Direct TV

[RossDawg82]

Any chance that these assholes will give in and carry the SEC network. I called and they said they didn't have any plans on doing it. What would be the over/under on customers lost if they don't?

[Esmerelda Villalobos]

Well, keep calling and emailing. However, I think the deal will be made. Just a hunch.

[GrassOfDWS]

They're going to hold out until they can get the subscription cost they want. If SEC Network won't pay what they want, they will hold out as long as possible. The only way to get them to change is for a bunch of people to unsubscribe and tell them that is why.

[Sacrifice]

I've been with Direct TV since 95. If they don't pick up the SEC network I'm gone and I believe the exodus would be huge.

[messageboardsuperhero]

DTV will have the SEC Network by the time the first football game comes around in August. I'm about 99% sure of that.

[starkvegasdawg]

I hope so. My only other alternative is Dish and I don't want DISH because they don't carry other channels I want. There would be a riot in the house if my kids lost some of their Nickelodeon and similar channels.

[Dawgowar]

Any chance that these assholes will give in and carry the SEC network. I called and they said they didn't have any plans on doing it. What would be the over/under on customers lost if they don't?

Sorry but it has been over a year and DTV has not given in on PAC12 channels nor Longhorn Network

[quickstrike2]

I'll have to go with Dish if this is the case. DirectTV is really playing hardball lately, are still feuding with the Weather Channel?

[Homedawg]

I've been with Direct TV since 95. If they don't pick up the SEC network I'm gone and I believe the exodus would be huge.

This. And like you I've been a customer since 96 and would never change, except for this.

[dogshiek]

DTV dumped the Weather Channel. I just don't see how they can survive without the SEC network. They definitely play hard ball.

[Dawgowar]

I've been with Direct TV since 95. If they don't pick up the SEC network I'm gone and I believe the exodus would be huge.

Not really, the six big market teams will get the prime ESPN Network spots. Those fans won't get hosed.

[DanDority]

I'll have to go with Dish if this is the case. DirectTV is really playing hardball lately, are still feuding with the Weather Channel?

Well, I have dish and thought that they were not going to carry it. Am I wrong?

[DanDority]

I hope so. My only other alternative is Dish and I don't want DISH because they don't carry other channels I want. There would be a riot in the house if my kids lost some of their Nickelodeon and similar channels.

What channels does Dtv have that Dish does not?

[quickstrike2]

Well, I have dish and thought that they were not going to carry it. Am I wrong?

I believe Dish announced it has picked up the SEC Network.

[RougeDawg]

I hope so. My only other alternative is Dish and I don't want DISH because they don't carry other channels I want. There would be a riot in the house if my kids lost some of their Nickelodeon and similar channels.

I laughed. Not because it would be funny for it to happen, but that this is where society is now. It's true and there are aome channels I would riot about if DirecTV dropped them. I had been rioting dorecTV's inbox recently though for another topic. I have auto pay and just realized that they were charging for NFL Sunday ticket.

With work I was moving around a bit a few years ago so I suspended my account. Work finally settled down and I got it turned back on and installed in my house. Sunday Ticket was included with the reactivation. I never authorized it then or this year. They responded saying that I had to call as cancel the subscription before the first game of this past season. They have not responded back since and I'm pissed for multiple reasons. I never authorized it plus I didn't even know the channels were available to me. Anyone else had similar issues with them?

[GreaterCowbell]

Well, I have dish and thought that they were not going to carry it. Am I wrong?


From Mr. SEC on the subject:

While the DirecTV email — and its authenticity — are debated on Twitter, it’s still believed that the SEC Network is set to announce Dish Network as a partner at some point. As we noted last month, Dish co-founder Charlie Ergen is a University of Tennessee graduate and booster. He also oversees America’s second-place satellite provider. Obviously, then, there are a couple of reasons for Dish to pick up the SEC Network before DirecTV does.

I also have Dish and will go to wherever the SEC network is offered.

[yjnkdawg]

Directv said they couldn't get CSS, which they can if they pay Comcast what their fee is, and now they are not going to get the SEC Network? Unreal? I have had Directv since you had to buy your own equipment (dish and receiver), but I almost dropped them a few years back due to them not carrying CSS. I would definitely drop Directv if they choose to not carry the SEC Network. I don't believe this not going to carry the SEC thing is going to happen. Directv has marketing people and I'm pretty sure they know what impact that would have, especilly in the SE. I know they lost some customers due to dropping the Weather Channel, but I don't know how many. I think when it's all said and done, Directv will have the SEC Network.

