An open letter to the PAC 12 Network

[YodaUte]

So you’re upset that you can’t get a deal with DirecTV. I don’t care anymore. Stop trying. When you launched the network you decided to keep control of the content because you wanted to be able to innovate. So do it. Start innovating.

Start selling your content directly to the consumer. Don’t make me show proof of a cable TV subscription in order to stream your content. I don’t want to send a wheelbarrow full of money to a cable company for content I don’t want. I have no interest in watching people fish or bake quiche. I don’t want to watch Love It Or List It, Cupcake Wars, anything having anything to do with anyone named Kardashian, and I certainly have no interest in watching any of the Fake News Networks. I just want your content. That’s it. I would gladly pay you, say, $6 per month for the right to see PAC 12 games. Stop worrying over the $0.80 per subscriber you want to get from DirecTV.

If half your revenue is from subscription fees and the other half from advertising, you need to increase viewership, not limit it by locking people out because, like me, they refuse to finance the dying cable TV scheme.

You are half-way through a 12-year contract with Fox and ESPN. When it expires, don’t renew. They’re poaching all the biggest games. The next time two top-10 PAC 12 schools are playing, you will own the rights to that game. Now you can force people to sign up for your streaming service if they want to see the game. If ESPN or Fox want to broadcast the game, they do so only on your terms.

Game times are counterproductive. Why do so many games start at 8 or even 10 pm mountain time? Is it any wonder this conference gets little respect from the East Coast when all our games occur after midnight in that time zone? Start playing games at the more logical Saturday afternoon time slot.

[PorterRockwell]

Couple of thoughts here. Afternoon games in September don’t make a ton of sense for the fans in the stadium. I prefer the evening games in September and October it allows fans to go and do other things before the game if they choose. Saturday afternoon. Games basically make it an all day event because there’s no time to do anything outdoors before or after

Afternoon games in November make perfect sense for the fans in the stands. Warmest part of the day etc

If you’re a direct TV customer there are other options. Nobody likes paying cable but for the moment it’s cable or sling or s couple of other streaming options out there

[YodaUte]

Yeah, at present your only options are to buy some kind of package, but even Sling makes you pay for content you may not want. I don’t think this model is sustainable. The broadcast climate is changing, and the old model won’t survive. Facebook and Twitter are going to stream individual games. Amazon will let you rent a movie for anywhere from $2 to $6, and that is for content they don’t own. If the PAC 12 Network wanted to sell an individual game for even a paltry $1, they would be ahead of what they’d get for a monthly DirectTV kickback, and they’d still pick up the advertising revenue. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

[Virginia Ute]

I’d rather see the bigger games on ESPN/Fox.  Better quality product, more exposure for the teams.  USC vs UW shouldn’t be on the P12 Network….nor will it ever be.  

[YodaUte]

So if Fox wants to broadcast USC vs UW, you can sell them the right to do so, but keep rights to simultaneously stream over your service and keep the rights to stream rebroadcasts.
Regarding the game times, I confess I don’t feel too strongly about that aspect. You do, however, have to account for the East Coast. No broadcast product can succeed without gaining traction in the most populous area of the country. Of course your first priority has to be the Southern California market (second largest media market in the country), but you cannot succeed if viewers east of the Mississippi have no access.
Playing at 2 am Eastern Time is not conducive to getting exposure for your league. If you’re going to play late games, at least make the game available for streaming the next morning. Give Bubba a chance to peruse the PAC 12 game before he cracks open a beer and settles in for the NFL games. You could give Bubba two streaming options: stream for free with ads or for $1 with no or limited ads.

[Red Don]

Doesn’t bother me anymore either.  Now that I’ve moved back to SLC for part of the year I have it on Comcast and can watch it on Xfinity TV when in NV, and when here can watch NFL Sunday ticket through my DirecTV account in NV.  All is right in the sports TV world for me now.