I just got a letter today from Comcast today saying that if Comcast and the NFL Network can't work out a deal, Comcast won't be able to carry the NFL network after April 30th, 2009. Comcast says that they offered the network to carry the channel as is, but the network refused. Comcast said that they are still trying to work something out before the end of the month......WTF??? Comcast is already ticking me off with not carrying all of the Marlins baseball games and now this??
Looks like a nationwide thing. Has anyone else that has Comcast gotten this letter?
Full Version: Comcast sucks!
There has been lots of discussion about the Comcast-NFL war. Essentially, it's all about money and the power of two monopolies trying to impose their will. This sums up the current status. Excerpts:
NFL Network chief: "Comcast discriminates against networks like the NFL Network because we are independent. Do you know why your constituents get the Golf Channel and Versus on a basic level of cable service? Both are owned by Comcast, which makes its own channels broadly available.
"Do you wonder why the recently launched MLB Network is broadly available and offered to fans without an extra monthly fee? Once again, the answer is Comcast has an ownership interest in the MLB Network.
"Networks like the NFL Network and other programming options are not owned by the largest cable companies. Instead of negotiating with independent programmers, those cable companies discriminate against them in favor of their own services."
Comcast exec: "The NFL consistently points to a false choice, saying it wants Comcast to carry its network on a more highly distributed tier so that customers do not have to pay extra for it. But that is not an option. What the NFL really wants is for Comcast to charge all of our customers for the NFL Network, even though the vast majority of them will never watch it. That’s why the Comcast solution is so much better for NFL fans and our customers — those who want to watch the limited content on the NFL Network can do so (and pay for it), while those who have no interest are not burdened with the costs of this expensive additional cable channel."
My question for the Comcast head would be: why am I burdened with the costs for QVC, Discovery, TLC, BET, E!, CNN's HLN (formerly Headline News, which is now mostly a bunch of garbage talk shows), ABC Family, Animal Planet, Style Network, Fox News Channel, TV One, Ion, Speed, Food Network EWTN, History, HGTV, CNBC, truTV, Golf Channel, Spike, Fox Business Network, Fox Reality Channel...shall I go on? That's only going up to channel 108 on my digital cable, and those are all channels that I never watch, and there are many, many more.
If things were fair, the cable, satellite and FiOS providers would have to allow people to pick and choose what networks they want to pay for. That might turn out to be a disaster for a lot of "niche" channels, though -- such as Logo.
NFL Network chief: "Comcast discriminates against networks like the NFL Network because we are independent. Do you know why your constituents get the Golf Channel and Versus on a basic level of cable service? Both are owned by Comcast, which makes its own channels broadly available.
"Do you wonder why the recently launched MLB Network is broadly available and offered to fans without an extra monthly fee? Once again, the answer is Comcast has an ownership interest in the MLB Network.
"Networks like the NFL Network and other programming options are not owned by the largest cable companies. Instead of negotiating with independent programmers, those cable companies discriminate against them in favor of their own services."
Comcast exec: "The NFL consistently points to a false choice, saying it wants Comcast to carry its network on a more highly distributed tier so that customers do not have to pay extra for it. But that is not an option. What the NFL really wants is for Comcast to charge all of our customers for the NFL Network, even though the vast majority of them will never watch it. That’s why the Comcast solution is so much better for NFL fans and our customers — those who want to watch the limited content on the NFL Network can do so (and pay for it), while those who have no interest are not burdened with the costs of this expensive additional cable channel."
My question for the Comcast head would be: why am I burdened with the costs for QVC, Discovery, TLC, BET, E!, CNN's HLN (formerly Headline News, which is now mostly a bunch of garbage talk shows), ABC Family, Animal Planet, Style Network, Fox News Channel, TV One, Ion, Speed, Food Network EWTN, History, HGTV, CNBC, truTV, Golf Channel, Spike, Fox Business Network, Fox Reality Channel...shall I go on? That's only going up to channel 108 on my digital cable, and those are all channels that I never watch, and there are many, many more.
If things were fair, the cable, satellite and FiOS providers would have to allow people to pick and choose what networks they want to pay for. That might turn out to be a disaster for a lot of "niche" channels, though -- such as Logo.
Comcast and the NFL have reached an agreement to continue airing the NFL Network while they continue to work out an agreement.
What I don't understand is the NBA Network and NHL Networks are on the sports tier with the NFL Network. Why should the NFL Network be different than the other two? The Tennis Network is part of the sports tier too but not the Golf Network, which is part of digital cable.
I was already paying for the sports tier when the MLB Network started so I wondered whether it was a part of the tier or digital preferred.
What I don't understand is the NBA Network and NHL Networks are on the sports tier with the NFL Network. Why should the NFL Network be different than the other two? The Tennis Network is part of the sports tier too but not the Golf Network, which is part of digital cable.
QUOTE
"Do you wonder why the recently launched MLB Network is broadly available and offered to fans without an extra monthly fee? Once again, the answer is Comcast has an ownership interest in the MLB Network.
I was already paying for the sports tier when the MLB Network started so I wondered whether it was a part of the tier or digital preferred.
QUOTE(PCC @ May 4 2009, 12:22 AM) 
Comcast and the NFL have reached an agreement to continue airing the NFL Network while they continue to work out an agreement.
What I don't understand is the NBA Network and NHL Networks are on the sports tier with the NFL Network. Why should the NFL Network be different than the other two? The Tennis Network is part of the sports tier too but not the Golf Network, which is part of digital cable.
