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40#1Fan

DirecTV dropping Versus network

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Bettman has failed.

The NHL shuts down 2012. You heard it here first.

Not likely. There are at least half a dozen teams that make profit regularly. Some teams may go away and the leaguw be reorganized but nobody is going to shut down a profitable business.

Toronto

Montreal

Rangers

Vancouver

Dallas

Detroit

Edmonton

Calgary

Pittsburgh

Ottawa

San Jose

Colorado

New Jersey

Chicago

Los Angeles

Tampa

Aneheim

Minnesota

Were all in the black last year. 18 teams. I say dump the other 12 and move on.

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Ok, answer this then. At the time of the deal with Versus, who else "proven" was out there?

The league disbanded with ESPN and FOX natinal broadcasts before that.

CBS on a consistent basis? Good luck, it's more less like NBC, broadcasts just one a week.

TNT? Perhaps, but they got the NBA market cornered in terms of showing games on a consistetn basis during the week.

Who else left is there that was "proven"? Very few networks, if any.

So it's not as simple as ZOMG, VERSUS BAD, VERSUS VERY BAD here...

Don't get me wrong, I hate Versus and they cover hockey worse than any other network that's ever tried, however I agree that it's not entirely their fault. In the this article link you'll see that they simply put the best offer on the table for the league. Essentially ESPN didn't re-up the contract because of the sport's diminishing ratings and history of lockouts. It has more to do with Bettman and the position he has put the league in. So to answer your question, ESPN who obviously is proven was left, however they weren't willing to shell out as much as Versus (OLN).

I'd be interested to see what the difference was between ESPN and OLN's offer and how this figure compares to the lost revenue the league has incurred by going with a third tier network.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/18/sports/h...18sandomir.html

George Bodenheimer, the president of ESPN and ABC Sports, said that he told the league last night that he had refused to match the OLN offer. In a statement, he said that "given the prolonged work stoppage and the league's TV ratings history, no financial model even remotely supports the contract terms offered."

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I feel bad for those affected by this, but nothing happened to me. When we moved from Alpharetta to North Carolina, we went from Comcast to TimeWarner and Versus isn't on our cable system and neither is the NHL Network. There is no tier you can order to get either of those stations either.

I wish the NHL would work something out with ESPN because that was the best. Steal Gary Thorne away from calling Orioles games (seriously, the Yankees are playing the O's right now and he sucks as a baseball announcer) and get Bill Clement back and life will be good.

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Ok, answer this then. At the time of the deal with Versus, who else "proven" was out there?

The league disbanded with ESPN and FOX natinal broadcasts before that.

CBS on a consistent basis? Good luck, it's more less like NBC, broadcasts just one a week.

TNT? Perhaps, but they got the NBA market cornered in terms of showing games on a consistetn basis during the week.

Who else left is there that was "proven"? Very few networks, if any.

So it's not as simple as ZOMG, VERSUS BAD, VERSUS VERY BAD here...

No, its poor decision-making by Bettman and other NHL executives. When you're managing a top tier pro sports league, you do NOT want to have the majority of your national programming on a network that is owned by a cable tv provider. Anyone that has any kind of business sense would know that conflicts would pop up between TV providers concerning said channel (Versus). Now the league looks even more pathetic, because Comcast is controlling its national programming through a dispute with a COMPETITOR. This would be like the NFL being exclusive to FOX, and lets assume FOX was owned by Dish Network. Would you REALLY want to enter into an agreement like that, knowing that there is a possibility that the channel owner competes with other tv providers? No, because that is an unreasonable risk to lose major chunks of homes, literally millions in this case, from your potential viewing audience.

Instead, Bettman should have sought out a more neutral channel, as this would be safer in the long run. TBS or FX would be good, safe choices, as they are owned by broadcasting companies, not TV providers.

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Don't get me wrong, I hate Versus and they cover hockey worse than any other network that's ever tried, however I agree that it's not entirely their fault. In the this article link you'll see that they simply put the best offer on the table for the league. Essentially ESPN didn't re-up the contract because of the sport's diminishing ratings and history of lockouts. It has more to do with Bettman and the position he has put the league in. So to answer your question, ESPN who obviously is proven was left, however they weren't willing to shell out as much as Versus (OLN).

I'd be interested to see what the difference was between ESPN and OLN's offer and how this figure compares to the lost revenue the league has incurred by going with a third tier network.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/18/sports/h...18sandomir.html

I don't really pay as much attention to the broadcasts themselves or total coverage or whatever, the NHL could be on the Cartoon Network for all I care, just be available somewhere. I just want to watch the game. But, whether the brodcasts or coverage is good/bad is entirely subjective and neither here/there regarding this thread IMO.

