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http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/11295458p-12210615c.html
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[font=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Satellite firms not yet suited up for Kings games
By Clint Swett -- Bee Staff Writers
Published 2:15 am PST Tuesday, November 2, 2004
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Watching the Kings on TV still isn't a slam dunk.
Even as Starstream Communications on Monday became the second small cable carrier to purchase Kings programming from Comcast, the major satellite players - Dish Network and DirecTV - remained on the sidelines on the eve of the team's season opener.
Starstream, which serves more than 13,000 customers in South Placer County, announced it has purchased the rights to carry Comcast SportsNet West, a 24-hour regional sports channel that launches today with the Kings as its centerpiece.
The nascent network will broadcast 52 Kings games this season, including tonight's tipoff in Dallas. The balance of the 82-game schedule will be carried by a combination of national cable channels (ESPN, TNT) and the Kings' local over-the-air affiliate, Channel 10 (KXTV).
"We've had many requests to add this network to our channel lineup and hope it will make our customers and Kings fans happy," Zoé Hazen, president and chief executive of Starstream, said in a statement. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
SureWest Broadband previously announced it would carry Comcast SportsNet West.
A deal with a third cable company - Charter Communications - is expected to be announced today.
But that may be the only additional agreement finalized before the season begins: According to two sources familiar with the negotiations, neither Dish Network nor DirecTV is expected to strike a deal today with Comcast.
That means the estimated 350,000 satellite subscribers in the Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto TV market are unlikely to get the opener - with DirecTV fans possibly facing even more missed games, as talks between that company and Comcast are said to have hit a snag.
Bob Marscocci, a spokesman for DirecTV, said Monday that the satellite company "continues to negotiate with Comcast." He declined to say when - or if - DirecTV might reach an agreement with Comcast.
Asked about talks with DirecTV, Comcast SportsNet spokeswoman Susan Gonzales said "some providers are moving more quickly than others."
Over the weekend, Dish Network's customer service department began sending e-mails to subscribers who had inquired about Kings programming; in one message, the company said it's "hopeful" that it can begin offering Comcast SportsNet West "within the coming week."
In an interview Monday, Dish spokesman Steve Caulk said the two sides "are still negotiating, and we're hopeful of getting something done."
Neither Dish Network nor DirecTV discloses regional subscription figures, but DirecTV is larger nationally, with about 13 million customers to Dish's 10.1 million. (Locally, Comcast is the dominant pay-TV provider, with more than 770,000 subscribers from Chico to Fresno.)
Citing confidentiality agreements, all parties central to the SportsNet West negotiations have been mum about Comcast's asking price.
Indications are that it's steep.
An online newsletter published by the Rancho Murieta Association said Comcast had offered SportsNet West to that gated community's cable system for $42,000 in the first year of a 10-year deal - $1.60 per month for each of the 2,200 homes there.
The figure, according to the newsletter, would increase by 5 percent in each subsequent year. The association declined to buy the programming - the only pay-TV operator to do so.
A source with knowledge of Comcast's negotiations with SureWest verified the monthly $1.60 per subscriber figure.
Industry experts consider it a high price to pay for a network whose only significant draw is the Kings, with other offerings - from the Monarchs and college athletics to fishing and billiards - considerably less compelling.
Fox Sports Net typically charges about $2 per subscriber per month, said John Higgins, deputy editor at Broadcasting & Cable magazine. But in the San Francisco Bay Area, Higgins noted, that includes the San Francisco Giants, Oakland A's, Golden State Warriors, San Jose Sharks and Pacific-10 college sports.
"(SportsNet West is) essentially a one-sport network, so $1.60 is a pretty full price," Higgins said.
Comcast's Gonzales defended the asking price, saying: "We've offered a fair market price to all providers, which is evident by the two providers who have already signed agreements."
Industry analyst Jimmy Schaeffler said that while the price is high, carriers must weigh that against the cost of losing customers. "If they do an analysis and it points to more customer retention ... they will bite the bullet," said Schaeffler, a senior analyst with the Carmel Group.
Suzy Woolf, a computer programmer and Charter subscriber from Dixon, said she'd be willing to abandon her cable company if a satellite operator such as Dish Network bought the Comcast programming and Charter didn't.
"I'll be really disappointed if I have to miss a lot of games," she said. "I've been a Kings fan forever. I even have their games written on my calendar."
But DirecTV subscriber Craig Tanikawa said he's not likely to defect, no matter the outcome of negotiations.
"The season is only from November to April," he said. "Ninety-nine percent of the time I'm not watching basketball."