[PassInterference]

It is good for consumers that DirecTV holds out for lower costs. And besides, nobody wants to have a baby with a dog collar.

And I think pretty much nobody but Comcast has CSS because Comcast owns CSS. They want that to be exclusive content, especially in markets that Comcast cable serves.

[yjnkdawg]

I'll have to go with Dish if this is the case. DirectTV is really playing hardball lately, are still feuding with the Weather Channel?


I'll have to go with Dish if this is the case. DirectTV is really playing hardball lately, are still feuding with the Weather Channel?

NO SEC Network for Directv = I'm looking at Comcast or possibly Dish. That WeatherNation. that replaced The Weather Channel, is crap so far, in my opinion. I don't think DTV is even negotiating with TWC anymore. AccuWeather is supposed to launch a weather channel later this year, so if DTV doesn't succeed with WeatherNation, then they may go to Accuweather. It seems that TWC' s downfall with DTV began when NBC bought TWC and they started going more to reality type shows and less weather. I think DTV wanted to reduce the amount payed to the TWC channel and TWC was asking for an increase, so no compromise.

[engie]

Sorry but it has been over a year and DTV has not given in on PAC12 channels nor Longhorn Network

Surely you see the numerous differences in the circumstances.

[engie]

Not really, the six big market teams will get the prime ESPN Network spots. Those fans won't get hosed.

Now you are making it 100% clear that you don't understand the leverage point of the SECNetowrk at all.

CBS gets one game. Then, ESPN has the power to put ALL of the rest of the games on whatever channel in their lineup that they want(you know, the same people with a 50% ownership stake in the SECNetwork -- who are absorbing basically all of the up front costs of launch). There will be 3 games per week on the SECNetwork regardless.

You can bet your ass that they will CONSTANTLY put Alabama, LSU, aTm, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, etc on that network to leverage the hell out of direcTV and everyone else in the "hold out" locations. Hence why "we" are calling all the cable and satellite providers' bluffs -- and also why it will be BY FAR the most successful channel launch on the front end that has been seen yet.

These companies would lose their entire customer base in the southeast if they held out on something like this. Can you imagine the uproar in east Texas and South Carolina and all over the SEC footprint if people can't watch aTm/USCe on opening Thursday(already announced as first SECNetwork game)? It would make providers' heads spin at the uproar. Like nothing they had ever seen from a regional standpoint.

[BoomBoom]

I laughed. Not because it would be funny for it to happen, but that this is where society is now. It's true and there are aome channels I would riot about if DirecTV dropped them. I had been rioting dorecTV's inbox recently though for another topic. I have auto pay and just realized that they were charging for NFL Sunday ticket.

With work I was moving around a bit a few years ago so I suspended my account. Work finally settled down and I got it turned back on and installed in my house. Sunday Ticket was included with the reactivation. I never authorized it then or this year. They responded saying that I had to call as cancel the subscription before the first game of this past season. They have not responded back since and I'm pissed for multiple reasons. I never authorized it plus I didn't even know the channels were available to me. Anyone else had similar issues with them?

Yes. Their billing practices have gotten incredibly shady.

[Esmerelda Villalobos]

Now you are making it 100% clear that you don't understand the leverage point of the SECNetowrk at all.

CBS gets one game. Then, ESPN has the power to put ALL of the rest of the games on whatever channel in their lineup that they want(you know, the same people with a 50% ownership stake in the SECNetwork -- who are absorbing basically all of the up front costs of launch). There will be 3 games per week on the SECNetwork regardless.

You can bet your ass that they will CONSTANTLY put Alabama, LSU, aTm, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, etc on that network to leverage the hell out of direcTV and everyone else in the "hold out" locations. Hence why "we" are calling all the cable and satellite providers' bluffs -- and also why it will be BY FAR the most successful channel launch on the front end that has been seen yet.

These companies would lose their entire customer base in the southeast if they held out on something like this. Can you imagine the uproar in east Texas and South Carolina and all over the SEC footprint if people can't watch aTm/USCe on opening Thursday(already announced as first SECNetwork game)? It would make providers' heads spin at the uproar. Like nothing they had ever seen from a regional standpoint.

Read this carefully. Pin it at top. Sec and directv will join forces. Period. It may take some more negotiations but it will happen.

[Homedawg]

Now you are making it 100% clear that you don't understand the leverage point of the SECNetowrk at all.

CBS gets one game. Then, ESPN has the power to put ALL of the rest of the games on whatever channel in their lineup that they want(you know, the same people with a 50% ownership stake in the SECNetwork -- who are absorbing basically all of the up front costs of launch). There will be 3 games per week on the SECNetwork regardless.

