NEW YORK (AP) - The NFL has offered one free week of its network programming to two cable TV operators who do not carry the channel in hopes of breaking a deadlock.

Commissioner Roger Goodell told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the week of Dec. 24-30 would be offered as a "free view" for customers of Cablevision and Time Warner Cable, two of the nation's largest cable carriers. The NFL Network would be offered on the expanded basic levels of the two carriers.
Neither Cablevision nor Time Warner carry NFL Network. Three regular-season Thursday night games already have not been available to those customers - except in the markets of the participating teams, where the games aired on broadcast stations.

It is not unusual for cable channels such as HBO and Showtime to offer such free weeks to increase their subscribers.

Although the free view will not include the Saturday night game between the New York Giants and Washington Redskins, it will include the Texas Bowl featuring Rutgers vs. Kansas State on Dec. 28 and the Insight Bowl with Minnesota vs. Texas Tech on Dec. 29.

"This morning we are communicating to Time Warner and Cablevision that we are going to give them an opportunity for what we call a free view," Goodell said. "Cable operators do it all the time. It's so that the consumer can experience our network for a week and get the two college bowl games."

The Texas Bowl not being available to many viewers in New York has become a contentious issue because Rutgers is coming off its best Big East season and has become a popular team in the area. The NFL Network owns the rights to the Rutgers-Kansas State bowl game at Reliant Stadium in Houston.

"We are trying to accommodate consumers, our fans and the fans of Rutgers, to let them know we are trying to resolve this issue," said Goodell, who said he also has spoken with Gov. Jon Corzine and Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey.

"The bottom line is that people in New Jersey need to be able to watch Rutgers play, and now we have a way to do that," said Lautenberg.

"We think this is a very good opportunity for people to see not only those two games, but the NFL Network," Goodell added. "We certainly believe cable operators will see it the same way."

Maureen Huff, a spokeswoman for Time Warner Cable, said Tuesday: "We just got this proposal and we are looking into it."

The cable companies are concerned the NFL Network is charging too much money for its programming.

If the cable companies were to accept the NFL's terms, "the NFL Network would immediately vault to being the third or fourth most expensive channel on the dial. It could lead to a price increase of $1 or more per month for every cable consumer in America," said Craig Moffett, an analyst at the Wall Street firm Sanford C. Bernstein.

"From the NFL's perspective, they want to generate consumer support," added John Mansell, senior analyst at Kagan Research, a media analysis company. "It's not unusual for any new network to offer their service free, but typically for an extended period of time. Even then, most cable operators are reluctant to bite because of the problems they might face in taking it off the air. ... It's very difficult for the cable company to take anything away from the subscriber."

The NFL Network is available in about 40 million of the 111 million homes with TVs. In comparison, ESPN, which airs Monday night games, is available in 92 million.

Thus far, Thursday night games have featured the Broncos at the Chiefs on Thanksgiving night; the Ravens at the Bengals on Nov. 30; and the Browns at the Steelers on Dec. 7. This week, there are two NFL Network games: San Francisco at Seattle on Thursday, and Dallas at Atlanta on Saturday.

Time Warner has said it is balking at a demand from the NFL that the network be carried on the most widely available basic service lineup rather than on a special tier.

NBC bought the rights to Sunday night games this year under a six-year, $600 million per year deal with the league. ESPN is paying $1.1 billion per year for Monday night football over eight years. Last year, the NFL reached six-year, $8 billion extensions with Fox and CBS for Sunday afternoon games.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/6265292

I wondered how long it would take. That would have been a big viewing audience that would have been missed had they not done something like this. And those ratings drive the rates for advertising.

SO#1 Wrote:NEW YORK (AP) - the week of Dec. 24-30 would be offered as a "free view" for customers of Cablevision and Time Warner Cable, two of the nation's largest cable carriers. The NFL Network would be offered on the expanded basic levels of the two carriers.

Very nice for Rutgers fans.

It figures that the week I head out of town where I have Time Warner is the week they give a free NFL Network viewing! Unfortunately it doesn't look like I'll be seeing the Rutgers game down in Louisville unless I go to a sports bar.

They might be offering but don't put it past Cablevision and Time Warner to not accept and risk getting more pleading from customers to pick up the channel.

I'm thrilled for the Rutgers fans but it's obvious why the NFLN is doing this. This is getting ridiculous, this mismanagement of the communication infrastructure. Count me among those not thrilled with the NFL's plans for this network, much like Gregg Easterbrook ESPN.com's Tuesday Morning Quarterback and Arlen Specter. From the linked article:

Quote:But the fact that NFL Network game broadcasting has begun with a whimper rather than a bang makes it time to start thinking ahead to the next decade, when the league's current deals with ESPN, Fox, CBS and NBC expire. The NFLN live-game slate is an experiment; several influential NFL owners want the experiment to lead to the league taking over its own broadcasting in 2012, cutting out the established networks. My guess is that if this happened, it would kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, starting the seemingly invincible popularity of pro football into a cycle of decline. Several NFL owners labor under the mistaken impression that all ESPN and the other established networks are doing is "carrying" NFL contests, adding no value to them, and so they believe the NFL itself should broadcast its own games and keep all advertising and cable revenue.

Quote:On another broadcasting note, Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, an influential figure on Capitol Hill, announced last week that unless the NFL makes Sunday Ticket available to anyone who wants to buy it, he will introduce legislation to revoke the NFL's antitrust exemption. All hail Arlen Specter! TMQ has been campaigning for years on the point that the monopoly arrangement, which Sunday Ticket is offered only to satellite customers of DirecTV, violates the NFL's 1961 agreement with Congress. That agreement granted the league an antitrust exemption in return for its promise that pro football programming would be offered equally to all viewers. Because many millions of Americans live in places where it is not technically possible to receive DirecTV, the Sunday Ticket monopoly seems an obvious breach of the NFL's accord with Congress. (DirecTV is great; it's DirecTV's monopoly over Sunday Ticket, not the satellite carrier itself, that's causing the problem.) "A lot of people, including myself, would like to be able to have Sunday Ticket and can't get it," Specter said. The Pennsylvania senator also will press the NFL to cut the asking price for NFL Network, so NFLN can be shown on basic cable without necessitating a cable rate increase.