American Sports Network to go 24/7 in 10 Markets

[TheGreenhouseEffect]

http://americansportsnet.com/asn-launches-247-broadcast-network-on-monday/

The ASN network I find most intriguing....the model is basically going towards an ESPN FoxSports1 model except they are OTA ( over the air)

With Sinclairs leverage I wonder might they not work ASN into all their current markets on a new high def station band? Moreover as those pinko commie millenniums refuse to pay for surging cable rates in favor of a "menu based " reduced TV selection will that increase the likelihood that ASN might form side agreements with a Big 10 for a game that might not make any cable outlet?

The power of a marketing company that can tell advertisers we can hit 80% of the major markets in the USA with a true sports based channel that deliveres quality content and studio presence could create a change in how we pay to view sports today.

 

[The Real SamC]

The significance of this is, if you are not the biggest TV fan in the world, you can get an antenna and do OK. H-C is actually fairly poor with OTA sideband channels and still you can get about 20 channels, 10 of then actually good, for free. If all this "cord-cutter" stuff is real, then there will be more and more people that just watch what they can get OTA plus all this computer and video stuff. That is about what people PAID for in the late 80s or early 90s.

The downside is that some cable companies will add this channel in, but the dishes won't and a lot of bars and such, most all of which have DirecTV, are not going to bother putting up an antenna for this.

Still it is a net positive.

 

[TheGreenhouseEffect]

http://americansportsnet.com/asn-campus-insiders-team-up-to-present-inaugural-arizona-bowl/

They actually did do the Arizona Bowl, and I suppose it went OTA on their affiliates. I can say for a fact there is REAL momentum to say NO to high Dish, Comcast, DirectTV et al rate in my urban market.

If they could get great content they could make a dent into the sole sports channel market.

We have at least 30 channels here OTA with that number growing daily. I can say for a fact the only thing that keeps me from going "rabbit ears 2016" are the sports channels from Golf to all the ESPN based channels etc.

With their proximity so close to Orlando's The Golf Channel I'd love to see them strike a deal for some of that content.

 

[The Real SamC]

I would forget about Sinclair sub-licensing anything from Golf Channel or the Big 10 or anything else. Their business plan is pretty simple:

- Buy low price rights that other networks don't want.
- Buy what are essentially local rights and nationalize the coverage.
- Sell ads locally and/or cheaply (how many people do you think watching the ASN Marshall coverage in Birmingham really care about St. Mary's Hospital, et al?
- Get the "cord cutter" OTA people and give cable companies a break on their big network retrans payments if they put their sub-channels on their systems.

Make a couple $$.

They are not going to go out and buy rights to major events.