ACC WBB to be featured on The CW Sunday afternoons

[Centerstream]

According to the ESPN article, ACC WBB double headers will be televised by The CW on Sunday afternoons, December through February.

ACC, CW ink deal to air 50 football, hoops games

This fall, the ACC will begin airing football and basketball events on the CW Network, a new addition to the league's Saturday broadcast schedule.

www.espn.com

 

[triaddukefan]

Love it... No more RSN blackouts. Darn shame when u couldnt watch a live game that was taking place an hour away.

 

[nickp91]

so this is a huge win for the ACC and its fans

 

[Darwin]

That’s nice, except nobody watches the CW network. Just ask LIV.

 

[cancontent]

How is this a win for the ACC, when it comes to women's basketball? They're broadcasting 9 games compared to the 20+ for the men's. I'm just looking to better understand the TV network landscape here.

 

[Centerstream]

That’s nice, except nobody watches the CW network. Just ask LIV.

And maybe a lot of UConn WBB fans don't watch SNY or use the FoxSports app except for Huskie game broadcasts.
I don't get your point.

 

[GamecockFam]

A lot of SEC fans are snickering about this on other forums, but I am all-in for anything that will help promote women's basketball to a larger audience.

 

[triaddukefan]

A lot of SEC fans are snickering about this on other forums, but I am all-in for anything that will help promote women's basketball to a larger audience.

I'm gonna be nice today,

 

[triaddukefan]

How is this a win for the ACC, when it comes to women's basketball? They're broadcasting 9 games compared to the 20+ for the men's. I'm just looking to better understand the TV network landscape here.

A poster from another board..

"this is about finding a home for the RSN games produced by Raycom through 2027 after Bally wanted out of the deal due to all of their financial problems.

This is a good thing as it moves games off of RSNs that a lot of people had blacked out if they didn't have the right cable/streaming company and moves these games to free broadcast (and a free app)".

 

[cancontent]

A poster from another board..

"this is about finding a home for the RSN games produced by Raycom through 2027 after Bally wanted out of the deal due to all of their financial problems.

This is a good thing as it moves games off of RSNs that a lot of people had blacked out if they didn't have the right cable/streaming company and moves these games to free broadcast (and a free app)".

Thanks. Sadly, it doesn't explain the pitiful ratio difference between MBB and WBB. It is what it is.

 

[Darwin]

And maybe a lot of UConn WBB fans don't watch SNY or use the FoxSports app except for Husky game broadcasts.
I don't get your point.

Try making some cash off of that free app/watch desert.

 

[awhom111]

Thanks. Sadly, it doesn't explain the pitiful ratio difference between MBB and WBB. It is what it is.

The CW was only interested in a portion of the package. They passed on some of the football, the weekday men's basketball and the weekday and about half of the weekend women's basketball. Think about it from the affiliate perspective even on the O&O side. The national network keeps clawing back time that was local so if they were asked to play a bunch of non-premier games then it would strain the relationship or local stations would just start pre-empting those timeslots. 9 new games OTA is pretty fantastic when there were 19 total OTA games last season, including NCAA tournament games.

From a women's basketball perspective, there is no negative to taking 9 games that would have been streaming only and making them available to ~97% of TV households. Hard to see the negative for the other sports either.

 

[cancontent]

The CW was only interested in a portion of the package. They passed on some of the football, the weekday men's basketball and the weekday and about half of the weekend women's basketball. Think about it from the affiliate perspective even on the O&O side. The national network keeps clawing back time that was local so if they were asked to play a bunch of non-premier games then it would strain the relationship or local stations would just start pre-empting those timeslots. 9 new games OTA is pretty fantastic when there were 19 total OTA games last season, including NCAA tournament games.

From a women's basketball perspective, there is no negative to taking 9 games that would have been streaming only and making them available to ~97% of TV households. Hard to see the negative for the other sports either.

This helps to provide better context. Thank you. As a Canadian, I don't know all the ins and outs of the US sports market, especially the local side of things.

Now if you don't mind me paraphrasing, here's what I took from your points:

1). CW being national versus BallySports/RSN provides a wider audience off the bat.

2). CW is readily available with cable packages in comparison to BallySports/RSN.

3). With the addition of CW, coverage increases because it's in addition to the current BallySports/RSN deal. That's where I misunderstood the announcement as I thought it was to replace the current agreement, not augment.

 

[Centerstream]

Try making some cash off of that free app/watch desert.

"That don't make no sense." But that's ok, I was just posting the information and if people want to express their thoughts on it, go for it.

 

[awhom111]

This helps to provide better context. Thank you. As a Canadian, I don't know all the ins and outs of the US sports market, especially the local side of things.

