Media Notes
In Salt Lake City, Jay Drew writes "don't expect" Dish Network to carry The mtn., as Mountain West Conference Commissioner Craig Thompson "sounds like he has given up on trying to persuade Dish to carry" the net. Thompson: "Dish seems to be at a stalemate. I have had a number of people tell me they've called Dish and canceled and switched their subscription to DirecTV and the response they got from Dish was, 'We just don't see sufficient interest in the programming'" (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 8/28).
NOT SO HARD: In Dallas, Barry Horn notes HBO's "Hard Knocks," which last night aired its fourth episode of the series, has "attached itself to [WR Todd] Lowber from the start and has refused to let go." However, with Lowber unlikely to make the team, Horn writes, "There is no drama here. ... Maybe 'Hard Knocks' so fervently attached itself to Lowber because the Cowboys summer has been devoid of story lines. ... Maybe when it comes to 'Hard Knocks,' these Cowboys weren't the best choice after all. Maybe they are all hat and no cattle" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 8/28).
NICE RING TO IT: Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban on his blog speculated that DirecTV could bid for the next round of Olympics TV rights. Cuban: "If DirecTV gets in the bidding, it will be a simple process. If the retrans rights cost [$2B], and they can generate revenue per new subscriber of [$1,000] per year, which is probably low for the year 2016, then all they have to do is add 2 [million] subscribers around the Olympics. All the advertising is gravy." DirecTV "could also push out events to the Discovery branded channels that Liberty Media owns, and probably also do a deal with at least 1, if not more of the broadcast networks" (BLOGMAVERICK.com, 8/25).
NOTES: Italy broadcaster RAI yesterday said that Lega Calcio, the organization that manages Italy's Serie A and Serie B soccer leagues, "had turned down its final offer of [US$45M]." RAI added that unless Lega Calcio "was willing to reopen talks in the next few days to bring about a last-minute deal, Italians would only be able to see domestic soccer on TV if they pay for it" (DAILY VARIETY, 8/28)....FSN Houston will air Saturday's Florida Atlantic-Texas and Chattanooga-Oklahoma college football games, both of which start at 6:00pm CT, on PPV, because "neither was selected for a network broadcast." Suggested retail is $29.95 each (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 8/28).
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