Dates For ESPN-HD & TNT HD on VOOM?

[squicken]

Interesting! But isn't it up to the networks to decide where to put ESPN on their packages? Shouldn't the FCC step in here?

I don't know exactly how it works. But a judge or arbitrator in New York mandated that YES Network (Yankees) be carried as part of the base package in a dispute the Yankees were having with the big cable company there. I think it was Cablevision. I'm sure the NY Voomers know all about it. As to your point, yes, the carriers should be able to price ESPN however they want, but ESPN should be able to make its own demands at negotiation. I never favor judicial or agency activism, and just hope Voom and ESPN work it out.

 

[Walter L.]

Good info. No wonder why ESPN is taking so long. Hopefully, VOOM doesn't get trapped into a contract that results into a price increase in the near future.

 

[squicken]

forgot link+bad quote

You do pay extra for it, by way of increased programming rates. The $6.00/mo quote is a bit high, but it's definitely in the $4.00 range with ESPN-HD. You've got ESPN at $2.25 to $2.40, ESPN-HD at ~$0.80, and the other ESPN channels at $0.20 to $0.30. This is all figured into your cable bill.

Content providers are not regulated like that; they are not monopolies. If Disney wants to sell ABC, ABC Family, ESPN, ESPN-HD, ESPN2, ESPN News, and ESPN Classic in one big package bundle, that is their right. They also have the right to dictate the terms of carriage in their contract. In Disney's case, they require a clause in all their contracts that says ESPN, ESPN2, etc will be in the basic programming tier. They won't sell these channels any other way.

How can VOOM offset the extra $4.00+/mo for the ESPN channels, without significantly increasing rates (or increasing rates at all)? One option is to eliminate the choice of a free premium package (HBO, Showtime, etc) in the $39.90/mo plan. Ooops, they already did that.

Here's a link to the Cox-ESPN settlement. My bad, it is now ~$3 but goes up to $4 at the end of the deal.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/in...CA382595&display=Breaking+News&promocode=SUPP

 

[Walter L.]

Originally Posted by Ken F
How can VOOM offset the extra $4.00+/mo cost to the basic package for these ESPN channels, without significantly increasing rates (or increasing rates at all)? One option is to eliminate the choice of a free premium package (HBO, Showtime, etc) in the $39.90/mo plan. Ooops, they already did that.

Since VOOM has been thinking on getting ESPN from day 1, maybe the $4 offset is already covered by the $39.90 we pay.

 

[Lucky]

Since VOOM has been thinking on getting ESPN from day 1, maybe the $4 offset is already covered by the $39.90 we pay.

Just put on the stupid channel already, and then I'll worry about paying for it. We are missing the entire NHL and NBA postseason.

 

[Ken F]

Here's a link to the Cox-ESPN settlement. My bad, it is now ~$3 but goes up to $4 at the end of the deal.

I don't think that includes the ESPN-HD or ESPN Deportes fees; it's probably the fee for the basic extended basic tier (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN News, ESPN Classic). The article says ~$3/mo per subscriber, but every subscriber doesn't have to pay for ESPN-HD; it's in the digital tier. Similarly, not every customer has to pay for ESPN Deportes.

 

[squicken]

I don't think that includes the ESPN-HD or ESPN Deportes fees; it's probably the fee for the basic extended basic tier (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN News, ESPN Classic). The article says ~$3/mo per subscriber, but every subscriber doesn't have to pay for ESPN-HD; it's in the digital tier. Similarly, not every customer has to pay for ESPN Deportes.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's just basic. But I can't imagine ESPNHD costing all that much. It just shows stretched ESPN 95% of the time. As far as News, Deportes and Classic, again, it's not that expensive to show highlights, Mexican futbol, and '83 Brewers-Mariners games. I guess my original point was that Voom won't just absurb $3-$5 and add ESPN to Voom. They like they're sub-$40 price point. So, Voom has the choice of absorbing $4/mo/subscriber, raising the Voom pkg price, or not carrying ESPN if Disney mandates that ESPN be part of the Voom pkg. I guess there is some wiggle room, like you said Ken, to charge extra for ESPNHD. Still, Voom is probably in a very intense negotiating session with ESPN. Once one carrier makes ESPN a "premium" channel, then the rest will follow suit. Disney won't like that. Maybe when Comcast buys Disney we might get a chance at getting ESPN.

