NY Times: Paying a ‘Sports Tax,’ Even if You Don’t Watch

[The Fat Man]

Funny I read this now.... I was just talking to a buddy of mine about the old days of Cablevision on Long Island.

Sportschannel sent in the clear on Channel 3. HBO sent in the clear on Channel 6. Premium subscriptions, controlled via filter on the drop.
MSG Network on Channel 30, Disney on Channel 31, AMC on Channel 32, Bravo on Channel 33, The Movie Channel on 34, Cinemax on 35, Showtime on 36, and Playboy on 37, all premium subscriptions controlled by a daughtercard on your old 3-level JERROLD cable clicky box... 36 channels and nothing on...

There wasn't much in way of networks available to choose from. We used to get WTBS, WSBK, WTAF, and WVIA as out of market stations. We were also able to get Nick, FNN, CNN, CNN-HN, CHN, CBN, TWC, ESPN, VH-1, and MTV. The bandwidth really wasn't there. I think the one network I wanted (USA) wasn't offered on CV until CV couldn't carry out-of-market TV anymore... (sans SuperStations).

My parents got cable TV so mom could watch the Mets.



ESPN has no sports programming that I want to watch. I rarely make efforts to be in front of my TV to watch a game, period. I either go to the game or watch it elsewhere. I'd rather not have the network and use this as an excuse to go to the pub to watch the occasional game...

That being written, I wonder how much a typical bill would drop if ALL sports programming was sold on its own tier (ESPN + family, VS, RSNs, NHL, NFL, MLB, NBA, etc....) I would think $20 less per month...

Cheers!
-Doug

In the 80s for us north of Boston, only HBO, Cinemax, Disney, and NESN/Sports Channel as premiums 36 channels on the old Gerald "Wooden look box". Two channels for Univision, and two channels for for HSN, as one of each was an broadcast channel. The rest of the cable only channels were ESPN, TBS, TNT, MTV, CNN, HNN, Nick, USA, and because we shared our system between three diferent towns, a school channel for each town. No Showtime, Movie Channel, VH-1, Pay-Per-View (which oddly, was offered in a neighboring town two years before we got it), out of market stations except TBS, and the list goes on. It wasn't until we upgraded our system that we got SHO/TMC, PPV, E!, one extra out of market (WWOR), VH-1, and I can barely remember the rest.

As for paying for their own tier, I'd bet that a sports package would cost more than three Movie Packages.

 

[mike123abc]

One of the problems that the cable/programming providers industry is facing is of their own creation. They have been so successful in carrying capacity (the cable/sat companies) and channel creation (programming providers) that they have segmented the market so much that most households only watch a small percentage of the channels. Each household is different as to which channels they watch and I bet that before long there will be a lot more pressure for a la carte with the cable bill rising every year and people view their channel line up and realize they are watching only 15% of the channels they are being forced to pay for.

 

[jerryez]

Sports may be high, but paying an actor $100,000 an episode, several actors in any one show and 13 -23 episodes in a season is ridiculous. And many stars make way more than that.

 

[lakebum431]

Wasn't the cast of Friends making $1m per episode near the end? Now that is nuts!

 

[HDRoberts]

Sports may be high, but paying an actor $100,000 an episode, several actors in any one show and 13 -23 episodes in a season is ridiculous. And many stars make way more than that.

If this comparison is valid, explain why almost every network costs less than one fifth what ESPN costs.

I'm not going to say celebrity earnings are not often out of line, but to me, sports is the most egregious by far.

 

[HanoverPretzel]

If this comparison is valid, explain why almost every network costs less than one fifth what ESPN costs.

Because people care less intensely about other channels.

If, you're, say, a big Baltimore Ravens and NFL football fan, you need whatever channel those games are on, and it isn't going to be adequate substitute if someone says "But, wait, we've got a thrilling game of New Zealand-style table tennis on channel number 1,567.".

On the other hand, if you're a fan of "Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?" and it's not on, you might settle for "The Bachelor". I mean, some people wouldn't, but in general it's not quite the way sports is. And if you really love a show you can't get, you may be able to buy a DVD set or Netflix it a few months down the line. Sports most people want to either watch live or not at all- maybe DVRed and delayed a few hours might be acceptible for some, but few people will say "Eh, I'll just catch today's big game on DVD next July." the way they might with a scripted drama or comedy.

 

[jimdandyvi]

Sports may be high, but paying an actor $100,000 an episode, several actors in any one show and 13 -23 episodes in a season is ridiculous. And many stars make way more than that.

Big difference is that a TV show can be sold many times. First its first run then into syndication then into foreign markets, Then TV Land, Netflix, Amazon, etc. Don't have to get all the money upfront to pay the actors. Old TV shows never seem to die, but who wants to watch last week's baseball game?

