American Cable Association President Matthew Polka says “If CBS, NBC and Fox want to risk billions in their dealings with the NFL, that’s their business. But broadcasters should not be able to rely on the government’s broken retransmission consent and cable carriage rules as the means for them to recoup the cost of their corpulent NFL contracts.”
Polka Throws Penalty Flag Over NFL Deals
American Cable Association President and CEO Matthew M. Polka isn’t pleased with the news of the National Football League’s new broadcast rights contracts with CBS, NBC and Fox.
“Reports that CBS, NBC and Fox are expected to pay hyperinflationary fee increases to the NFL are a calamity for consumers and should be a clarion call to policymakers in Washington, D.C.
“The fact is that these outrageous sports rights fees will be thrust upon the nine out of 10 U.S. households that subscribe to cable and satellite services and are denied any opportunity to opt out of paying for the channels on which these NFL games will appear. When will the insanity on sports rights fees end?
“If CBS, NBC and Fox want to risk billions in their dealings with the NFL, that’s their business. But broadcasters should not be able to rely on the government’s broken retransmission consent and cable carriage rules as the means for them to recoup the cost of their corpulent NFL contracts.
“Congress and the Federal Communications Commission need to throw a flag, because rules and regulations shouldn’t force consumers to bear the burden of broadcasters’ profligate spending, which will surely enrich NFL owners and players just as much as it will impoverish all pay-TV subscribers, particularly those who will never watch an NFL game.”
Comments (12)
Lynn Lynch says:
December 15, 2011 at 3:44 pm
So instead Mr. Polka would rather have them on ESPN and TNT and NFLN so his cable buddies can then force fans of the Food Network to pay for their rights fees as part of their basic cable bill, as opposed to on free tv? No one, less a few folks in mountainous or extremely remote regions, needs to pay ANYTHING to see games on free TV. Bad enough we now have to pay to see most of the NBA, NHL and MLB now. 3 cheers to the NFL for finding a way to keep most all of their games on FREE TV!!!
Sandy Hinkle says:
December 15, 2011 at 7:32 pm
No, I actually don’t want to see more sports forced onto consumers on cable nets any more than I want to see them forced onto consumers on broadcast nets. About six weeks ago I blasted ESPN for its MNF deal in the same way we blasted the NFL and broadcast nets today. The issue is not that the NFL is not valuable programming. It is, and our members are willing to pay for it, just like they are for the broadcast networks. The issue is that the price and terms for our members and their customers are not negotiated in an actual marketplace where cable operators have the ability to decide where to place certain programming and have the opportunity to find lower-cost alternatives. By the way, FREE TV has not been free for a LONG time. The broadcasters should really give up that line. No one believes it anyway. I know we will agree to disagree on my points, but that’s okay. We’re willing to have the discussion.
Sandy Hinkle says:
December 15, 2011 at 7:32 pm
PS-This is Matt with ACA.
Manuel Morales says:
December 15, 2011 at 5:11 pm
I’d love to know who Matt’s PR guy- very (un) artfully drafted prose. Matt Polka- the man who loves to read his own quotes.
Sandy Hinkle says:
December 15, 2011 at 7:41 pm
Sammy, guilty. I take full responsibility for everything I say! Feel free to criticize, and I welcome it! But, candidly, to your point, I really have no need to read my own quotes because, hey, when you speak the truth you don’t have to! MMP-) (PS-I’m KIDDING. Best, Matt)
Manuel Morales says:
December 15, 2011 at 9:18 pm
Matty, the solution is simple for cable operators- don’t enter into retransmission consent agreements with network affiliated local TV stations. Don’t cede to their requests- offer a pure play cable lineup with no broadcast nets. Attempting to rile up the members of your organization into a pitchfork wielding mob does no good.
Sandy Hinkle says:
December 16, 2011 at 2:19 pm
Wish we could. See ObserverGuy below.
Sandy Hinkle says:
December 16, 2011 at 2:20 pm
PS-And no one has called me Matty since I was a kid! But I can understand why you may have done that, SammY! MMP-)
len Kubas says:
December 15, 2011 at 11:22 pm
polka = reality distortion field
Sandy Hinkle says:
December 16, 2011 at 2:23 pm
No, no, no…truth, justice and the American way…
Martha McIntosh says:
December 16, 2011 at 2:14 pm
Sammy, cable ops are not allowed in many cases to unbundle carriage of cable nets from a co-owned broadcast net station (e.g. the Big Four own lots and lots of cable networks too). In any event, the ultimate payer is not cable it is the consumer. They are the ones arguing for lower cable bills and that means some flexibility must be provided to cable ops in how they package and price the content form these media giants. Or else the consumer will go somewhere else and then everyone stands to lose.
OG
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