 

[Ken F]

cyuhnke,

It's previously been reported in the press that ESPN-HD is 70-80 cents per subscriber. If ESPN didn't require carriage of all their other $$$ channels in the basic tier, this would be very reasonable, imo.

 

[GadgetRick]

Disney, ESPN and pricing...

I wouldn't be waiting for Disney to be bought out. The reason they (Comcast) was looking to buy Disney (amoung other reasons) was BECAUSE of ESPN. The reason is ESPN is BY FAR the most expensive cable channel for any provider to offer. They've been able to charge a premium and get away with it. If Comcast were able to buy Disney (and get ESPN along the way) they would have saved themselves BILLIONS of dollars because of the amount of subscribers they have. The big sticking point in all of this, other than Disney not wanting to sell to them, is Comcast recently signed a contract for ESPN and got a decent deal from what I remember. Now, the pressure to aquire Disney is off.

Anyway, I'm sure part of the problem (as has been mentioned here) is the issue about pricing. I'm guessing Voom doesn't want to charge extra for ESPN as it would cause quite an uproar and would put them at a distinct marketing disadvantage with DTV and Dish. I've gotta guess ESPN is telling Voom you've gotta pay $X because you've only got a couple/few thousand subscribers and we're not sure you're gonna make it. And Voom is telling them they don't want to pay that much because it would force them to raise their programming prices.

As much as I'd like to believe we'll have ESPN soon I have a bad feeling this may go on for a while.

Of course, for those of us in the NY area, the next problem is the YES network. Many of us Yankees' fans want to see YES on Voom. Sure YES won their court case with Cablevision and it's now offered there but what happens with Voom? That could take a long time....

NFL Sunday Ticket? Well, let's take care of ESPN and the pq issues (and hopefully YES) before we worry about trying to tackle this beast.

The Rickster

 

[squicken]

I wouldn't be waiting for Disney to be bought out. The reason they (Comcast) was looking to buy Disney (amoung other reasons) was BECAUSE of ESPN. The reason is ESPN is BY FAR the most expensive cable channel for any provider to offer. They've been able to charge a premium and get away with it. If Comcast were able to buy Disney (and get ESPN along the way) they would have saved themselves BILLIONS of dollars because of the amount of subscribers they have. The big sticking point in all of this, other than Disney not wanting to sell to them, is Comcast recently signed a contract for ESPN and got a decent deal from what I remember. Now, the pressure to aquire Disney is off.

Anyway, I'm sure part of the problem (as has been mentioned here) is the issue about pricing. I'm guessing Voom doesn't want to charge extra for ESPN as it would cause quite an uproar and would put them at a distinct marketing disadvantage with DTV and Dish. I've gotta guess ESPN is telling Voom you've gotta pay $X because you've only got a couple/few thousand subscribers and we're not sure you're gonna make it. And Voom is telling them they don't want to pay that much because it would force them to raise their programming prices.

As much as I'd like to believe we'll have ESPN soon I have a bad feeling this may go on for a while.

Of course, for those of us in the NY area, the next problem is the YES network. Many of us Yankees' fans want to see YES on Voom. Sure YES won their court case with Cablevision and it's now offered there but what happens with Voom? That could take a long time....

NFL Sunday Ticket? Well, let's take care of ESPN and the pq issues (and hopefully YES) before we worry about trying to tackle this beast.

The Rickster

I was just joking about Disney/Comcast. As far as YES and other RSNs, I don't know if Voom will ever be able to carry them all. Right now, there are about 20-25 of them. But more teams are going the Yankees route and creating their own channels. The Twins did it, the Braves sort of do it, and the Astros and Rockets are about to do it. We could end up with 50 RSNs, and the new channels will almost certainly be HD. It's not just Voom who will struggle. E* will be in deep doo, but cable, D* and uncle Rupert should be fine.

 

[HeavyC]

The solution to the problem would be to just carry the Season Ticket plans for each of the major sports. However, I'm not quite sure how they work. Does the provider get a sperate feed of those games from somewhere, or are they required to have all the RSN's uplinked and then they just display that transmission on the Season Ticket channel.

