WHOA!!!!..... please tell me where you get info to back up your claim?...... I'm more than just a little familiar with the who's, what's, how's and why's of negotiations of TV contracts with governing bodies and don't see how you can possibly make that claim... Please fill me in. Thanks.
tv contract negotiations are a far more complex thing than they once were.
it isn't just about ratings anymore, other than to advertisers.
but advertising is now only incremental revenue to many networks, with the big money being in monthly subscription fees.
and the monthly sub fees aren't always so much driven by the number of viewers of a said network, but rather by would said pay tv/streaming subscriber jump to another provider if the network carrying the game were no longer carried in the provider's overall bundle.
and in negotiations, the network can leverage not only what said network makes for the pay tv/streaming provider, (ie Comcast, Directv, You Tube, Hulu, etc) from just the resale of said network and ad revenue, but more importantly, from the revenue of the whole $50-$250 mo bundle.
for example, say ESPN or your local CBS affiliate wants more per month from the pay tv/streaming service to carry said network.
the pay tv/streaming service has to not only factor in how much markup they make from said network itself and ad revenue, but more importantly, would said viewer jump ship to another provider, if their current provider no longer carried said network with said programming.
for example, say your local CBS or BTN or ESPN is in a contract dispute with Comcast.
Comcast has to factor in not only what losing any markup of said network would make, (which is minor), but far more importantly, how much would they lose if said customer drops Comcast for Directv, if said viewer jumps ship on Comcast because Comcast no longer carries said network, even for a short time.
so any channel that has "must have" programming like some sports, can leverage the entire $200 mo that Comcast makes off said viewer for the entire cable, or cable + internet, or cable + internet + phone + security, bundle, to extort paying the asking fee of said network, even if said viewer only watches said network for one show a week 3 months a yr.
this is why the B10, SEC, NFL, NBA, etc, have their games spread out on many networks each.
each network is leveraging the entire $200 mo Comcast or Directv/AT&T internet bundle, to extort paying the asking price of the single network.
BTN was built on this monopolistic leverage.
it's a contractual situation that's illegal in every other industry for obvious anti competitive monopolistic/anti trust reasons.
it got grandfathered in to the pay tv industry through the frog in the pot analogy, starting back when networks other than premium networks didn't charge for carriage, then charged almost nothing per month, when carriers couldn't separate out every channel, and when the industry was price regulated.
and now the Comcast and AT&T/Directvs, and the network conglomerates like Disney/ESPN/ABC, Fox, CBS/Viacom, Comcast/NBC, etc also now lobby our lawmakers big time to keep the monopolistic anti competitive practice going.
point being, how much a network gets per month from pay tv/streaming subs, or how much a league gets for carriage of games, isn't based in how many are watching, as is advertising, but rather how many subs will jump ship to another provider with their entire $200 mo, if that network and those few games aren't carried.
the providers have fought back against this monopolistic/anti competitive extortion with forced 2 yr contracts to deter jumping ship in a contract standoff between the provider and the network, for what should be a basic utility, so Joe Consumer is now getting it in the rear from both sides.
the solution to Joe Consumers' misery is easy.
forced ala carte brings an immediate end to the monopolistic practice and makes it all go away the next day.
Comcast/NBC/Universal, AT&T/Directv/Time Warner/CNN, Disney/ABC/ESPN, Fox, all fight ending the monopolistic practice to the death, both with lobbying money, buying off regulators, and with their ability to extort lawmakers using their political/news coverage.
Comcast/NBC/Universal, AT&T/CNN/Directv/Time Warner(Warner Media), and News Corp/Fox, are now even literally the media arms of the Democrat and Republican national parties.