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November 6, 2007 |
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Cable Industry Issue Alert:
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NFL Network: Issue BackgroundThe NFL is attempting to bulldoze cable companies to play by its rules and force all cable subscribers to pay for acess to the NFL Network. Texas cable customers would be asked to pay millions of dollars in programming costs for only EIGHT games of the more than 250 NFL games being played this season. Cable operators have offered the NFL a very reasonable approach by carrying the NFL Network on a sports tier. This is the fairest approach, guaranteeing sports fans access to this high-priced, targeted programming while not requiring all customers to pay for it. However, the NFL continues to refuse that offer, wanting EVERY cable subscriber to pay the high price the NFL is demanding. It is important to note that the eight games being held hostage on the NFL Network have traditionally been carried on free, broadcast television so now millions of people without cable or satellite television will not have access to these games. This all comes down to one thing: The NFL Network wants what is best for NFL owners' wallets, not its fans. Click here to learn more about this issue on the Texas Cable Association website. |
What People are Saying
But soon the greed of the NFL led them to create their own network, to reserve programming (games) for its own network, to demand that video providers pay them more money for the NFL Network games, but also to demand that the NFL Network be carried as part of the video provider's basic tier of programming. In other words, the NFL Network wants to create a new revenue stream which will be entirely subsidized by the video providers... If anyone is to blame for sports fans not being able to see a game, it's not the video provider, who is essentially being squeezed. It's the NFL, who has taken the content off the table, and is expecting to be paid additional fees for content that was once widely available.
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