Sorry for all the TV news today, but a lot of great stuff is coming across the Internets today!
Anyway, it seems that Comcast and the NFL Network are thhhhhiiisss close to coming to an agreement for the cable giant to carry the network on BASIC CABLE, and at a much reduced rate:
The deal would mean that instead of paying about $7 per month for the channel and other pay-TV sports channels, Comcast subscribers will get NFL Network with its regular digital package — and it will increase the number of TV homes the Network is seen in from about 35 million to close to 50 million. More importantly, it could well pave the way for the NFL to make deals with other cable companies similarly chapped at the league’s demand for huge rights fees for a sports channel with only 24 hours of NFL regular-season game programming per year.
It seems that two things came to light to make this happen: for starters, the NFL must have conceded that the amount they were asking for per month was far too much for what amounts to 8 games a year. Yes, I want NFL Network so badly that I can almost taste it. I also felt the same way about BBC America once upon a time, and I hardly watch that channel at all these days. My point is that while I want the NFL Network, chances are good that I’ll watch it for a month, then forget about it until football season starts. Secondly, word is that many NFL owners were ready to pull the plug on the network without the wider distribution this deal (and deals with second-tier providers like TWC) would provide.
And yes, NFL Net was also in talks with Time Warner, but these too fell apart. Not to worry, though: word is that NFL Net wants to seal the deal with Comcast first, then use that deal as a template for deals with other MSOs like TWC.
So one day, one day soon my precious, NFL Network will be mine!
Read more about it here.