NFL network RIGHT NOW

[Partial]

Brett gives a great interview when its not tainted by retirement jargin. I really enjoyed that interview!

[BallHawk]

"That's one question I ain't got a clue about. Democrat, Republican, who gives a crap? We should all be thankful to live in America."

That, in a way, is so true.

[pbmax]

Question for anybody that knows. When the Packers play the Vkings at the end of the season on NFL Network, does that mean you have to have NFLN to watch the game?

I=I think I read where a local WI station will be showing it but other then that you have to go NFL Network.

For the NFL N games, a local station will carry it for the home market, so Milwaukee and Green Bay will broadcast the games over the air. Like an ESPN game.

If you live in Oshkosh, LaCrosse or Madison, you are going to need NFL N to get the game.

The State Journal has ads from NFL N goading people to call the cable company to carry the network.

[Willard]

FYI,

The first 5:47 of yesterday's Inside Training Camp from Green Bay is now available in the video area (top right) of NFL.com

http://www.nfl.com/

[GBRulz]

Question for anybody that knows. When the Packers play the Vkings at the end of the season on NFL Network, does that mean you have to have NFLN to watch the game?

I=I think I read where a local WI station will be showing it but other then that you have to go NFL Network.

For the NFL N games, a local station will carry it for the home market, so Milwaukee and Green Bay will broadcast the games over the air. Like an ESPN game.

If you live in Oshkosh, LaCrosse or Madison, you are going to need NFL N to get the game.

The State Journal has ads from NFL N goading people to call the cable company to carry the network.

The ad sounds fishy to me. Why are they only targeting the cities with Charter cable? Not sure why they listed Oshkosh as they can get the reception from the GB stations.

I'm sure Dish and Direct TV will be placing ads soon, too. Anything to get people away from cable.

[GBRulz]

FYI, I just sent out emails to all the local TV stations. I would like to know the official policy for local stations (WI stations in general) to carry games broadcast on NFLN. I think this is something that everyone would like to know! As soon as I get answers, I'll post them in this thread.

[4and12to12and4]

I thought the NFL Network did a great job. They showed a lot of different drills and explained exactly what they were doing and why. They also went to clips of a past game under Sherman and showed how our oline used to block man to man, and went to a clip of Atlanta's oline zone blocking and explained the difference, showing how the rb will look for an area that has a defensive lineman being double teamed by the oline and has to quickly run through that hole. I liked how they broke it down explaining that our o-lineman will be going to an area, not a defender, and the rb has to locate the area that opens up. The great thing about it is that, the rb can choose to run anywhere, there is no set hole, they have to just look and find the open spot based on where the oline gets a doubleteam on the defenders. They also showed an individual drill in which our olineman were practicing cut blocking by diving off "the line" and hitting a pad set up in front of him just off the ground. They dove and hit the pad with their upper arm and shoulder pad.

In individual drills where players run around cones, and then pummel a dummy, I noticed that Cole looked very quick and, man, is he built like a rock!! He's just BIG and so COMPACT. If he can get it mentally, he could really be a force this year. Pickett looked really big also, but not big like Grady, it's not all in his belly, he's really put together. He also seemed pretty quick. KGB looks SMALL compared to them!! But, damn is he fast.

They showed Driver running a long out pattern where he juked inside and then out, and Woodson blanketed him the whole way, and when Driver looked up to locate the ball, Woodson got in perfect position in front of him, located and the ball went right through his hands (Favre throwing). It was impressive coverage.

They showed Brett coming over to McCarthy after NOT throwing a pass to Bubba (me thinks), he either ran or checked down to another receiver, and MM said "what happened, you don't trust him?" and Brett, looking a bit sheepish, said "well, there was a window for a second, but then the safety came over".
McCarthy just nodded like "you could've gotten him", and instantly yelled out another play. I could tell that he is not afraid at all to challenge Brett. That was good to see.

