I'm sure that's because of the negotiations. I'm sure you can't just call a press conference in the middle of these kinds of high-stakes negotiations and start releasing the content of the negotiations to whoever will listen. That's the number being put out by pretty much any article I've read on it and, unlike that Astros article, no one has come out and said it's wrong. If it's so far off the real number, why hasn't CSN come out and said so?
That's "fair market value" where you get paid for millions of customers though only 1% actually watch your product.
If it's just the channel alone, and if the reported asking price is true, and if the viewership numbers are divided out, then you'd be paying $300+ for the channel for what they want.. or something like that. I didn't do the math, but the point is it's multiple times more. And as for the argument about which paying for a channel you don't watch, most other channels are package deals because the network owns multiple of them. You can't get Food Network without HGTV. You can't get TNT without TBS, and so on. Comcast is on its own with CSN, they lack viewership numbers, and they're asking for a lot (reportedly). I don't really care anymore about the fight. I mean, I do blame Comcast more than the other providers, but whatever. I'm sure the people working under Comcast are trying their best at CSN to provide great content. It'll be just like the 80's again where radio was what I used to follow the Rockets from time to time. I've accepted the new norm.
So if agreements are reached just before or right after the Astros' season starts, would that confirm that the Astros were holding us hostage? And that the Rockets were morons for getting into this deal?
It's not apples/apples. There will be more urgency to get the Astros on the air because MLB allows them to be shown in 5 different states; not just the city of Houston. There's more potential to lose with them not being on the air.
Just a thought here. MLB allowed the National League Houston Astros to be shown in the 5 state area. Why? Name a National League team that's closer to the majority of the population of those states. Will the switch of the Astros to the American League this year change that? Not only is the Texas Rangers also in the American League, but they're in the same division also.
Do you really think so? I don't. My guess is that nobody has called their provider clammoring to see the nightly studio show or daytime coverage. It may be great, but it is the games that people want to see. It is the games that provide the real value to the casual fans.
I don't think that long term you can employ a strategy as a provider that fails to provide a city with TV access to its NBA and MLB franchises and pretend that you're not going to ultimately be affected by that. Eventually even I would switch, and I love Uverse.
I can't see what that would have any effect on it at all. I don't think the average joe is nearly as caught up in the NL/AL differences as someone like me (a ridiculous baseball fan) is.
True, but that, to my understanding, wasn't the point. The Uverse person said that the content was essentially the same - the team games. That person was then derided as an idiot. Does CSN have other programming? Yes. Is that what gives the channel its value to the providers? No. From the providers' point of view, nobody would be asking for CSN if not for the games. Therefore, that is what gives it value. Those games are the same inventory that FSN provided for years at a much lower cost than what CSN is asking. If I told you that the price of Apple Jacks was going from $2.88 to $3.40, you'd probably find a new favorite breakfast cereal. This is what is going to happen with casual fans. They will find new teams to root for. The CSN partners need to be careful. They are playing a game of Russian roulette, and it looks like that full chamber is up next.
I can see that from the providers view. My view is that my provider wants me to pay $2.88 for a box of apple jacks, but the box is half empty. Have the providers given every customer $2.88 off since they don'thave the games?
excellent point. the only value to FSSW being here in Houston (from my perspective) was when it showed Rockets/Astros. Now that it shows neither of those, it's damn near worthless to me. I haven't switched to that channel in I don't know how long. I'd gladly give it up.
FSNHouston was the channel that the providers are selling us but that channel is gone. So you are paying for nothing if not Dallas sports (FSSW)
