Will dish carry this channel??? (NFL Red Zone)

Red Zone channel will be a huge fail, and the reason why is at the start of this article.

Cable wary of NFL?s Red Zone Channel

The market for Red Zone is people who are too cheap to get Sunday Ticket. Cable and DISH already have those people. Why remind them what they could be getting?

On top of that, why do you need a separate part-time channel at all? If they would put this stuff on NFL Network, maybe it would have some more value, and they could get some more operators to carry it.

Their idiocy and arrogance is spelled out in that article..."NFL executives are hoping to use the Red Zone Channel to entice cable operators to start carrying NFL Network."

It's like "Look, we know you don't want to pay 50 cents for NFL Network because you think it doesn't have much good content. What if we gave you some compelling content, say, for a few hours a few days a year, and charge you 75 cents? Oh, and you'll have to set aside more bandwidth. Deal?"
 
I would love to have this channel.....I just can't believe they wouldn't put the Redzone content on NFLN for 6 hours on Sunday afternoon....pure greed.
 
NFL Red Zone Channel Update

I am seriously considering adding Comcast just to get this channel on one of my TVs. It switches to games in the Red Zone live and if no team is in the Red Zone, it switches to a game that has a team moving the ball.

NFL RedZone cable channel cutting it close

NFL RedZone cable channel cutting it close

By JOHN OURAND
Staff writer
Published August 17, 2009 : Page 01

Just four weeks before the planned launch of the NFL RedZone channel, only one cable operator has agreed to carry it, thrusting the league into yet another round of carriage battles with the cable industry.

When the channel launches Sept. 13, the first Sunday of the regular season, only Comcast, the country’s biggest cable operator, plans to roll out the channel on its sports and entertainment tier, which has close to 2 million subscribers.

So far, little is known about the fledgling channel, which is mirrored after the Red Zone Channel from DirecTV’s popular Sunday Ticket service — right down to the same name, though with a different structure. Both services are tailored for fantasy football enthusiasts, providing live look-ins to the league’s Sunday afternoon games, plus updated statistics and scoring plays.
DirecTV testing Sunday Ticket
broadband in Manhattan

The league originally planned to launch its NFL RedZone in 2012, but that schedule was accelerated in May when the NFL extended its deals with CBS and Fox by two years (See SportsBusiness Journal, May 18-24). The NFL’s Sunday afternoon broadcast partners needed to give the league permission to use its game productions for a cable-only red zone channel.

The league’s NFL RedZone will be produced by NFL Network and overseen by President Steve Bornstein. It is separate from DirecTV’s channel, which is part of its NFL Sunday Ticket service. The NFL is building a set for the channel at its NFL Network studios and has yet to settle on a host or other talent to work on the show. With distribution at launch expected to be low, the league isn’t expected to attach much advertising to the channel.

But distribution looks to be an issue. So far, all cable operators besides Comcast have passed. Several cable executives who have seen the plans for NFL RedZone say the channel is too expensive — the same complaint used against NFL Network.

Cable sources say the NFL’s initial offer is for about 25 cents per subscriber per month, a rate that puts NFL RedZone on par with Golf Channel.

However, cable executives say it’s difficult to compare NFL RedZone to a network like Golf Channel. Golf Channel is a 24-hour, year-round channel and cable executives have been told that NFL RedZone will only exist during Sunday afternoon NFL games, from the start of the 1 p.m. ET games through the late afternoon games, which amounts to about seven or eight hours a week, 17 weeks a year.

One holdup for several cable operators is the NFL’s demand that they agree to carry NFL Network in order to get access to NFL RedZone. Three of the five biggest cable operators, Time Warner, Charter and Cablevision, still have not struck deals to carry NFL Network, deals that were expected to be struck easily once Comcast signed its deal in May and presumably set the market. These cable operators are still balking at the NFL’s price (50 to 60 cents) and tiering (digital basic) demands for NFL Network.

