Netflix should buy the NFL Sunday Ticket rights, not Google

Post by VikingCoder » Wed, Aug 21, 2013, 9:19 PM UTC

harryh wrote: post #50

VikingCoder wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Needham & Co. estimates that ESPN rakes in $7 billion from cable customers, even though many never even watch the channel. http://www.npr.org/2013/08/07/209820647/the-history-and-futu... > Threatened by Internet streaming services and a fragmenting TV audience, Comcast/NBC, ESPN, Fox Sports, Turner, and CBS have agreed over the last 20 months to spend $72 billion for the TV rights to professional, Olympic, and coll…

Yes, cable is not a la carte. That doesn't automatically mean that you're subsidizing ESPN. Maybe it's the people that sign up for cable solely to get ESPN that are subsidizing all the other channels.

Post by harryh » Wed, Aug 21, 2013, 9:34 PM UTC

VikingCoder wrote: post #51

harryh wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, cable is not a la carte. That doesn't automatically mean that you're subsidizing ESPN. Maybe it's the people that sign up for cable solely to get ESPN that are subsidizing all the other channels.

You are correct that mathematically, I have not proven the direction of total subsidization. However: > In some TV markets, Abdoulah said, sports channels account for 60 percent of the overall programming costs in the cable-TV bill because of fees for regional sports networks. I guarantee that it is not the case that greater than 60 percent of people who sign up for cable do so solely to watch sports. So, in certain…

Post by harryh » Wed, Aug 21, 2013, 9:45 PM UTC

VikingCoder wrote: post #52

harryh wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a silly answer for a lot of reasons. But more than any it doesn't make much of a difference. The NFL will spend about 3.8B on salaries next year. The NBA is around 2B. MLB is around 3.2B. Add that up and you get 9B. Spread that evenly among the 7.2 Million teachers in the US and you get: only 1,250 each.

The average high school teacher in the US makes about $44k a year. A 2.8% raise is nothing to scoff at. Also, I think you're vastly underestimating, based on all of the support staff necessary to make a sporting facility, man it, broadcast it, and comment on it. Not to mention how much the team owners take out of it.

Post by harryh » Wed, Aug 21, 2013, 9:53 PM UTC

VikingCoder wrote: post #54

harryh wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Generally I start from the point of view that gross mis-pricings where there are multiple buyers and sellers involved are pretty rare. So the various TV organizations are probably paying about as much for sports broadcasting rights as their customers are willing to pay for them. Maybe it's off a bit one way or the other but certainly not by a factor of 10 (as you claimed above). That's basically what I think unless I…

Remember, cable is merely the carrier . I assert that $0 of what I pay my cable company should go to pay for programming (other than Pay-Per-View), considering that programming already has advertising. If I want to pay for Premium content (like HBO, Sports), then Cable could mediate that. But that's not the relationship we have today, at all.

Post by VikingCoder » Thu, Aug 22, 2013, 1:42 AM UTC

harryh wrote: post #57

VikingCoder wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Remember, cable is merely the carrier . I assert that $0 of what I pay my cable company should go to pay for programming (other than Pay-Per-View), considering that programming already has advertising. If I want to pay for Premium content (like HBO, Sports), then Cable could mediate that. But that's not the relationship we have today, at all.

Cable companies are certainly not just a carrier. They pay all kinds of money in order to put together a package of programming that is popular enough for them to attract a large subscriber base. They do this because that's how they think they can best run their business. You can assert all you want about how you think the cable company should spend it's money, but you don't get all that much of a say in the matter.