Daytrader, on Suddenlink:
There is also something called
Suddenlink Cable, but it looks like it's run by some redneck in the
middle of nowhere. They don't get any of the professional sports
channels and their website says that they are still in the process of
getting Caller ID for digital phone service. I think I'll pass on that
one.
Pete Abel writes in the comments to
this article:
I'm with Suddenlink. I assure you we're run by a very professional,
experienced management team. We don't currently offer NFL Network, but
we'd love to. More information here.
In regards to negotiations with the NFL Network, the linked article states:
Suddenlink has tried repeatedly to reach a deal to carry the NFL
Network. We even offered to give them their own channel, widely
available to Suddenlink customers who want it. We told the NFL they
could make that channel available for free, or set whatever price they
wanted for it, and keep all revenues from it, including all advertising
revenues. Under that option, Suddenlink would have made no money.
The NFL declined that offer and all others, reiterating that they
would accept nothing less than the nearly $100 million in guaranteed
payments they demanded three-plus years ago. We've made multiple new
proposals since then; the NFL has not, effectively refusing to
negotiate with us.
First, let me say this: Pete, please excuse Daytrader and myself for our comments. While you may not fit the stereotype of the redneck Texan, I assure you that we both fit the stereotype of the loud, obnoxious, know-it-all New Yorkers. (But you guys really need to work on the caller ID thing.)
Secondly: this feels like a good opportunity to reflect
on how the NFL has, at every opportunity, seemingly gone out of its way
to deny fans access to their product - football games. Those of you
who live near popular teams may be unaware of the NFL's blackout
policy, which states: "In the NFL, any broadcaster that has a signal
that hits any area within a 75-mile (120 km) radius of an NFL stadium
may only broadcast a game if that game is a road game, or if the game
sells out 72 hours or more before the start time for the game."
Then,
the NFL sold the rights to NFL Sunday Ticket exclusively to Direct TV,
meaning that people like me who live in apartments, or people who do
not get good reception for various reasons to satellite feeds, cannot
get their product.
And now millions of Comcast customers
are about to lose their access to NFL Network because of a dispute over
what "tier" the network should be sold on. The NFL wants its network
to be a standard channel (like TNT or ESPN), which would require cable
subscribers who do not want the channel to pay for it. Comcast (and
other cable providers, like Time Warner, that have never had NFL
Network) are refusing.
Football is a great game, but it
has the highest employee-to-asshole ratio of any major sport. Here's
hoping that the NFL Network is someday remembered as the most bungled
attempt to launch a network in the history of television.
