Longhorn Network Question
by 40A on Feb 20, 2012 8:56 AM CST
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I apologize BONizens, but this is my obligatory Longhorn Network question.
I have been lobbying my cable provider (Cox-Oklahoma City) for months, but I don't see them offering the Longhorn Network anytime soon. So, I had a question for the more (much) knowledgeable members of BON. What cable providers are CURRENTLY carrying the Longhorn Network? Any word on cable providers who will be providing the Longhorn Network soon? I would love to have it before the Spring Game, but I die inside when I see BON members lauding the Network while I sit up here in North, North Texas with nothing.
Help?
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Verizon FIOS is the only national cable provider that currently offers the Longhorn Network.
There are also a few Texas providers (Grande, etc.)
WE NEED...
a longhorn grad to infiltrate the board at ATT Uverse and push it….come on, more people would watch TLN than some of these channels they offer
You've got my vote
U Verse is great, but no LHN makes me sad.
And one for DirecTV,,or three. Or seven.
If a man is alone in the woods and he speaks, if no one hears him,,is he still wrong?
I'm sure the providers would happily carry it and charge whatever ESPN wanted as a premium channel,
but ESPN is adamant that the LHN be part of basic cable line-ups in Texas and that’s a no-go for the cable providers. Honestly, I don’t see them budging at all on that issue, even with all the Longhorn fans in the state, I’m sure many wouldn’t like to see their cable bills go up $5 or $6 bucks to watch a spring game and fall game every year along with other programming. Then you take into account all the non-Longhorn/sports fans.
I think ESPN’s strategy should be to first make the LHN available as a premium channel then offer the ocassional free-preview weekend. Let word-of-mouth spread until the viewership becomes high enough that the cable providers see it as a true value-add to the basic cable line-up.
Either that or we could bring on a guy who negotiates million-dollar deals for breakfast to get it done.
My source close to the program can beat up your source close to the program!
$5-6?
They are asking $.40 per subscriber. If the cable company raised rates by $5-6 based on paying an additional $.40, that’s one hell of a markup.
by Texas Wahoo on Feb 20, 2012 12:16 PM CST up reply actions
they are trying...
to renegotiate all their channels (and bump ESPN/ESPN2 down to basic and the U/News/Classic to the next level) including ESPN3/Watch ESPN app/add the optional Game Plan (cfb) and Buzzer Beater (cbb) to their line up AND tack on the LHN to basic. So yeah they’re looking for a few extra dollars per month per subscriber…a la carte programing can’t get here fast enough, I’d swap all the HGTV, TLC, Bravo, Style crap for those channels any day of the week…
"We are who we are. People say what they say. The outcome is the outcome. We are proud of ourselves." -DeLoss Dodds 9/21/2011
I don't think we'll see a la carte programming anytime soon.
Which cable companies don’t already have ESPN on their basic package?
they probably are but I know ESPN 2 isn't on everyone's
and the others are higher or not carried at all which is why they are playing hard ball, but they dropped the ball with Cox subscribers and didn’t and the LHN when they renegotiated back in January…but hey it’ll only take one
"We are who we are. People say what they say. The outcome is the outcome. We are proud of ourselves." -DeLoss Dodds 9/21/2011
I truly believe we will get confirmation of the existence of unicorns and Big Foot at least three years before I have access to this mythical LHN.
If a man is alone in the woods and he speaks, if no one hears him,,is he still wrong?
by OnMySignal on Feb 20, 2012 12:04 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
It may be a couple years
Most major providers have multiple years remaining on current contracts with ESPN/Disney that were struck within the past couple of years (the most recent of which included online access for some to ESPN via watchespn.com). These providers don’t see a reason to re-negotiate those contracts for a new LHN with minimal demand. It likely won’t be until their respective deals with ESPN (for ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN News, ESPN Classic) near expiration that you’ll see ESPN be able to include LHN in the negotiations for basic carriage.
I cannot stand it...
The LHN political circle jerk with ESPN and the providers is comical at this point. Cox, TW, Comcast, Uverse, DirecTV, Dish Network, etc. are holding their ground. They know there is strength in numbers and they are sticking together at this point as they do not see the value in the LHN. Just business. This may as well be Bob’s Cola as it opines to find shelf space among the industry notables.
76-37-5.....Now, GET OUT.
I hold the AD responsible for this
Dodds was quick enough to grab the $30M/year or whatever but not farsighted enough to think about distribution. Geez the undergrad business school students would have known better. More likely he didn’t give a damn about distribution as long as the money is rolling in. Consequently the fans suffer.
Again his ‘We are the Jones’ arrogance bites us in the ass. Apparently we’re the only ones who think ‘We are the Joneses’, the cable companies don’t hear our roar.
"One player was lost because he broke his nose. How do you go about getting a nose in condition for football?" -- Darrell K Royal, when asked if the abnormal number of Longhorn injuries that season resulted from poor physical conditioning
by SpiritOfTheFedora on Feb 21, 2012 1:24 PM CST up reply actions
Seriously, what's the point of having a channel if the majority of the fan base can't even tune in to watch the games?
Would really love to see the ratings on how many people are watching.
There has to be an out clause for ESPN
Certainly they are not so short sighted that they would not provide that for themselves. $15 million per year is being wasted by them at this point. A worthless channel beyond measure. All it does, as you and others have mentioned, is hurt the fans.
76-37-5.....Now, GET OUT.
by Mulliganville on Feb 22, 2012 8:28 AM CST up reply actions
Well, all that ESPN or the LHN needs to do is lower their demands towards these outlets.
Then, it would get on everyone’s carrier. I don’t think ESPN is going to just drop it nor do they have any interest in dropping it. Right now, though, it seems that they are just negotiating & stonewalling to get their way. If they ever realize they won’t get their first demands, then it seems that they’ll back off. Eventually, it’ll be on every carrier. We’re just all going to have to be more patient than we want to be.
Sorry Guys
I believe the demand for LHN is too small for anything besides a premium channel. Even then…as others have mentioned, this debate over the LHN is deeper than just the channel. It’s a bargaining chip for ESPN to use and the cable companies to use. But it has no real power because there is just not enough demand!
How long must we endure the battle before the whole thing is scrapped?
Even as a premium channel
which 99.9 percent of members are ok with, it is still a valuable channel to any provider.
The Big Ten Network history is instructive
When it launched, you couldn’t see it on terrestial systems for a year. And when it finally broke out, it was on expanded basic in the B1G states. That’s all ESPN wants – on basic cable in Texas. I’m a DTV guy, and won’t change. I’m as pissed as anyone that I don’t have it. But the distribution call is ESPN’s, not Belmont Hall’s. All Deloss gets to do is cash the checks. When the economics of basic vs. premium don’t justify $15M, then the bunch in Bristol will make a change.
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