You can bet your ass that they will CONSTANTLY put Alabama, LSU, aTm, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, etc on that network to leverage the hell out of direcTV and everyone else in the "hold out" locations. Hence why "we" are calling all the cable and satellite providers' bluffs -- and also why it will be BY FAR the most successful channel launch on the front end that has been seen yet.

These companies would lose their entire customer base in the southeast if they held out on something like this. Can you imagine the uproar in east Texas and South Carolina and all over the SEC footprint if people can't watch aTm/USCe on opening Thursday(already announced as first SECNetwork game)? It would make providers' heads spin at the uproar. Like nothing they had ever seen from a regional standpoint.

Correct. Case n point, years ago they put unc duke on espn2 among other marquee match ups to force carriers to pick up the deuce. Pretty sure that worked.

[woozman]

I laughed. Not because it would be funny for it to happen, but that this is where society is now. It's true and there are aome channels I would riot about if DirecTV dropped them. I had been rioting dorecTV's inbox recently though for another topic. I have auto pay and just realized that they were charging for NFL Sunday ticket.

With work I was moving around a bit a few years ago so I suspended my account. Work finally settled down and I got it turned back on and installed in my house. Sunday Ticket was included with the reactivation. I never authorized it then or this year. They responded saying that I had to call as cancel the subscription before the first game of this past season. They have not responded back since and I'm pissed for multiple reasons. I never authorized it plus I didn't even know the channels were available to me. Anyone else had similar issues with them?

Premium channels and promos always require you to call and cancel. I had the same issue with Sunday Ticket 8-9 years ago. I raised hell when I saw the auto withdrawal and really raised hell when I was told that they wouldn't give me my money back because the season had already started. After tons of bitching, they finally gave me my money back and 3-months of HBO for my trouble and damned if they didn't start charging me for the HBO in month 4 because I didn't call to cancel it...

I still love my DirecTV, though. I've been with them since 00-01 (or so), but as others have mentioned - I'm reluctantly dropping them if the SEC Network isn't available when football season arrives.

[dawg27]

I hope dtv gets it cause dish dont have nfl ticket

[yjnkdawg]

Sorry but it has been over a year and DTV has not given in on PAC12 channels nor Longhorn Network

I think that the PAC12 channels are only available in that region, as they are considered as regional sports' channels. Just like in the SE, the regional channels are Sports South and Fox Sports South. As for as the Longhorn Network, I doubt Directv feels they have to carry it and don't feel that their decision to not carry it will cause any customers to leave. Not carrying the SEC Network, could be a major hit on Directv's customer base, so I would say that when the first game on the SEC Network kicks off Directv will be there.

[RougeDawg]

Premium channels and promos always require you to call and cancel. I had the same issue with Sunday Ticket 8-9 years ago. I raised hell when I saw the auto withdrawal and really raised hell when I was told that they wouldn't give me my money back because the season had already started. After tons of bitching, they finally gave me my money back and 3-months of HBO for my trouble and damned if they didn't start charging me for the HBO in month 4 because I didn't call to cancel it...

I still love my DirecTV, though. I've been with them since 00-01 (or so), but as others have mentioned - I'm reluctantly dropping them if the SEC Network isn't available when football season arrives.

Thanks for the info. You too Boom.

Think is I got the 3 month premium movie package as well but it magically disappeared from my channels after 3 months, and I was never billed for it. Something has to give. Guess I'll keep hounding them until they cave. Been thinking hard about AT&T UVerse but the reviews on their HD channels concerns me.

Anybody here compared DirecTV with UVerse?

[MabenMaroon]

For as much as the readers of this blog site and forum love their SEC athletics it seems very monumental if their tv service provider didn't pick up the SEC Network. But in reality when one looks at the big picture nationwide it is fairly insignificant and the SEC is following the path of arrogance and conceit that the Longhorn Network is going down. Right now they are asking between $1.20 and $1.40 per viewer fee within the SEC geographic footprint and $.20 per viewer outside the geographic footprint. By comparison, it is estimated that the NFL Sunday costs DirecTV about .40 per viewer and that translates into a seasonal cost of over $340 per subscriber for a season's subscription. Only a handful of SEC games each year ever exceed a 1.2 share of the national viewing market, I think the average game is around a .45 share on a regional basis, the NFL on the other hand averages a 1.2 share across the board per game week in and week out on a national basis.
Bottom line folks, the SEC is nowhere to near as important the general national viewing public as we here in SEC land would like to believe. As far as the tv service providers go they can take it or leave it. They have got very good bean counters analyzing the situation and have stock holders to answer to. DirecTV might lose 100k to 200k subscribers if they don't carry it, so it is a not a front burner item for them or any other tv service provider. The Longhorn Network has yet to show positive revenue and is unlikely to in it's current pricing structure, and look at it honestly, does anybody here give a crap if we get the LN or not, the same goes for the rest of the nation as they view the SEC. BET and MTV are far more important to the tv service providers than the SEC Network would ever hope to be.
The better approach might be to bombard the SEC front office and the SEC AD's with e-mails and demand that they make their product reasonably affordable, than try to bombard your tv service provider begging them to carry it.

