Fuck the NFL network

[Eldred]

NEW YORK -- After weeks of insisting they wouldn't cave in, NFL officials did just that Wednesday. Now all of America can see the Patriots' shot at history.

Saturday night's game between New England and the New York Giants on the NFL Network, which is available in fewer than 40 percent of the nation's homes with TVs, will be simulcast on CBS and NBC.

The Patriots could become the first NFL team to go 16-0 in the regular season.

"We have taken this extraordinary step because it is in the best interest of our fans," commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement after the league announced it was reversing course. "What we have seen for the past year is a very strong consumer demand for NFL Network. We appreciate CBS and NBC delivering the NFL Network telecast on Saturday night to the broad audience that deserves to see this potentially historic game. Our commitment to the NFL Network is stronger than ever."

NFL Network spokesman Seth Palansky said officials would have no further comment Wednesday.

The NFL had claimed that the onus of making the game widely available fell on the major cable providers with which the league has bitterly feuded. Companies such as Comcast and Time Warner have declined to carry the network as part of basic packages.

But lawmakers have pressured the NFL to ensure more viewers could see the game. Last week, two prominent members of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Goodell threatening to reconsider the league's antitrust exemption.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who co-wrote the letter with Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said he was "delighted" by the NFL's concession.

"I think it was a smart move on their part," he said in a phone interview.

Leahy expected to speak with Goodell again next month about the ongoing question of how many fans will be able to see games on the channel. Saturday's matchup wraps up the NFL Network's second season of airing live contests, with eight per year. This one and a key Thursday night game between Green Bay and Dallas last month drew widespread complaints about the lack of availability.

"I never completely gave up hope, but I was getting a little discouraged Christmas afternoon when we still had not gotten a positive answer," said Leahy, who added that his staff members were talking with NFL officials during the holiday.

Local TV affiliates in the Boston, Manchester, N.H., and New York areas that were already set to simulcast the game under NFL policy will still air it. That means viewers in those markets will have four channels to choose from if they get NFL Network.

That did not make officials at WWOR in New York happy.

"The NFL is in clear violation of their agreement with WWOR/My9," the station said in a statement. "We fully expect the league to honor their commitment to My9 as the exclusive free over-the-air broadcaster for Saturday's telecast of the New England Patriots at New York Giants game."

In a statement, NFL spokesperson Seth Palansky said: "We are in the process of reviewing the situation as it relates to Channel 9."

According to Palansky, there have been no complaints from the Boston market.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who had urged cable and NFL executives to settle the dispute, had a much more positive reaction to the league's announcement.

"I couldn't be more thrilled that as the Patriots rush toward an historic undefeated season, football fans everywhere have won a victory of their own," Kerry said. "With today's announcement, the NFL showed their loyalty to the sports fans who made the NFL an empire in the first place.

"The best news of all is that now no die-hard Pats fans will be shut out from watching their team take aim at football history," Kerry said in a statement.

This will be the first three-network simulcast in NFL history and the first simulcast of an NFL game since the inaugural Super Bowl in 1967, when CBS and NBC televised the meeting of the champions of the newly merged National Football League and American Football League.

"We're happy to accommodate the NFL's request for a joint national simulcast of this potentially historic game to make it available to the widest possible audience," said Dick Ebersol, NBC Universal's chairman for sports and Olympics.

NBC was scheduled to air "Dateline NBC" and a repeat of "Law & Order: SVU" during the time slot. CBS was set to broadcast the movie "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "48 Hours: Mysteries."
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It's bullshit that so few people get the NFL network cause they have suck ass cable networks like Time Warner

[Haylo]

I absolutely love the NFL network. It's so cool to just be able to pull up one screen to navigate through all the games, plus I run the football pool at work so for checking scores fast when i'm not at the computer, it's a big help. Excuse the silly question, but can't people get DirectTV regardless of who provides Cable for their area? I would imagine that if you can get cable you can also get DirectTV.

[Tikker]

satellite just isn't feasible for households with a bunch of TV's

[Haylo]

Really? We have some sort of package deal. We have 9 TVs and everyone of them has Direct TV installed. We still pay less than we did with Cable.

[Tikker]

you can watch 9 different channels at once?

[Eldred]

DSL sucks dick, my cable is soooooooooooooo much faster than my next door neighbors dls it's retarded.

[Harrison]

DSL is very dependent on location.

[Tikker]

DSL sucks dick, my cable is soooooooooooooo much faster than my next door neighbors dls it's retarded.

I have 50Mbps dsl, which I'm betting wtfpwns what you have

[Eldred]

I have 500mb cable as well also the Time Warner network node, for our area sits right on the telephone pole in our yard. I know this because they had to change it over the summer because of a defect in it. There are 2 houses with direct access to the node we all have amazing connection speeds.

[Tikker]

uh huh, 500mb

[Haylo]

Yep Tikker. Each of the TVs has it's own box/receiver thing and you can watch whatever you want. I really had no idea that satellite worked any different than cable for most people. Also I don't understand what you mean about the speed of the TV...sorry color me confused. I turn it on, the picture is there, I flip through 500 channels of jack shit, I turn to discovery channel, i'm happy.

[Tikker]

Yep Tikker. Each of the TVs has it's own box/receiver thing and you can watch whatever you want. I really had no idea that satellite worked any different than cable for most people. Also I don't understand what you mean about the speed of the TV...sorry color me confused. I turn it on, the picture is there, I flip through 500 channels of jack shit, I turn to discovery channel, i'm happy.

the speed comment was about the cable vs dsl thing, nothing to do with satellite

[Haylo]

Ah ok I thought he was talking about computer connections but then I wondered how computer connections got into a topic about TV. I guess his point was that he isn't willing to sacrifice his computer connection for a better TV deal. We use Verizon Fios for internet, we don't have the fastest speed of 50mbps, we have 15mbs which seems extremely fast to me. Anyway, I never wanted Cable for my internet connection when the only way to get it would be to submit to being assraped by Comcast. I'll stick with DirectTV and Fios.

[Tikker]

err, can't you get tv over fios as well? (i think certain areas can anyway)

[Haylo]

Yep you can get TV from Verizon, we just chose to keep them separate and stick with DirectTV.