Cue Conspiracy Kitty: Mark Silverman and Connecticut mention

[Rumrunner]

In a largely laudatory profile of Marc Silverman in the Chicago Tribune, are the following nuggets:

Available in 53 m homes
60% of BTN revenues come from football
Revenue of $.37 per sub mentioned, but this may be an average of footprint subs, listed at $1.00 and nonfootprint subs, listed elsewhere at $.10

But it's this gem of a quote which is intriguing:

Once we add Rutgers and Maryland, we believe we're going to have the programming that should provide to us additional subscribers in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland and D.C. areas," Silverman said.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/..._1_mark-silverman-btn-college-football-game/3

I won't get into the NY market part of his comment, except to say Rutgers by itself falls short of creating demand for the BTN in NYC, its suburbs and elsewhere for that matter.

With respect to the Connecticut mention, as most know by now, Connecticut encompasses two DMA's, Fairfield County which is part of the NYC DMA, and the rest of the state. Cable companies on the other hand are confined to states, counties and even cities. Very rarely the BTN is able to go beyond the geographic limit of a state and command footprint fees (parts of South Dakota for example).

Does Silverman really believe that cable companies in Connecticut, be they in Fairfield County or the rest of the state, are going to allow BTN on basic at the $1 per sub that the BTN receives elsewhere? What leverage will the BTN exert to get such carriage? Threaten to withhold Rutgers versus Purdue? That deafening silence you hear is the collective vacuum of community anger. Is it possible that someone as knowledgeable of cable companies, demographics, carriage fees, and sports broadcasting in general can be that ignorant of this simple reality: without UConn the BTN will elicit a giant yawn from Connecticut residents and cable companies, be they in Westport, Waterbury, Groton or elsewhere?

Obviously, given this guy's resume, and familiarity of Big Ten schools (he watches every Big Ten team), there's no way that he is that clueless. Which begs the question, why mention Connecticut?

Is it possible that these geographic mentions by its principals (northeast corridor, southern New England, Connecticut, etc) unintentionally reveal the Big Ten's long term plan?

 

[upstater]

They won't be able to sell NJ, never mind NYC. Conn. is a pipe dream.

Good catch.

 

[Fishy]

They have mentioned Connecticut and "southern New England" before - it's strictly a reference to the portion of the Rutgers' DMA that theoretically includes the southeastern portion of the state.

 

[Adios]

They have mentioned Connecticut and "southern New England" before - it's strictly a reference to the portion of the Rutgers' DMA that theoretically includes the southeastern portion of the state.

Pass the pipe.

 

[jostar1]

This article from last March talks about how basketball drove viewers to the Big Ten Network.
It also notes the difficulty of getting into the New Jersey/New York market.

BTN B-I-G winner with surging Big Ten basketball; All-time high ratings

It’s the big finale for the big year for the Big Ten.“This is our Super Bowl,” said Dave Revsine of the Big Ten tournament, which begins Thursday in Chicago. It’s all been BIG, with a capital B-I-G for the the Big Ten Network. The network will televise two games Thursday afternoon and two more games Friday night. It will be one last chance for Commissioner Jim Delany’s brainchild to haul in some more huge ratings. If anyone has cashed in on the conference’s big (there’s that word again) year in basketball, it is the BTN.

As for the future, the next challenge will be for Silverman to get the BTN into the local markets of the conference’s two new schools, Maryland and Rutgers. It will be a huge endeavor, especially in the New York/New Jersey area where Cablevision and Time Warner are known to play hardball. Time Warner waited until last year to add the NFL Network. Silverman said he hopes to have “proactive talks” with representatives in those areas within the next 6 to 12 months. Translated, he should be wearing full armor to deal with cable companies who are getting increasingly reluctant to raise subscriber fees to add more sports programming.

http://www.shermanreport.com/btn-b-i-g-winner-with-surging-big-ten-basketball-all-time-high-ratings/

 

[Rumrunner]

You're conflating DMA with cable systems. Silverman specifically references cable subs, not generic market DMA. That distinction is something that Silverman lives and breathes.

They have mentioned Connecticut and "southern New England" before - it's strictly a reference to the portion of the Rutgers' DMA that theoretically includes the southeastern portion of the state.

 

[Rumrunner]

And to jostar's point, 60% of BTN revs are associated with football...which means 40% is not. The 40% is not broken out but there really is only one other revenue sport. And for NY and CT, there is a school that helps out in that regard, more than any other.

 

[Fishy]

You're conflating DMA with cable systems. Silverman specifically references cable subs, not generic market DMA. That distinction is something that Silverman lives and breathes.

Sigh.

For the purposes of interpreting his intent, they're the same thing.

"Once we add Rutgers and Maryland, we believe we're going to have the programming that should provide to us additional subscribers in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland and D.C. areas."

There's no coded message to crack there.

 

[Adios]

Sigh.

For the purposes of interpreting his intent, they're the same thing.

"Once we add Rutgers and Maryland, we believe we're going to have the programming that should provide to us additional subscribers in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland and D.C. areas."

There's no coded message to crack there.

Have yet to come across one Rutgers or Maryland fan or alumnus here on a personal level. And I've been in CT my whole life.

 

[Rumrunner]

Quadruple sigh, with a dash of head and brick wall thrown in.

He references subscribers being added in Connecticut. Now, I'll grant you Silverman may be inartful in his choice of technical words. But if one's going to divine his intent, it's more prudent to keep it simple, and assign meanings to words from the standpoint of the speaker. He doesn't say viewers, or audience, or fans. He uses a word that crosses his mind, if not his lips, dozens of times a day. It is a word upon which his entire enterprise is predicated. Subscribers.

Sigh.

For the purposes of interpreting his intent, they're the same thing.