I was already paying for the sports tier when the MLB Network started so I wondered whether it was a part of the tier or digital preferred.
I do not pay extra for the sports tier package, and I do get MLB network so it must be part of their digital preferred.
Josh
Comcast must be different all over the place. Locally in Fort Myers, the NBA network, NHL network, and Tennis Channel are in the sports tier, along with Fox College and ESPN Classic. The MLB Network is in the digital package. The NFL network is the digital pakage AND the sports tier. Yep, it's on 2 different channels. At least they reached an agreement. Plus because of them not carrying the NFL channel, I'm getting the STARZ movie channels free for the year. I hope they put decent movies on....lol
QUOTE(PCC @ May 4 2009, 01:22 AM)
Comcast and the NFL have reached an agreement to continue airing the NFL Network while they continue to work out an agreement.
What I don't understand is the NBA Network and NHL Networks are on the sports tier with the NFL Network. Why should the NFL Network be different than the other two? The Tennis Network is part of the sports tier too but not the Golf Network, which is part of digital cable.
Comcast owns (or partly owns) the Golf Channel and Versus.
Comcast and the NFL kiss and make up. 
The new channel is interesting. I still wish they would've tried to get rights to the full Sunday Ticket instead of it being a DirecTV exclusive...not that I can afford it these days anyway...
QUOTE
As part of the deal, Comcast also will get the rights to a new NFL channel, the RedZone, which will flip around the NFL on a Sunday to show teams as they advance within their opponents' 20-yard line.
The RedZone should be available for the upcoming football season and appear on Comcast's extra-cost sports tier. The RedZone gives Comcast an advertising angle to go against DirecTV's Sunday Ticket, which shows out-of-market football games and has drained thousands of customers from cable services.
With the NFL Network, Comcast has agreed to relocate the new channel to a broad digital tier with about 10 million viewers, Comcast says. The NFL will earn per-subscriber fees on that audience and sell those viewers to advertisers. At the moment, the NFL Network is available to about two million Comcast customers who pay an extra $7 a month for the Comcast's sports package.
Comcast, meanwhile, says that the NFL Network substantially cut its per-subscriber fee for the network, which was 75 cents to 80 cents per customer. The Philadelphia company said the costs were too high for eight live NFL games and studio shows. The new cost is 40 cents to 50 cents per subscriber.
The RedZone should be available for the upcoming football season and appear on Comcast's extra-cost sports tier. The RedZone gives Comcast an advertising angle to go against DirecTV's Sunday Ticket, which shows out-of-market football games and has drained thousands of customers from cable services.
With the NFL Network, Comcast has agreed to relocate the new channel to a broad digital tier with about 10 million viewers, Comcast says. The NFL will earn per-subscriber fees on that audience and sell those viewers to advertisers. At the moment, the NFL Network is available to about two million Comcast customers who pay an extra $7 a month for the Comcast's sports package.
Comcast, meanwhile, says that the NFL Network substantially cut its per-subscriber fee for the network, which was 75 cents to 80 cents per customer. The Philadelphia company said the costs were too high for eight live NFL games and studio shows. The new cost is 40 cents to 50 cents per subscriber.
The new channel is interesting. I still wish they would've tried to get rights to the full Sunday Ticket instead of it being a DirecTV exclusive...not that I can afford it these days anyway...
Thank God!!!!
Now if we can only get ESPNU down here, everything will be right with the world...
Now if we can only get ESPNU down here, everything will be right with the world...
The Red Zone channel is great. I have been a Sunday Ticket subscriber since 1996 and love it. With the RZ Channel, you will see most scoring plays each week.
I'm kinda confused about this Red Zone channel....I thought the Red Zone was a show that was on the NFL channel. It was on during games and, I think, they had radio play-by play and would go to games when teams were in the red zone and about to score. Is the Red Zone channel something different?
Yes. That thing that is on the NFL Network during Sunday afternoon is just cheap filler. It takes the audio from the Sirius XM radio NFL channel and throws in-game stats on screen. It only runs from 1-4 pm ET. Then the NFL Network starts their own programming again, with highlights, post-game press conferences, etc.
The Red Zone network (where they cut into live TV broadcasts when teams drive to within 20 yards of the goal) was only on DirecTV as part of the Sunday Ticket but now will be on Comcast as well (although the rest of the Sunday Ticket won't be).
BTW, the article in my paper today about the NFL-Comcast deal also says...and I don't know if this is nationwide or just here...that Comcast has also worked out a deal to carry ESPNU in the fall.
The Red Zone network (where they cut into live TV broadcasts when teams drive to within 20 yards of the goal) was only on DirecTV as part of the Sunday Ticket but now will be on Comcast as well (although the rest of the Sunday Ticket won't be).
BTW, the article in my paper today about the NFL-Comcast deal also says...and I don't know if this is nationwide or just here...that Comcast has also worked out a deal to carry ESPNU in the fall.
QUOTE(Joe in Philly @ May 20 2009, 10:49 PM)
BTW, the article in my paper today about the NFL-Comcast deal also says...and I don't know if this is nationwide or just here...that Comcast has also worked out a deal to carry ESPNU in the fall.
From your lips (fingers since typing..lol) to God's ears about that.
Thanks for clearing that up about the Red Zone though. Will have to wait ad see if we get down here.
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