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[font=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Satellite firms not yet suited up for Kings games
By Clint Swett -- Bee Staff Writers
Published 2:15 am PST Tuesday, November 2, 2004
Get the latest news in sacbee.com's Kings Alert newsletter. Sign up here.
Watching the Kings on TV still isn't a slam dunk.
Even as Starstream Communications on Monday became the second small cable carrier to purchase Kings programming from Comcast, the major satellite players - Dish Network and DirecTV - remained on the sidelines on the eve of the team's season opener.
Starstream, which serves more than 13,000 customers in South Placer County, announced it has purchased the rights to carry Comcast SportsNet West, a 24-hour regional sports channel that launches today with the Kings as its centerpiece.
The nascent network will broadcast 52 Kings games this season, including tonight's tipoff in Dallas. The balance of the 82-game schedule will be carried by a combination of national cable channels (ESPN, TNT) and the Kings' local over-the-air affiliate, Channel 10 (KXTV).
"We've had many requests to add this network to our channel lineup and hope it will make our customers and Kings fans happy," Zoé Hazen, president and chief executive of Starstream, said in a statement. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
SureWest Broadband previously announced it would carry Comcast SportsNet West.
A deal with a third cable company - Charter Communications - is expected to be announced today.
But that may be the only additional agreement finalized before the season begins: According to two sources familiar with the negotiations, neither Dish Network nor DirecTV is expected to strike a deal today with Comcast.
That means the estimated 350,000 satellite subscribers in the Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto TV market are unlikely to get the opener - with DirecTV fans possibly facing even more missed games, as talks between that company and Comcast are said to have hit a snag.
Bob Marscocci, a spokesman for DirecTV, said Monday that the satellite company "continues to negotiate with Comcast." He declined to say when - or if - DirecTV might reach an agreement with Comcast.
Asked about talks with DirecTV, Comcast SportsNet spokeswoman Susan Gonzales said "some providers are moving more quickly than others."
Over the weekend, Dish Network's customer service department began sending e-mails to subscribers who had inquired about Kings programming; in one message, the company said it's "hopeful" that it can begin offering Comcast SportsNet West "within the coming week."
In an interview Monday, Dish spokesman Steve Caulk said the two sides "are still negotiating, and we're hopeful of getting something done."
Neither Dish Network nor DirecTV discloses regional subscription figures, but DirecTV is larger nationally, with about 13 million customers to Dish's 10.1 million. (Locally, Comcast is the dominant pay-TV provider, with more than 770,000 subscribers from Chico to Fresno.)
Citing confidentiality agreements, all parties central to the SportsNet West negotiations have been mum about Comcast's asking price.
Indications are that it's steep.
An online newsletter published by the Rancho Murieta Association said Comcast had offered SportsNet West to that gated community's cable system for $42,000 in the first year of a 10-year deal - $1.60 per month for each of the 2,200 homes there.
The figure, according to the newsletter, would increase by 5 percent in each subsequent year. The association declined to buy the programming - the only pay-TV operator to do so.
A source with knowledge of Comcast's negotiations with SureWest verified the monthly $1.60 per subscriber figure.
Industry experts consider it a high price to pay for a network whose only significant draw is the Kings, with other offerings - from the Monarchs and college athletics to fishing and billiards - considerably less compelling.
Fox Sports Net typically charges about $2 per subscriber per month, said John Higgins, deputy editor at Broadcasting & Cable magazine. But in the San Francisco Bay Area, Higgins noted, that includes the San Francisco Giants, Oakland A's, Golden State Warriors, San Jose Sharks and Pacific-10 college sports.
"(SportsNet West is) essentially a one-sport network, so $1.60 is a pretty full price," Higgins said.
Comcast's Gonzales defended the asking price, saying: "We've offered a fair market price to all providers, which is evident by the two providers who have already signed agreements."
Industry analyst Jimmy Schaeffler said that while the price is high, carriers must weigh that against the cost of losing customers. "If they do an analysis and it points to more customer retention ... they will bite the bullet," said Schaeffler, a senior analyst with the Carmel Group.
Suzy Woolf, a computer programmer and Charter subscriber from Dixon, said she'd be willing to abandon her cable company if a satellite operator such as Dish Network bought the Comcast programming and Charter didn't.
"I'll be really disappointed if I have to miss a lot of games," she said. "I've been a Kings fan forever. I even have their games written on my calendar."
But DirecTV subscriber Craig Tanikawa said he's not likely to defect, no matter the outcome of negotiations.
"The season is only from November to April," he said. "Ninety-nine percent of the time I'm not watching basketball."
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