Bettman on DirecTV/Versus - 10-21-09

   I live in Orange county Ca and  never miss a Pens game. This year has been great for the Pens but terrible for out of towners like myself. First Savran on Sportsbeat gets canceled and now the Directv -Versus feud. I blame Directv since I pay them for NHL center ice and have the extended sports package why not give me an option to pay $3 a month for Versus and make it optional if they think the rights fee is too high? Either way I hope it gets resolved soon since they are 7 more Pens games on Versus.  

I admit that it's largely because I grew up listening to hockey on the radio with my dad as we would travel back and forth from my mother's place to his and on various other adventures, but I guess that, in the end, this whole ordeal hasn't bothered me that much because the Penguins -do- have such a quality radio broadcast with Mike Lange and Phil Bourque that's available for free online if you're outside of the listening area/the area of the affiliates.

That said, the situation with Versus and the fact that my cable bill keeps going up for reasons that no one can adequately explain have me seriously considering a switch to Direct TV.  Though I also have cable internet and I refuse to hop to DSL, so the overall savings wouldn't be all that great...hell.  When is Verizon FiOS coming to rural Westmoreland County?

Its just a lot of Sour Grapes on Comcasts part, Direct TV has taken a lot of the customers that Comcast has *** off over the years. But the real blame lies with Buttman, and the NHL for signing those rights over to a station that doesn't have any interest in giving hockey the exposure it could greatly use, at the expense of the bottom line.

JL58 is on target.

This isn't an issue if you get your product a real deal with a real network.

Gary Bettman, you suck.

DirecTV wants to move Versus from Choice Xtra, which is only $5/month more than their standard plan, to Sports Pack, which is $12.99/month if you have no other premium packages. Sports Pack is mostly regional cable networks. The only national networks in that package are GolTV, Fox Soccer Channel, ESPN Classic, CBS College Sports, Outdoor Channel, and Fox Sports Español.

So DirecTV wants to push Versus to the "international soccer and obscure sports network" package when their ratings are going *up*.

Look, I trust Comcast about as far as I can throw Brian Roberts, and their requested rate increase may be as outrageous as DirecTV claims. Banishing Versus to the outer reaches of the system, however, is flat out wrong on DirecTV's part. I have a feeling that DirecTV wanted to pick a fight with Comcast over all of their networks, and figured Versus would bring a smaller viewer backlash than something like E! or Golf Channel.

I don't understand the knee-jerk reaction in favor of DirecTV.  I don't like either company, but DirecTV seems to be the one with the problem.  Why is DirecTV the only company that is fighting with Comcast over this?  KWRussell explains why, they want to move Versus into some arcane package most people don't pay for.  My impression is that DirecTV doesn't think the NHL is worth the trouble.

On the other hand, I completely understand Comcast's position.  They're trying to make Versus into a respectable sports channel (albeit they haven't quite gotten there yet).  But, the best way to make sure the casual TV viewer never sees Versus or the NHL is to make it available only to the small number of customers willing to pay extra for it.  DirecTV's position is based on the assumption that hockey is, and will continue to be, a niche sport.  Devoted fans will pay $13/mo + $160/yr to watch their cute little sport, right?  The NHL is trying to grow it's fan base, and actions of DirecTV are working directly against that.

As far as I'm aware, no other cable or satellite company has taken such a brazen position about where hockey and the NHL belong.

Directv is the only company fighting with Versus/Comcast right now because they are the only provider whose contract with Vs is currently expired.

I also doubt that Directv is only looking at hockey as a niche sport.  They are looking at the fact that Vs doesn't carry much else.  So they have the NHL, some MMA, the IRL, the TDF for a month each year but what else?  I'm a Pens season ticket holder (as well as a Directv sub) but the facts are that the NHL just doesn't draw ratings on a national level.    

I can't find the link right now but an article on Puckdaddy today or yesterday even showed have Vs over estimated its "big ratings increase".  Vs claimed over 800,000 viewers on opening night when in fact it was closer to 500,000.

The bottom line is that Versus needs Directv a whole heck of a lot more than Directv needs Versus.

The bottom line is that, honestly, it's two corporations and the league and none of them seem to be making the right decisions for the sport's fan base; either those already dedicated to the sport or those who are interested.

The league is ultimately responsible, really.  Because it's pathetic that people in a team's home state can't even see all the games played by that team because of cable companies being petulant children about it.  I have friends and family in North Carolina who can't watch 'Canes games.  How stupid is that?  These are people who -want- to follow the sport more.  Who are new to it and interested in it, but the NHL is going to lose the opportunity to claim them as fans simply because...how can you be a fan of something you can't watch without spending exorbitant amounts of money?

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