You hit the bull's eye on what I bolded.

Versus may be bad to plenty of people, but at the time, what other networks outside of ESPN, which severed ties with the NHL, were "proven" in terms of displaying mainstream sports (football, baseball, basketball, and hockey) in the U.S. consistently on a daily basis (weekly and weekends)? TNT with basketball and that's all I can think of.

I hate this ordeal just like everybody else, and sure Versus was "unproven" at the time of the deal in showing mainstream sports, but so was pretty much every other cable network as well if they agreed to broadcast NHL games. It's not entirely fair to say that Versus is an awful network in showing NHL or college football games because of this.

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No, its poor decision-making by Bettman and other NHL executives. When you're managing a top tier pro sports league, you do NOT want to have the majority of your national programming on a network that is owned by a cable tv provider. Anyone that has any kind of business sense would know that conflicts would pop up between TV providers concerning said channel (Versus). Now the league looks even more pathetic, because Comcast is controlling its national programming through a dispute with a COMPETITOR. This would be like the NFL being exclusive to FOX, and lets assume FOX was owned by Dish Network. Would you REALLY want to enter into an agreement like that, knowing that there is a possibility that the channel owner competes with other tv providers? No, because that is an unreasonable risk to lose major chunks of homes, literally millions in this case, from your potential viewing audience.

Instead, Bettman should have sought out a more neutral channel, as this would be safer in the long run. TBS or FX would be good, safe choices, as they are owned by broadcasting companies, not TV providers.

All right, but those examples you listed were just as unproven at the time of the NHL TV deal with VS/OLN as VS/OLN was. And

TBS or FX might not have wanted to broadcast games from minute 1 in the first place. It's not as simple as just wanting to go to something bigger than a cable provider. The bigger guys have to want to display the product as well and make money out of it.

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Instead, Bettman should have sought out a more neutral channel, as this would be safer in the long run. TBS or FX would be good, safe choices, as they are owned by broadcasting companies, not TV providers.

The problem with TBS is that they already have a contract with a major sports league - they broadcast Braves games since they're based in Atlanta. So for TBS to take on a contract from the NHL to broadcast games, it would have to be profitable for them. I believe TBS also broadcasts NASCAR races and events, although don't quote me on that. I can't stand car racing so I wouldn't know from having watched it.

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Just wait until the playoffs start and you can't see the games. I have a feeling that you'll all of a sudden start caring.

Doubt it, I turned off the Versus coverage for most the games and turned on the radio, watching versus hasn't ever been lucky for me...

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I talked to Direct last night and they are still negotiating. I guess Comcast, the parent company, wanted a 20% increase in fees, and Direct thought that was a little exorbitant and wants to keep the prices down for their customers (which I can understand). So they haven't given up yet.

I'm tempted to write a long bitchy letter to Comcast telling them to quit being greedy and give us what we want - our hockey. Of course, if by doing this, the league might be tempted to contract with another network (there were rumors of Spike TV a couple years ago), that might be beneficial for all of us. Who knows?

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Those who watch ESPN ask "what's VS?"

Those who watch VS ask "what's Spike TV?"

:lol:

In reality the NHL will always be the red-headed step-child of the pro sports scene in N.America; nobody wants it, but some good-natured soul will take this unwanted bastard in, and care for it lovingly...Unfortunately this caretaker has a spouse that it must answer to; his name in Comcast <_<

What are the chances Cinemax takes the NHL?

That way we can watch hockey, and right after that, watch the nudie stuff.

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What are the chances Cinemax takes the NHL?

That way we can watch hockey, and right after that, watch the nudie stuff.

I'm surprised Buttman didn't think of that. He can watch Cindy skate around, then rub one out to Skinimax while he's thinking of Cindy. If Buttman is really lucky, they'll broadcast reruns of ***** as Folk right after the NHL games.

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Comcast has their dirty little fingers into everything you can imagine. Comcast Spectacor owns the Philadelphia Flyers amongst a million other businesses. As far as I am concerned there is a definite conflict of interest. I would like to know the relationship between Ed Snider (Flyers Owner) and Buttman.

To give you an idea of this dirty little web check out these links. Here is a list of companies you can boycott:

Comcast Spectacor

Comcast

It's becoming as close to a monopoly as you can imagine. And when your cable fees keep rising you will know why.

Edited by Icesurfer

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