 

[Claude Greiner]

The whole issue is what the sports teams are paying their players, which gets passed to the fans as higher ticket prices, which also gets passed to networks like ESPN and Fox Sports, which get passed to the television providers and back to the customers.

The problem is the customers who cry and threaten to switch providers everytime their TV provider either drops their favorite channel or raises their rates.

As a retailer, everytime Dish gets in a programming dispute we get dozens of calls from customers who are angry that Dish has dropped a paticular channel. You explain to customers that Dish is in a dispute that they are trying to keep costs down and avoid raising rates, and the customers could care less. They are more concerned that they are going to miss their favorite show, and its going to be the end of the world if they miss it.

Seriously, who the F**K cares!

Occasionally my DVR messes up and does not record a show. Im not happy that I missed my show. but I just watch something else I have recorded, and life goes on.

But its this type of behavior from customers who force the providers like DISH Network and Directv to negotiate these big contracts and pay the higher prices. Then once a year, the television providers have to be the bad guy and raise everyones rates.

I would probably say sports are a make or break deal in about 20% of the households. The problem is that no provider can afford to loose 20% of its customer base by choosing not to carry a sports package.

What needs to happen is that Dish, Directv, Comcast and a few of the other major cable providers need to get together and agree to stand up to ESPN and force them to go alacarte

 

[mruk69]

And also require them to offer 360 and watchespn to every subscriber. Just like HBO, TNT, EPIX etc.

Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys

 

[NotMe546]

What needs to happen is that Dish, Directv, Comcast and a few of the other major cable providers need to get together and agree to stand up to ESPN and force them to go alacarte

Picture that. I believe met fans have a better chance of ever seeing the met's win a world series.
Sports fan get screwed all over. But look at ticket sales a lot are still stupid enough to pay for it (at least in NY)!!!!
So I say let them get screwed at home too, let them pay the higher price!!!

 

[zim2dive]

So I say let them get screwed at home too, let them pay the higher price!!!

You mean the "true" price?

 

[dwarren2]

You can now add Time-Warner to the blackout of MSG. So other than Direct, until their contract is up, who carries MSG. Wonder who will blink and if it's MSG, will Dish demand the same pricing?

 

[AntiMoz]

Verizon FIOS carries MSG in Buffalo along with DirecTV.

 

[dwarren2]

Verizon FIOS carries MSG in Buffalo along with DirecTV.

What about downstate? Wondering about how big an impact this will be there.
Cutting Dish and now TW must have a huge financial impact on MSG's income from advertisement.
When is Direct's contract up? Will they stand firm and basically put MSG out of business?

Wonder if Pegula can apply any pressure.

 

[HanoverPretzel]

When is Direct's contract up? Will they stand firm and basically put MSG out of business?

Not if they're smart. With Dish and the local cable company both in disputes with MSG, Directv can turn around and say "Hey sports fans, we're the only provider that carries your teams". That's got to be worth an extra fifty cents or a dollar a head to them. Think of all the subscribers they'd pick up.

It's a bad deal for consumers to only have a regional sports network carried by one provider, though. It's basically a monopoly. And if anyone wants to follow their teams but doesn't have a line of sight for Directv, can't afford a deposit they may require for poor credit, or doesn't want to deal with Directv for whatever reason, they're pretty much boned.

One would like to think this stuff would be resolved in a way that wouldn't leave fans without their home teams' games. It doesn't seem right that with all the money people pay for television service nowadays that they can't find a way to get this network on people's televisions. Maybe the government should step in and force both sides to submit to binding arbitration to set a price for channel carriage or whatever in MSG's disputes with both Dish and cable.

Another possibility is that perhaps MSG could do an end-round around the providers and offer their channel and games streaming to people in the region and get paid directly. Advertise a free Roku box to stream to their televisions if they commit to 6 months or more. I don't know if they'd be able to do that, though- they may only own the television rights and not the streaming rights for the games from the teams they carry.

 

[AntiMoz]

Wonder if Pegula can apply any pressure.

The Sabres contract with MSG runs through 2016. It sounds pretty air tight or too expensive to buy out based on the comments from Ted Black (Sabres President). He was intervirewed on Radio a couple of days ago. www.wgr550.com, in the audio vault.

According to Wikipedia, the source of all knowledge in the world, TWC's market penetration is pretty big in the region. Corporate HQ is located in mid-town Manhattan.

Northeast Cluster
Maine
New Hampshire - Berlin, Keene
Massachusetts - Athol, Pittsfield
Upstate New York

New York Cluster
New Jersey - Bergen County, Hudson County
New York - New York City (Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, most of western Brooklyn)

I cant wait to see how this plays out.

 

[dwarren2]

I can't imagine that the NBA and the NHL are sitting on the sidelines while their product is not avliable in one of the largest markets in the US.