SNY Gets the Broadcast Rights, CPTV Out

[Icebear]

The games will be on ESPN3.

Well, that is useless, but at least SNY is available on DirecTV.

 

[Icebear]

+1

+1

 

[JSB60]

A lot of you make good, logical arguments about why this was the "right" thing. It's all about money and marketing. Those of us who are out of area may or may not be able to watch online. But it's sad.

 

[Dove]

I just saw this news on channel 30 and after first thinking "Holy $%^$" I remembered that SNY has been rocking the men's coverage which can only mean the viewing experience will be excellent on SNY.

This news is so not a surprise, tho, as Jerry Franklin's pitch the last couple years when I've been able to tune in has been borderline condescending and repellant to this viewer. He mad it sound like it was our duty to donate $1000.

And lol at channel 30 for allowing their pissed of interviewee to say "friggin'" on the air. That was great.

And kudos to SNY for winning a possibly rigged bid. Many thanks to CPTV for all of the great years of games. And a mini boo to UConn for not letting CPTV try and top the $20,000 between the bids. But without a doubt SNY will give us a great experience.

 

[CL82]

We have had an 18-year history with UConn and thousands of people have told me over the years that we helped build UConn women's basketball into a national phenomenon

Eh, that might be bit strong. Probably more accurate to say that they benefitted from UConn being a national phenomenon. It was amazing to have every game of a woman's CBB team broadcast and I'm glad that the partnership worked for everyone.

That said, this is HUGE for UConn. To have a sports network broadcasting the woman's games is incredible. The vast majority of men's programs would sell their firstborn for this kind of coverage. As UConn fans we all should be thrilled about this. Of course, I didn't get CPTV and I do get SNY so that makes it win/win for me.

I suspect that the games will make their way onto the internet, live, in some form or another.

 

[DaddyChoc]

No, 200K plus PER YEAR.

$4,550,000 vs $3,600,000.

That's a difference of $950,000 or $237,500 per year.

thanks for the clarification (damn channel 30 news)

 

[DaddyChoc]

I just saw this news on channel 30 and after first thinking "Holy $%^$" I remembered that SNY has been rocking the men's coverage which can only mean the viewing experience will be excellent on SNY.

This news is so not a surprise, tho, as Jerry Franklin's pitch the last couple years when I've been able to tune in has been borderline condescending and repellant to this viewer. He mad it sound like it was our duty to donate $1000.

And lol at channel 30 for allowing their pissed of interviewee to say "friggin'" on the air. That was great.

And kudos to SNY for winning a possibly rigged bid. Many thanks to CPTV for all of the great years of games. And a mini boo to UConn for not letting CPTV try and top the $20,000 between the bids. But without a doubt SNY will give us a great experience.

nice to know I wasnt the only one that heard that...

 

[tomcat]

Well, I'm automatically suspicious because there is nothing that specifically says that beyond ATT and Direct TV (you want to see shysters, deal with THOSE folks once or twice) those of us at a distance will have access. I hope, but do not believe it's a guarantee, that just because the men's games are televised on ESPN3 that the women's will be too. So until I see that, I'm treating this as a disaster.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Does anyone know if SNY is part of a premium sports package or whether its part of basic cable on Comcast?

regular lineup

 

[DaddyChoc]

Based on what CPTV is saying, they were very close in their bids. Wow. My bad.

But it kinda makes me wonder how much their begging was overdone considering they bid around a million more for the 4 years.

so it that an apology

 

[~*Jen*~]

This, well, sucks.

Thanks, CPTV. <3

AFM, my cable is through my water/power company so no premium sports pack unless I get satellite TV. :? I'll have to weigh my options.

 

[Brad Palmer]

Like it or not, good or bad, I'm sure SNY will have less of a "hometown" and more of a "corporate" feel than CPTV. They'll probably want Geno and not CD for halftime and post-game interviews. Will be interesting to see how the larger audience responds to the multiple blowouts.

It will also be interesting to see how the schedule may change in regards to days and times. SNY typically showed a lot of Saturday afternoon BE men's games (basically every 2 hours from Noon-10 pm).

 

[cuzinvinny]

I am really really pissed off about UCONN going to SNY. What they did to CPTV really sucks considering it was for $20,000 over four years. SNY $4.55 million Vs. CPTV $4.537 million

I'm kind of mad at Geno too, I will not do my "GENO" yell when he is announced at home games. I'm even considering cutting back my UCAFD UCONN Club Pledge this year because they are getting that extra $5,000 from SNY.

http://blog.ctnews.com/elliott/2012/05/08/cptv-disappointed-saddened-as-uconn-teams-with-sny/

 

[zls44]

I can understand and from a professional experience in the same field understand Jerry Franklin's disappointment, but his comments were way, way, WAY out of line.

 

[AllAmerRedHeads]

CPTV. I tip my hat to you.

Not only did you bring UConn to our households to become fans, I truly believe through your media, the increase interest in UConn also helped create a increase in girls basketball participation in our local towns.

I know by the mid-late 90s our town had more girls basketball teams in some age brackets in park and rec than the boys did. It was nothing like that just a few years earlier when my oldest was involved.

For me personally.

