Do the sat companies really want CCSN?

[Brett]

Dish Network did try to (appeal then sue the FCC) over the decision on SportsNet access, but did Dish Network just want the ACCESS to SportsNet or did they actually want to carry and offer SportsNet?

Did they just not like the loophole that a competitor (Comcast) pulled over them? The reason I question DISH's motive is even though YES Network was offered to them (at the same rate DirecTV Comcast RCN Time Warner and other MSOs got and took), DISH refused to carry that network. How can they say they want CCSN but not YES, both which carry pro sports teams that have major followings. YES carries Yankees which have bigger fan base than Phillies.

As for the Philly market, Nielsen statistics is showing now a 10% DBS penetration rate in Philly. According to WWAC TV's website. Maybe the DBS companies are comfortable in Philly without the RSN? The TiVo units, all (to almost all local broadcast channels), cheaper rates than Comcast were what might have caused the penetration increase.

If they are not comfortable over not having SportsNet access, Why are Dish Network and DirecTV still carrying the QVC Network (backed and owned by Comcast). QVC does compensate Dish and DirecTV, but it seems QVC needs the satellite platform (of 17 million homes) more than Dish and DirecTV need the small payment compensation they get from QVC. Yes, Comcast is a monopoly corporation but I dont see how DirecTV and Dish can feed into this company and support them.

From what I read, cable company that is also a cable channel distributor cannot tie channels like how a broadcaster (Disney NBC NewsCorp Viacom) can. This way Comcast can't force RCN to carry CN8 just to get CCSN. Comcast cant force DirecTV to carry QVC to get E!, Style, CCSN MidAtlantic then withhold CCSN Philly using a loophole.

Question remains what if a company is both a broadcaster and a cable company (like Cox). Time Warner owns WTBS but isnt a major broadcaster per se, considered by more a cable giant. Time Warner hasnt withheld any of its channels, but Cox has terrestially distributed their San Diego Sports channel withholding Padres access from DirecTV and Dish.

However, Cox is a broadcaster in San Francisco that has to negotiate in good faith per FCC rules. Couldn't Echostar and DirecTV file a petition challenging the broadcast license of KTVU (Cox owned) with the FCC?

Right now, It'd seem more sense for DirecTV to drop the QVC Network (when current contract expires) to show some action in towards Comcast.

But Comcast wouldnt be able to do anything about losing QVC distribution on satellite. They'd still have to offer DirecTV: E!, Style(whenever DirecTV wants it), CCSN MidAtlantic, Golf Channel, Outdoor Life Network at rates other competitors (like Star Power, RCN) are getting it since its satellite distributed. When QVC sales dip after losing 17 million homes, possibly then Comcast would want to talk to DirecTV about getting it back and thus a new a deal including SportsNet.

[Cyclone]

I'm glad that Dish has CSN here for the Wash area. BTW: What is CN8? Is it the News Channel 8 station?

[Cyclone]

I have no idea how you keep all of that straight.

[ksb]

Yes, they want to carry it, but they want it as an a-la-carte station rather than requiring all Philadelphia-area subscribers to get it. Comcast has insisted that CSN be a standard channel that all subscribers get. Here's the last paragraph from http://www.twice.com/index.asp?layout=story_stocks&articleid=CA211264
For its part, EchoStar's DISH Network has also not hammered out a deal with YES. EchoStar President Charlie Ergen recently noted that EchoStar offered to carry YES on an a la carte basis, allowing the network to charge viewers what it wanted, but the network declined that option. If they had decided to carry the YES Network, Ergen said that they would have been forced to raise its national rates on packages by a dollar.

When CSN was first offered, Comcast was charging local cable companies around $1.75 per subscriber. Even assuming that CSN would cost Dish $5, unless the Philadelphia market represents 20% of the Dish subscriber base, Ergen's math is way off.

Asking subscribers in one city to pay for pay channels available only in other cities, does seem a bit unfair. The alternatives are to charge more for CSN (i.e., make it an a-la-carte station) or to charge more for Philadelphia locals. The first option is prohibited by Comcast, the latter would put Dish at a pricing disadvantage in the market (as opposed to their current programming disadvantage).

Of course, none of this matters since Comcast won't offer CSN to Dish or DirecTV.

--Ken

[Mark Holtz]

Comcast in Philadelphia also owns several sports franchises, most notably the 76ers. While they do offer the channel to neighboring cable providers in the area, they are using a loophole in the carriage law by terrestrial means, and thus have blocked Dish and DirecTV from even negotiating carriage of the channel simply because Dish and DirecTV is competition to Comcast, and Comcast wants to maintain it's monopoly.

This is entirely different from the YE$ situation, where Dish, Cablevision, and YE$ were not able to come to terms.