Charlie and Joe Speak on NY Sports

[zippyfrog]

And if Dish does dump ESPN, now hear this.....IT IS NOT COMING BACK.

I agree completely with this. But the thing that confuses me if this is truly Dish's outlook on sports, why did they add MLB Network after these years of wanting nothing to do with it? That just surprises me.

[osu1991]

Because MLB no longer required carriage of Extra Innings to go with MLBnet

[dishcomm]

I guess its the supply/demand dynamic that has gotten out of whack. When I lived in Boston in 1981 you could go to Fenway Park and buy a general admission ticket for $2.00 and go sit anywhere there was no butt in a seat. We often sat front row Pesky's pole. The park was never full, a few years later the whole sports dynamic changed and that experience was no longer possible. Sports has a premium product that they sell for a premium price. Every part of it has gone up astronomically from the ticket prices, parking prices, food prices, memorabilia prices and TV prices. Until the demand drops the price will remain high just like any other entertainment comodity. Looks like the demand might be headed down a bit, but not significantly. That may change with the continued bad economy and reports that food and other commodities prices could be headed up. The cost to fill up has come down a few cents but is still staggering if you look at your monthly gas bills. When people have to start deciding between entertainment and living the demand will decrease I think.

That is not true for all teams....Noticed your avatar..Welcome to the world of long suffering Mets fans...Anyway, the Mets just announced for the second year in a row, an across the board ticket price reduction. The product is less than average and the Mets can't draw flies. Same thing in Charlotte with the Panthers. The team held the line with no increases. That in spite of every game a sell out last season. Again, below average product. And really, the tix sell but there are Panthers games where half the seats go unused..
If sports programmers continue to escalate prices, ratings will fall with lower demand. IN other words, no viewers means the layoff notices go out and the top brass starts sweating. That is how prices to the consumer are controlled. By the consumer

[dishcomm]

I'm using Lifetime as an example of a channel I never watch and would drop in an ala carte system, but there are a bunch of other channels I don't watch as well and would also drop. FOX News is one I'd drop. I occasionally watch Two and Half Men reruns on FX, but I wouldn't pay for it. I could go on.

I'll grant your point that the channels I don't watch are probably less expensive to Dish than the sports channels, but they do add up to something, I'm sure.

I would drop all "soft" channels such as Lifetime, MSNBC all shopping, OWN, Hell I'd drop CNN and Headline News as well. I never watch the fluff on those. I would eschew all niche channels as well.
I watch tv how I read the paper. News, Sports, Business. The rest I can do without.

[ckhalil18]

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I read about this as well. I am not upgrading to anything that is going to put me into a commitment because if Dish dumps ESPN ,I'm out for sure. And if Dish does dump ESPN, now hear this.....IT IS NOT COMING BACK.

The contract isn't coming up until 2013 so there's still at least a year left until we see what the outcome will be. I wouldn't be surprised if Dish dropped ESPN and all other Disney-related channels unless Dish and Disney decide to drop the lawsuits and make-up.

[dishcomm]

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I agree completely with this. But the thing that confuses me if this is truly Dish's outlook on sports, why did they add MLB Network after these years of wanting nothing to do with it? That just surprises me.

Cuz it was cheap?