OT: ESPN College Football

[buddybikes]

Does anyone even know there is a college football game this eve. I forgot about this stupid playoff until I logged into ESPN.

They should of played least a week ago...

[Seramount]

go Tigers...!

[Bentley]

go Tigers...!

Can’t be wrong .....
Gonna be a GAME

[wc1934]

Does anyone even know there is a college football game this eve. I forgot about this stupid playoff until I logged into ESPN.

They should of played least a week ago...

Nope didn't forget - have been waiting 2 weeks for this game - 2 great QB's - Lawrence hasnt lost a game in 2 years and they are the underdogs to Burrow who is the Heisman winner.

College basketball and football championships are always on Monday nites, which kinda suck - would think a weekend nite game would draw a greater audience.

[FlashUNC]

Nope didn't forget - have been waiting 2 weeks for this game - 2 great QB's - Lawrence hasnt lost a game in 2 years and they are the underdogs to Burrow who is the Heisman winner.

College basketball and football championships are always on Monday nites, which kinda suck - would think a weekend nite game would draw a greater audience.

And then players could argue it's entertainment first and foremost and then ask for compensation for it.

Also the NCAA doesn't want to bump against the NFL or NBA and Monday night is something of a deadzone in January and April.

[smontanaro]

We ditched cable awhile ago so only have over-the-air antenna. The best I could manage was a pinned live score on my phone. Which was fine, as I don't follow college football all that closely, especially not the SEC.

Which brings me to a question. Has anybody else noticed that more and more sports telecasts which used to run on the big four broadcast networks are now mostly/entirely on cable? Few of the MLB playoffs were broadcast. There are so damn many football bowl games that it's not surprising that most are relegated to cable, but it seems a number of the bigger games were also on cable. If true, I suspect the cable companies are doing it in response to more and more households cutting the coax. We've gone a couple years without cable at this point. About the only thing we miss is the occasional sporting event. None of my three kids (29-38) have ever had cable. If trends continue, I wonder if cable TV will be viable in ten years.

[MattTuck]

We ditched cable awhile ago so only have over-the-air antenna. The best I could manage was a pinned live score on my phone. Which was fine, as I don't follow college football all that closely, especially not the SEC.

Which brings me to a question. Has anybody else noticed that more and more sports telecasts which used to run on the big four broadcast networks are now mostly/entirely on cable? Few of the MLB playoffs were broadcast. There are so damn many football bowl games that it's not surprising that most are relegated to cable, but it seems a number of the bigger games were also on cable. If true, I suspect the cable companies are doing it in response to more and more households cutting the coax. We've gone a couple years without cable at this point. About the only thing we miss is the occasional sporting event. None of my three kids (29-38) have ever had cable. If trends continue, I wonder if cable TV will be viable in ten years.

Don't confuse the the cable companies that deliver the signal into the house with the networks that broadcast the content.

ESPN is ABC is FOX is Disney.

NBC, being the exception, is owned by Comcast.

Disney+ certainly seems well positioned if the cord cutting accelerates.

[duff_duffy]

We gave up cable as well, missing certain live games is annoying....however if you spend a few minutes searching for live-streams on reddit you can find any game. Just a warning, many of the links on reddit turn out to be duds but usually within 5 minutes of searching can find it. A bonus is many of them are commercial free!

We ditched cable awhile ago so only have over-the-air antenna. The best I could manage was a pinned live score on my phone. Which was fine, as I don't follow college football all that closely, especially not the SEC.

Which brings me to a question. Has anybody else noticed that more and more sports telecasts which used to run on the big four broadcast networks are now mostly/entirely on cable? Few of the MLB playoffs were broadcast. There are so damn many football bowl games that it's not surprising that most are relegated to cable, but it seems a number of the bigger games were also on cable. If true, I suspect the cable companies are doing it in response to more and more households cutting the coax. We've gone a couple years without cable at this point. About the only thing we miss is the occasional sporting event. None of my three kids (29-38) have ever had cable. If trends continue, I wonder if cable TV will be viable in ten years.

[smontanaro]

Don't confuse the the cable companies that deliver the signal into the house with the networks that broadcast the content.

Not doing that. The cable companies have the content producers locked up tight. If USA Networks produces some show, you can't watch it on their website unless you have USA Networks in your cable bundle.

You mentioned that "ESPN is ABC is FOX is Disney." Clearly, they have a choice where to broadcast any given game. If they choose to air a show on ABC, anyone with an antenna or cable will likely be able to watch it. No matter how big ESPN gets (cable only), ABC will always reach more households (cable+antenna). If all they cared about was direct ad revenue, you'd think they would always air a big event in a way to expose it to the most eyeballs. One would think they get some kickback from the cable companies to air a big sporting event on ESPN if the option to air it on ABC also existed.

[smontanaro]

We gave up cable as well, missing certain live games is annoying....however if you spend a few minutes searching for live-streams on reddit you can find any game. Just a warning, many of the links on reddit turn out to be duds but usually within 5 minutes of searching can find it. A bonus is many of them are commercial free!

Yes, I understand that. I see threads about watching major European cycling events via online streams here on The Paceline. I don't begrudge the cable companies and content producers their revenue. My observation was just that it seems more big(ish) sporting events are moving to cable. My thought is that the cable companies are trying to lure cord cutters back with those games.

[FlashUNC]

Not doing that. The cable companies have the content producers locked up tight. If USA Networks produces some show, you can't watch it on their website unless you have USA Networks in your cable bundle.

You mentioned that "ESPN is ABC is FOX is Disney." Clearly, they have a choice where to broadcast any given game. If they choose to air a show on ABC, anyone with an antenna or cable will likely be able to watch it. No matter how big ESPN gets (cable only), ABC will always reach more households (cable+antenna). If all they cared about was direct ad revenue, you'd think they would always air a big event in a way to expose it to the most eyeballs. One would think they get some kickback from the cable companies to air a big sporting event on ESPN if the option to air it on ABC also existed.

They don't have a choice though. ESPN bid for and paid for the broadcasting rights for last night's game. And yes, it's intentional. Live sports are some of the last bastion of people watching on original broadcast time, and some of the stickiest programming out there. ESPN wants that to stave off further hemorragjing of subscribers. It ain't about ad revenue, it's about carriage fees.

[ORMojo]

. . . ESPN . . . (cable only) . . .

Just a slight correction/clarification here: ESPN is not "cable only" strictly speaking. I haven't had cable for ~3 years. We switched to Sling, and have full access to ESPN. This cable/streaming difference could arguably be only a matter of semantics, but we are paying less than half for Sling compared to what we had with cable, and still have access to what we want to watch.

[ScottW]

It was a good game until about the 4th quarter when the outcome was less in doubt. Lawrence looked off, too many open receivers missed even when he had ample time. LSU offense was just too much once they figured out Clemson's defensive scheme (after 1st qtr).

The Tigers put up a good fight but so did the Tigers. LOL

[shoota]

And then players could argue it's entertainment first and foremost and then ask for compensation for it.




Except that 95% of regular season games are played on Saturday..

[FlashUNC]

Except that 95% of regular season games are played on Saturday..

I was speaking specifically to the national title and CFP playoff, which throws off billions of dollars in revenue that players see none of.