I susbscribe to a newsletter called the SKYREPORT, for those that are unaware, they have news about satellite, cable and telcos and anything that has to do with that business. Anyways, I am not into politics sticking their nose into ANY sport, but for some reason, this tidbit of news might ....MIGHT make me rethink my stand.
Lawmakers Again Target NFL Network on Game Coverage
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Penn) has started another fight with NFL Network and its delivery of games in November, saying the programming effort disenfranchises football fans with off-air television and who live outside football team markets.
The NFL Network will begin delivering its game slate on Nov. 6. Specter took the lead on a letter signed by 12 other senators that criticized the programmer for its exclusive game coverage. In the letter sent to the NFL this week, the lawmakers stated that the league's decision to "have fewer viewers for select games again this year is an indication of its interest in moving toward a pay television model."
The letter also threatened that it "may be for the courts to determine whether the NFL member teams are using the NFL Network to restrict the output of game programming in a manner that violates the antitrust laws."
The letter asked the NFL to ensure fans can benefit from a decades-old over-the-air policy when nearby teams (or team coverage can be maintained for areas that have been historically aligned with a franchise) are playing in games telecast nationally on the NFL Network.
In a statement from the NFL, the league said its TV policy regarding NFL Network games this season "will be identical to the broadcast pattern we have followed for more than 20 years with our ESPN primetime games. That same television policy makes the NFL the only league that has all of its regular season and playoff games on free TV, including our limited number of cable games that also are televised on free TV in participating team markets."
The league said its goal with NFL Network is to showcase games for a national audience. But that effort has been "undercut by several of the largest cable operators that are discriminating against our network by either refusing to carry it or placing it on a much more costly tier than the sports networks that the cable operators themselves own," the league said.
"These cable operators are denying their consumers fair access to this popular NFL programming," the league statement added.
Lawmakers Again Target NFL Network on Game Coverage
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Penn) has started another fight with NFL Network and its delivery of games in November, saying the programming effort disenfranchises football fans with off-air television and who live outside football team markets.
The NFL Network will begin delivering its game slate on Nov. 6. Specter took the lead on a letter signed by 12 other senators that criticized the programmer for its exclusive game coverage. In the letter sent to the NFL this week, the lawmakers stated that the league's decision to "have fewer viewers for select games again this year is an indication of its interest in moving toward a pay television model."
The letter also threatened that it "may be for the courts to determine whether the NFL member teams are using the NFL Network to restrict the output of game programming in a manner that violates the antitrust laws."
The letter asked the NFL to ensure fans can benefit from a decades-old over-the-air policy when nearby teams (or team coverage can be maintained for areas that have been historically aligned with a franchise) are playing in games telecast nationally on the NFL Network.
In a statement from the NFL, the league said its TV policy regarding NFL Network games this season "will be identical to the broadcast pattern we have followed for more than 20 years with our ESPN primetime games. That same television policy makes the NFL the only league that has all of its regular season and playoff games on free TV, including our limited number of cable games that also are televised on free TV in participating team markets."
The league said its goal with NFL Network is to showcase games for a national audience. But that effort has been "undercut by several of the largest cable operators that are discriminating against our network by either refusing to carry it or placing it on a much more costly tier than the sports networks that the cable operators themselves own," the league said.
"These cable operators are denying their consumers fair access to this popular NFL programming," the league statement added.
