League pushing NFL Network to Cable Operators

[AndrewP]

The point is, that NFL channel has GB-Minesota late season game on the schedule. And if this game will mean something then TWC will be screwed up. If that game will not mean anything then TWC will survive. And yes, no Thanksgiving football on TWC :eek:

[tencom]

TIm Cuprison announced in his JOURNAL column that a local station had purchased  the local rights for the  VIKING/PACKER telecast so you will get to see that contest according to the NFL TV contract all ESPN/NFL NETWORK games have to be available to OTA stations in the home markets of the involved teams.

[murdoc]

TIm Cuprison announced in his JOURNAL column that a local station had purchased  the local rights for the  VIKING/PACKER telecast so you will get to see that contest according to the NFL TV contract all ESPN/NFL NETWORK games have to be available to OTA stations in the home markets of the involved teams.

...in SD  :bang:

[gb4fan92]

...in SD  :bang:

That's right!!! I had forgotten that when the locals cover a game they don't bring it in HD!  Everyone go to the NFL Network website  and fill out the request to have TWC carry the NFL Network. Hell I just might do that everyday!  

[AndrewP]

...in SD  :bang:

Yeah, that is what I meant to say. For me SD = 0, I mean if the game is not in HD then it is not for me

[gparris]

It just depends WHERE in the whole TWC "system" you are in locally.
Adelphia going to TWC meant NFL HD network and Cinemax HD and ESPN2 HD.
http://www.timewarnerla.com/channellineups/CLUPDFs/Beverly_Hills_West_Hollywood_AUG.pdf
Milwaukeeland getting it is just, well, not happening...

[bubbaridesfast]

I can't say for sure since the NFL Network didn't broadcast live games last season, but I doubt that they will carry much in HD. Last year they only replayed the "Game of the Week" one hour special in HD and then only during one showing that week (they re-broadcast the GOTW several times during the week).

I bet the MN-GB on NFL Network will unfortunately, probably be SD.

[Skywalker]

The NFL Network has a DEDICATED HD FEED.  

"The month of August will be a coming-out party of sorts for NFL Network. In addition to the Jaguars' training camp show, NFL Network enters its first full season by televising 54 preseason games, including the live airing of the Jaguars' final contest when they visit the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots on Thursday, Sept. 2 at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Plus, NFL Network goes high definition on Aug. 1 with the entire network being available to viewers with HD capabilities on a separate stand-alone feed. "

For the complete article:
http://www.nfl.com/nflnetwork/story/7441559

[bubbaridesfast]

The NFL Network has a DEDICATED HD FEED.  

Plus, NFL Network goes high definition on Aug. 1 with the entire network being available to viewers with HD capabilities on a separate stand-alone feed. "

So on D*, this has been channel 212 when SD or the few times when in HD, is D* going to have this in HD and if so, on a separate channel than 212?

EDIT - BTW, that article you linked was from June, 2004 - so I guess the answer to my own question here is no changes coming because nothing was announced as to changes on D*.

I'm guessing whatever they will carry will still be channel 212 in SD. The times last year when in HD, it looked like they upconverted an SD source. I watched the GOTW for the Packers/MN replay when in HD and it looked much worse than the Fox HD live broadcast of the game. I remember wondering why the heck they had such a bad picture for HD when on Sunday the game looked great in HD - I wasn't even sure it was HD except for the HD logo my LG box displayed.

[Skywalker]

Since NFL Network HD launched in August 2004, it has only been available through Verizon's FiOS.  However, Dish Network now carries NFL Network HD.  

I talked to DirecTV today and they could not provide an answer as to when or if they will carry NFL Network HD.

And, of course, we know where Time Warner stands.


"Beginning July 13, NFL Network will be available to DISH Network customers on Channel 154 on the America's Top 60 package ($29.99 per month) or above. NFL Network has been located on DISH Network Channel 154 since last September and is currently available to customers subscribing to America's Top 120 package or above.

Additionally, DISH Network will televise NFL Network's regular-season primetime games nationally on both standard definition and high definition feeds. DISH Network, offering the largest HD lineup in the U.S. with 29 channels, will make NFL Network's 24-hour high definition feed available to DishHD Bronze and higher customers on a year-round basis on Channel 9426."

For complete article, dated June 2006:
http://www.nfl.com/nflnetwork/story/9527059



The point is, NFL Network has a 24/7 dedicated HD feed and will broadcast the regular season games in HD.  It is up to DirecTV and Time Warner to work out a carriage agreement; so for now your only real NFL Network HD option is Dish Network.

To Summarize:

DirecTV: NFL Network SD
Dish Network: NFL Network SD, NFL Network HD
Time Waner: NFL Network Not Available

[bubbaridesfast]

Thanks, that's what I thought as far as D* goes, and good news for the Dish folks.

[wireblsam]

It just depends WHERE in the whole TWC "system" you are in locally.
Adelphia going to TWC meant NFL HD network and Cinemax HD and ESPN2 HD.
http://www.timewarnerla.com/channellineups/CLUPDFs/Beverly_Hills_West_Hollywood_AUG.pdf
Milwaukeeland getting it is just, well, not happening...

NFL Network is to be removed from former Adelphia markets, and NFL Network is suing to try and stop it.

Buffalo, NY (WBEN) - When the clock strikes midnight, the NFL Network will be off local cable systems. Time Warner will take over the Adelphia systems at that time. The NFL Network now is suing to keep the network on Time Warner.

NFL Network spokesman Seth Polansky says the lawsuit is a last ditch effort, because Time Warner will not even answer calls from the network trying to plead its case.

http://www.wben.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=05474

[gparris]

NFL Network is to be removed from former Adelphia markets, and NFL Network is suing to try and stop it.

