Satellite TV is great for football. With the college football season already upon us, and the NFL starting soon, its good to review what exactly is available on satellite TV, as well as those cable companies as well.
Overall, satellite television viewers can expect even more football this year, especially in the college game. While disputes between programmers and satellite TV companies are always a factor, the cable TV operators have been the ones in the news over the past year.
A massive dispute between both Time Warner and Comcast with the NFL made big news last year. Senators in Washington even began to make threats against the NFL. Coincidentally, some of those Senators receive huge dollar amounts from the cable companies, but that discussion is for another day.
Unless a deal is made soon, you still won’t see the NFL Network on either Time Warner or Comcast at least on their expanded basic tiers. The NFL Network doesn’t begin televising games until week 10, so I’m sure the parties involved will once again be fighting in the press. Comcast and the NFL Network have agreed to arbitrate their dispute, but no news has come of that recently. Time Warner and the NFL seem to hate each other, so Time Warner customers may never get the NFL Network.
Rumors circulated over the summer that the NFL Network may form a partnership, or even merge with one of the ESPN properties, in an effort to gain wider distribution, but nothing has come of those talks. If the NFL Network can’t find its way on to Comcast and Time Warner by the end of the season, expect something to happen before the 2009 season.
On the other hand, the Big Ten Network, or BTN as it is referred to made huge progress in expanding their reach this off-season. Last year, the BTN was only available on DISH Network and DirecTV, which led many cable TV customers over the competition. Price per subscriber was the sticking point, as Comcast, Time Warner, Mediacom, and Charter all balked at the reported asking price of $1.10 per sub. This year the ice was broken initially by Comcast, as the largest pay television company in America struck a deal over the summer to carry the Big Ten Network.
That finally seemed to open the door for agreements with other large cable operators in the Big Ten region. As the college football season approached, the BTN was able to finalized deals with Time Warner, Cox Cable, Mediacom, and Charter, thus reaching an estimated 90% of their target market. Overall, over 17 million subscribers Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin will have access to the BTN this season.
Another winner was the Mtn, the home of the Mountain West conference. While fans of the Mountain West may be a lot smaller than a major conference like the Big Ten, they too now have options on seeing their team play. That’s because the Mtn inked a deal this summer with DirecTV, with the satellite provider offering the network to its 17 million customers. DISH Network subscribers however are still waiting for the parties to come to an agreement.
So how do the satellite and cable TV companies stack up when it comes to football? Comparing services is difficult, especially with cable companies, where every region is different. Our unscientific grading system can help you compare which major players have the best football offerings.
DirecTV gets an ‘A’ and our top recommendation for football. With deals in place with all of the major college conferences, the NFL Network, dozens of Regional sports networks, and the only provider of the NFL Sunday Ticket, Direct TV is head and shoulders above the competition when it comes to college and NFL Football. The only thing holding us back from giving an ‘A+’ is the high cost of the Sunday Ticket, and their insistence on charging extra for the Superfan package which is the only way to get all of the games in HD. Also DirecTV has the most local HD coverage, meaning more network games in HD for customers.
DISH Network gets a ‘B-’ and rates a not so strong second. DISH Network already has the BTN, as well as Regional Sports Networks covering lots of college action. However, it dropped the NFL Network off of its America’s Top 100 package earlier this year, resulting in another court battle. NFL Network is available to AT200 or higher subscribers. No NFL Sunday Ticket or Mountain West conference football. Good local HD coverage, but not as much as DirecTV at this time.
Comcast comes in with a ‘C-’ but has improved over last year. The Big Ten Network was huge, as many subscribers would have jumped to satellite TV this year if an agreement had not been completed. The NFL Network is a different deal, and Comcast can continue to fight that battle without losing as many customers. While the NFL Network is not on a basic tier, it may be available again for an additional charge on a sports tier.
Time Warner gets our lowest grade, a ‘D-’ for their hatred of all things football.
Okay, I’m sure they don’t hate football, they just like to keep the money they make rather than give it to the NFL. The NFL Network has never been available on Time Warner, even on a sports tier, and it doesn’t look like that will change anytime soon.