Now if you don't mind me paraphrasing, here's what I took from your points:

1). CW being national versus BallySports/RSN provides a wider audience off the bat.

2). CW is readily available with cable packages in comparison to BallySports/RSN.

3). With the addition of CW, coverage increases because it's in addition to the current BallySports/RSN deal. That's where I misunderstood the announcement as I thought it was to replace the current agreement, not augment.

No, it is replacing the RSN package, but with Diamond Sports having financial issues, the RSN package was already going to collapse. They had already sold back everything other than football, men's basketball, and regular season women's basketball last season. ESPN probably would have been able to fit in the remaining football, but some of the men's basketball and probably all of the women's basketball would have just been streaming on ACCNX/ESPN+.

The CW is the 5th most available channel (maybe the 6th behind PBS, but that's non-commercial so it's not really a factor) and way above any pay channel. They have historically had fewer hours of programming than the four networks above them so their local affiliates are used to having lots of time to fill however they want and controlling those commercials, which is why there are limits on how much they are going to want to purchase. In addition to being on pay TV, it is available OTA, which a lot of households have returned to while dropping pay TV. RSNs have been the first thing that the so called skinny bundles, popular on internet-based TV, but also increasingly an option on traditional pay TV, have not bothered adding or dropped after their initial contracts expired, which is why Diamond Sports is having the issues in the first place. The RSN package was national in the sense that any of the RSNs in areas no covered by Diamond Sports channels were given the option to buy the rights and anyone outside of the conference footprint could watch on ESPN streaming.

 

[cancontent]

No, it is replacing the RSN package, but with Diamond Sports having financial issues, the RSN package was already going to collapse. They had already sold back everything other than football, men's basketball, and regular season women's basketball last season. ESPN probably would have been able to fit in the remaining football, but some of the men's basketball and probably all of the women's basketball would have just been streaming on ACCNX/ESPN+.

The CW is the 5th most available channel (maybe the 6th behind PBS, but that's non-commercial so it's not really a factor) and way above any pay channel. They have historically had fewer hours of programming than the four networks above them so their local affiliates are used to having lots of time to fill however they want and controlling those commercials, which is why there are limits on how much they are going to want to purchase. In addition to being on pay TV, it is available OTA, which a lot of households have returned to while dropping pay TV. RSNs have been the first thing that the so called skinny bundles, popular on internet-based TV, but also increasingly an option on traditional pay TV, have not bothered adding or dropped after their initial contracts expired, which is why Diamond Sports is having the issues in the first place. The RSN package was national in the sense that any of the RSNs in areas no covered by Diamond Sports channels were given the option to buy the rights and anyone outside of the conference footprint could watch on ESPN streaming.

Okay, so it is a reduction then in a way. For someone like me who can't get ACCNX, this is a loss for me. Drat.

 

[Bigboote]

It'll be nice to know where ACC games will be. They have been difficult to find in some years. Might be on a local sports network, might be on an independent broadcast channel.

 

[awhom111]

It'll be nice to know where ACC games will be. They have been difficult to find in some years. Might be on a local sports network, might be on an independent broadcast channel.

Fans have been split since the start of this broadcast deal since the conference tried so hard to make sure that each of their previous partners still had something. The commissioner's son working at Raycom obviously did not factor into it at all.

A lot of old school ACC fans were mad when ESPN invoked their option to buy back Raycom's syndicated OTA package to form ACC Network because of how used they were to watching certain basketball on local channels. The RSN package was better for exposure when FOX still owned the channels, but outlived its use. Some people wish that the conference had not pushed for sub-licensing and just let ESPN control everything from the start like their SEC deal.

 

[triaddukefan]

First CW gane is on the air now. I wonder if all of the games will start at noon. Next weeks game Duke at UVA is also a noon start.

 

[DefenseBB]

So a full slate of Thursday night ACC games today. A few one-side affairs on the slate VPI should decimate Wake and ND whollopping Pitt.
Then there are a few interesting games of "how good are they?" games-Syracuse at NC, FSU at NC State and Duke at Louisville.

then the two "meh" games of Miami-BC and Virginia-GaTech.

My picks (@triaddukefan might want to look away)-VPI, ND, NC State, NC, Louisville Miami and Virginia.

 

[triaddukefan]

Miami @ Notre Dame is on the CW in about five minutes.

 

[Reypl21]

I didn't realize the CW network wasn't local. It was appearing on my YouTube TV and it was very annoying.

 

[cancontent]

Miami @ Notre Dame is on the CW in about five minutes.

Miami struggled against the zone and basically gave ND the game with their 20+ turnovers. A tad surprised Miami's post players didn't have impact on offence (combined 3-10 shooting). Kudos to ND for making it impossible to Miami do anything in the paint.