[Dawgowar]

Now you are making it 100% clear that you don't understand the leverage point of the SECNetowrk at all.

CBS gets one game. Then, ESPN has the power to put ALL of the rest of the games on whatever channel in their lineup that they want(you know, the same people with a 50% ownership stake in the SECNetwork -- who are absorbing basically all of the up front costs of launch). There will be 3 games per week on the SECNetwork regardless.

You can bet your ass that they will CONSTANTLY put Alabama, LSU, aTm, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, etc on that network to leverage the hell out of direcTV and everyone else in the "hold out" locations. Hence why "we" are calling all the cable and satellite providers' bluffs -- and also why it will be BY FAR the most successful channel launch on the front end that has been seen yet.

These companies would lose their entire customer base in the southeast if they held out on something like this. Can you imagine the uproar in east Texas and South Carolina and all over the SEC footprint if people can't watch aTm/USCe on opening Thursday(already announced as first SECNetwork game)? It would make providers' heads spin at the uproar. Like nothing they had ever seen from a regional standpoint.

Engie, it won't be the most successful launch because that leverage cuts both ways. The company that fronted the 50% did little to leverage the entire state of Texas when provider after provider refused to pay the fees. Those providers forced concession. The same thing that DTV and other providers are about to do. As the date of launch gets closer those providers are going to remind ESPN how much it stands to lose. When those calls you speak of come the providers will stand their ground a lot longer than you think. There is an entire nation outside of the Southeastern United States. They have large cities and lots of people too. Businesses develop strategies based on the sum of all the market shares. Take a short term bit of rage and calculated loss of subscribers in one place to drop the cost from $1.00 per Household to .75 cents per household (just an example) in one part of the country.

DTV knows they can regain the losses easily. ESPN does have the most to lose. They will do as you say. And when the conference calls and says they have the big six markets up their asses every week and to put the big programs (Bama, UF, Tenn, etc) on ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, and the U, ESPN will. That will leave us and the rest of the smaller market shares stuck on the network until this works out. I promise you something to this effect has been factored at the SEC Office and Bristol.

I read, though I probably did not understand because who can grasp anything like you, that ESPN was hitting subscribers with over a $1.50 per subscriber. Why would I, a provider, want to hit all my customers with an increase OR hit my advertisers for higher rates without gaining the bulk of the profit myself? Particularly when the market share is going to primarily...primarily be in the Southeast. The SEC fan will crawl back to whatever provider puts their team on with the best deal. What DTV loses AT&T will gain. What Verizon FIOS loses DTV picks up. By most of them holding out for even a .25 cent a subscriber concession, they will increase profit by $250K per million households for putting up with predictable loses and a little shouting from the likes of us.

This is deliberate oversimplification, but since I made the heinous mistake of posting a quick quip from my Iphone at work I must make amends. I will now go stand in the street with a sign stating my total inability to grasp any concept of how telecommunications work.

[engie]

For as much as the readers of this blog site and forum love their SEC athletics it seems very monumental if their tv service provider didn't pick up the SEC Network. But in reality when one looks at the big picture nationwide it is fairly insignificant and the SEC is following the path of arrogance and conceit that the Longhorn Network is going down. Right now they are asking between $1.20 and $1.40 per viewer fee within the SEC geographic footprint and $.20 per viewer outside the geographic footprint. By comparison, it is estimated that the NFL Sunday costs DirecTV about .40 per viewer and that translates into a seasonal cost of over $340 per subscriber for a season's subscription. Only a handful of SEC games each year ever exceed a 1.2 share of the national viewing market, I think the average game is around a .45 share on a regional basis, the NFL on the other hand averages a 1.2 share across the board per game week in and week out on a national basis.
Bottom line folks, the SEC is nowhere to near as important the general national viewing public as we here in SEC land would like to believe. As far as the tv service providers go they can take it or leave it. They have got very good bean counters analyzing the situation and have stock holders to answer to. DirecTV might lose 100k to 200k subscribers if they don't carry it, so it is a not a front burner item for them or any other tv service provider. The Longhorn Network has yet to show positive revenue and is unlikely to in it's current pricing structure, and look at it honestly, does anybody here give a crap if we get the LN or not, the same goes for the rest of the nation as they view the SEC. BET and MTV are far more important to the tv service providers than the SEC Network would ever hope to be.
The better approach might be to bombard the SEC front office and the SEC AD's with e-mails and demand that they make their product reasonably affordable, than try to bombard your tv service provider begging them to carry it.

