NFL Exec VP/Media STEVE BORNSTEIN, former NBC Sports Group Chair DICK EBERSOL, Fox Sports Media Group CEO DAVID HILL and former NBA Commissioner DAVID STERN -- four of the biggest names in sports TV over the past 30 years -- reminisced earlier this week during the Sports Video Group's annual summit in N.Y. Hill joked that he switched years ago from an on-camera role to one on the business side for "health reasons -- I was making viewers sick." He then acknowledged his mistake in Fox not investing in cable TV. Hill: "We believed there was a greater deal of longevity in RSNs, so while ESPN was dominating, we went into the RSN. Should we have started as a competitor to ESPN earlier? Probably. We decided we were going to go down another path." Still, even Bornstein looked at Fox' RSN success with some jealousy. He said, "Probably the biggest disappointment (was) I was never able to get ESPN into the regional business. I like that business. It’s very loyal, has big ratings and would have been great. But I could never convince (former ABC Chair & CEO TOM) MURPHY or (former Cap Cities President & COO DAN) BURKE to actually invest."
NOT WHAT THE PLAN CALLED FOR: Stern called himself "obsessive-compulsive" when it came to the NBA and noted that when he joined the 24-employee league as general counsel in '68, it was only with the assurances of Proskauer Rose that he could return to the law firm in two years. Stern said of the underpinnings for the NBA's growth and success, "If it's my brand and you're going to crap on it, you're going to deal with me. That's what drives the NBA to this day. A little more elegantly stated -- we're all brand managers." Both Ebersol and Stern recalled that as camera positions became more important, so did their quest to secure them. Stern said that when former Sonics Owner HOWARD SCHULTZ sold the club in '06, the NBA "made it a condition of the sale" that the Sonics "give up a part of two center suites so we could stick a camera there." Like many from his era, Ebersol said working with the "Dream Team" at the '92 Barcelona Games was "a career highlight." Ebersol: "That was the only athletic team I have seen in my life in sports that was the equivalent of THE BEATLES." Hill said it will be difficult for any net to challenge ESPN's dominance. Hill: "That will be tough, because (rights) contracts keep getting longer. They have became 10, 12 or 15 years, which works well for the league and the incumbents, but (if you're) trying to get it, it means your bet has to be very, very big. ... We’ve always said at Fox that it will take a period of time to come anywhere near ESPN."
