| QUOTE |
| IN Demand says it will match DirecTV baseball offer By RONALD BLUM, AP Baseball Writer March 21, 2007 NEW YORK (AP) -- Baseball's "Extra Innings" package of out-of-market games might wind up staying on cable television. IN Demand said Wednesday it will offer to match the terms of DirecTV's $700 million, seven-year deal with Major League Baseball on behalf its owners, who are affiliates of the companies that own Time Warner, Comcast and Cox cable systems. As part of the offer, iN Demand also said it would carry The Baseball Channel when it launches in 2009 to at least the same number of subscribers who will get the channel on DirecTV. "As the current home for 'Extra Innings' for more than 200,000 cable subscribers, we have extended ourselves to do our best to be able to continue to provide this package to baseball fans and our customers," iN Demand president Robert Jacobson said. "This offer meets all the conditions set forth by MLB last week. " Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, said he would have to find out details of iN Demand's offer before commenting. "Extra Innings" had more than 500,000 television subscribers last year plus about 60 percent more on MLB.com, the sport's Web site. EchoStar Communications Corp.'s Dish Network also has carried the "Extra Innings" package. There was no immediate word whether Dish also would match the offer. IN Demand is owned by Time Warner Entertainment-Advance/Newhouse Partnership, Comcast iN Demand Holdings Corp and Cox Communications Holdings Inc. |
| QUOTE |
"As the current home for 'Extra Innings' for more than 200,000 cable subscribers, we have extended ourselves to do our best to be able to continue to provide this package to baseball fans and our customers," iN Demand president Robert Jacobson said. "This offer meets all the conditions set forth by MLB last week. " Not so fast, said Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer. "The communication sent to our office today by iN Demand is not responsive to that offer," he said. "In spite of their public comments, the response falls short of nearly all of the material conditions (among them requirements for carriage of The Baseball Channel and their share of the rights fees for Extra Innings) set forth in the Major League Baseball offer made to them on March 9." DuPuy said the March 31 deadline to match remains. "By rejecting this matching offer, MLB has proven it never intended for iN Demand to have a fair and equal opportunity to bid for Extra Innings," Jacobson said later. "Our offer was fully responsive to MLB's requirements and public statements." Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., is to chair a hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee on the "Extra Innings" package on March 27. Extra Innings" had more than 500,000 television subscribers last year plus about 60 percent more on MLB.com, the sport's Web site. |
| QUOTE |
Cable TV's negotiating agent In Demand started the latest dust-up with Major League Baseball on Wednesday by announcing in a statement that it will offer to renew MLB's out-of-market games "on the same terms" as DirecTV. "In Demand's strategy of negotiation by misleading press release is a failed one," snapped Tim Brosnan, MLB's executive VP for business. Fuming, Rob Jacobson, president and CEO of In Demand, said, "By rejecting this matching offer, MLB has proven it never intended for In Demand to have a fair and equal opportunity to bid for Extra Innings." Extra Innings is the package of out-of-market baseball games, and what makes these talks between cable TV and baseball significant is that up to 200,000 cable subscribers will lose the chance to buy the games if DirecTV ends up making an exclusive deal with MLB, which would begin next month. Fan deprivation doesn't sit well with D.C.-based consumer groups and political figures such as Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who have already begun to denounce negotiations that would keep In Demand from wide circulation. MLB gave In Demand a deadline of March 31 to agree to an offer that, in effect, asks cable TV to 1) pay about $66 million a year for seven years to continue carrying "Extra Innings" and 2) take a new MLB Network on 80% of cable's base of digital subscribers. The MLB Network would kick off in 2009; cable TV has about 32 million digital subs. But MLB's Brosnan said In Demand's claim of meeting MLB's terms falls well short of reality. In Demand will actually pay a license fee based on the number of digital subscribers who pay the $179 a year to get "Extra Innings." That clause doesn't work for baseball because DirecTV has done a better job of marketing "Extra Innings" than individual cable operators. As a result, instead of paying $66 million a year, cable TV could end up paying MLB less than $50 million. DirecTV also would pony up about $50 million a year in this scenario, even though cable has more than double the number of digital subs compared with DirecTV. To baseball, that's unfair to DirecTV. And with the MLB Network, baseball said the In Demand numbers are also faulty. In its release, In Demand said it would funnel the MLB Channel to the percentage of subs DirecTV reaches. But baseball said that's disingenuous: The DirecTV deal is based on 80% of the satcaster's sub base, putting the total at 15 million or so. By contrast, the digital base of cable TV, in today's numbers, would come to about 32 million. Eighty percent of 32 million comes to about 25 million. The bottom line of this clash is that In Demand is setting the stage to blame baseball for depriving cable subs of Extra Innings if no deal is struck by March 31. For its part, baseball is trying to blame In Demand for not meeting the terms of MLB's contract with DirecTV, which would get exclusive rights to Extra Innings for seven years, starting in April. On Tuesday, Bob DuPuy, president and chief operating officer of MLB, and In Demand's Jacobson will be the key witnesses at a U.S. Senate Commerce Committee hearing in Washington on the subject "Exclusive Sports Programming: Examining Competition and Consumer Choice." With baseball and cable TV at each other's throats, the room should be packed. |
