| reply to Greg2600
Re: Thoughts on Verizon picking up the PAC 12 Network? Greg,
I would tend to agree with you on the RSNs, I don't really have much interest in YES, SNY, or NESN, especially if out-of-market customers are blacked out of games.
The Pac-12 is asking for $.90/subscriber in Pac-12 markets and much less (MLB or NHL Net rates @ ~$.25/subscriber »paidcontent.org/2012/04/06/by-th···ramming/) for out-of-market subscribers. In addition, Verizon will likely put the Pac-12 National network on the Extreme HD tier in the out-of-market areas so not everyone will bear the cost of this channel. Pac-12 markets will bear the brunt of it, just as it should be.
You should also keep in mind that many people only subscribe to cable so they can watch their favorite teams, college & professional. Those "sports nuts" are also subsidizing the overwhelming majority of channels that they otherwise would not watch if they didn't have to subscribe to cable to watch their teams.
Obviously, the answer to all this is a la carte. Everyone has different tastes, so everyone would just subscribe to the channels they wanted, when they wanted them. MLB not in season? Why would I subscribe during the winter? Breaking Bad out of season? Stop subscribing to AMC. Unfortunately, you may be surprised that many (not all) of the non-sport channels would probably not survive very long... |
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Bolt1963
join:2011-07-19
Redondo Beach, CA | reply to Greg2600
I understand your point and said I would agree it should be presented on a sports tier.
Where you lose me however is arguing about taking up space on what will be a well watched channel. You may not watch it, but it will have a solid core audience of fanatics as well as peripheral viewers.
As lakerfan pointed out, I will watch many many hours of the P12 Network, regardless where I live in the country vs. 80% of the channels currently occupying my HD channels and BILL.
And a regional sports channel are the Fox Sports Channels. CFB isn't regional and we are talking about the 6 largest states in the West Coast with 8 of the top 33 TV markets in the country.
I have no allegiance to any B1G program outside of being a CFB fan and have watched plenty of that channel out here in CA. Understanding I am an exception, which is why I agree it needs to be on a sports tier. Something I believe the P12 will agree to considering CA is the only FIOS market within the footprint. |
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Bolt1963
join:2011-07-19
Redondo Beach, CA | greg - this Andy Staples article on CFB rights fees will probably make you sick, but its a good read. Long, but good.
»sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/w···ter_feed
The fierce loyalty of college football fans was especially effective in helping ESPN hit the mother lode of subscriber fees. As the extended recent spat between Dish Network and AMC has shown, viewers aren't calling in droves to cancel their service if they miss scripted shows -- even shows as excellent as Mad Men and Breaking Bad. But if viewers think they might miss their favorite college football team's game, they'll threaten to cancel their cable service and install a satellite dish or cancel their dish service and hook up their cable. The same applies for fans of the professional leagues, and ESPN executives realized that by stockpiling rights for games viewers felt they couldn't live without, they could strong-arm carriers into paying inflated subscriber fees which would then be passed along to customers.
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| Bryan Fischer of CBS Sports is reporting that DirecTV and Verizon are nearing deals for the Pac-12 Network. A teleconference is scheduled for later today and the network would be ready by the start of football season... »twitter.com/BryanDFischer/status···84078336 |
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| reply to Bolt1963
What Verizon really needs to do is put all these RSN's into a dedicated package for those people who actually care about them, in the process they could move them all to MPEG4 or IP based and free up room for the channels people really want. BBC, Cartoon Network, G4 (Yea this one is a joke but some people want it) and several others are a lot more important to people then these idiotic out of market RSN's, yea they may be important to people in those markets but like crgauth why should those of us in Maryland be paying for YES or the other out of market RSN's when very few people here gives a crap about them. |
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Bolt1963
join:2011-07-19
Redondo Beach, CA | said by flashcore:free up room for the channels people really want. BBC, Cartoon Network, G4 I can appreciate your point of view, but that is quite the assumption thinking people care about those channels. What the hell are they and why do you want them? If we ever go to ala carte programming, sports channels are the only ones I will bother subscribing to. If those channels you are talking about have original programming, aren't they on netflix or something? I have been watching full seasons of network shows on hulu or netflix for years at my own convenience.
Sports programming is LIVE TV. And P12 is nearly the entire west coast with a ton more programming than YES. (which I agree with you on). |
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Bolt1963
join:2011-07-19
Redondo Beach, CA | reply to lakerfan82
Thanks for the link lakerfan82.
The news wasn't as encouraging after the teleconference - but still solid.
* Regarding potential distribution deals with DirecTV, Dish, AT&T and Verizon, Stevenson said:
“There’s nothing I’ve heard that’s discouraging from any of them. I don’t expect them all on at launch, but we believe … over time our fans will get what they want.” |
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| PAC12 is scheduled for COMCAST....