Speaking of McCarthy, he does not look like a rookie out there at all. I mean, it was 100 degrees out there, and he was keeping the pace up big time! Everytime between drills, he would yell, "lets go, lets go, nobody walking. Come on!" and guys would jog to the next drill. I went to the Bears training camp Saturday at burbainna (i live 40 minutes from there) and it was no where near the intensity that MM is demanding. Awesome!!
By the way, Grossman was drilling everything on the money, and Orton couldnt hit the side of a barn. Another thing, I was right next to Grossman as he signed autographs. I am 6' 0 tall, and he is AT LEAST an inch shorter than me IN SPIKES!! They list him at 6'1" --- ya right.

Anyways, the thing I noticed the most about MM is that he has a very confident swagger about him and is not afraid to yell at guys. And he seems VERY organized. He seems to really know what he is doing out there. Very intense out there, very intense. I was impressed.

[MJZiggy]

Did you see him get introduced to the assistant and was all nice and told him, "just stick right by me" and then started yelling "horn. HORN!! HORN!!" when the kid didn't respond fast enough? Funny.

[4and12to12and4]

yeah, that was great. I mean, he said "horn", and when that guy didn't blow the horn within one second, he was PISSED. Intense!! I was hoping that he was a tough guy. We had heard that is why TT liked him, and now we're seeing it. What a contrast to Sherman.

[HarveyWallbangers]

I was telling a Vikings fan friend of mine that I get a good vibe from McCarthy. He's got a charisma with the players and on the field. He's a little bit cocky. He's not afraid to yell at a player, but he doesn't come across as a hard ass. I think he's okay in a news conference, but he's much more impressive on the field. I think the players are going to like playing for, but aren't going to take advantage of him. Kind of the ideal coach you want nowadays. I'm hoping he works out.

[4and12to12and4]

yeah, harvey, I get that same impression. I am stoked after watching him at TC. Since TT got him and said he was a "football" guy, I was hoping this is what he meant. I love his tough and intense style of coaching. He reminds me of Shanahan a little.

[GBRulz]

I saw two commercials tonight saying how if you have Time Warner Cable (provider here in GB) that you can't watch certain football games carried on NFLN.

Anyhow, i received two responses from area TV stations about carrying the Packer game. So far, multiple stations have rights to also carry the game live. I specifically asked about other stations in the state, but they didn't really address that part of my question.

************************************************** **********

CBS 5 has been granted the rights to the over-the-air broadcast of the NFL Network game this fall. So the Packers/Vikings game will be right here on CBS 5.

Regards,
Tom

_______________________
Thomas Swigert
Technical Operations & Web Manager
WFRV-TV Green Bay, WI
************************************************** **********

It will air on WFRV-TV here in Green Bay but will not be seen in Wausau.

_______________________
Have a Great Day!
Jay T. Zollar
Vice President/General Manager
WLUK-TV FOX 11
(920)494-8711
jzollar@wluk.com
Balanced News and Severe Weather Coverage

[pbmax]

The ad sounds fishy to me. Why are they only targeting the cities with Charter cable? Not sure why they listed Oshkosh as they can get the reception from the GB stations.

I'm sure Dish and Direct TV will be placing ads soon, too. Anything to get people away from cable.

The ad didn't mention Oshkosh, that was me. I should not have included them, as I am not even sure whether Oshkosh has its own TV stations.

I made the reference to emphasize that outside of a certain number of miles (used to be 75) and a Milwaukee exemption, other markets can't broadcast games over the air that are on national cable (ESPN or NFLN).

Hence for LaCrosse and Madison, two cities I am more familiar with, the local stations won't have the NFLN game over the air, you will need the cable channel.

For the Madison viewing area for instance, that means it won't be on at all unless you have a dish or people and the NFL can convince Charter to put NFLN back in the lineup.

[pbmax]

Blitzing Charter: NFL Network steps up pressure on cable firm
By Jeff Richgels
Capital Times
The NFL has started playing hardball with Charter Communications.


A simmering contractual impasse between the league and the Madison area's cable company over carriage of the NFL Network heated up over the weekend when the NFL began running ads slamming Charter.

"Don't let Charter ruin your football season," the ads state. "You'll miss NFL games. Call and demand NFL Network now."

The league is running the ads in markets where it hasn't reached carriage deals with the cable companies serving those markets. The NFL does have deals with cable giants Comcast and Cox, but not with Charter and Time Warner. The NFL also has deals with satellite providers DirecTV and DISH Network and Internet TV providers Verizon and AT&T.