You just shortsold the SEC to the greatest extent imaginable...

100-200k subscribers? LOL. Comparing it to LHN reduces your entire position into ridiculousness. By all means, the 2 football games/yr on LHN is VERY comparable to the 45 that will be on the SEC Network...

Squashing the rest of your myths - http://msn.foxsports.com/college-football/outkick-the-coverage/sec-network-opens-new-era-in-college-athletics.php

[engie]

Engie, it won't be the most successful launch because that leverage cuts both ways. The company that fronted the 50% did little to leverage the entire state of Texas when provider after provider refused to pay the fees. Those providers forced concession. The same thing that DTV and other providers are about to do. As the date of launch gets closer those providers are going to remind ESPN how much it stands to lose. When those calls you speak of come the providers will stand their ground a lot longer than you think. There is an entire nation outside of the Southeastern United States. They have large cities and lots of people too. Businesses develop strategies based on the sum of all the market shares. Take a short term bit of rage and calculated loss of subscribers in one place to drop the cost from $1.00 per Household to .75 cents per household (just an example) in one part of the country.

DTV knows they can regain the losses easily. ESPN does have the most to lose. They will do as you say. And when the conference calls and says they have the big six markets up their asses every week and to put the big programs (Bama, UF, Tenn, etc) on ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, and the U, ESPN will. That will leave us and the rest of the smaller market shares stuck on the network until this works out. I promise you something to this effect has been factored at the SEC Office and Bristol.

I read, though I probably did not understand because who can grasp anything like you, that ESPN was hitting subscribers with over a $1.50 per subscriber. Why would I, a provider, want to hit all my customers with an increase OR hit my advertisers for higher rates without gaining the bulk of the profit myself? Particularly when the market share is going to primarily...primarily be in the Southeast. The SEC fan will crawl back to whatever provider puts their team on with the best deal. What DTV loses AT&T will gain. What Verizon FIOS loses DTV picks up. By most of them holding out for even a .25 cent a subscriber concession, they will increase profit by $250K per million households for putting up with predictable loses and a little shouting from the likes of us.

This is deliberate oversimplification, but since I made the heinous mistake of posting a quick quip from my Iphone at work I must make amends. I will now go stand in the street with a sign stating my total inability to grasp any concept of how telecommunications work.

Please read and understand the full scenario before throwing out this ridiculousness. Again. It's still clear, after all these paragraphs, that you don't understand what is going on here with the launch strategy of the network. You completely whiffed on the pricing structure -- and again made a ridiculous comparison to the LHN. I can't understand it for you. Nor can I discuss it with you until you understand it.

[War Machine Dawg]

You just shortsold the SEC to the greatest extent imaginable...

100-200k subscribers? LOL. Comparing it to LHN reduces your entire position into ridiculousness. By all means, the 2 football games/yr on LHN is VERY comparable to the 45 that will be on the SEC Network...

Squashing the rest of your myths - http://msn.foxsports.com/college-football/outkick-the-coverage/sec-network-opens-new-era-in-college-athletics.php

No shit. Especially considering at least half the stadiums in the SEC seat 100K or damn near it. DTV will eventually cave, but they feel the need to posture right now to save face. No way the best, most powerful conference in arguably the most popular sport in the nation isn't available with all the major providers when the season starts. Hell, we've only produced the National Champion almost every year for the decade.

[Dawgowar]

Please read and understand the full scenario before throwing out this ridiculousness. Again. It's still clear, after all these paragraphs, that you don't understand what is going on here with the launch strategy of the network. You completely whiffed on the pricing structure -- and again made a ridiculous comparison to the LHN. I can't understand it for you. Nor can I discuss it with you until you understand it.

