Thread: NFL, cable operators square off

Leave it to the NFL to take on the most stubborn, monopolistic sector of the media world: cable TV operators.

The NFL's plan to try to force cable providers such as Time Warner and Cablevision to carry its NFL Network channel — by going over their heads to their customers with a $100 million ad campaign — sets up a clash of superpowers.

The TV, print and radio ads will name cable operators who've refused to carry the NFL Network. They'll urge football fans in those markets to either force their cable company to air the 24/7 football channel or get themselves a satellite dish.

Cable companies control the pipes and are used to getting their way. When there are disputes with programmers, they flip the off button until the beef is settled. The NFL also enters this fight without the leverage of media giants Viacom and News Corp., which can offer package deals.

But the league, which has expanded NFL Network into 41 million homes in only 32 months, is used to getting its own way, too, and usually does. This season NFL Network will air a package of eight Thursday/Saturday night games. It hopes football fans in markets such as New York, Tampa, Green Bay, Houston and St. Louis will go ballistic when they realize their cable company isn't playing ball.

"People will go nuts on Thanksgiving when there's a game on and they can't watch it," says Seth Palansky of the NFL Network. Forcing its way into another 25 million homes this season will bring NFL Network two-thirds of the way toward its goal of matching ESPN's distribution of 91 million homes.

Can the NFL pull it off? Don't bet against the country's most powerful and popular league, says cable TV expert Jimmy Schaeffler, a senior analyst with the Carmel Group consultancy. "They don't have leverage with individual operators, but they have leverage where it counts the most. With consumers. Who else gets in so many homes in less than three years? They're a one-of-kind entity."

Sure, NFL Network will tick off people it may have to do business with in the future. But as the old saying goes, if they can't earn respect out of love, they'll earn it out of fear. Nothing scares cable companies more than customers heading for the door. This should be one of the best matchups of the new season.


http://www.usatoday.com/sports/colum...d_x.htm?csp=34