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tOSU TV Viewing/ESPN GamePlan?

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OVERHEARD:@ An ESPN worker said that the cable network's employees were told to not wear clothing with the company logo on it around Columbus because of a possible backlash by angry fans who could only watch the game live on ESPNU a channel as scarce as smiling Hoosiers on Saturday.

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osugrad21;640789; said:
OVERHEARD:@ An ESPN worker said that the cable network's employees were told to not wear clothing with the company logo on it around Columbus because of a possible backlash by angry fans who could only watch the game live on ESPNU a channel as scarce as smiling Hoosiers on Saturday.

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I hope nothing happened. I'm pretty sure nothing did, otherwise we would've heard something I think.
 
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Dispatch

BROADCAST BIT
Tuesday, October 24, 2006

ESPN blocks rerun of game

Though widely promoted, the planned rerun of the Ohio State-Indiana football game on Time Warner analog Channel 24 didn?t happen.
ESPN told Time Warner and the Ohio News Network that only the ONN rebroadcast on the digital tier would be allowed, according to Time Warner and ONN.
The Indiana game was shown live on ESPNU, a 24-hour college-sports network that isn?t offered by two of the three major cable providers in central Ohio ? including Time Warner.
ONN had acquired permission to rebroadcast the game after its end.
When officials at ESPN realized that Time Warner intended to show the rerun on both the analog and digital tiers (but carries ONN only on digital), they blocked the analog rebroadcast.
? From staff reports
 
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Hard to see

A number of Ohio State fans weren't happy with the decision that relegated the Ohio State-Indiana game to ESPNU last week. ESPN's college sports outlet has limited distribution, reaching only 7 million to 8 million homes.

The nation's No. 1-ranked college team deserved a larger audience. Its game certainly had more national ramifications than Illinois-Penn State, which ran on ESPN2.

This week, ESPNU will carry the Iowa-Northern Illinois game, which won't please Hawkeyes followers.

Is it a ploy to force cable operators to add ESPNU? ESPN wouldn't do something like that, would it?

"One way to ensure the growth and promise of ESPNU is to feature top games and a quality schedule," ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said. "Many of these games wouldn't be televised elsewhere if ESPNU weren't around."

On a related subject, it will be interesting to see what cable operators do with the NFL Network once it begins to air a series of eight games, beginning on Thanksgiving night. The NFL's move clearly is an attempt to get the network wider distribution on basic cable.
 
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Why do they even have Gameplan???? What are customers paying $120 for when they order Gameplan?? Unbelievable.....I just wish I could get my money back b/c theyve showed crap games all year.....On Saturday night they didnt have Oregon - Wash St. or Texas A&M - Okie St.....however I was lucky enough to have access to Nevada against some other no name Utah State maybe and LA Tech vs. another no name as well.......great use of my money
 
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Man, ESPN disrespects tOSU again! Iowa and scUM to play on ESPNU!!!

How can this happen! They are screwing us Bucks fans again 'cause they hate us and they're abusing us.

Oh. Or maybe this is just more sound business as a network continues to promote it's newest arm.:biggrin:
 
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Steve19;639603; said:
matcar, with all due respect, I don't think anyone is arguing that ESPN has the right to telecast or not telecast the game. Let me frame an opposing argument from a completely unemotive position.

ESPN has an objective to maximize its revenues and profits. Fine. It uses its buying power and size to negotiate contracts with content providers, such as Ohio State, betting that we will be watching and that they can be profitable. Fine. It is due a fair profit on the risk it takes. Fine. ESPN also has the right to package its services anyway that it wishes. Fine. The expectation that ESPN will make Ohio State games available every week is not reasonable because it has promised to make only 10-15 games maximum available on GamePlan and that won't even accommodate the top 25 in a given week. Fine.

Let's say we agree on all these points.

First, ESPN guarantees that it will show "your favorites" in its advertising. Although this is a general claim, if Ohio State has the largest fan base in the country or even one of the top 5. So, it is reasonable to assume its games will be shown most of the time, which they are.

Second, however, the argument that ESPN could not show the game is not reasonable. It is telecasting the game and could find a way to show the game, at least online. No constraint issue is raised and it would be no problem for them to provide the feed profitably.

Third, an abuse of market position and possibly marketing ethics is taking place. ESPN is using the pent-up demand for the Ohio State game to try to force cable service providers to take a channel that they know nobody wants to watch. They are gathering content for lacrosse games, women's sports, and other niche markets that is not profitable to provide because no one wants to watch it, which the cable providers know.

Laudable though it may be to provide access to such coverage, college football fans should not be called on to subsidize it by paying cable fees that have been inflated by charges for an additional ESPN channel that nobody wants to watch most of the time.

Thus, many fans feel that ESPN promised that they will see their favourite college teams on GamePlan and they paid for the service, but that ESPN is now dividing that content and thereby forcing them (thorugh their cable providers) to buy yet another product in order to receive what they thought they paid for in the first place.

