From: jecorbett4@gmail.com   
      
   On Thursday, January 11, 2024 at 2:21:22 PM UTC-5, Michael Falkner wrote:   
   > On Thursday, January 11, 2024 at 8:57:40 AM UTC-8, The NOTBCS Guy wrote:    
   >    
   > > Somehow, I don't think having one wild card playoff game on Peacock is   
   going to result in that many new subscriptions. I have a feeling the real   
   reason NBC Universal is doing this is to gauge whether or not it would be   
   worth it to air some regular    
   season games as Peacock exclusives, the way Amazon Prime does.   
   > Exactly.    
   >    
   > You're probably staring into the teeth of a dual-exclusive deal -- half the   
   season on Peacock, half on Amazon Prime.    
   >    
   > The problem in the way is that most of the pro teams are utter shit, and you   
   can't even get Al Michaels to give a fuck about the games, and you're hearing   
   it -- from both him and future FOX guru Tom Brady.   
   > > Except for the Super Bowl and maybe the CFP Championship, I would say,   
   "You can pretty much count on that happening already."   
   > The only reason Monday Night Football isn't pay-TV is because of the actor   
   and writer strikes.   
   > > There would be too much backlash if the Super Bowl ended up PPV -   
   especially if the halftime show was PPV as well.   
   > Oh, Hell. I see worse.    
   >    
   > The game is six hours long and each quarter has a concert between them. All   
   on PPV.   
      
   I've never understood the attraction of the halftime shows. Mostly   
   past-their-prime music acts doing a few numbers. BFD.   
   Whether or not I have rooting interest in teams playing, I usually get pumped   
   up during the game and I spend halftime away    
   from the TV decompressing. I'll check my email or do something else on my   
   laptop.   
      
   > > I can also hear all of the NBC affiliates screaming at 30 Rock right now   
   if NBC even thinks about airing the Super Bowl only on Peacock. The same   
   applies to West 57th Street and Paramount+, or wherever ABC is located   
   nowadays and any of Disney+ /    
   Hulu / ESPN+. At least Fox doesn't have any partner streaming service;   
   remember, the Fox network had to be left out of the Disney buyout as the FCC   
   would not allow Disney to own both the Fox and ABC networks.   
   > NBC is already basically on life support as it is.   
      
   All the networks are just shells of what they were a generation ago. There's   
   so much more and better content on cable. The   
   only thing I watch regularly on the networks is sports. I've never been into   
   reality TV. Never have watched an episode of shows   
   like Survivor, Amazing Race, Big Brother, etc. The talent contests are just   
   glitzier versions of the old Original Amateur Hour.    
   I know I'm an old fart but I don't find any of the current sit-coms to be   
   funny and have never gotten hooked on any of the    
   recent dramas. The last one I watched regularly was The West Wing which is   
   ironic because I'm a conservative.    
      
   > > What I can see happening is, if, say, Amazon Prime or Apple TV has the   
   game, it would air it for free - but with the usual expensive ads. The problem   
   now is, getting access to the network; unless your "smart TV" already has the   
   network, you need to    
   run out and buy something like a Roku box or Amazon Fire stick. Now there's   
   something I can see - Amazon airing the game for free, but on a dedicated   
   Super Bowl channel that can be accessed only on Amazon Fire.   
   > They'd have to do something they aren't doing for Thursday Night -- remove   
   the Twitch option.    
   >    
   Amazon has ruined Thursday night football for me. My slow internet connection   
   half the time can't connect and when it does,   
   I can't get the game on high-def so the picture quality is poor and there is   
   constant buffering. If I am able to watch the game to completion, it usually   
   finishes about a half hour after the actual game did. Most of the Thursday   
   night games have been    
   crap and if there is a good one, I'll record the NFL Network overnight replay   
   and watch it Friday morning. That hasn't happened   
   often.   
      
   The NFL Sunday Ticket is another thing I've lost. I don't have the   
   connectivity issue I have with Amazon Prime but I can't    
   watch those games in high def either. Another issue I've had is I get a lot   
   more games blacked out than I did when DirecTV   
   had the contract. I live a little northeast of Columbus, OH but I couldn't   
   watch the Kansas CIty at Denver game even though   
   it wasn't on any of the Columbus stations. I'm guessing it might have been on   
   a Pittsburgh or Wheeling station and they    
   considered me to be in their local market. With DirecTV, I would sometimes   
   have Steelers games blacked out even though   
   they weren't on the Columbus stations. I subscribed this past year but I'm not   
   going to re-up. Just not worth it.    
      
   I know we are going to see more and more content moved to subscriber services,   
   not just sports. As a consumer I have the   
   right to say no and I expect I will be exercising that right frequently. There   
   will be a lot of games I don't get to see but that   
   used to be the way it was. You got to watch only what your local stations   
   offered. I'm wondering if in the future, the local    
   stations are even going to have access to the big events.    
        
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)