BTN strikes deal w/Time Warner & Cablevision

[bobbyinaz]

http://www.nj.com/rutgersbasketball...arner_cablevision_for_local_distribution.html

Not sure how broad this is but it didn't take very long for this to happen. I was hoping there would be more of a battle from the beginning & not have the Cable Co's roll over so quickly

 

[OkaForPrez]

 

[SAMCRO]

Maybe a naive question, so go easy on me, but I live in NYC, have TWC, and I have always had the BTN as part of my sports package. I'm curious how this is different? Was it not part of the NJ package?

 

[kibblesnbits]

The article does not specify what parts of "he NY/NJ market" are covered and on what terms. BTN has been available for pennies in many out-of-league markets (including my house here in CT). The goal of expanding geographically is to get the 10x-20x higher rates the network tries to charge within the league's footprint. The best thing that could happen for us is if the cable networks in NJ roll over quickly and pay while those in NY/CT insist on out-of-footprint carriage fees. If UConn is to go anywhere in the next 5 years leagues have to believe they cannot get significant higher fees in CT plus nearby parts of NY and NE without the Huskies being added to the mix.

 

[JayRU09]

Basically the money is on the network not being on basic cable but the tier above that, so that you don't need the sports package to have the channel.

It's a big win for the BTN, and sadly a blow to UCONN's immediate chances of an invite.

Though to be absolutely fair, no details have emerged yet. We shall see.

Edit: Uh oh........heard it is for basic cable and they're expecting a deal to be done sometime in the summer to get it on basic for Comcast.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

So, this is pretty much it for us regarding conference realignment?

I just don't see how we end up anywhere now.

God damn.

 

[specialisthusky]

So, this is pretty much it for us regarding conference realignment?

I just don't see how we end up anywhere now.

God damn.

This was pretty much the last thing I was holding on to. time to sign up for an aac board.

 

[kibblesnbits]

There's nothing in that story to panic about. It's a New Jersey paper reporting a deal to provide coverage in Rutgers local market. That would be NJ, which is a good thing for UConn as it shows that there will be some return to the Big 10's eastern expansion. If we hear that they are also getting in league rates (versus the give-away rates they've been charging outside of the league footprint) for NYC, LI and the northern suburbs then it will be time to drink heavily (and I'm a non-drinker). Otherwise, this tells the Big 10 exactly what UConn wants - there is demand but you haven't reached critical mass to demand higher rates throughout the NYC-Boston half of the eastern megalopolis.

 

[mws192]

Maybe a naive question, so go easy on me, but I live in NYC, have TWC, and I have always had the BTN as part of my sports package. I'm curious how this is different? Was it not part of the NJ package?

It'll be in a lower package, so you wouldn't need to pay for a sports tier to view it. More people will automatically pay for it, increasing BTNs revenue.

 

[Stinger92860]

Let's hope Fairfield county is excluded.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I'm kind of shocked this story hasn't gotten more pub on here or news outlets.

Of all the fake news we've had the past 3 years or so, the most condemning piece comes out and it's barely discussed.

At this point, I'm just waiting for Cinci and ucf to announce big 12 membership invites.

 

[pj]

This is good news for us. We want the B1G's eastern expansion to be profitable so that they continue it.

UConn has to make the case that it brings not only Connecticut, but also significant parts of NY and non-Connecticut New England.

I think that the B1G will be persuaded that UConn can pay its own way. Some of the other stuff -- AAU, football competitiveness, a partner for #16 -- will be more of an obstacle. Competitive advantage versus the ACC will be a strategic plus for UConn. Financially UConn will be a wash, so the B1G can jump either way.

 

[CTMike]

I can't stand to be depressed over this, so I'll take another approach : if a steaming pile of garbage like Rutgers can have this pull, then maybe it's even more reason that we have demonstrable value. We can definitely get carriage throughout CT and Southern New England (covering multiple DMAs and dense population). We can help increase ratings/viewership in NYC metro which helps generate ad revenue. We can drive a stake through ACC territory. Why should the B1G stop and leave cash on the table?

 

[FDNY99]

Let's hope Fairfield county is excluded.

If Westchester gets it Fairfield County gets it.....I'm not really surprised about this at all. the NYC DMA includes decent part of NJ just like it includes Fairtfield County. I actually figured this was a formality once Rutgers was announced as a B1G member. I personally don't think this has a bearing on whether we get into the B1G or not. If you live down this way and you have had ANY dealings with Cablevision or Time Warner chances are you have converted to FIOS...which offers the B1G network already.

