TvPat
10-20-2005, 05:14 PM
The Dish On NFL Blackouts
from Dr. Z on the NFL
Great news for dish TV fans. In a blind fury because Sunday's Miami-Tampa Bay game was pre-empted by CBS (to bring us the end of
Pittsburgh-Jacksonville) and then not made available on the dish right away, resulting in a total blackout, I started making my usual round of maniac calls. The NFL's Director of Media Services and Technology, Seth Palansky, told me the following:
"Next year there will be no more blackouts. As a service to the fans who own satellite dishes, they will be able to pick up all games on the dish, even those that are carried nationally or in their own area by network TV."
Yaaaay! (If it really happens.)
Full story at:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/dr_z/10/19/overusing.rbs/index.html?cnn=yes
My rant (you can stop here if you want)
I have wondered why they started blacking out locally televised games. I figured it couldn't be that much money compared to what Sunday Ticket subscribers pay. I did some math and I was right.
Here are the formulas:
(Sunday Ticket Subscribers) / (Total Viewers) = Sunday Ticket Percentage
(Total Local Ad Revenue) x (Sunday Ticket Percentage) = Total Ad Dollars Lost
(Total Ad Dollars Lost) / (Sunday Ticket Subscribers) = Cost Per Subscriber
Here are my guesses at the numbers:
- Total Local Ad Revenue = $100,000
I guessed this because local TV stations in Cincinnati will only guarantee a sellout if about 2000 seats remain unsold. 2000 x $50 = $100,000. It's probably about the same here.
- Total Viewers = 100,000
NFL ratings are about a 10, and there are 1 million people in the market.
- Sunday Ticket Percentage = 0.005
10% of people have Directv, and 5% of those have the Sunday ticket.
Sunday Ticket Subscribers = 5000 (calculated from above)
Total Ad Dollars Lost = $500 (calculated from above)
Cost Per Subscriber 10 cents per week!
Let's say my numbers are off 10 fold. That's still only a dollar per week. The NFL is stupid to piss off people paying $249 per year for a dollar a week!
from Dr. Z on the NFL
Great news for dish TV fans. In a blind fury because Sunday's Miami-Tampa Bay game was pre-empted by CBS (to bring us the end of
Pittsburgh-Jacksonville) and then not made available on the dish right away, resulting in a total blackout, I started making my usual round of maniac calls. The NFL's Director of Media Services and Technology, Seth Palansky, told me the following:
"Next year there will be no more blackouts. As a service to the fans who own satellite dishes, they will be able to pick up all games on the dish, even those that are carried nationally or in their own area by network TV."
Yaaaay! (If it really happens.)
Full story at:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/dr_z/10/19/overusing.rbs/index.html?cnn=yes
My rant (you can stop here if you want)
I have wondered why they started blacking out locally televised games. I figured it couldn't be that much money compared to what Sunday Ticket subscribers pay. I did some math and I was right.
Here are the formulas:
(Sunday Ticket Subscribers) / (Total Viewers) = Sunday Ticket Percentage
(Total Local Ad Revenue) x (Sunday Ticket Percentage) = Total Ad Dollars Lost
(Total Ad Dollars Lost) / (Sunday Ticket Subscribers) = Cost Per Subscriber
Here are my guesses at the numbers:
- Total Local Ad Revenue = $100,000
I guessed this because local TV stations in Cincinnati will only guarantee a sellout if about 2000 seats remain unsold. 2000 x $50 = $100,000. It's probably about the same here.
- Total Viewers = 100,000
NFL ratings are about a 10, and there are 1 million people in the market.
- Sunday Ticket Percentage = 0.005
10% of people have Directv, and 5% of those have the Sunday ticket.
Sunday Ticket Subscribers = 5000 (calculated from above)
Total Ad Dollars Lost = $500 (calculated from above)
Cost Per Subscriber 10 cents per week!
Let's say my numbers are off 10 fold. That's still only a dollar per week. The NFL is stupid to piss off people paying $249 per year for a dollar a week!