NFL Network vs. The Cable Industry

Probably a bunch of suck-ass channels that Time-Warner owns.

 

The other additions were HD channels, most notably TNTHD.

And I can't go with a dish because I also get my Internet service through the cable company. I don't have a phone line, so DSL from the phone company is out of the question.

 

We don't have Time Warner, but it seems like every other town around us does. I consider us lucky to have NFL Network, for sure.

 

I believe it's possible to get just Internet service without the cable TV service. If it's not, you may be able to make a federal case out of it.

Depending on where you live, your phone company may be one of those that offers a DSL+DirecTV package. I know Bellsouth, AT&T (formerly SBC and Pacific Bell, and it's merging with Bellsouth) and Qwest all offer that package; Bellsouth throws in a $125 rebate and the others may as well.

 

Other than their Sunday highlight show, which is back-to-basics good, I have no idea why anyone would want NFL Network.

It had a lot of potential when launched, and has massively fallen short of the mark. Somehow, it makes the NFL boring, it's like watching the NFL version of a bunch of Dungeons & Dragons geeks talking about the stupidest minutae.

Not to mention that its given NFL Films free reign to exercise the most flaccid and pretentious of their desires, instead of sticking to what they do best -- highlight films and illustrating NFL history. I don't need some sappy feature about some 100-year-old high school coach who relaying the LIFE LESSONS OF FOOTBALL (in CAPS because it's a hackneyed NFL Films favorite theme). Who gives a fuck?

 

Well, they'll have actual NFL games in November and December (including a key Broncos-Chiefs game Thanksgiving night and what should be very good Ravens-Bengals and Giants-Redskins games). That's got to count for something.

 

Yeah, and they have good old highlights on every now and then. A few weeks back, they showed the Chiefs/Broncos game at Arrowhead last year, and watching Derrick Johnson slam into Joke Plummer's blindside is always worth watching.

And I love watching those Super Bowl Highlight shows. It's not a bad channel to watch if it's a slow day for TV viewing.

 

I'm with you. I'll miss it not.

 

Local NFL Fans Lose Network in Fee Dispute
Newly converted Time Warner Cable customers are upset. League-owned channel files complaint.
By Larry Stewart
Times Staff Writer

August 2, 2006

Time Warner Cable pulled the NFL Network out of its lineup without warning Tuesday because of a fee dispute, taking the network away from at least 1.6 million households in the Los Angeles area.

In turn, NFL Network on Tuesday filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission, asking that Time Warner be required to restore a carriage agreement for 30 days. The network contends that when Time Warner abruptly dropped it from its programming, federal rules were violated.

The move against the league-owned network comes one day after Time Warner Inc. and Comcast Corp. completed the purchase of Adelphia Communications Corp., which had filed for bankruptcy protection in 2002.

With the purchase, Time Warner now controls Adelphia's 1.1 million cable households in the L.A. region and, in an asset swap, Comcast's 500,000 households here.

A number of these subscribers were unhappy about losing NFL Network, which this season will offer 52 preseason games and eight regular-season games.

Richard Medina of Buena Park, previously an Adelphia subscriber, was one of them.

"We get a channel that shows us how to hang wallpaper, but we can't get a channel that televises preseason NFL games," Medina said, adding that he had been looking forward to seeing former USC stars Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart with their NFL teams.

Time Warner Cable, which had been servicing 360,000 homes in the L.A. market, has been unable to come to terms on a carriage agreement, contending NFL Network is asking for a 350% fee hike, mostly for the new eight-game package that kicks in Thanksgiving Day.

NFL Network denies the fee hike is that high, although spokesman Seth Palansky declined to discuss numbers.

He said the crux of the dispute, instead, is Time Warner's desire to put NFL Network on a digital pay tier. The network is demanding it be allowed to remain part of the basic cable package to reach as many households as possible.

A wider distribution enables NFL Network to charge more for advertising.

With Monday's merger, Time Warner, Charter and Cox now control the majority of the L.A. cable market — 52% of 5.3 million households. DirectTV and Dish Network control the satellite market, which represents 28%. NFL Network also does not have a carriage deal with Charter, but does with the other three.

Nationally, the 2 1/2 -year-old network has been able to reach agreements with cable and satellite companies that reach 65 million of the 91 million pay-television households. There are 26 million U.S. homes serviced by cable companies that don't have a deal with NFL Network, and 15 million are Time Warner homes.

Patti Rockenwagner, a spokeswoman for Time Warner Cable in L.A., said her company would like to reach a deal.

"We have offered to carry NFL Network on our sports tier, similar to the way the network has been offered to many Comcast and Adelphia customers in the past," she said. "What NFL Network is asking for is a 350% increase in rates for [essentially] eight games. That's not a reasonable value for our customers.

"Our customers will still be able to watch more than 100 regular-season games on CBS, Fox, NBC and ESPN — all available in high definition," she said. "Of the preseason games NFL Network is offering, 87% are on tape delay."

Indeed, of the 52 preseason games — the first of which airs Aug. 11 — only six will be carried live, but only because the network cannot show more than one game at a time. Nineteen will be in high definition. There also will be midweek replays of four games — two on Tuesdays and two on Wednesdays — plus its usual round-the-clock NFL-related programming.

Said Palansky of Time Warner, "This is a company that is desperate to divert the issue of removing a channel you subscribed to without any advance notice."

Neither Palansky nor Rockenwagner would discuss the subscriber fees NFL Network is asking, but the Sports Business Journal said the fees have gone from 25 to 35 cents per subscriber per month to 85 to 95 cents, and that there is a $2 surcharge for cable companies such as Time Warner that want to put the network on a digital pay tier.

Palansky said the network's West Coast headquarters in Culver City was swamped with complaints. The Times also received a number of complaint calls.

Medina, the former Adelphia subscriber, said he got a message on Channel 178, which previously carried NFL Network, that in part read: "Nice to meet you. Hello, my name is Time Warner Cable." And there was a scroll that told viewers the NFL Network was "asking you to pay a premium for eight out-of-market games you got free last year. We are negotiating a deal for you."

Les Haan of Bellflower, previously a Comcast subscriber, said Channel 244 on his system began running a warning from NFL Network on Saturday.

Haan said he called Time Warner on Tuesday to complain, but got no satisfaction.

"DirecTV is coming to install a new system on Saturday," he said. "Time Warner just lost a customer."

 

I've been told that the NFL Network has a recap show, kind of like ESPN's Sunday Night Primetime. But there is no Noomer or TJ -- just a string of highlights backed by the radio calls. Friends have told me it's the best recap show, other than HBO's Inside the NFL, to catch up on the action. Each game gets about 10 minutes of airtime, then they go to the next one.

I'm looking forward to seeing what I've heard about for two years now.

 

That's Point After.
I also like how they air the postgame coach pressers after the highlights.
But 1 thing the NFLN has "fumbled" is not airing classic games as they were on TV (no NFL Films abridged versions).
They did air some recent games (going back to 1998-9) but I would love to see some games from the 60s-80s as they originally aired.

 

I'm nitpicking here, but unless CBS is planning to severely improve its coverage this year, then that's just not true. As someone who lives in a town with a low-profile AFC team, I can guarantee that not every CBS game is in HD. CBS only showed select games in HD last year (and half the time, their HD feed crapped out right in the middle of games).