You may recall that exactly one week ago, your old buddy Doug got all bonered up about NFL Network and Comcast finally reaching an amicable agreement. In particular, it was starting to sound like Comcast subscribers would not only get NFL network at no extra charge, but that we’d also get the very-excellent Red Zone Channel for free as well. I mentioned that it “seems way too good to be true” and, as it turns out, it looks like it is indeed too good to be true.
Sports Illustrated’s Peter King recently said the following:
“Clarifying one thing about the Red Zone Channel on Comcast. Last week I said the league’s smart deal with the cable giant would put the Red Zone Channel (the one that jumps from game to game on Sundays, showing scoring opportunities) on Comcast’s digital tier. No so, most likely.
Other cable outfits who make deals to put NFL Network on their digital cable tiers will probably place Red Zone on a pay tier similar to the one the league argued the NFL Network shouldn’t be on. The reason is because the Red Zone Channel is added value, not something the league wanted to give Big Cable as part of the deal to make the Network more widely distributed on the regular digital tier. So if you’ve got Comcast and you want this premium channel, you’ll likely have to pay an additional $7 or so per month to get it, which, over a four-month term, is probably a reasonable cost if you’re an NFL devotee who loves immediacy and can’t wait for the halftime or post-game highlights.”
So King may have been wrong about it being free. Now hopefully he’s wrong about being wrong. In all honesty, paying $7 per month for the Red Zone Channel is still going to make it seem like a good deal to anyone who’s already excited about it. Free would make it oustanding, though — Comcastic, even.
[via Consumerist]
We should all get DirecTV w/ Sunday Ticket is my takeaway.
So basically, Comcast subscribers will get access to the NFL channel in one of the most basic packages (a good thing), but will have to fork over extra money for the Red Zone channel…right?
Well, the NFL channel is the most important thing here for true blue, die hard NFL fans – they want to watch as much football as possible – especially on Thanksgiving (and Christmas, this year, I believe). Whereas the Red Zone channel may be more for die hard fantasy football people anyways, so worth the $7 a month.
I don’t know, at least everyone gets the NFL channel now. I’m about ready for the preseason to start up!
Does anyone know if any of Comcast’s sports packages would allow a transplanted fan (from San Fran to Seattle) to watch non-local football games, particularly all Niner games for the upcoming season?
Josh, I don’t know anything about that. But DirecTV has this cool feature for people who have the Sunday Ticket to also watch all the games online. Surprisingly, it actually works pretty well.
Its possible (albeit, unlikely) that DirecTV also offers an “online only” option to watch games online. And if they don’t, it would be a good idea to make that an option. Its worth looking into, anyways.
And if they don’t, find somebody with the Sunday Ticket and see if they use the feature. If not, offer to set it up for them and see if they’ll let you use it.
DTV still holds the exclusive rights to show games out of market so Niners fan in Miami you would have to have the Dish and shell out the $300 per year for the Sunday Ticket. The All games on one screen feature is an upsell to that – but if its your first year on the dish they give you a bunch of other stuff on the cheap for half a year. Also by subscribing you get to watch games on a computer as well.
RedZone on Cable may be enuf for me to junk my dish to save $200.
Any word on Dish Network picking up the red zone channel?
what about nba network and nhl tv are those free as well?
I am currently a Comcast customer. If it weren’t for the kids programming and sports, I probably wouldn’t have cable at all. As it stands, there is basic cable, digital cable, and a bunch of add-ons. i subscribe to the sports package which gives you football, basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer, and a few special interest channels. I live for the NFL network channel which is part of this package. I am being told that an additional channel for the RedZone will be added for free as part of the package I already pay $7.95 for. “…I’ll take that…”
comcast still owes people money for charging for an extra package just to be able to get NFL network…how can we sue them??????
Seriously, Comcast charges $7+ a month for NBA, NHL, FSC, and (when I left them) NFL channels. I believe channels like Speed were also part of the package. Simply special interest sports channels. I don’t know about Verizon, which realitives of mine in Massachusetts have and love, and just picked up Red Zone; however, I have Dish Network for $5.99 you get NBA, NHL, a few more that Comcast offers, now Red Zone, but most of all, most of the regionals from around the country. The only two notable regional channels I don’t get are YES and CSN in Philli. Being from Chicago, I don’t care about those two. NBA games are completely blacked out; however, you would be suprised how many last few innings of baseball games I get to see due to the games going extra innings or rain delays, and every NHL replay is given for free. Basically, forget Comcast. Dish Network gives you a bigger bang for your buck, and yes they do have VS. Even though they don’t advertise it at all, Dish also has On Demand. It’s only downfall is that you need to hook your modem up to your reciever and download the content, which can take a while, but if you start the download just before you go to bed or leave the house for a while, you’ll be all set.
i too have dish network i like dish better than cable tv more sports channels that our local cable tv company doesnt offer.