Ultimately it would be nice, if you could just purchase a season ticket for the teams you want to watch. If I'm a Bulls fan, and a Yankees fan then I can pay X amount of dollars and get each of those teams games.

I'm really a strong believer that VOOM won't go that far being an HD leader if they don't get more programming up from the major sporting leagues. Sports is going to push HD into the most homes the fastest. There are actually significant benefits to watching Sports in 16:9 HD (especially for Hockey and Soccer).

I guess it's probably just a matter of capacity, but I do believe that if VOOM is smart, that's where they are going to try and grow quickly.

 

[HeavyC]

Also, the Bulls, White Sox, Cubs, and Blackhawks are starting their own RSN in Chicago, thought I'd add that one to the list. The Fox Sports networks are going to becocome completely pointless very quickly.

 

[kotto_bass]

Just put on the stupid channel already, and then I'll worry about paying for it. We are missing the entire NHL and NBA postseason.

How about those who are not interested in NHL and NBA postseason (not me though)? Should they pay for having all ESPNs on the basic tier? Isn't it logical to have a sports tier and dump all the ESPN channels there? But it seems ESPN does not want this type of negotiation. Which might be the very reason they can't sign deals including ESPN HD and ESPN Deportes with satellite and most cable. It gets more annoying when they spend their time broadcasting bass fishing and hunting when they should be airing quality sports materials.

 

[GadgetRick]

RSNs...

I've been unhappy about this move towards RSNs for years--mainly because you usually can't pick up these stations OTA. Now, these days, it's not quite as much of an issue since most people have cable and/or sat but there are a lot of people who don't. Those people cannot watch their favorite sports teams. Seems kinda mean to the fans but I guess it's their team and they can do what they want with it.

As we all know, DTV has the best sports programming of any of the sat providers. This certainly has a lot to do with why they're #1 right now. How many of you still have DTV because of sports? I know I do. The problem is, as has been pointed out, for Voom to really make some noise they sort of need to pick up the sports broadcasts. Unfortunately, this takes time, money and bandwidth. DTV specializes in providing as many channels as possible (sucking up their available bandwidt). This is part of the reason they offer little to no HD programming. They've chosen wisely (as judged by their P&L statement) but it doesn't help most of us here.

Dish sort of distinguished themselves and many people who aren't as interested in sports (but wanted sat service) found a home there. I've never had Dish but I understand their pq is a little better (standard channels, not talking HD) and they have a few other things which distinguish them from DTV.

How does Voom distinguish itself? Well, HD programming of course. The problem is, this is (obviously) harder to do than the other things which made DTV and Dish popular. We've got lots of pq issues and other things happening mainly due to trying to provide HD programming. And the lack of sports programming is really an issue but how do they add these channels and keep enough bandwidth to both add more HD programming and provide good pq? Not an easy task.

Anyway, Voom must find a good balance between the pq/HD issues and the sports issues if they want to become a viable alternative to DTV and Dish. Obviously, they need to add ESPN. They'll probably need to add some RSNs from the major markets (NYC, LA, etc.). As far as season pass subscriptions go, I've found them to be useless (other than NFL Sunday Ticket). They don't show all of the games and they never seem to have the games you want. Come playoff time you also miss some games. I've always said they should offer subs to people for specific markets. I.e. if you're a Cubs fan you should be able to get a sub which offers you ALL of the Cubs games (other than those on National TV). They certainly could do it but nobody has. I seem to remember this being one of DTV's ideas when they were just starting. Never panned out.

Alright, enough rambling. In short, we need/want ESPN and would like to see more sports programming in general. Sports programming is certainly helping drive the scceptance of HD...

The Rickster

 

[Trouthead]

I get lots

I subscribe to MLB extra innings, and live in Wyoming. Not much to worry about for local teams here.

I am a Red Sox fan and so far I have been able to watch every game. I wish it was cheaper, as I don't watch much of KC or LA or other such teams, but as far as the Sox go I get all the games so far.

 

[Walter L.]

Just put on the stupid channel already, and then I'll worry about paying for it. We are missing the entire NHL and NBA postseason.

Not me. I've been watching NBA at TNT and my local ABC