NHL Asks Fans To Complain to DirecTV

[SpaethCo]

IF Comcast thinks that vs will turn into an ESPN clone, they better make it EASIER to get their channel and easier to find as well.
The must also start showing REAL sports, LIVE sports would be a good start.

They show the NHL and a little college football, thats about it.

Versus shows:

- NHL
- Indycar racing
- Some college football
- MMA / World Extreme Cagefighting
- Cycling (Tour de France)
- and a bunch of other underrepresented sports like bull riding.

MMA / WEC in particular is huge -- if you've ever been in an establishment like Buffalo Wild Wings on fight night it's on pretty much every screen in the place.

I didn't say they wanted to be an ESPN clone; you can't beat ESPN at their game. I said they wanted to expand their viewership to get closer to ESPN's numbers.

vs is a LONG LONG way from being ESPN's equal.

In the case of the NHL, you're absolutely right. The ratings share from the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Versus were better than ESPN's ratings at the start of this decade even when they were showing multiple simultaneous games on ESPN and ESPN2.

One thing ESPN has done well, nobody else covers more hours of the World Poker Tour.

 

[Jimbo]

Versus shows:

- NHL
- Indycar racing
- Some college football
- MMA / World Extreme Cagefighting
- Cycling (Tour de France)
- and a bunch of other underrepresented sports like bull riding.

MMA / WEC in particular is huge -- if you've ever been in an establishment like Buffalo Wild Wings on fight night it's on pretty much every screen in the place.

I didn't say they wanted to be an ESPN clone; you can't beat ESPN at their game. I said they wanted to expand their viewership to get closer to ESPN's numbers.

In the case of the NHL, you're absolutely right. The ratings share from the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Versus were better than ESPN's ratings at the start of this decade even when they were showing multiple simultaneous games on ESPN and ESPN2.

One thing ESPN has done well, nobody else covers more hours of the World Poker Tour.

Most of the Sports you listed are not MAJOR sports or of interest to everyone.

ex. how much excitement is there for the Tour De France , it happens ONCE a year.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Scott, based on your post asking, "What's Wrong with DirecTV?" I think you've answered your own question. As someone else also mentioned, the NHL has a vested interest to remain neutral in this tift. I can only conclude the NHL has determined that DirecTV is mostly at fault based on them asking NHL fans to put the pressue on DirecTV. Still...it's a bit unusual.

I was the one who said that the NHL should have remained neutral.

I do find it odd they are putting pressure on DirecTV when they are one of their major partners.

 

[waff]

Whatever the disagreement is between Directv and Versus, which is obviously money, I don't think Versus has much to help them. They're a first tier network at best. If it weren't for the NHL they wouldn't exist. They need to swallow thier pride and come to terms with Directv. When are companies (and I mean almost all companies) going to realize that their products are barely worth the price a consumer pays for them to begin with. So raising prices or pulling service or bad customer support doesn't help you in any way shape or form. The consumer is the reason for any of these companies to exist, and if they continue to play games like this, they will no longer exist.

Versus, suck it up and come to terms. You're not that important. The NHL really doesn't have a leg to stand on here either. The NHL is a growing business that should want as much exposure as they can get. So if Directv doesn't want to pay Versus what they think they are worth, then they probably aren't worth it. Guess who loses in the long run? Versus and the NHL.

 

[Chado]

I am actually thinking of moving to Dish partly based on this Versus issue. I think they did a really nice job during the NHL Playoffs and I was really looking forward to catching more hockey this year.

I have had some other issues with DirecTV this year, so this is more of an annoying issue that is making me think about looking elsewhere.

 

[SpaethCo]

Most of the Sports you listed are not MAJOR sports or of interest to everyone.

Hence the reason there are several sports covered on the channel. Collectively the individual niche groups of viewers add up to significant numbers.

ex. how much excitement is there for the Tour De France , it happens ONCE a year.

What's the value in everybody paying for the NFL Network in the offseason? At least Versus has various types of new programming year-round.