It got me wondering about my grandmother and her playing days in Glastonbury during the depression. It got me looking online to find out how we got from then to now.

For me, the interest you helped generate in UConn and womens basketball has simply been life changing.

Without CPTV, I probably would have never gotten as interested as I did. They brought the players into our homes dozens of times a year.

I doubt I would have done the exhibitions I have done on the history. I doubt I ever would have met the owner of the All American Red Heads and all of those players and become a part of something very special in mine and my families life.

I never would be involved in writing a book.

I never would have wrote their nomination to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.


Thanks CPTV. the mere words to not show the depth of my gratitude to you.

 

[HuskyNan]

Here is a link to SNY's UConn page. There are a lot of videos there. Take a look at what it offers.

I hope someone points out to SNY that there are no Lady Huskies, though.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

They are not part of the Charter premium sports package. We here in Western Mass are SOL.

We have a home in the Berkshires with SNY... Direct TV

Much better than Charter. No Sox on Charter!!!!

 

[wire chief]

Well, I'm automatically suspicious because there is nothing that specifically says that beyond ATT and Direct TV (you want to see shysters, deal with THOSE folks once or twice) those of us at a distance will have access. I hope, but do not believe it's a guarantee, that just because the men's games are televised on ESPN3 that the women's will be too. So until I see that, I'm treating this as a disaster.

TC, in a recent thread we acknowledged that we don't employ "shysters" here, for it is an ethnic slur.

 

[JS]

I can understand and from a professional experience in the same field understand Jerry Franklin's disappointment, but his comments were way, way, WAY out of line.

Have you no pity? At long last, no sense of compassion?

CPTV had also twice asked UConn if it could have a “last look’’ so that it would have the opportunity to match the highest bid. A final such request was made last Friday, according to Franklin, and there was no response from UConn.​

​

Jerry said "Save the last dance for me." And when he crossed the dance floor, where was his intended partner?

Tooling off into the night in another guy's hot convertible.

Moral: When you say "Save the last dance for me," it's best to take note of whether she says yes or not.

 

[connboy77]

Have you no pity? At long last, no sense of compassion?

CPTV had also twice asked UConn if it could have a “last look’’ so that it would have the opportunity to match the highest bid. A final such request was made last Friday, according to Franklin, and there was no response from UConn.​

​

Jerry said "Save the last dance for me." And when he crossed the dance floor, where was his intended partner?

Tooling off into the night in another guy's hot convertible.

Moral: When you say "Save the last dance for me," it's best to take note of whether she says yes or not.

I don't think that this was just a money decision. Better exposure probably weighed heavily in the decision to choose SNY. Picking SNY may help with recruiting.

 

[UcMiami]

As I have thought about this, I do believe the Uconn brand in terms of conference alignment issue was probably a huge part of this decision. SNY has become the Uconn sports network with a big tri-state footprint that has to be attractive down the road for other conferences.
As for CPTV - this was bound to happen at some point and as has been reported they were already planning for this eventuality. It was never going to be easy on fans or CPTV, but we all move on. I suppose it would be easier if the financial number was a huge disparity, but ...
As for the bid process - if you give CPTV a chance to outbid, then don't you also have to give SNY the same chance? And at what point does that become unfair to both. I think this was a blind auction situation - you do that in the hopes that someone bids more than they would have had to in a live auction situation. Does anyone believe that SNY would not have been able to outbid CPTV in a live auction? And if CPTV had outbid SNY in a live auction, who is to say it would not have crippled them financially.
And I do think this doesn't hurt recruiting - this is a network that can be accessed from around the country - would Diana's parents for example have been happier about her choice if they knew that for a relatively small outlay they could access all her games on Direct TV or another supplier? However good streaming is (and it isn't always great) there is no comparison to TV.
I also wonder if we now get video access to all the post game press conferences - that would be a great bonus!

 

[Dove]

nice to know I wasnt the only one that heard that...

Yeah, damn that Gerry Brooks. Stop just reading that prompter...research!!

 

[Duncan Idaho]

The money was close, Herbst wants to better market UConn in the New York area.

 

[alexd]

Every men's basketball game on SNY has been on ESPN3. Don't see why this would be any different.

Because this is SNY buying the rights to the games, Not ESPN.

The men's games are produced by ESPN and SNY buys the rights from them. In this case, SNY is buying the rights directly. The article doesn't mention ESPN anywhere.

 

[Buckaroobanzai]

The broadcasting rights were put out for public bid by the University and were subject to Connecticut laws governing UConn procurement practices. I doubt very much that loyalty was a factor the University could rely on for its decision. I don't doubt that for Geno this decision is bittersweet; I know I feel a certain sadness and gratitude for the team at CPTV. But the University is obligated to award the contract to the highest and best bid.

Respectfully, I disagree. The decision cannot be exclusively a financial one. As a resource of the state of Connecticut, the University has an obligation to serve all of the citizens of this state, including those who cannot afford they confiscatory rates charged by Comcast. One of the great benefits of having the games telecast by CPTV was that no cable connection was required. And now many of our citizens will be deprived of the opportunity to watch these games. A sad indictment of the greed that has infected so much of our society.