"Once we add Rutgers and Maryland, we believe we're going to have the programming that should provide to us additional subscribers in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland and D.C. areas."

There's no coded message to crack there.

 

[CL82]

Sigh.

For the purposes of interpreting his intent, they're the same thing.

"Once we add Rutgers and Maryland, we believe we're going to have the programming that should provide to us additional subscribers in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland and D.C. areas."

There's no coded message to crack there.

Conspiracy Kitty says:
Or is there?

 

[auggie22]

His statement seems too broad to be taken seriously as an unintentional reveal. If one Rutgers alumn in CT opts to buy the extended package, his statement rings true.

It seems much more likely from a conspiracy angle that these mentions are designed to provide a rationale for UCONN down the road. If they know that they will not get NYC much less CT, and they know that UCONN would be a tough sell to B1G fans from a football angle, spend a few years convincing the public that b1g success in this region means subscribers in CT, basketball viewers in NYC, southern New England, etc.

 

[SubbaBub]

It's a self promotional thing, look we are in CT now. It's akin to saying you've been to Chicago because you changed planes at O'Hare.

If you want any positive take away. The BTN has without a doubt or reservation acknowledged that there are TV's in CT.

 

[ruskin]

One of two things. This dude thinks there's enough interest in Rutgers alone (gaaaaak) and/or enough Big Ten alums and interest in Fairfield County to make BTN sustainable minus UConn. If this guy is the wizard he's portrayed to be, he's gotta know the BTN numbers with UConn are substantially much greater than those without in Connecticut. He's also gotta know the size of the Hartford-New Haven TV market.

 

[upstater]

What I like about all this talk is that Silverman's BTN will get it's butt kicked by SNY.

While SNY is reeling in $2.50+ in Conn., Silverman will be wondering why BTN is getting .10.

Even with the Mets premium (SNY was getting $1.60 before it added UConn), that's still .90+ for UConn alone.

Wait, it gets better than that. When SNY added UConn, all Conn. cable stations took it out of the sports tier and added it to Basic. They easily more than doubled subscribers. That means he Uconn premium was well over .90+ because you have to take into account new subs.

Who watches the Mets in Conn. anyway? I never met a Ct. Mets fan other than one of my brothers (who is deranged).

 

[Sea Goat]

They won't be able to sell NJ, never mind NYC. Conn. is a pipe dream.

Good catch.

The stunning thing is that this clueless moron runs a sports network!

 

[AZHuskiePop]

What I like about all this talk is that Silverman's BTN will get it's butt kicked by SNY.

While SNY is reeling in $2.50+ in Conn., Silverman will be wondering why BTN is getting .10.

Even with the Mets premium (SNY was getting $1.60 before it added UConn), that's still .90+ for UConn alone.

Wait, it gets better than that. When SNY added UConn, all Conn. cable stations took it out of the sports tier and added it to Basic. They easily more than doubled subscribers. That means he Uconn premium was well over .90+ because you have to take into account new subs.

Who watches the Mets in Conn. anyway? I never met a Ct. Mets fan other than one of my brothers (who is deranged).

There are Met fans in Fairfield County. They come out of the woodwork when the Mets are good
The last 15 years have been a Yankee dominate era.
The Mets were the team in the 80's.
Interestly growing up I didn't know any Red Sox fans.
You were either a Yankee, Dodger, or Giant fan.
Their teams were good but the American league was dominated by the Yankees,Indians, and later the White Sox.
Fans tend to become visible when their teams compete.
Having said that from a market penetration standpoint UConn BB is far and away dominates the Mets. After all Fairfield County is still part of Ct and the Huskies are the States only Major team.

 

[jostar1]

I really hope that Manuel and Herbst are pushing this angle. Maybe she can get some ideas from her brother on how to beef up the presentation. After all, he negotiated an $8.2 BILLION contract for NASCAR.

Or, is this just wishful thinking?

Does Warde Manuel read this board?

 

[upstater]

There are Met fans in Fairfield County. They come out of the woodwork when the Mets are good
The last 15 years have been a Yankee dominate era.
The Mets were the team in the 80's.
Interestly growing up I didn't know any Red Sox fans.
You were either a Yankee, Dodger, or Giant fan.
Their teams were good but the American league was dominated by the Yankees,Indians, and later the White Sox.
Fans tend to become visible when their teams compete.
Having said that from a market penetration standpoint UConn BB is far and away dominates the Mets. After all Fairfield County is still part of Ct and the Huskies are the States only Major team.

I grew up in New Haven during a huge downtime (late 1970s to mid 1980s) in the Red Sox fortunes, but my neighborhood was half Yankees, half Red Sox. No Mets, Dodgers or Giants fans. Ralph Houk was the Sox manager I remembered.

 

[noeynox]

I am a met fan in CT, and personally know dozens, doesn't diminish the boon UCONN has been to sny.

 

[CTMike]

Maybe through some fluke in the paperwork they thought they had added UConn but oops they took Rutgers instead? Could also explain some of the comments.

 

[SubbaBub]

The stunning thing is that this clueless moron runs a sports network!

He is not a moron. He is pimping his network's reach to advertisers. Know your audience.

 

[Marty Jackson]

does this mean in 3-5 years, when the facts come in that Rutgers and MD are not going to generate material incremental subscriptions in CT they'll think of adding a school that can? And at the same time, add a school that can help drive viewers in NYC?

Genius!!!!

Did anyone else notice Jim Delaney in New Britain last week?

 

[CL82]

His statement seems too broad to be taken seriously as an unintentional reveal.

Of course because when you don't want to reveal something you are very specific about it.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

These articles make me sad. I spend much of my leisure time trying to forget that a dumpster of an athletic program like Rutgers was saved, and UConn got a death sentence.