If you don't like the channel, great, but a good number of the other 18 million DirecTV customers do care about this channel. (hence all the threads about DirecTV/Versus popping up on message boards)

 

[SpaethCo]

Whatever the disagreement is between Directv and Versus, which is obviously money

Money is a factor here, but the reason this has become a huge point of disagreement is that DirecTV wants to drastically reduce the number of subscribers Versus would see.

If this transaction would have gone through the way DirecTV wanted it, Versus would be in the $13/mo Sports Pack. Granted, you would still have access to the channel, but only if you parted with $13/mo to get it.

The reason behind this is DirecTV is having trouble restructuring its debt with Liberty Media. That's why there are all these rumors recently about possible acquisitions by companies like Verizon. They wanted to use the Versus renewal as an opportunity to try to boost short term profits by getting people who wanted Versus to sub into the $13 sports pack to get access to the channel. It would reduce their base costs for the Choice Xtra package and bump their financial situation because the profit margin is huge on the Sports Pack.

This fits in line with other customer unfriendly moves DirecTV is making right now, like quietly renewing 2 year contracts when you activate an RMA'd receiver. I believe they are engaging in this tactic so they can boost the number of subscribers under contract they report when negotiating their debt to show where future income is coming in.

I'm not saying Comcast is an angelic company by any means. I think it's borderline theft that they only supply a single HD channel with their Center Ice package, and it is reprehensible that they hide behind the terrestrial broadcast laws to keep CSN Philly to Comcast subscribers only.

In this case, DirecTV just happens to be the bigger weasel. They talk about this being over subscription fees and how they're trying to control your rates. The average price TV providers are paying for Versus is about $0.30/mo per subscriber. DirecTV says Comcast is asking for a 20% increase -- even if that's true we're talking about 6 cents! DirecTV raised every programming package 3 dollars back in March across the board -- and Versus is only in their Choice Xtra package so not all of their customers get it! If I were a DirecTV subscriber I'd mail them a freaking "leave a penny, take a penny" dish and we could call it even.

That the NHL is willing to stand out and say to contact DirecTV even though it will put strain on that partnership (since DirecTV also carries the NHL Network) should speak volumes here.

The marketing machine of DirecTV is awesome. They're trying to screw over any of their subscribers who want to get Versus by making the channel significantly more expensive to get, and yet they've convinced people that Comcast is the only bad guy in all of this.

Well played.

 

[durl]

In this case, DirecTV just happens to be the bigger weasel. They talk about this being over subscription fees and how they're trying to control your rates. The average price TV providers are paying for Versus is about $0.30/mo per subscriber. DirecTV says Comcast is asking for a 20% increase -- even if that's true we're talking about 6 cents! DirecTV raised every programming package 3 dollars back in March across the board -- and Versus is only in their Choice Xtra package so not all of their customers get it! If I were a DirecTV subscriber I'd mail them a freaking "leave a penny, take a penny" dish and we could call it even.

While it may sound like merely "6 cents," we have to look at that it means beyond that. (Like most things economic, the "obvious," surface answer isn't enough.)

From what I've read (and I admit it's not extremely extensive), Directv wants to adjust the tier on which Versus is placed to one similar to what it is on Dish, and that tier is based upon viewership. I haven't seen where Directv is changing the rules for Versus. I may have missed something, and I'll admit it if I'm wrong.

So if Directv makes an exception with one network for just "6 cents," who's to say that other networks won't want the same privilege when it comes time to renegotiate their contracts with Directv? In the big-time world of multi-million dollar contracts, one party is always looking for the other to blink. If Directv relaxes it's rules for one network, the others will expect the same treatment. That would guarantee huge rate increases.

It's like when professional athletes start demanding more money because another athlete with similar stats just signed a huge new contract.

 

[therascaldude]

This is unbelievable. I can't believe I'm going to miss opening night because of these bastards.

