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November 21, 2008

ERIC KNOPSNYDER | Time for league to address TV situation

BY ERIC KNOPSNYDER The Tribune-Democrat Fri Nov 21, 2008, 12:31 AM EST

PITTSBURGH. — Football fans in Johnstown got to see the Pittsburgh Steelers’ game on Thursday night, but only after a late Hail Mary.

Up until Wednesday it looked like 65 percent of Johnstown cable viewers – the percentage of Atlantic Broadband subscribers who don’t get the NFL Network – would not be able to watch the Black and Gold for the first time in years.

Thankfully, the NFL Network came to its senses a day before kickoff. It was similar to last season when, before the Steelers’ Dec. 20 game at St. Louis, Atlantic Broadband reached an agreement to show a free preview of the NFL Network.

It’s great that fans were able to see each of those games, but it’s time for the NFL to come up with a more permanent solution.

The basic problem for our region is that Johnstown is not part of Pittsburgh’s designated market area. That means that the NFL Network games involving the Steelers – which are simulcast on stations such as KDKA or WPCW – are not available in our area.

The policy probably makes sense to league executives in New York, but try telling someone in the West End that the Flood City isn’t Steeler Country. What makes the whole situation unfathomable is that local subscribers get WPCW every other day of the year, but when the Steelers are on it they aren’t allowed to watch it.

The NFL can’t pretend to not know about the problem, as Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Philadelphia, and 12 other Senators wrote NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell last month about the situation, even mentioning Johnstown by name.

“Congress facilitated the nationwide broadcast success of the NFL by creating an antitrust exemption for NFL teams to negotiate jointly telecast agreements with over-the-air broadcasters; it provides the NFL with protection for the content in those broadcasts through copyright law,” the letter said. “We are concerned that the NFL is now leveraging the success of its over-the-air broadcasts to move games to pay television, to the detriment of NFL fans across the country that have made watching NFL games a ritual every fall.”

With all of the problems facing the country right now, it’s ridiculous for the government to have get involved in how the NFL. But it’s also sad that in these difficult economic times that fans should have to pony up more money to upgrade their cable package to watch their favorite team once a year.

“Ultimately, it may be for the courts to determine whether the NFL member teams are using the NFL Network to restrict the output of game programming in a manner that violates the antitrust laws,” the Senators’ letter said. “In the meantime, we strongly encourage you to take prompt action that will ensure fans in every market receive the benefit of this over-the-air policy when their closest NFL teams, or the teams with which their areas have been historically aligned, are playing in games telecast nationally on the NFL Network.”

Hopefully the matter will be settled before the same scenario plays out with the Steelers again next season.

Eric Knopsnyder is the sports editor of The Tribune-Democrat.

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