 

[Dooley]

The ease and swift movement of this deal is not good news, that's for sure. But we also don't know what households are counted/added in this deal. Is this NY/NJ only (excluding CT's Gold Coast)? NJ only? I am not sure how people in Fairfield County will feel when their cable rates go up so that they are force-fed Rutgers athletics. There is zero interest in Rutgers athletics in Connecticut unless UCONN plays against them.

It's one thing to force feed Rutgers to everyone in New York City. It's quite another to get them to watch. NYC is a college hoops town first and foremost from its Big East roots. Carrying B1G football will certainly turn on a few more TV sets than normal without question. But what happens on every other day of the year outside of football season? RU football is likely going to struggle in the B1G (at least for the first few seasons). And we all know what RU hoops brings to the table...nothing. If people in NYC weren't watching Michigan St vs. Wisconsin hoops already, they aren't going to watch Rutgers vs. Wisconsin either. They WOULD watch UCONN vs Wisconsin, however.

So I suppose what we are rooting for in the coming year is football ratings to go up slightly (that is expected) and hoops ratings to remain stagnant. Most importantly, we have to root for UCONN to take care of its own business and for our fans to rally behind the school. If UCONN is playing competitive exciting football in front of packed and engaged crowds and hoops does what hoops does (compete for NCs), then we can continue to make the case to BTN that UCONN offers quality YEAR ROUND content that people in the tri-state/New England areas want to watch.

 

[Ldandy]

No one should be surprised by this IMO. Delany and company did their homework with providers before any offer to Rutgers was extended. If they didn't believe 100% that they could monetize a Scarlet Knights addition, there wouldn't have been one. Imagine trying to sell the idea to the rest of the conference especially the Western portion. " While I understand that you all will be making less money now, and seeing OSU, UM, and PSU less frequently, but at least you get to play Rutgers!" The conference leadership would have hung him. No one will give up something already valuable simply for the promise of something else potentially valuable. No one smart at least.

 

[upstater]

If Westchester gets it Fairfield County gets it.....I'm not really surprised about this at all. the NYC DMA includes decent part of NJ just like it includes Fairtfield County. I actually figured this was a formality once Rutgers was announced as a B1G member. I personally don't think this has a bearing on whether we get into the B1G or not. If you live down this way and you have had ANY dealings with Cablevision or Time Warner chances are you have converted to FIOS...which offers the B1G network already.

Why does Westchester = Fairfield cty?

I don't see that. Fairfield Cty is already paying $2.50+ to SNY to watch UConn games.You're going to tack on $1 to their bill to watch Rutgers?

I don't see the logic there.

Also, I don't see this as a bad thing as everyone else does. The Conn. market itself is lucrative with 1 million TV households in the Hartford/New Haven mkt., not even counting Fairfield. $1 a month for BTN (or more, really, because SNY would have to take a big decrease) x 1.3m households x 12 months is $15.6m a year / .50 for Fox's take = $7.8m a year to the B1G for UConn's secondary rights alone.

 

[zls44]

Why does Westchester = Fairfield cty? I don't see that.

It's all in the New York DMA. Around half of all the households in Connecticut are in the NYC DMA, including the wealthiest households which attract the highest ad rates. BTN can reach a significant portion of Connecticut residents, plus most of the wealthiest ones, without adding UConn. Why? Because that's how it works.

However...it may differ by system. In Connecticut, thanks to regulation, any changes to channel lineups have to be formally submitted in writing to DPUC. Comcast, for example, has about a dozen setups within Hartford County alone.

 

[Dooley]

It's all in the New York DMA. Around half of all the households in Connecticut are in the NYC DMA, including the wealthiest households which attract the highest ad rates. BTN can reach a significant portion of Connecticut residents, plus most of the wealthiest ones, without adding UConn. Why? Because that's how it works.

However...it may differ by system. In Connecticut, thanks to regulation, any changes to channel lineups have to be formally submitted in writing to DPUC. Comcast, for example, has about a dozen setups within Hartford County alone.

I won't pretend to know anything about how cable subscriptions and rates work but I would say that if Rutgers addition includes Connecticut's Gold Coast, that would be a significant blow to UCONN's immediate short-term chances of getting a B1G invite. I'll fall back to what I said earlier: force feeding Rutgers to Connecticut residents is one thing, getting them to WATCH it is quite another. I don't know a single person in Connecticut who watches (or cares) about Rutgers unless they are playing against UCONN. I don't know how the splits are in Fairfield County but I can't imagine that there are loads of Rutgers fans down there...maybe some alumni.