 

[Mariah2014]

Believe it. Based on couple of different articles I've read, neither side is near a deal. Directv is going to hold the offer they have on the table unless they see a large number of people complaining. A large number would result in things like calling Directv and getting a busy signal, their email box filling up with no room for anything else. I suspect the number of people complaing would have to be more than a million maybe as high as 6 to 8 million might be needed. They basically feel that the number of people they have heard from so far is almost not worth mentioning. They want the percentage of complaints to be much larger than that. Which is why millions are likely necessary to get them to change this stance. It is safe to say that the regular season won't be on Directv as far the the Versus games are concerned. It will come down to can enough people complain before the playoffs get here to get Directv to change their minds. If they don't, I wouldn't ever expect this channel back on Directv unless they carry 3 major college football games (IVY League doesn't count and MWC bearly counts) a week and probably 200 to 300 NHL games a year. This would probably be the least amount of sports coverage they could get away with. Other major sports like MLB would help their situation. The fact they are a niche network is going to work against them at this time.

 

[Tony1097]

D* Definitely feel the pressure, they added this to their slide on 603: "DIRECTV understands how important NHL is to our customers, and we apologize for the inconvenience." We can only hope they break soon

 

[This1]

If they were never to be on directv that would be a HUGE Blow for the NHL
think about playoffs and national games not on TV...
why doesn't NHL have type of say in whole mess they are the ones that are getting hurt by this.
there has to be a loophole in the system to broadcast these games that are on Versus.

comcast found a loophole for not putting philly comcast on satellite..

 

[Mariah2014]

Presure yes, but enough pressure no. They are not feeling anywhre near enough heat to get them to move off their stance of this situation. The minute you hear them say they will get a deal done immediately is when enough pressure has been placed on Directv to get this channel back on for Directv customers.

D* Definitely feel the pressure, they added this to their slide on 603: "DIRECTV understands how important NHL is to our customers, and we apologize for the inconvenience." We can only hope they break soon

 

[slacker9876]

Well I guess it is a good day to say I am glad Stan owns the Avalanche, Nuggets and Altitude TV. Ever since the Bertuzzi incident with Steve Moore, then the Strike then NHL should be happy to have any fans much less network coverage. The NHL is the one IIRC that tried to jack up the costs on ESPN and lost their carriage agreement.

This will be my first season in like 9 where I'll have not have NHLCI. The reason is I cannot see the value in the product or the league. Still the Coolest Game on Ice.

 

[Fiachra]

I am actually thinking of moving to Dish partly based on this Versus issue. I think they did a really nice job during the NHL Playoffs and I was really looking forward to catching more hockey this year.

I have had some other issues with DirecTV this year, so this is more of an annoying issue that is making me think about looking elsewhere.

Any sports (MLB/NBA/NFL) fans that goes to Dish Network should think long and hard about that move before they do it. I moved from Dish because DirecTV gives me more of what I wanted to see in HD. (Red Sox/Celtics/Packers) Dish may have had more HD channels but not more of the HD I wanted to see. Fashion and lifestyle channels in HD still stink and waste bandwidth. RSN games in SD due to bandwidth limitations? Dish Network please. I wanted Dish to step up to carry more sports but I realized that was not reality. Most of the hardcore sports fans in the satellite market more than likely have DirecTV. Why? Because they seem to get that sports fans have needs too. The free CI Preview will more than meet the need over the next month.

The NHL has an exposure problem for sure. The majority of the sat hardcores will not be seeing their 'national' network for their sport. When the playoffs come around it will be interesting should this dispute not be resolved. Meanwhile, the puck will get dropped. The players will skate. The world will keep turning.

 

[Mariah2014]

What will meet that need after that? Certainly Versus won't be on Directv.

Any sports (MLB/NBA/NFL) fans that goes to Dish Network should think long and hard about that move before they do it. I moved from Dish because DirecTV gives me more of what I wanted to see in HD. (Red Sox/Celtics/Packers) Dish may have had more HD channels but not more of the HD I wanted to see. Fashion and lifestyle channels in HD still stink and waste bandwidth. RSN games in SD due to bandwidth limitations? Dish Network please. I wanted Dish to step up to carry more sports but I realized that was not reality. Most of the hardcore sports fans in the satellite market more than likely have DirecTV. Why? Because they seem to get that sports fans have needs too. The free CI Preview will more than meet the need over the next month.