Here are the markets -

1 New York 7,433,820 6.495
2 Los Angeles 5,654,260 4.940
3 Chicago 3,492,850 3.052
4 Philadelphia 2,950,220 2.578
5 Dallas-Ft. Worth 2,489,970 2.175
6 San Francisco-Oak-San Jose 2,476,450 2.164
7 Boston (Manchester) 2,409,080 2.105
8 Atlanta 2,369,780 2.070
9 Washington, DC (Hagrstwn) 2,321,610 2.028
10 Houston 2,106,210 1.840
11 Detroit 1,926,970 1.684
12 Phoenix (Prescott) 1,855,930 1.622
13 Tampa-St. Pete (Sarasota) 1,822,160 1.592
14 Seattle-Tacoma 1,819,970 1.590
15 Minneapolis-St. Paul 1,730,530 1.512
16 Miami-Ft. Lauderdale 1,546,920 1.352
17 Cleveland-Akron (Canton) 1,524,930 1.332
18 Denver 1,524,210 1.332
19 Orlando-Daytona Bch-Melbrn 1,466,420 1.281
20 Sacramnto-Stkton-Modesto 1,399,520 1.223
21 St. Louis 1,249,820 1.092
22 Portland, OR 1,175,100 1.027
23 Pittsburgh 1,156,460 1.010
24 Charlotte 1,122,860 0.981
25 Indianapolis 1,114,970 0.974
26 Baltimore 1,102,080 0.963
27 Raleigh-Durham (Fayetvlle) 1,080,680 0.944
28 San Diego 1,066,680 0.932
29 Nashville 1,016,290 0.888
30 Hartford & New Haven 1,014,990 0.887


Of the top 30 -
PAC 10 primary - 15 million rounded off - (LA -2nd largest US market, S.F 6th, Phoenix 12th, Seattle 14th, Sacramento ? 20th, Portland ? 22nd, San Diego 28th)
12.5 Million ? (Atlanta ? 8th, Dallas 5th, Houston 10th, Tampa 13th, Miami 16th, Orlando 19th, Nashville 29th)

SEC cannot lay claim to the entirety of the Dallas Market nor the Houston Market - Tampa has a strong ACC pull as well.

DTV holds the NFL - a few pissed off Southerners will not dent their share.

SEC fan bases are the most passionate, but short-term they can be mitigated. Be prepared to switch subscribers or go without MSU Football the month of September. Hope I am very wrong, but we little fish in the SEC pond are fodder for this marketing plan. I will now just agree to disagree with you as the week has been long and this board is strictly for a good laugh most of the time.

[Homedawg]

I don't think directv is going to pass on this. However, if I'm wrong I'm out. As will more than a million others. Is that a lot in the grand scheme of things? We will find out. But that's a lot o money from where I come from

[Dawgowar]

Homedawg, I feel the same. My DTV contract expires in April - if they will not let me go month to month pending this decision I will bail with cheap cable. Come fall one of the other cable providers or DTV will want my money and give me a deal. It's consumerism 101 - not that big a deal if you can take the emotions out of it. Somebody always wants your money. Either way I will have the best available option for me on TV. Since I live in Texas with plenty of Cowboys to suffer through the NFL package is not as important as it was when I lived on the east coast.

Cowboys, Dawgs, EPL and World Cup. Take the Rangers for free .

[MabenMaroon]

You just shortsold the SEC to the greatest extent imaginable...

100-200k subscribers? LOL. Comparing it to LHN reduces your entire position into ridiculousness. By all means, the 2 football games/yr on LHN is VERY comparable to the 45 that will be on the SEC Network...

Squashing the rest of your myths - http://msn.foxsports.com/college-football/outkick-the-coverage/sec-network-opens-new-era-in-college-athletics.php
How long have you worked in the tv service industry? Never mind, you get all your info from fox! And you are the guru ....

[SheltonChoked]

You really don't get it. The longhorn network can only put on 1 or 2 non conference home games a year. It had ole miss ut this year. That was the biggest game it could.

Mark my words. Espn will put every sec home game they get on the sec network if direct or comcast holds out. The net work has all the cards now with uverse and dish on board. They will have the whole south tweeting, calling, emailing, and canceling service for not being able to watch their game.

[Homedawg]

How long have you worked in the tv service industry? Never mind, you get all your info from fox! And you are the guru ....

I'll just sit and wait for the govt to give me the sec network, I deserve it!

[PassInterference]

I hope DirecTV sits this one out. It will reduce the value of the SEC Network, and longer term in a very indirect way reduce our ticket prices.....at the slight risk of the SEC being less dominant, but I doubt it seeing as how DirecTV isn't buying other conference networks.

[SheltonChoked]

How will msu getting less tv money make us lower ticket prices?

