[NU Sports] Rose Bowl

[Jonathan Hodges]

Yes, and the fact that cable/satellite have huge penetration in the US
(around 90% or so, last time I heard a number thrown around) and they reach
all of the key demographics for those precious advertisers are huge.  Oh,
and the content providers get subscriber fees for all of those people
whether they watch or not, which has allowed the boom of cable channels and
new programming on those channels (including ESPN where, as an example,
there are more and more bowl games every year, along with more college
football on TV).  Just look at how "smoothly" the over the air digital TV
transition went - in other words not many people still watch analog TV (or
not enough to make enough noise, anyways).

The only thing that could stop this momentum is federal legislation to force
"a la carte" cable TV programming, which is a topic that comes and goes from
time to time - especially when new networks like NFL Network and the Big Ten
Network make a fuss with their cable carrier fees.  If Congress can get past
the cable lobbying groups (i.e. when consumers really get angry at those
rising cable bills) and everyone has real choices when it comes to channels,
then things will begin to change as people will subscribe only to the
channels they want to watch.  The technology behind this capability is
already there in digital cable and the internet, so we'll see what happens.
(The internet is another interesting medium as it's starting to make the big
networks and cable wary with more and more content being available there).

Jonathan

On Tue, Jun 16, 2009 at 6:58 AM, Roy Lamberton <rstetson at capps-assoc.com>wrote:

> The ESPN "Family of Networks" is trying very hard to get most of college
> sports on to cable.
>
> The battle is between the big cable operators - Comcast and Time Warner -
> and "the Mouse"/Disney/ABC.
>
> The Cable guys want a sports tier that costs extra and includes all of the
> minor sports channels - ESPNU, ESPN News, NFL, Big 10, etc. Here in Comcast
> land we pay 9.95 a month for all of the sports stuff, about 10 channels,
> and
> since we're big Oriole fans, see that as a decent price bump for getting
> everything in HD PLUS the Big 10 channel lineup.
>
> The Mouse wants all of their channels on the basic tier with the HD
> channels
> occupying additional space.
>
> I know that the version of the Little League World Series that I work on
> draws slightly over 200,000 households for the final game broadcast on
> ESPN2. This year we are webcasting the rest of the games so we'll see how
> pay per view over the web works but the headlong dash to put the "boutique"
> games on cable continues.
>
> Some people involved in broadcasting sports see each game having a smaller,
> but select audience. Their marketing and advertising campaigns mirror this,
> which is why you see the same kinds of commercials on just about every game
> on cable.
>
> I'm sure the thinking in Bristol is that each bowl only draws viewers who
> are alumni, with a core audience very similar to the demographic of those
> sitting in the stands at the game. I wouldn't be surprised if they had
> research that proved that. That audience, in the minds of the Gurus of
> Bristol, is what cable was designed to reach, with the over the air
> channels
> reserved for true Mass Media events (like Political speeches and
> coronations, etc.)
>
> At some point, all of the major Div I conferences will have their own cable
> networks, and I will bet that eventually, cable systems in states away from
> those conferences will find a way to not "waste" the bandwidth on various
> college sports networks that draw very small numbers.
>
> Personally, I think that webcasting in some form, is the future for most
> college sports, but it's going to evolve into a smaller production/pay per
> view type of service. Not that I'm ahead of the curve, but I am investing a
> fair amount of money in a system to webcast baseball and softball to a
> world
> wide audience this summer.
>
> I'll let you know how it works out.
>
> rsl
>
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> Roy S. Lamberton - Senior Associate & Unix Guru.
> Computer Applications & Support Associates
> -------------------- Also ----------------------
> Commissioner Delaware American Legion Baseball
> Retired Senior Chief Cryptologic Technician [R]
> Northwestern University - Sp 1974 -
> Chi Phi: Pi74, KD68
> Publisher Emeritus: Purple Reign (Fox Sports)
> ==========  Go Cats -  Beat 'em All  ===========
> A Few Basic Truths:
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> It's all been tried, and failed before.
> ================================================
> Linhardt wrote:
>
> I don't understand the push to cable.  NO program does as well ratings-wise
> on cable as it does on the 4 networks.  Is ABC making a big sacrifice
> because it wants to show Heidi on New Years Day, but can't because of that
> dang Rose Bowl?  Please explain the logic behind this madness.
>
>
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Jonathan W. Hodges
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