Let's be very clear about what is taking place. This is not about this game. ESPNU is an effort to get you and I to subsidize ESPN broadcasts of all kinds of mickey mouse sports. Why? Because sports administrators want more revenue and these sports are not profitable to broadcast.

If ESPN can get college football fans to subsidize these broadcasts, they can have more influence through the college sports departments and league offices. Suddenly, a Gene Smith has the women's lacrosse coach putting pressure on him to support an ESPN contract offer.

It's the same as all of the fishing, X-sports, and other minor sports stuff they show. It is relatively cheap content that is HIGHLY profitable to show.

But, make no mistake about what is happening here. This is a major effort to get a stranglehold on college sports and if you think the cost is high now, expect it to get worse in the future. We already subsidize all of the other sports to such an extent that most people can't afford to buy tickets anymore and even the price of licensed fan clothing is sky high.

In my opinion, college football fans have subsidized the other sports enough and ESPN should not be allowed to abuse its market position in this way.
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This post, while quite polite is a disasterous thought process. ESPN is making money here...no doubt. But the CFB fan is not, by any means, held hostage here. You don't have to buy anything, but if you WANT to watch something, you ARE going to have to pay for it. There's no free lunch here. CFB fans subsidize other sports because tOSU (along with many other top schools) wants it that way. That's even Coach Tressel's position...ready his presser today and you'll find it in his comments on this very day.

ESPN is definitely trying to make a buck, and they are trying to capitalize on the seemingly insatiable demand for college athletics and football specifically. In doing so, they continue to advance the amount and depth of coverage, not only of CFB, but of other athletic events. At times, there will inevitably be moments when fans are frustrated because they don't get "what they want", but the notion that this isn't a symbiotic relationship is absurd.

And the argument about seeing your favorite team play...well I'm sorry but that just doesn't hold any water because:

1) They still DO take the top games that are either on ABC, or are not already on another ESPN network (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU). So, they are doing the same thing as before, it's just that ESPN has 3 other networks that get first right of refusal on games. The ONLY thing that has changed here is that ESPN has 3 channels instead of 2.

2) What if my favorite team is Florida? Do I get to see all of MY team's games? No, because the SEC doesn't have a solid relationship with ABC or ESPN gameplan, so there's no guarantee there. Oh, and if my favorite team is Rice, when then I'm really f*cked.

So, with all due respect, there is simply nothing wrong with ESPN's "tactics" here. They are simply adding a network and generating interest in it. And ultimately, all college FB fans will benefit as there will be yet one more channel to enjoy games on.

As I noted in earlier posts, I can't wait to see what happens next year as people find they cannot get the B10 channel. Is the B10 channel also just a means of extorting money from us rabid fans???:oh:
 
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DDN

Get used to OSU games you can't watch

By Marc Katz
Staff Writer

Friday, October 27, 2006
Still fuming about missing out on Ohio State's romp over Indiana Saturday in a game shown on ESPNU, which is basically on a few satellite systems?
Well, next season ? if the Big Ten can't strike a deal with cable ? there will be at least two OSU games you won't be able to see.


That's when the Big Ten Network begins, and the signed contract says every Big Ten school will air at least two games on the network. That's right, Time Warner Cable doesn't yet have an agreement with the Big Ten, and judging by the hard line Time Warner is taking with ESPNU and CSTV and even the NFL Network, the Big Ten channel might be strictly a satellite perk around here for a while.
Of course, the Big Ten Network won't be showing the really big games, such as OSU-Michigan.
A contract with ABC and ESPN gives those networks first choice of most games, but, according to Mark Rudner in the Big Ten office, there will be very strict guidelines for which games the established networks can air and which ones the Big Ten will be able to show.
In case OSU makes another run like the current one, don't expect ABC and ESPN outlets to take the Buckeyes every week then find out with two weeks to go only the Big Ten Network can show their games.
Saturday's Minnesota at Ohio State game at 3:30 p.m. will be shown on ABC, but only to about 44 percent of the nation.
The rest of the country will be able to pick up the game on ESPN or ESPN2. Remember, those who do not subscribe to either cable or satellite can't access games on either of those outlets, so it's not like you were getting the games for free and now have to pay.
Cable has always carried a price tag.
At least the really big games shouldn't be affected, and Rudner insists, despite the rumors, that the Big One on ABC on Nov. 18 will not be moved from its scheduled 3:30 p.m. start to a night game.
But if you want to start venting early, plenty of OSU basketball games next season will be available only on the Big Ten network, and several this season will likely end up on ESPNU. While all the games have been scheduled for this season, most of the scheduling for network games has not.
Once again, if you want to watch, you'll have to have the right system.
 
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I have to admit that ESPN's little ploy has probably worked on me. I picked up ESPNU for the game and have watched a good bit of it this week along with CSTV and a lot of the FSN's which came with the Directv package. Also with B-Ball season approaching and me living out of the area I figure it will come in handy again.
 
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