[engie]

Here are the markets -

1 New York 7,433,820 6.495
2 Los Angeles 5,654,260 4.940
3 Chicago 3,492,850 3.052
4 Philadelphia 2,950,220 2.578
5 Dallas-Ft. Worth 2,489,970 2.175
6 San Francisco-Oak-San Jose 2,476,450 2.164
7 Boston (Manchester) 2,409,080 2.105
8 Atlanta 2,369,780 2.070
9 Washington, DC (Hagrstwn) 2,321,610 2.028
10 Houston 2,106,210 1.840
11 Detroit 1,926,970 1.684
12 Phoenix (Prescott) 1,855,930 1.622
13 Tampa-St. Pete (Sarasota) 1,822,160 1.592
14 Seattle-Tacoma 1,819,970 1.590
15 Minneapolis-St. Paul 1,730,530 1.512
16 Miami-Ft. Lauderdale 1,546,920 1.352
17 Cleveland-Akron (Canton) 1,524,930 1.332
18 Denver 1,524,210 1.332
19 Orlando-Daytona Bch-Melbrn 1,466,420 1.281
20 Sacramnto-Stkton-Modesto 1,399,520 1.223
21 St. Louis 1,249,820 1.092
22 Portland, OR 1,175,100 1.027
23 Pittsburgh 1,156,460 1.010
24 Charlotte 1,122,860 0.981
25 Indianapolis 1,114,970 0.974
26 Baltimore 1,102,080 0.963
27 Raleigh-Durham (Fayetvlle) 1,080,680 0.944
28 San Diego 1,066,680 0.932
29 Nashville 1,016,290 0.888
30 Hartford & New Haven 1,014,990 0.887


Of the top 30 -
PAC 10 primary - 15 million rounded off - (LA -2nd largest US market, S.F 6th, Phoenix 12th, Seattle 14th, Sacramento ? 20th, Portland ? 22nd, San Diego 28th)
12.5 Million ? (Atlanta ? 8th, Dallas 5th, Houston 10th, Tampa 13th, Miami 16th, Orlando 19th, Nashville 29th)

SEC cannot lay claim to the entirety of the Dallas Market nor the Houston Market - Tampa has a strong ACC pull as well.

DTV holds the NFL - a few pissed off Southerners will not dent their share.

SEC fan bases are the most passionate, but short-term they can be mitigated. Be prepared to switch subscribers or go without MSU Football the month of September. Hope I am very wrong, but we little fish in the SEC pond are fodder for this marketing plan. I will now just agree to disagree with you as the week has been long and this board is strictly for a good laugh most of the time.

And once again -- you show a VERY obvious failure of comprehension on what's actually driving this. You think because the B1G Network had a hard time picking up primary tiers in New York City that the SEC Network will have a hard time with that in Birmingham? Are you serious right now?

Here are the top MARKETS FOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL.
Top 25 Markets for 2013
No. 1 Birmingham: 9.2 rating
No. 2 Greenville: 4.9 rating
No. 3 Knoxville: 4.4 rating
No. 4 New Orleans: 4.3 rating
No. 5 Nashville: 3.3 rating
Memphis: 3.3 rating
Columbus: 3.3 rating
Jacksonville: 3.3 rating
No. 9 Louisville: 3.2 rating
Atlanta: 3.2 rating
No. 11 Charlotte: 2.9 rating
No. 12 Oklahoma City: 2.8 rating
No. 13 Orlando: 2.7 rating
No. 14 Tulsa: 2.6 rating
Tampa-St. Petersburg: 2.6 rating
No. 16 Austin: 2.5 rating
West Palm Beach: 2.5 rating
No. 18 Kansas City: 2.4 rating
Norfolk: 2.4 rating
No. 20 Dayton: 2.3 rating
No. 21 Greensboro: 2.2 rating
No. 22 Raleigh-Durham: 2.2 rating
Richmond: 2.2 rating
No. 24 Ft. Myers: 2.1 rating
No. 25 Dallas-Ft. Worth: 2.0 rating

Only 8 SEC markets in the top 10 -- and 14 of the top 25. So, you think it's going to fly well with any possible "hold out" companies when ESPN puts TSIO(Bama Tennessee rivalry) on the SECNetwork? Yeah -- there will be a lynch mob of millions of customers. Don't kid yourself. And that's not counting all of the markets in North Carolina that, let's face it, are PRIMARILY tuning in to SEC games -- nor counting the Austin market which is largely doing the same. We will grab the NC market in the next decade anyway to go along with Viriginia. How many are we at then? 20 of the top 25 -- and 9 of the top 10?