My question would be if the state can somehow fight this since, as you said, the rates would likely be significantly higher since the demographic is a wealthy one. If there was enough of an uproar by Connecticut residents who don't want the BTN (until UCONN is invited), can the state do anything to block it? Or at the very least, make cable companies tier the channel lineups so that CT residents who don't want the BTN (minus UCONN) don't have to pay extra for it?

I'm in Middlesex County and am always looking to trim back my cable lineup to the bare minimum until the day UCONN is invited somewhere. I would be furious if I had to pay one penny more for my cable because of friggin' Rutgers.

 

[upstater]

It's all in the New York DMA. Around half of all the households in Connecticut are in the NYC DMA, including the wealthiest households which attract the highest ad rates. BTN can reach a significant portion of Connecticut residents, plus most of the wealthiest ones, without adding UConn. Why? Because that's how it works.

However...it may differ by system. In Connecticut, thanks to regulation, any changes to channel lineups have to be formally submitted in writing to DPUC. Comcast, for example, has about a dozen setups within Hartford County alone.

DMA relates to over the air, right? Cable is licensed by localities. Or are you telling me that New Yorkers are paying $2.50+ a month for UConn and the Mets? I believe those arrangements end at the state line, don't they? Heck, they end at the city limits in most places.

 

[Stinger92860]

It's all in the New York DMA. Around half of all the households in Connecticut are in the NYC DMA, including the wealthiest households which attract the highest ad rates.

There are approximate 330k households in Fairfield County which is part of the NYC DMA. There are approximately 1m households in the Hartford-New Haven DMA.

 

[kibblesnbits]

The channel lineup you get is usually defined by your headend location. That's where they take content off of satellite and broadcast it over the cable system. For most wealthy towns in Fairfield County that is Cablevision out of their Norwalk headend. I'll be shocked if they include the BTN at in league carriage rates. Those are the same guys that fought off the most valuable sports property in this area, the Yankees on Yes, for over a year because they wouldn't agree to the proposed rates. They'd have no problem telling the BTN they won't take a financial hit to televise Rutgers on the base tier in Connecticut.

I'll say it again. I'll bet that the deal is for NJ. If it extends to NY, it will be at something well below in-league carriage rates or they wouldn't have agreed to it. I doubt it extends to CT at all. All of this would be good news as it shows that there is demand among the fan base but they need more members in this region to carry all of the massive opportunity presented by the high density, and relatively wealthy, northeastern population.

 

[Drimple]

The ease and swift movement of this deal is not good news, that's for sure. But we also don't know what households are counted/added in this deal. Is this NY/NJ only (excluding CT's Gold Coast)? NJ only? I am not sure how people in Fairfield County will feel when their cable rates go up so that they are force-fed Rutgers athletics. There is zero interest in Rutgers athletics in Connecticut unless UCONN plays against them.

It's one thing to force feed Rutgers to everyone in New York City. It's quite another to get them to watch. NYC is a college hoops town first and foremost from its Big East roots. Carrying B1G football will certainly turn on a few more TV sets than normal without question. But what happens on every other day of the year outside of football season? RU football is likely going to struggle in the B1G (at least for the first few seasons). And we all know what RU hoops brings to the table...nothing. If people in NYC weren't watching Michigan St vs. Wisconsin hoops already, they aren't going to watch Rutgers vs. Wisconsin either. They WOULD watch UCONN vs Wisconsin, however.

So I suppose what we are rooting for in the coming year is football ratings to go up slightly (that is expected) and hoops ratings to remain stagnant. Most importantly, we have to root for UCONN to take care of its own business and for our fans to rally behind the school. If UCONN is playing competitive exciting football in front of packed and engaged crowds and hoops does what hoops does (compete for NCs), then we can continue to make the case to BTN that UCONN offers quality YEAR ROUND content that people in the tri-state/New England areas want to watch.

Sadly, it doesn't matter if they watch or not. As long as the BTN gets their monthly fees the cash still flows in.

http://awfulannouncing.com/2014/big...ackpot-worth-tens-of-millions-of-dollars.html

 

[zls44]

There are approximate 330k households in Fairfield County which is part of the NYC DMA. There are approximately 1m households in the Hartford-New Haven DMA.

My bad, I was (thankfully!) way off.

 

[OkaForPrez]

What if UConn has already been extended the invite and the BTN negotiations included us