But even operators that have deals to carry NFL Network, including Cox, are resisting the channel.

An NFL Network spokesman said the league is in discussions with cable operators and other providers and hopes to have more signed up by its launch. NFL Network COO Kim Williams is taking the lead in the cable negotiations.

Meanwhile, DirecTV is continuing to produce its own Red Zone Channel this season, having started rehearsals with channel host Andrew Siciliano earlier this month.
 
All of what you say is true but you can't blame any content provider for not wanting to carry a channel that will only show new content for 6 hours one day a week for 17 weeks and then wanting 60 cents a sub for it. If the NFL wanted eyes to see it and add value to the NFL channel thats where they would have put it. As it is, they let greed take over and comcast is the only fool to fall for it. If this was packaged with the NFL channel, maybe they could get most providers to buy it. But, as it is they can't even get most carriers to buy a channel that shows 8 live games a year. All because of greed.

Well its not 60 cents, its a quarter, the same price as the Golf channel, and in my book, 8 shows a year of the best football live beats 24/7 of Golf.
 
I agree with the thought in the Endgadget article:

"There is just something fundamentally wrong about a full time cable channel that only broadcasts 119 hours out of the 8760 hours a year. This is especially true when you realize that this is the very same 119 hours a year when the existing NFL Network broadcasts almost nothing at all. There simply is no other reason then pure greed to have two separate NFL channels."
 
I'm pretty sure Dish will carry Red Zone channel. I mean why would they move 2 channels around to free up channel 155 which is right next to NFL Network??? Plus, it saids Fuel will be removed from Ch. 155 on 9/2, which is a week before the NFL Regular Season starts? If I was a betting man, I'd say it will be carried 100%!
 
I agree with the thought in the Endgadget article:

"There is just something fundamentally wrong about a full time cable channel that only broadcasts 119 hours out of the 8760 hours a year. This is especially true when you realize that this is the very same 119 hours a year when the existing NFL Network broadcasts almost nothing at all. There simply is no other reason then pure greed to have two separate NFL channels."
Exactly,
They should just use the existing NFL Network to broadcast the Red Zone on Sunday's. No ones watching the NFL Network then anyway as they're all watching CBS or NBC.
 
Exactly,
They should just use the existing NFL Network to broadcast the Red Zone on Sunday's. No ones watching the NFL Network then anyway as they're all watching CBS or NBC.


Sounds like a good idea. NFL Network probably thinks otherwise.
 
I'm sure it means nothing but it still gives me a tiny twinge of hope.


Yellowdog,

I work for DISH Network and let's just say that Comcast isn't the only provider picking this up for 2009. If you have DISH you will be very happy come Sept

It won't allow me to post a link but it's over at thehuddle forums. I know it's a complete lack of any credibility but still........it would be great!
 
I'm sure it means nothing but it still gives me a tiny twinge of hope.




It won't allow me to post a link but it's over at thehuddle forums. I know it's a complete lack of any credibility but still........it would be great!

Scott already mentioned on the Retailer chat that it IS coming to Dish. That means a lot more than nothing.
 
I'm an NFL fan, but I almost wish that E* would refuse to carry this new network. Specialty channels like NFL Network, MLB Network, etc. do have a place, but there is a point when the amount/quality of programming just doesn't justify its own dedicated channel. This is a case where we will all pay more in the long run for something that should just be included in the base NFL Network. Sure it is only one network for now, but it sets a very bad precedent.
 
I'm an NFL fan, but I almost wish that E* would refuse to carry this new network. Specialty channels like NFL Network, MLB Network, etc. do have a place, but there is a point when the amount/quality of programming just doesn't justify its own dedicated channel. This is a case where we will all pay more in the long run for something that should just be included in the base NFL Network. Sure it is only one network for now, but it sets a very bad precedent.
At least the Red Zone Channel will be part of the Multi-Sports Pack. You will have to pay to get it.
 

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