--
"My hat, my cane, Jeeves". |
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Bolt1963
join:2011-07-19
Redondo Beach, CA | Yeah, carriage deals are in place with the largest 4 cable companies. COX, Time Warner, Comcast and BrightHouse along with many smaller carriers. So we all are going to have options. Just waiting on the SATs and TELCOs |
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kes601
join:2007-04-14
Virginia Beach, VA
kudos:2 | reply to Bolt1963
What I wonder is if they will add this (whenever it happens) to Ultimate only or also Extreme. |
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| reply to Bolt1963
said by Bolt1963:said by flashcore:free up room for the channels people really want. BBC, Cartoon Network, G4 I can appreciate your point of view, but that is quite the assumption thinking people care about those channels. What the hell are they and why do you want them? If we ever go to ala carte programming, sports channels are the only ones I will bother subscribing to. If those channels you are talking about have original programming, aren't they on netflix or something? I have been watching full seasons of network shows on hulu or netflix for years at my own convenience. Sports programming is LIVE TV. And P12 is nearly the entire west coast with a ton more programming than YES. (which I agree with you on). I don't really care about those I just know a lot of people do, my whole issue is having my bill go higher and higher paying for things that don't matter to me, like sports. As for the P12, the fact is it is just like YES, the majority of FiOS customers are on the east coast, the only exceptions to that are basicly Texas and California they sold off all of the other western states to another company so most over here in the east coast wont care or watch those channels but still get stuck paying for them.
If all the providers got together and told these people that they will only put these channels on there systems if they are on a sports tier then within a few years you will see them all die because there will not be enough money to support them and they know it which is why they get stuck on the existing tiers. Just look at DirecTV, they are now resorting to giving the NFL Sunday Ticket away free because people realized that it was just not worth the $300/year price, new customers who sign up get it for a year free then just dump it after there contract is up. |
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Bolt1963
join:2011-07-19
Redondo Beach, CA | Although I keep arguing, I understand your point. I don't like paying for 80% of the channels I pay for either. Unfortunately for FIOS or any carrier, they will lose subscribers if they don't carry sports programming. Certainly plenty of P12 alums or CFB fans on the East Coast who will make a change, but how many? Who knows.
Don't know their coverage in Los Angeles. But do know they will take a major hit with UCLA, USC and many many PAC 12 alums in the area. |
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kes601
join:2007-04-14
Virginia Beach, VA
kudos:2 | reply to flashcore
Why not make a drama tier, a comedy tier, a documentary tier, etc. Based on your reasoning, they would likely die off as well.
Just because you are not a sports fan doesn't mean there aren't enough sports fans to justify being on the main tiers. Just like there are enough people to justify BBC, Cartoon, etc being on the main tiers.
Bottom line, Vz has dropped the ball on adding HDs. |
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| reply to Bolt1963
The ONLY ala carte package should/needs to be sports. The other networks don't charge ransoms. Well, the networks do, but you can't do away with those. I probably would have to pay for them anyway, but it would be less money for the great number of people who don't watch any, and still get hammered as a result. |
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Bolt1963
join:2011-07-19
Redondo Beach, CA | said by Greg2600:The ONLY ala carte package should/needs to be sports. Why is that? You don't think all those channels that I and many others don't watch don't add up as well? What are the carriage fees for A&E, HGTV, MTV, USA Network, etc. ?
Non sport watchers seem to be under the impression everyone watches these shows even though sports programming absolutely hammers them in the ratings. So which is more popular?
And again, I can watch all that original programming on netflix, Hulu or whatever. Much easier to ditch those channels vs. live sports. |
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| reply to flashcore
No they dont drop ST after year 1.
Just look at all the posts of people saying they get ST for anywhere from $150 to free every year by calling & getting credits.
Weve had ST 8 years now & have never paid more than $120.
Directv gives the discounts because:
a) they still keep get that custys monthly $$ bill.
b) directv really makes their ST $$ from bars, clubs, restaurants. |
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| reply to Bolt1963
This. If I didn't need cable for sports programming, I'd have cut the cord years ago. Who cares if you are a season behind on breaking bad? It does, however, matter if you are so much as 10 mins behind on a sporting event.... |
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| reply to Bolt1963
When will we find out when Verizon FiOS will carry the Pac-12 Channel? Would there be an official statement from them on Launch day, (Like they did for the MSG channels), or something like that? Or just having it Randomly appear in the Guide, as so many channels do already.
I hope that it will be ready by this Wednesday, but I would accept that, at the very latest by August 30th. I know that they are potentially in negotiations now, or so I've read.
Any later than that, I would then have to conclude that VZ FiOS will not carry it, or that it would be in the "queue" for years to come. |
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| Web, based on some of the rumors on Twitter it appears the Pac-12 is close to a deal with DirecTV and Verizon. Here is my own personal guess about what happens: FiOS adds the HD Pac-12 Los Angeles Network as an RSN to their southern California customers (prime HD and above) on the day before the 1st football game. The Pac-12 National gets added as an SD channel to all customers subscribing to Ultimate HD or a sports tier. This is essentially how it worked when they added the Longhorn Network. Southern California customers bear the brunt of the cost and very little bandwidth is consumed nationally. Just a guess... |
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| I would very much like to get this channel, but if we were to get it in SD and no HD, then no thank you.
I am sure that everyone on here, and in general, def prefers channels to be in HD, esp Sports Channels. Better picture quality, etc. Seeing it in SD only would make it worse.
So, raise your Glasses and here's to getting the Pac-12 Network in HD! *Cheers* |
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