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December 18, 2007 |
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If you have trouble reading this e-mail, click here to go to the online version.TCA NEWS ALERT"For a league that has lived so long off government subsidies, it's a lot easier to just show up in Austin with your hand out."Houston Chronicle, Dec. 14, 2007
Football and cable: State should stay on sidelines By STATE SEN. KYLE JANEK
Although I enjoy watching football as much as any other Texan, I'm perplexed that one of the biggest public debates today isn't about affordable health care or private property rights, but about the TV broadcast of eight football games. In fact, the dispute between the NFL Network and cable operators appears to have commanded the attention of a number of my fellow state lawmakers and other elected officials in Texas. We are being exhorted by both camps to take sides in this dispute. First, let's be clear: It was the National Football League's decision to yank its eight games off the free broadcast airways and put them on its pay-to-view NFL Network. You once could watch the games for free on a local TV channel. Now you must pay for them one way or another, whether through satellite, cable or other means. Expect more games to migrate to the pay network next year. In other words, the NFL Network is now in a situation of its own creation. If it is so concerned that all fans get to see all games, the NFL could let the broadcast networks have the games and be done with it... ...Adopting new ones that favor the NFL Network would be unfair, especially as the NFL "enjoys just as many, if not more, government-conferred privileges as do cable operators," U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter recently wrote in a letter to the FCC. Among the examples he cites is the billions of dollars in public funds that NFL teams have won to finance new stadiums. Bottom line: Texans want their football. The NFL needs to spend less time, money and energy drafting elected officials into their PR war and instead get serious at the negotiating table. Janek, R-Houston, represents Senate District 17, which includes parts of Harris, Fort Bend, Brazoria, Galveston, Chambers and Jefferson counties. He is chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Emerging Technologies and Economic Development, and a member of the Committee on Business and Commerce. Click here to read the entire op ed by Senator Janek.
Update: Other recent comments against legislative action on the NFL Network carriage issue: This is not an issue a state government should consider, however much we love our Cowboys. Has a state government ever banned blackouts, where a game isn’t televised in a team’s hometown if the game wasn’t a sellout? That’s frustrating, too, for the fan who can’t afford a ticket. This is one of those wonderful symptoms of a free-market, capitalistic society. Who better to appreciate such entreprenual ingenuity than folks in Texas? Now the NFL is trying to get state legislatures to throw a flag and mandate arbitration. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell recently asked Texas lawmakers to drag the cable companies to the bargaining table. Funny, that. Local government awards cable franchises. And the Federal Communications Commission sets what rules there are regarding cable. What business do state legislatures have muscling in? But the funniest part was Jones positioning himself as the common fan's champion against "Big Cable" -- the same guy who'll be pricing working stiffs out of seats at the Cowboys' palatial new home in Arlington. Running to Austin, Fort Worth Star-Telegram Editorial, Dec. 15, 2007 When the bullying didn't work, Jones and the NFL did what they do best ˜ looked for the nearest government entity to do their dirty work. First, they asked the Federal Communications Commission to intervene. When that failed, they turned to state government. ... If the NFL and Jones wanted to be truly innovative, they'd take six games a season and stream them live over the Internet for free. But for a league that has lived so long off government subsidies, it's a lot easier to just show up in Austin with your hand out. NFL has a hand out, and it's not for a catch, Houston Chronicle, Dec. 14, 2007 What’s the deal with the NFL and government? Not only do most team owners look for taxpayer handouts for stadiums, but now the NFL wants government to give a boost to its NFL Network cable television channel...Why should any level of government be involved at all in the negotiations between cable operators and channel providers?..Businesses have to meet the demands of consumers, or suffer the consequences. So, the free market works. There’s no need for government to tackle cable operators on behalf of the NFL. The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, Dec. 12, 2007 Government should not be arbitrating business decisions at all. In fact, the NFL should be careful about what it wishes for...“This is about fans and consumers having access to the programming they want,” Goodell asserted. Oh, really? If, as Goodell and Jones protest, cable companies are doing fans a disservice by making out-of-market games inaccessible, why allow Monday Night Football to move to ESPN? Why extend DirecTV’s exclusivity on the “NFL Sunday Ticket” package?...The NFL clearly has the power to do so, but it will mean less revenue from the networks, who are willing to pay handsomely for exclusivity...So what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. If the cable companies feel the NFL Network rates placement on a special tier, it’s their right to make the call. The Reason Foundation, Dec. 11, 2007 The NFL, probably the most muscular of all sports leagues, is no stranger to competition. But rather than battle it out on the field, the league has turned to the Federal Communications Commission and the Texas Legislature in order to force the cable industry’s hand....Rather than taking money from one pocket and putting it into another, regulators ought to remember that fans are quite capable of taking care of themselves when it comes to figuring out the best way to watch a football game, or to buy electricity or insurance. It is folly to think otherwise. Football Follies 2007, Texas Public Policy Foundation, Dec. 10, 2007 ...Some are worked up about whether the cable-ready citizens of Texas can watch another eight football games a season.. Do we really want our free-market legislative leadership to wade into this business school case study? I’m curious to see how they’ll solve it without the equivalent of a mandate that all convenience stores sell diet root beer (Capitol cafeterias, too, if anyone’s listening). Then again, this is football. When Hank Williams, Jr. sings, "Are you ready for some health care?" or Faith asks if we’ve "been waiting all day to make education right," maybe we’ll get around to those little issues. Are you ready for some colleeeege?, State Senator Kirk Watson, Dec. 7, 2007 Click here to go the TCA website for more information on this issue. |
