Hmmmmmmmmmm

[Phantom Warrior]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/cbs-offer-stand-alone-subscription-130026588.html

Wondering what this might all eventually mean with respect to college athletics and ESPN, Fox, Big 10 Network, etc.

Thoughts?

[Goose85]

I don't watch many channels I pay for, but that doesn't matter, I have cable so I pay for them. Networks like ESPN bank on the idea that all cable / dish customers pay them, and not just sports fans.

The whole idea of adding schools to conferences was to increase revenue as instructed by the TV folks.
Is Rutgers a great fit for the Big 10, or is it just that millions of cable subscribers in New York are a great fit to pay more for the BTN?

Ok, now what happens if what CBS is doing becomes the norm? Will consumers ditch cable to buy specific networks or groupings of network options? Many younger consumers would I'd guess.

Most pay over $6 per month for ESPN and ESPN 2 through cable. What happens if a few million cable customers nationwide that don't care for sports drop cable?
Do TV contracts ESPN gives out get smaller?

What happens if the Big 5 conferences in college sports, who have now gotten used to the big TV dollars, gets a 20% reduction in TV revenue? Won't affect the others too much as they don't get the $20 mil per year, but the big boys might have some issues.

It's a few years away, but interesting to think about. I've said this before, but at some point, does a school like Texas get tired of sharing money equally with Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State and West Virginia and go it alone for football?

[The Reptile]

That comes on the heels of HBO announcing that they will sell subscriptions directly to consumers and bypassing the cable companies. I'm guessing that they've all come to the conclusion that the audience away from a TV but with a computing device is far greater than the audience in front of a TV. In a business where eyeballs pay the bills they're simply going to where the eyeballs are. All I have to say is its about time.

As for the sports networks it's simply another channel filled with customers to which they can sell the one time, exclusive rights to the events that people want to see. They will survive until a league (NFL) decides that they don't need the intermediary, can sell direct to the consumer and make as much from a few games and write off the stinkers between bad teams in late December.