The NFL v. Comcast
Oh, yes. This is EXACTLY the sort of stuff I love to see the Texas Legislature get involved with...
NFL takes cable TV fight to Texas lawmakersLeague wants games shown on expanded basic, not premium tier
By GARY SCHARRER
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau
AUSTIN — Texas lawmakers are jumping into the brawl between the NFL and major cable companies over the broadcasting of some pro football games despite uncertainty that they even have any business taking sides.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on Monday urged the House Committee on Regulated Industries to force binding arbitration on Time Warner and Comcast if the two major cable companies won't negotiate to keep certain games on expanded basic cable.
Comcast, which serves the Houston market, has placed the NFL network on a sports and entertainment tier that costs $7.95 a month. The two companies want to put the NFL on a premier sports tier in other markets as well and charge customers more each month for the package.
Because the NFL attracts more viewers than any other TV programming, Goodell told lawmakers that cable companies would be better off if they put the NFL Network on expanded basic cable. The NFL wants cable companies to pay about 70 cents per viewer per month and have it on basic cable, which has a larger audience.
I have Comcast. I can get NFL Network if I want. I choose not to. Why? Because I don't think it's worth paying $7.95 a month for what amounts to eight (mostly crappy) regular season games and expanded combine/draft coverage (something we already get enough of thanks to ESPN and the bajillion draft websites that exist).
Would I watch the NFL Network if it were on basic cable? Yeah, probably, at least from time to time. Do I want the cable companies to be forced to put NFL Network on their basic packages, thus causing my cable bill to go up a couple of dollars a month? Hell no. Do the thousands of people that have no interest in the NFL at all want to pay that extra couple dollars a month? Definitely not.
There is no way that Comcast and their money-grubbing brethren should be forced to carry the NFL Network on their basic package. Not when the NFL wants an insane $0.70 per subscriber from the cable companies (more than CNN charges) that would just raise everyone's rates, and definitely not when there is no overwhelming public demand for the NFL Network. If that tide shifts one day and the public is suddenly in favor of the NFL Network being widely available, sure, bring it on. Until that happens though, keep the NFL Network exactly where it is. As with nearly everything else in this country, the market will dictate what should happen. Certainly there shouldn't be any legislation on this under any circumstance.