By Tim Daily
Monday night was supposed to be perfect. I was headed to the bar to watch my Rangers play the Devils for the first time this season, catch some Monday Night Football and celebrate a friend's birthday with beer and other unflattering forms of alcohol.
I got there at 6:55 to make sure I could get at least one television focused on hockey, as 90% of the bar's patrons would be focused on Brett Favre and the Vikings playing the Packers. When the channel flipped to Versus, I got the following message:
'Unfortunately, Versus is no longer available on DIRECTV. Comcast, the largest cable company in the U.S. and our largest competitor, owns the channel and has forced us to pull it down.' For more information go to www.directv.com/versus .
Upon further reading I found that Directv asserted Comcast was forcing Directv to pay more than its competitors to air Versus. Directv even used the 'difficult economic times' phrase to help bolster its argument. Great.
I could keep going and outline the highlights of both arguments, but honestly that would be a waste of time. Who cares about another television channel dispute? I've been begging for the NFL network for years, but the Cablevision logo on my cable box reassures me that I will never get it.
What I care about is the fact that anybody with Directv (including all of the bars that get the service for NFL Sunday ticket or the baseball package) could not watch a NATIONALLY TELEVISED GAME. It is the National Hockey League's responsibility to make sure its entire customer base has access to a game shown in every television market and boy has it failed here. We're talking about a major sports league that is still struggling to regain credibility after a devastating 2004-05 lockout season. Showing your games is step one in that process!
Look, I'm aware of the reality that is high-level contract disputes. These things do not often get resolved quickly. What I want to see is the NHL step up and use its leverage as a billion dollar industry to get its high profile weekly matchups shown to ALL potential viewers. Until the economic downturn, this was a growing business that is still more than afloat. Let's see the league use some of its resources wisely and get the Versus situation right.
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