Buffalo, NY (WBEN) - When the clock strikes midnight, the NFL Network will be off local cable systems. Time Warner will take over the Adelphia systems at that time. The NFL Network now is suing to keep the network on Time Warner.

NFL Network spokesman Seth Polansky says the lawsuit is a last ditch effort, because Time Warner will not even answer calls from the network trying to plead its case.

http://www.wben.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=05474

Okay, then, but that means Cinemax HD for us movie lovers and ESPN2HD for the sports lovers...at the very least, from the rest of that chart in LA....assuming that TWC keeps at least these!  :cool:

[Skywalker]

Local NFL Fans Lose Network in Fee Dispute
Newly converted Time Warner Cable customers are upset. League-owned channel files complaint.
By Larry Stewart, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 2, 2006


Time Warner Cable pulled the NFL Network out of its lineup without warning Tuesday because of a fee dispute, taking the network away from at least 1.6 million households in the Los Angeles area.

In turn, NFL Network on Tuesday filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission, asking that Time Warner be required to restore a carriage agreement for 30 days. The network contends that when Time Warner abruptly dropped it from its programming, federal rules were violated.

The move against the league-owned network comes one day after Time Warner Inc. and Comcast Corp. completed the purchase of Adelphia Communications Corp., which had filed for bankruptcy protection in 2002.

With the purchase, Time Warner now controls Adelphia's 1.1 million cable households in the L.A. region and, in an asset swap, Comcast's 500,000 households here.

A number of these subscribers were unhappy about losing NFL Network, which this season will offer 52 preseason games and eight regular-season games.

Richard Medina of Buena Park, previously an Adelphia subscriber, was one of them.

"We get a channel that shows us how to hang wallpaper, but we can't get a channel that televises preseason NFL games," Medina said, adding that he had been looking forward to seeing former USC stars Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart with their NFL teams.

Time Warner Cable, which had been servicing 360,000 homes in the L.A. market, has been unable to come to terms on a carriage agreement, contending NFL Network is asking for a 350% fee hike, mostly for the new eight-game package that kicks in Thanksgiving Day.

NFL Network denies the fee hike is that high, although spokesman Seth Palansky declined to discuss numbers.

He said the crux of the dispute, instead, is Time Warner's desire to put NFL Network on a digital pay tier. The network is demanding it be allowed to remain part of the basic cable package to reach as many households as possible.

A wider distribution enables NFL Network to charge more for advertising.

With Monday's merger, Time Warner, Charter and Cox now control the majority of the L.A. cable market — 52% of 5.3 million households. DirectTV and Dish Network control the satellite market, which represents 28%. NFL Network also does not have a carriage deal with Charter, but does with the other three.

Nationally, the 2 1/2 -year-old network has been able to reach agreements with cable and satellite companies that reach 65 million of the 91 million pay-television households. There are 26 million U.S. homes serviced by cable companies that don't have a deal with NFL Network, and 15 million are Time Warner homes.

Patti Rockenwagner, a spokeswoman for Time Warner Cable in L.A., said her company would like to reach a deal.

"We have offered to carry NFL Network on our sports tier, similar to the way the network has been offered to many Comcast and Adelphia customers in the past," she said. "What NFL Network is asking for is a 350% increase in rates for [essentially] eight games. That's not a reasonable value for our customers.

"Our customers will still be able to watch more than 100 regular-season games on CBS, Fox, NBC and ESPN — all available in high definition," she said. "Of the preseason games NFL Network is offering, 87% are on tape delay."

Indeed, of the 52 preseason games — the first of which airs Aug. 11 — only six will be carried live, but only because the network cannot show more than one game at a time. Nineteen will be in high definition. There also will be midweek replays of four games — two on Tuesdays and two on Wednesdays — plus its usual round-the-clock NFL-related programming.

Said Palansky of Time Warner, "This is a company that is desperate to divert the issue of removing a channel you subscribed to without any advance notice."

Neither Palansky nor Rockenwagner would discuss the subscriber fees NFL Network is asking, but the Sports Business Journal said the fees have gone from 25 to 35 cents per subscriber per month to 85 to 95 cents, and that there is a $2 surcharge for cable companies such as Time Warner that want to put the network on a digital pay tier.

Palansky said the network's West Coast headquarters in Culver City was swamped with complaints. The Times also received a number of complaint calls.

Medina, the former Adelphia subscriber, said he got a message on Channel 178, which previously carried NFL Network, that in part read: "Nice to meet you. Hello, my name is Time Warner Cable." And there was a scroll that told viewers the NFL Network was "asking you to pay a premium for eight out-of-market games you got free last year. We are negotiating a deal for you."

Les Haan of Bellflower, previously a Comcast subscriber, said Channel 244 on his system began running a warning from NFL Network on Saturday.

Haan said he called Time Warner on Tuesday to complain, but got no satisfaction.

"DirecTV is coming to install a new system on Saturday," he said. "Time Warner just lost a customer."

[tbarney]

This may be an uncommon response to this topic, but I am fine with TWC holding out at this point.  Everyone here always complains about paying for channels that they don't want and asking for the ability to buy them A La Carte.  TWC is trying to do that by offering to put the NFL network in their sports package but the NFL says No.  I am happy to see TWC doing something to keep my bill down for a change.  I'm not going to jump ship to one of the dish providers just for a channel or two. If that was the case I would have moved a long time ago for more HD programming.    I can live with 5 games per week between the double-headers on either CBS or Fox, and the night games on NBC and ESPN, The 8 more during the season isn't going to be the death of me since most of the big games are already going to be on one of the major networks where all the TV money comes from anyways.

Stick it to them TWC.