NFL Network spokesman Seth Palansky said the league hopes Charter will "wise up" when customers start calling.

"If that fails to work we'll let them know that we're also available on DirecTV, DISH Network, Verizon and AT&T in those markets," Palansky said. "There's all sorts of tactics being discussed. Anything that will help solve this impasse or at least let our fans know there are other options and they don't have to be beholden to the cable company."

Although NFL Network's package of Thursday and Saturday night regular season games doesn't start until Thanksgiving, Palansky said it's not too early to step up the pressure.

"We're covering 14 hours from the Hall of Fame this weekend including the induction ceremonies live," he said. "We're carrying a Green Bay Packers scrimmage this weekend and their family night, which is very important to that market and Packers fans across the country. And then we're into the preseason. This is the time our fans are thinking about football again. And it's time that they should have NFL Network."

Ironically, Charter was the first major cable company to carry the NFL Network in January 2004 - on its digital sports tier, which costs extra.

But the contractual dispute led to the removal of the NFL Network last December, shortly before the NFL announced that some regular season games would be shown on the channel, including the Green Bay-Minnesota game on Dec. 21 that could be Brett Favre's final home game. (Madison is not considered a Packers home market by the NFL so that game can't be offered to local broadcast channels as it will be in Green Bay and Milwaukee.)

The dispute centers around the league's demand that NFL Network be carried on packages like Charter's expanded basic that don't cost extra, rather than digital tiers.

Palansky said it's not a matter of how much more per subscriber the NFL wants to charge compared to what it charged in prior years. Multichannel News reported earlier this year that the NFL was demanding more than double its prior fees.

"Charter wants to charge its customers more for our channel and we're opposed to that," he said. "We think they're charging enough as it is. And so we refuse to make a deal with them that has charges being passed along to customers."

Palansky said Charter can make money on the deal by selling ad time the NFL Network provides to its carriers.

"Charter is a little lazy in that regard," he said. "It's easier for them to charge their cable customer more. They're trying to prey on NFL fans' passion and think they can charge more and make more money. We're saying no. We've always made our games available to a wide audience and that should continue."

For example, Palansky said, DISH Network charges $29.99 for its expanded basic equivalent that includes the NFL Network, "and they make the economics work by selling ads like they're allowed to."

Negotiations with Charter are going "absolutely nowhere," Palansky said.

Charter declined to comment in detail on the ads or the negotiations.

"Charter is counting on sitting down with the folks at NFL Network in the near future to talk about things more important to our customers than the network's ads, like keeping programming costs lower for our customers who are not fans of football," the company said in a statement. "We prefer to stay focused and talk about what's good for our customers rather than the ads."

Barry Orton, a UW-Madison professor of telecommunications who advises many communities in their dealings with cable companies, said Charter could lose customers if it doesn't reach a deal.

"What are all the hardcore NFL fans going to do?" Orton said. "It's one thing (Charter) could do to push customers to get a (satellite) dish."

Meanwhile, Bob Pinter, government relations administrator for Charter in southern Wisconsin, reported no new developments in two other sports-related situations involving the company:


• Charter still has no deal with Sinclair Broadcasting to pass through high-definition broadcasts, which include Packers games on Fox47. Sinclair wants Charter to pay for the pass-through, which no other networks have asked for.


• Charter has no carriage deal with the new Big Ten Channel, which is scheduled to debut this month and could carry some Wisconsin football and men's basketball games. Like with the NFL Network, expanded basic vs. digital reportedly is a key issue.

Published: August 1, 2006

[GBRulz]

• Charter still has no deal with Sinclair Broadcasting to pass through high-definition broadcasts, which include Packers games on Fox47. Sinclair wants Charter to pay for the pass-through, which no other networks have asked for. __________________________________________________ _____________________

That must be a Fox thing. I get all of my local channels in HD through Time Warner, EXCEPT for Fox as they want TWC to pay for the pass-through of HD. Luckily, my TV has HD built in, and I live 2 minutes from FOX, so I can tune in directly by bypassing cable. The pic still isn't the clearest though if it were coming in from a cable signal.