| QUOTE |
Due to a decision by Major League Baseball, Comcast, as well as many other cable operators will not be able to distribute the 2007 MLB Extra Innings out-of-market package. If you are a current Comcast customer and subscribed to Comcast 2006 MLB Extra Innings, you should receive correspondence from Comcast no later than April 11, 2007 with an offer to help make up for the loss of MLB Extra Innings, with an opportunity to subscribe to MLB.TV. With MLB.TV you can use your computer to view all the same games you would see on TV with MLB Extra Innings. If you do not receive notification by April 11, 2007, please call: 1-800-631-0258, and have your Comcast account number available for 2006 MLB Extra Innings subscription verification. If you are a current Comcast customer and have subscribed to the 2007 MLB Extra Innings package, we will refund your payment in the form of a credit to your monthly bill. In 2007, Comcast will be providing a great selection of up to 400 national, regional and local live televised baseball games, many in high-definition. We hope the combination of the MLB.TV offer and the large live televised schedule make up for the loss of MLB Extra Innings. Again, should you need any assistance in signing up for MLB.TV after receiving your special offer in the mail, please contact: 1-800-631-0258. |
| QUOTE |
NEW YORK (AP) -- After negotiations that went into extra innings, baseball struck a deal to keep its "Extra Innings" package of out-of-market games on cable television. Under pressure from Sen. John Kerry, baseball and iN Demand reached an agreement in principle Wednesday on a seven-year contract, a deal that likely will allow the sport's new TV network to be available in at least 40 million homes when it launches in 2009. Baseball announced an exclusive $700 million, seven-year agreement with DirecTV on March 8, but viewers who would have lost TV access to the games complained. "The concern expressed by our fans who would have been forced to switch to alternative carriers or were unable to switch was something we tried to be responsive to," baseball chief operating officer Bob DuPuy said. Kerry had asked the Federal Communications Commission to investigate the original deal, and during a hearing last week in Washington he pushed baseball to resume talks with iN Demand, owned by affiliates of Time Warner, Comcast and Cox. While baseball had set a March 31 deadline, the sides kept negotiating and announced a deal Wednesday night, an agreement that still must be finalized. "All we ever wanted was a victory for the fans, and this outcome is a big step forward," Kerry said in a statement. "Everyone kept talking and pressing until we had a deal that protects the rights of most fans to follow their hometown team." IN Demand began making games available to cable systems in progress starting at 8 p.m. EDT Wednesday, president Robert Jacobson said. The package will be available for $159 this year through a free preview period that will extend into next week, he said, but the 2007 price for those subscribing after that has not been set. "I'm exhausted but happy," Jacobson said. "We always needed to feel like we were treated fairly relative to the other distributor. We felt like got our fair share." As part of the agreement, iN Demand and DirecTV each will receive about 16 percent equity in the new network, a person familiar with the deal said, speaking on condition of anonymity because that detail wasn't announced. Under the original agreement, DirecTV was to be a 20 percent owner. In Demand will make the "Extra Innings" package available to other cable companies, which also would be required to carry the MLB channel. Baseball is willing to resume negotiate with Echostar's Dish Network, baseball spokesman Rich Levin said, but DirecTV president Chase Carey said he anticipated for now that his company would be an exclusive satellite carrier. The dispute was largely over baseball's desire to have a deal that will allow its network to be widely available on a basic cable tier. At 40 million homes, it would be one of the largest launches in cable history. "It provides both the financial stability and the exposure to ensure a successful launch of the channel and bring the game to as many fans as possible," DuPuy said. Because of the new deal, DirecTV will pay less than it would have under the original agreement. "The economics are better for us on the `Extra Innings' side," Carey said. "Clearly there were benefits you had in capturing subs (subscribers). We were paying a lot of money to get it. At what price? We weighed all the positives of each." |