ESPN "won't enter the hotly contested bidding" for NFL Thursday night games, according to sources cited by Ronald Grover of THESTREET.com. The NFL, "which is expected to announce winning bidders as early as this week for an eight-week package of games, received proposals" from CBS and Fox in bidding that is "expected to exceed" the $300M per season that CBS paid to carry the "TNF" package the past two seasons. One figure "being floated" was $400M for an eight-game package, "whether it is awarded to a single network or shared." The decision is "expected by the Feb. 7 Super Bowl." Sources said that ESPN is "comfortable" with its "MNF" package, while parent company Disney was "happy with the current Thursday night prime-time lineup of its sister ABC broadcast network." ESPN also may have been "swayed by the perception that the NFL was leaning toward awarding" the "TNF" package to a broadcast net because NFL Network would still "air all of the Thursday night games" (THESTREET.com, 1/13). DEADLINE.com's Nellie Andreeva cited sources as saying that NBC's "TNF" bid was "very aggressive," and the net "might end up sharing the package with CBS." Sources said that the situation remained "very fluid" (DEADLINE.com, 1/13).
WANTS & NEEDS: BROADCAST & CABLE's Jon Lafayette noted BTIG media analyst Rich Greenfield, a "frequent skeptic about ESPN's future in a cord-cutting world," commissioned a study by research firm Civic Science that found 56% of cable subscribers would drop ESPN and ESPN2 to "save $8 a month." The survey found that 60% of females responded "they would drop the ESPN channels and 49% of males would drop them." The survey also found that "only 6% of respondents would subscribe to ESPN and ESPN2 at $20 a month on a direct-to-consumer basis." The study was conducted last week among 1,582 consumers (BROADCASTINGCABLE.com, 1/13). However, TVPredictions.com President Phillip Swann tweeted that the study is "suspect" because Greenfield "admits he wrote the ESPN questions, not the survey company" (TWITTER.com, 1/14).
