MAY 19, 2009, 12:26 P.M. ET Comcast and NFL Reach a Deal
By MATTHEW FUTTERMAN Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124274302773834725.html The NFL Network and Comcast Corp. have settled their long-running dispute over how much cable operators should pay for the league-owned channel. A source close to the talks said Comcast will pay a monthly fee of 40-45 cents for each of the roughly 10 million Digital Classic subscribers among Comcast's roughly 24 million customers. The deal is expected to pave the way for other agreements with other major cable operators and settles all litigation between the NFL and Comcast. Before the deal, the NFL Network had limited penetration because the largest cable providers offered it only as a part of a premium package that costs subscribers an extra $8 per month. Such a deal allows both sides to claim victory. The NFL had asked for about 70 cents per subscriber, but it had been unable to get the country's biggest cable providers to accept its terms. The dispute has sparked a years-long legal battle that has included hearings at the Federal Communications Commission. The NFL Network had accused Comcast of discriminating against it and other independently owned channels while giving favorable treatment to less desirable programming owned by the major cable companies. Comcast responded that the NFL Network didn't appeal to a broad enough segment of its subscribers to justify such a high fee. With Comcast reaching a deal, other cable providers are widely expected to follow suit. That would produce a windfall for the NFL owners, who launched the channel in 2003 and three seasons ago began showing eight live regular-season games on the network. Seeking to broaden its appeal, Comcast had previously offered about $400 million per season to show those games on its general interest sports channel Versus. The NFL has maintained that after it shunned the Versus offer, Comcast retaliated by moving the NFL Network into the premium package of sports channels. Comcast officials say they refused to pay the additional fees the NFL sought once the games were added to the NFL Network. If the NFL Network succeeds in forging deals with all the major cable operators, a monthly fee of 50 cents per subscriber from the roughly 85 million U.S. households that receive expanded basic cable would give the NFL Network subscriber revenues of more than $500 million a year, adding to the nearly $4 billion it receives in broadcast-rights fees. -- ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 Mail: antunes at uh dot edu *********************************** * POST TO MEDIANEWS@ETSKYWARN.NET * *********************************** Medianews mailing list Medianews@etskywarn.net http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
