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Pay Per View Model Viewing Costs

I have never understood why UM's communication department hasn't had students learn the art of TV sports broadcasting (camera, commentary etc.) To give their senior level students a real-world experience that might help some find jobs. This could be an alternative to lower some costs while at same time actually being a selling point for that major doing games that Root etc don't want to broadcast and have them streaming so alumni all over the country could watch.
 
"I have never understood why UM's communication department hasn't had students learn the art of TV sports broadcasting (camera, commentary etc.) To give their senior level students a real-world experience that might help some find jobs. This could be an alternative to lower some costs while at same time actually being a selling point for that major doing games that Root etc don't want to broadcast and have them streaming so alumni all over the country could watch."

Ursus1,

Ditto!!
 
SoCal Surfer said:
"I have never understood why UM's communication department hasn't had students learn the art of TV sports broadcasting (camera, commentary etc.) To give their senior level students a real-world experience that might help some find jobs. This could be an alternative to lower some costs while at same time actually being a selling point for that major doing games that Root etc don't want to broadcast and have them streaming so alumni all over the country could watch."

Ursus1,

Ditto!!
Sounds good "on paper," but here's the rub: I suspect that some, maybe most, of the really bad BSC broadcasts we've bitched about were exactly this ... guys/gals from a "communications" department running the show and "learning on the job."

To do it right, the relevant department would need to gear their curriculum so that juniors in the major would be ready for prime time by the first semester of their senior year (football being in the fall). While it would make for a great resume padder for graduates from that department, it might not be possible.
 
SoCal Surfer said:
"One of the three biggest hang ups will be cost. Those are pretty steep for just watching on tv. That’s not the biggest though. Getting all the teams we play on the road to allow UM to make money off their product will be difficult I’d imagine unless UM promised some of the profit which will take some legalities to accomplish. The last is production quality from the lesser schools. Some of them are pretty poor and shouldn’t cost anything to sit through. Ever watched a game from a stationary camera from the top of the press box at the 50 yard line with no commentary? I have and it definitely should have been free, which it was."

Alabama,

My estimate of viewing costs is high due to the issues you bring up. I feel everyone would want $ from the product. What I propose has to have something for the BSC, RS, SWX, schools we play, UM and others. Startup costs will be high. Costs will go lower based upon economies of scale, quality of product, ease of use and demand.

So is this based off one production company doing every game in the BSC or based off each school making their own product with root sports still doing the game of the week, like it is now?
 
"So is this based off one production company doing every game in the BSC or based off each school making their own product with root sports still doing the game of the week, like it is now?"

Alabama,

My thoughts would be that one production company would oversee the entire process and the schools would assist before, during & post games. Games rights that are from Root Sports or some other media company would have to be agreed upon and paid for. I suggest the production company come from Root Sports. That would be my 1st choice. They have the personnel, equipment, experience & history with BSC. My 2nd choice would be a regional news-sports company.
 
I've said this many times before: Root has little to no interest in making their game broadcasts available via stream. bsc football is a loss-leader for Root. They lose money on every broadcast.

The ONLY reason Root carries bsc football is because it's an incentive for smaller cable companies in rural areas to continue to carry the channel. This allows Root to charge more to advertisers on Mariner games. That's where they make their money. If that incentive is gone, so is bsc football from Root.
 
"Etc/GMT-165Wednesday062105

I've said this many times before: Root has little to no interest in making their game broadcasts available via stream. bsc football is a loss-leader for Root. They lose money on every broadcast.

The ONLY reason Root carries bsc football is because it's an incentive for smaller cable companies in rural areas to continue to carry the channel. This allows Root to charge more to advertisers on Mariner games. That's where they make their money. If that incentive is gone, so is bsc football from Root.

Booze is the duct tape of life."

Everett,

I think you are spot on. I only hope this pay per view model works when Altitude stops working on ATT and many of us out of staters don't have any options to view a Griz game on Root. May-be Root will up its incentive in rural areas and help out?
 
I was never a big fan of the Big Sky's contract with Root, mainly because it prevented broadcasts of non-Root games on other national networks - in particular the national Fox College Sports networks, which aired NAU and UND's non conference broadcasts.

A solid streaming model that would work great for the Big Sky and Montana would be something like https://www.nchc.tv/. UND's hockey conference has a streaming network, and they include a lot of the features that you guys have been discussing.
-85% of revenue goes back to the schools, in proportion to fan affiliation (school affiliation is selected when you sign up)
-Exclusive NCHC.TV streaming apps on Roku, Amazon Fire, and Apple TV, Android/iPhone apps, and online
-Online has split screen viewing options (up to 4 games on one screen - click the screen you want to play audio from)
-Monthly or season long passes
-Home non-conf games are included
-Denver and CC's ROOT games are included... as well as national and regional Fox Sports Network games
-Only blackout games are the Nationally broadcast CBS Sports Network games, CBSSN playoff games are included though.
-Each school is responsible for their own streams - games broadcast by tv networks are simulcast on to the streaming network and the quality is good to great.
-Archived full and condensed games
-Weekly highlight shows and interviews

SCSU (St. Cloud) has a student run broadcasts that does all of their games - they have a mix between student and non student reports/commentators, and the quality is excellent.
UND also produces their own games for FSN and the non FSN games that were streamed on pluto, and those were high quality as well, although I think SID's did/do most of the legwork.

The Big Sky would just need to require a certain quality of broadcast and the schools could produce their own games. The worst NCHC streams still use HD cameras, and they just pick up the radio feed for audio.

I believe UND makes about 150-250k per year right now through their streaming package with the NCHC, and I don't see why Montana couldn't generate a similar amount or more if the BigSKy started a similar streaming setup. And you guys would have higher quality feeds (no bs pluto issues) and more easily accessible content.


"Eighty-five percent of all revenue generated is distributed back to the conference members through an internal model based upon each subscriber’s school affiliation. The remaining 15 percent of revenue is retained by the conference office to support the network." https://www.nchchockey.com/news_article/show/1036887
 
The revenue model that allocates revenue in proportion to fan affiliation would help to provide incentive for schools in the Big Sky to improve their broadcasts. The only problem is that some of the schools have so little fan support that it wouldn't make a difference, and It's also why I think the better schools in the Big Sky need to break away from the Big Sky and start their own conference. The schools that formed the NCHC had so much in common (conference issues-wise) with Montana's current situation that it baffles me that this hasn't happened yet. Montana/MSU/Idah/Weber need to be in control of the voting power of whatever conference that they are in with like-minded schools. UND gets nearly a million dollars back from the NCHC annually now (920K, 2019), and I think Montana could end up with something similar with a basketball tourney in a place like Billings or Spokane, a new tv/streaming deal, and proportional revenue payouts.
 
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