You aren't talking about a hundred thousand people here. You are talking about 35 million subscribers in the southeast in the SEC footprint alone -- a STRIKING number of which will demand the hell out of the SEC Network. Don't believe it? Watch UVerse's market share leading into the SECNetwork launch.

[engie]

How long have you worked in the tv service industry? Never mind, you get all your info from fox! And you are the guru ....

Long enough to know that you are an idiot. Which is to say about 5 seconds.

[engie]

For as much as the readers of this blog site and forum love their SEC athletics it seems very monumental if their tv service provider didn't pick up the SEC Network. But in reality when one looks at the big picture nationwide it is fairly insignificant and the SEC is following the path of arrogance and conceit that the Longhorn Network is going down.
LHN comparison. Everything beyond this is invalid. Since you've made this comparison multiple times, you obviously don't understand why it's ridiculous -- and like I said before, I can't understand it for you.


Right now they are asking between $1.20 and $1.40 per viewer fee within the SEC geographic footprint and $.20 per viewer outside the geographic footprint.
$1.30 inside, $.25 outside. You basically got this part right.


By comparison, it is estimated that the NFL Sunday costs DirecTV about .40 per viewer and that translates into a seasonal cost of over $340 per subscriber for a season's subscription.
Congrats on twisting the shit out of that one to make an ill-fated point. "Per viewer"? Are you frigging serious? Simple FACT is that Sunday ticket costs $340/subscriber/yr. That, broken down, means it costs a shade under $3/mo. More than double the price of the SECNetwork.


Only a handful of SEC games each year ever exceed a 1.2 share of the national viewing market, I think the average game is around a .45 share on a regional basis, the NFL on the other hand averages a 1.2 share across the board per game week in and week out on a national basis.
What's your point? No one is asking the SEC TV contract to go to the $9 billion per year currently distributed to the NFL. You start by comparing to the LHN -- and then begin comparing to the NFL -- and you want me to believe that you understand what the hell you are talking about? All you did was go with terrible ass comparisons both ways -- while ignoring the obvious REAL competition, which is the B1G network -- which the SECNetwork will DWARF.


Bottom line folks, the SEC is nowhere to near as important the general national viewing public as we here in SEC land would like to believe.
Bullshit. It's EVERY BIT as important in the southeast as "we believe" it is. Quit pretending it's a single negotiation for the entire country. It isn't. It's multiple concurrent negotiations. Do I think they could "hold out" around the country? SURE. I expect them to. But they aren't going to hold out in the Southeast unless they are prepared to TOTALLY lose their percentage of the 35million overall subscribers down here. That's ignorant business.


As far as the tv service providers go they can take it or leave it. They have got very good bean counters analyzing the situation and have stock holders to answer to. DirecTV might lose 100k to 200k subscribers if they don't carry it, so it is a not a front burner item for them or any other tv service provider. The Longhorn Network has yet to show positive revenue and is unlikely to in it's current pricing structure, and look at it honestly, does anybody here give a crap if we get the LN or not, the same goes for the rest of the nation as they view the SEC. BET and MTV are far more important to the tv service providers than the SEC Network would ever hope to be.
Again -- EL OH EL.


The better approach might be to bombard the SEC front office and the SEC AD's with e-mails and demand that they make their product reasonably affordable, than try to bombard your tv service provider begging them to carry it.
$1.30 per month is INSANELY affordable for a product that 10 million people in the southeast would pay $10/mo for without batting an eyelash.

[Dawgowar]

Have a great weekend. Even you Engie

[woozman]

Only 8 SEC markets in the top 10 -- and 14 of the top 25. So, you think it's going to fly well with any possible "hold out" companies when ESPN puts TSIO(Bama Tennessee rivalry) on the SECNetwork? Yeah -- there will be a lynch mob of millions of customers. Don't kid yourself. And that's not counting all of the markets in North Carolina that, let's face it, are PRIMARILY tuning in to SEC games -- nor counting the Austin market which is largely doing the same. We will grab the NC market in the next decade anyway to go along with Viriginia. How many are we at then? 20 of the top 25 -- and 9 of the top 10?

You aren't talking about a hundred thousand people here. You are talking about 35 million subscribers in the southeast in the SEC footprint alone -- a STRIKING number of which will demand the hell out of the SEC Network. Don't believe it? Watch UVerse's market share leading into the SECNetwork launch.

I agree. Look at this thread alone. It is an extremely small sample size, but there are 3-4 replies from people (myself included) who have had DirecTV for over a decade (a couple going on 2 decades) and all of us have stated that we're dropping it if they don't pick up the Network. There is no way that DirecTV doesn't cave before football season...