
To Ryan — you are correct on both counts. DIRECTV does pay a lot for Sunday Ticket but cable would pay even more (and pass it on to us). The trouble for the networks is more people would be watching those out-of-market games, hence fewer ad dollars for the local affiliate.
November 27th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
True choice would kill cable, that’s for sure. But the folks at Time Warner, and Charter here in Wisconsin, are the bad gatekeepers- they choose their affiliated channels to run for everyone and try to gouge the customers for the “special tiers.” That is just wrong. Most customers can’t just cave and get a DISH, but it’s happening and solely because of the NFL Network issue. Soon TW will be spending the ad dollars because they’ll be losing more and more business!
November 27th, 2007 at 7:34 pm
I am not so sure the Cable companies will buckle under to the NFL network since it is only one game a week people who want to see it will make the run to the sports bar.
I think the Big Ten Network will see cable companies buckle before the NFL network. The NCAA basketball season will cost the cable companies a lot of subscribers.
I have had DTV for 7 years and just love it more HD more sports and yes I am a Sunday Ticket whore I would never leave DTV just because of ST.
The funny part is the NFL Network go so puss luckey with scheduling this game as one of their no one could have imagined it being a battle of two 10-1 teams.
Face it with in 20 years you will have to by a season ticket just to watch your favorite team on TV nature of the beast they will tap into those revenue streams eventually nothing we can do about it.