Wall Street Journal Examines NFL Network's Carriage Fight
NFL Network has grown its subscriber base from 40 million homes to 44 million since it showed its last regular-season game last December, according to Mike Reynolds of MULTICHANNEL NEWS. NFL Network Communications Dir Seth Palansky: "There have been continued rollouts with affiliates. We added 500,000 alone with Verizon (FiOS TV), Dish, and DirecTV in the second quarter alone." Reynolds notes the increase comes as Comcast moves the network to a sports tier (MULTICHANNEL NEWS, 8/20 issue). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Grant & Thompson in a front-page piece examine the relationship between MSOs and NFL Network and write cable’s refusal to offer the net on digital basic "represents a rare setback for the NFL.” Comcast agreed to carry the network in ’04 on a digital package that had almost eight million subs, but under a "secret agreement," the MSO had the right to “greatly reduce the number of households the NFL Network would reach if it didn’t get the new package of football games.” NFL Network later told Comcast it was increasing its cost from $0.15 to about $0.70 per sub because it would begin to air live regular-season games. Comcast agreed to pay the increased fee but “began taking steps" to move the network to a sports tier. After the NFL filed a lawsuit, Comcast Chair & CEO Brian Roberts called NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to complain, and according to sources he said, "You know we have the right to do this. Is this any way to treat a partner?" Comcast "had already been steaming over the dual role” played by NFL Network President & CEO and NFL Exec VP/New Media Steve Bornstein “both as a rival bidder and an adviser to the NFL.” Cable execs hold Bornstein “largely ... responsible for the high cost of football" since he was President of ESPN/ABC Sports when those nets paid large fees for NFL rights. While Bornstein “can be charming, [he] does little to discourage his tough-guy image” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 8/20).
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