The NHL has an exposure problem for sure. The majority of the sat hardcores will not be seeing their 'national' network for their sport. When the playoffs come around it will be interesting should this dispute not be resolved. Meanwhile, the puck will get dropped. The players will skate. The world will keep turning.

 

[Fiachra]

What will meet that need after that? Certainly Versus won't be on Directv.

If I knew that, I would be travelling the world like some 'Carnac'. I'm thinking that the logjam will break by then. We don't know that it will not be resolved. Positive thoughts bring positive results. Nothing most of us can do anyway so may as well be positive about it. That is my choice at this time.

 

[Bodo Fenrirsson]

We rarely watch hockey on Versus. My mother likes watching the Canadian teams on CI,especially when they are carried on the Canadian RSNs,TSN,& CBC. She gets a big kick out of the commercials & she loves the Canucks,although she is mildly upset that Mats Sundin retired. It looks like CI will carry the Canadians/Maple Leafs & Canucks/Flames tonight so she's happy & I'm happy.

 

[SpaethCo]

The NHL is the one IIRC that tried to jack up the costs on ESPN and lost their carriage agreement.

I love how revisionist history comes out during disputes like this. ESPN offered a 40 game revenue-sharing only deal to the NHL, Versus offered $70 million up front and 54 games of coverage -- gee, which one would you choose?

But hey, at least ESPN would stand by us and try to grow the game. Oh well, they did until they finally won the rights to the NBA cable package (and broadcast, but that largely unaffected the NHL’s minimal ABC airtime) in 2002. At that point, the network had lost it’s need for hockey. Telecasts were shipped to ESPN2 for most of the season. NHL2Night was cancelled in 2004. By the time the Summer of ‘04 rolled around, ESPN’s only offer to the league was a 60-game package of all-ESPN2 telecasts, and no NHL2Night, and in ‘05 when the league was ready to return, it dropped to 40 games.

It was at this point that the NHL spurned ESPN for VERSUS (then OLN) and it’s $70 million and 54-game package. You know what, I’d do it again, and I guarantee you Bettman would do it again. It was 2 games a week, in a regular timeslot. You and I both know that ESPN couldn’t guarantee the same, with basketball and football and baseball crowding both ESPN and ESPN 2’s schedules. Besides, at this point, who knows if that’d even be the case? As I’ve said many times, if the NHL went back to the ESPN Conglomerate, they’d “experiment” with airing games on ESPN Classic, perhaps even ESPNU.

Source: Okay, Let’s Talk About This Like Adults: “How ESPN Nearly Destroyed the NHL on TV” or “Why the NHL Should Never Go Back to ESPN” Puck The Media

 

[scoop8]

Any sports (MLB/NBA/NFL) fans that goes to Dish Network should think long and hard about that move before they do it. I moved from Dish because DirecTV gives me more of what I wanted to see in HD. (Red Sox/Celtics/Packers) Dish may have had more HD channels but not more of the HD I wanted to see. Fashion and lifestyle channels in HD still stink and waste bandwidth. RSN games in SD due to bandwidth limitations? Dish Network please. I wanted Dish to step up to carry more sports but I realized that was not reality. Most of the hardcore sports fans in the satellite market more than likely have DirecTV. Why? Because they seem to get that sports fans have needs too. The free CI Preview will more than meet the need over the next month.

The NHL has an exposure problem for sure. The majority of the sat hardcores will not be seeing their 'national' network for their sport. When the playoffs come around it will be interesting should this dispute not be resolved. Meanwhile, the puck will get dropped. The players will skate. The world will keep turning.

Well said. The reasons you mentioned are why I've been with DTV since '99. Imo, for the Satt sports fan, it's the best overall choice. For max HD, movies, other interests, I can see the reason for going with another provider.

OT. like your Sig E=Mc2