Non-Social Networking - The NFL Network and Cable Companies Squander Precious Capital

Clear Channel Los Angeles is having a field day. While on KFI this morning, Rich Marrotta took several opportunities to highlight the fact that tomorrow night's football game between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys will be broadcast on KTLK 1150 AM, the "progressive" talk station in Los Angeles that sometimes airs sporting events.

For most people in Los Angeles, that will be the only way that they can access the game via traditional media. As a DISH Network subscriber, I can watch the game if I so choose (and if my family isn't using all of the available TVs), but most people are out of luck.

Billy Liggett blames the cable companies:

[W]hen my favorite team in the whole world (the Dallas Cowboys) bring their 10-1 record against my wife’s favorite team in the whole world (the Green Bay Packers), who are also 10-1, we won’t be able to watch it from the confines of our own home.

Why?

Because Thursday night’s game will only be shown on the NFL Network, and since I don’t live in the Dallas or Green Bay market, I won’t be able to watch the game at home....

It seems the NFL Network is in a big dispute against cable companies like Charter. I don’t know the details of the dispute, only that NFL wants to be a part of the basic cable packages, and the cable companies want to package the NFL Network as a separate pay channel, or something to that extent.

I won't touch on Liggett's misguided football allegiances, but more people are damning the NFL Network than are damning the cable companies who won't pay the NFL Network's requested fee. Here's what Online Video Watch says:

All season long the NFL has e-mail blasted fans in attempts to pressure cable operators into offering the channel, and to do so as part of their basic package. More recently the league has stepped up the propaganda war, with a website (iwantnflnetwork.com) encouraging cable subscribers to cancel their service altogether....

It isn’t easy launching a cable network, MSOs have tremendous power creating very high barriers to entry. Time Warner knows fans will pay for a premium tier to get NFL Network. They’re not willing to up their basic rates by the $.50-$.75 per subscriber the league wants, nor are they going to add the channel, keep the price steady and take a loss.

Cory Bergman is a little more passionate:

NFL Network is blaming everything on cable. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who also happens to chair the NFL Networks committee, is spouting off so much that the cable companies got a cease-and-desist order for him to stop urging Cowboys fans to switch to satellite. I don’t know about you, but I’ve about had it with the greediness of the NFL. And so have many sports writers. “Since when does the NFL really care about the fans?” writes the Indianapolis Star. True enough.

So Jerry Jones, by his insistence on increasing basic cable rates by a buck for everyone, is ensuring that "America's Team" won't be seen by America.

And it could get worse, because when people get angry, politicians want to help them:

Fear not, Packers fans: Your elected representatives want you to watch Thursday night 's big game.

A slew of them -- from the state Senate and Assembly and even the U.S. Congress -- have spoken out ahead of the tilt between the 10-1 Green Bay Packers and the 10-1 Dallas Cowboys, some with ideas they say will help resolve the dispute between the NFL Network and cable providers that is preventing the game from being shown in many Madison-area homes....

Enter Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, and Rep. Kitty Rhoades, R-Hudson, who introduced a bill Tuesday that would create an independent body to determine whether certain television channels should be carried by cable providers.

And U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, who asked Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin in a letter Monday to have an arbitrator settle such disputes.

And U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, whose letter Tuesday to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Charter President Neil Smit simply urged them to come to agreement.

The politicians acknowledge they won 't be able to make sure Packers fans in Madison can watch Thursday 's game -- which will give the victor bragging rights as the best in the National Football Conference -- through their local cable service....

Kate Matus, a spokeswoman for Ryan, said his letter does more than just show solidarity with Packers fans because there is federal jurisdiction on the issue. Anne Lupardus, a spokeswoman for Kind, said his letter shows he "is as frustrated as the next guy. "

Tim Vowell, Charter 's director of government relations, said lawmakers should butt out.

"This involves negotiations between two companies on a private business deal, " Vowell said. "I 'm not aware of instances where the government gets involved and intervenes in other situations. "

Ah, but what happens when politicians enter the fray on the side of the cable companies, opposing the NFL Network? Frankly, I'm surprised that politicians are opposing the cable companies so easily. If they prevail, and the cable companies are forced to carry the NFL Network on Jerry Jones' price terms, and if they therefore jack up their rates...

...nothing will happen. The NFL has enough Congresspeople in their sway that nobody will get hurt except for the fans. And anyway, people hate cable, economics be damned:

To the Editor:

Many football fans in our state already know that big cable companies are taking advantage of consumers and preventing them from watching their favorite football teams. How do they know this? Because they are being charged extra for the NFL Network or are blocked from watching the channel altogether. Instead of carrying popular channels like the NFL Network, some cable companies are loading their schedules with cable-owned channels like Versus and the Golf Network, claiming that the NFL Network is just a niche market. Tell that to the 222 million Americans who watched NFL football last season.

The good news is there’s a way to resolve these disputes through arbitration so fans can see the programs they want. The FAN (Fair Access to Networks) Act would establish a fast, fair and cheap process so cable companies doing business in our state can’t discriminate against channels like NFL Network and hurt consumers in the process.

I hope my state representatives will stand up for consumers and football fans by supporting this common-sense solution. You can let your elected officials know you support the FAN Act by visiting www.iwantmynfl.com.

Phillip Parham

Petersburg

Sure it's a canned letter, but if enough people fill out the form, politicians are going to listen. Of course, you CAN edit the text of the letter before it goes out (evil grin). I know that newspapers won't print a letter under my alias (my influence with David Allen is not that great), but if they would, here's how I'd edit the NFL Network's canned letter:

To the Editor:

Many football fans in our state already know that big football leagues - oops, there's only one big football league, I guess - are taking advantage of consumers and preventing them from watching their favorite football teams. How do they know this? Because the NFL is doing its best to extort money from any Los Angeles area venue that they can think of, which has blocked Los Angeles fans from watching live pro football altogether. Instead of carrying popular leagues like the NFL, some venues are loading their schedules with college football, Arena Football, and swap meetrs.

The good news is there’s a way to resolve these disputes through regulation of monopolies like the NFL. The FAF (Fair Access to Football) Act would establish a fast, fair and cheap process so leagues doing business in our state can’t discriminate against cities like Los Angeles and hurt consumers in the process.

I hope my state representatives will stand up for consumers and football fans by supporting this common-sense solution. You can let your elected officials know you support the FAN Act by visiting www.shutupjerryjones.com.

Ontario Emperor

Ontario

There...that'll show them.

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