The Trail Blazers and CSN Northwest have "concluded their contractually obligated exclusive negotiating period" that is part of their 10-year agreement that expires after next season, and team President & CEO Chris McGowan is "in a position to do something about the broadcast deal he inherited" when joining the club in '12, according to John Canzano of the Portland OREGONIAN. McGowan was set to meet with Fox Sports last week in L.A., and execs from Root Sports "have a series of meetings scheduled with McGowan beginning this week." They would "like to sell him" on moving the Blazers' TV rights to Root Sports Northwest, which already airs Mariners, Timbers and Sounders games. There also is some thought that the team "might negotiate an 'over the top' carriage deal with a streaming partner such as Facebook or Yahoo." CSNNW "would very much like to continue" its partnership with the Blazers, as the RSN would not have much "need to exist" without the rights. Blazers execs are not commenting on the negotiations, but Canzano wrote they likely would say they are "frustrated not only with the lack of adequate distribution in their broadcast region, but also, the out-dated appearance of the CSNNW broadcast sets." There also is a "lack of quality programming outside of the game broadcasts" (OREGONLIVE.com, 4/25).
