Cable NFL Games on local TV

[Mr Tony]

I don't know how long the policy has bene in place, but I don't get why they did it, can't be too many homes without cable.

lots of folks dont subscribe to cable/satellite. simple as that
And its been in place for over 30 years

 

[TheBigA]

lots of folks dont subscribe to cable/satellite. simple as that
And its been in place for over 30 years

Well, maybe. It's been dropping, that's true. Ten years ago, the penetration number was 88%. Now it's down to 78%.

 

[Mr Tony]

Well, maybe. It's been dropping, that's true. Ten years ago, the penetration number was 88%. Now it's down to 78%.

but how many did not subscribe to full cable? I know folks who just subscribed to lifeline cable.
And some major cities didnt have cable back when cable started carrying the games. Or they didnt want to pay for it

 

[KeithE4]

The NFL wants as many eyeballs as possible, and Football on OTA statios outperform games on cable every time.

But how much money does the league receive per pair of eyeballs? They get x amount of money from the networks per year, but that's a fixed amount based on the contract. Most of those eyeballs are via cable or satellite, where the networks get their cut from the stations, who get their cut from the subscribers. Then there's the 20% of viewers that watch OTA and don't pay a dime to anybody.

Do CBS, Fox, and NBC make enough from those subscriber fees + ad dollars to make money from football games, compared to the $7 or so per subscriber Disney charges for ESPN? I was always under the impression that, despite the $Billion contracts, the broadcast networks break even at best.

 

[TheBigA]

And some major cities didnt have cable back when cable started carrying the games. Or they didnt want to pay for it

The thing I remember from back then was they didn't feel it's right for people to pay extra to watch their home team. They should get it for free. Perhaps some of that thinking came from the merger of the AFL and NFL, and the gov't approved monopoly.

Not sure if they still feel that way now. We'll find out at the next contract.

 

[seatownmedia]

I think we have established this rule goes back to the 1980's. Why is it still in place? Because the NFL wants as many eyeballs as possible. I say, good job for network affiliates taking advantage of these cable games. If it is there, take it!

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

I remember back in the early 1990's the Fox affiliate KTVU (Then a Cox Owned Station in San Francisco) used to air cable simulcasts from ESPN whenever the 49ers was having a game. But that was prior to Fox Sports being formed and prior to the ABC/Disney deal in the mid-1990's when that was allowed though.

 

[Mr Tony]

I think we have established this rule goes back to the 1980's. Why is it still in place? Because the NFL wants as many eyeballs as possible. I say, good job for network affiliates taking advantage of these cable games. If it is there, take it!

the NFL actually has a anti-siphoning policy on it
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-siphoning_law

The National Football League implements an anti-siphoning policy as part of its television contracts. The majority of Sunday games are broadcast on over-the-air television by either CBS or Fox in order to reach the largest audience possible, although the games broadcast during the main afternoon windows are determined by the viewer's region, and viewers must purchase the out-of-market sports package NFL Sunday Ticket (which is carried exclusively by DirecTV) in order to view games that are not shown in their region. Certain flagship games are also broadcast nationally on network television, including NBC's weekly Sunday Night Football, as well as the three annual Thanksgiving Day games, and the entirety of the post-season.

ESPN's Monday Night Football, as well as selected Thursday Night Football games on NFL Network, are only televised nationally on pay television. In these cases, NFL rules require simulcasts of the games to be syndicated to television stations within the home markets of the teams that are participating. This ensures that the games are still available on broadcast TV in the local markets, whilst maintaining cable exclusivity for the games outside of the market. Beginning in 2014, ESPN has also held rights to a post-season wild card game; in the first year of this arrangement, the game was only simulcast in the markets of the teams involved, as with its other games. However, in 2015, ESPN announced that it would begin to simulcast the game nationally on ABC (which returned the NFL to the network for the first time since Super Bowl XL) instead.[10]