NFL to begin 24-hour cable channel on November 4 (1 Viewer)

[MikeM]

NFL to begin 24-hour cable channel on November 4

NEW YORK (Ticker) - The NFL will launch a 24-hour cable channel, called the NFL Network, on November 4, Election Day, the league officially announced Thursday.

At its launch, NFL Network will be cleared in more than 11 million homes as part of an agreement with DirecTV's basic service. It also hopes to have carriage agreements with local cable operators prior to the launch date.

"The launch of a network that celebrates the NFL is a tremendously exciting project," said Steve Bornstein, NFL Network president and CEO. "Our mission is to deliver programming that honors the NFL's rich tradition and captures the excitement that turns on millions of fans."

NFL Network will debut at 8 p.m. EDT with its signature show NFL Total Access.

"We will use a lot of innovation to bring our audience the most technologically advanced content possible," Bornstein said.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slu...v=st&type=lgns


Sounds great...I wonder if any content will be in HDTV...drool.

 

[Peter Kline]

It will succeed. Now, let's see how many cable systems they line up.

 

[Andrew Grall]

What are they going to show? Old NFL games? Current games?

 

[Don Black]

Who knows... But I think the NFL is the largest user of 16mm film with all of the footage they shoot. I'm not a sports nut myself, but I would imagine they will have some great stuff.

 

[Andrew Grall]

If this became a way to watch games outside the local areas, I would be happy to pay for it... but the DirectTV contract probably prohibits that...

 

[MikeM]

I;m guessing it will feature all of the classic NFL films type content that you see on ESPN late at night, along with some new shows probably about fantasy football, inside the helmet, mic'd up, etc.

It can't allow you to access games from other markets, because that's what the NFL Sunday Ticket is for on DirecTV. In fact, because the NFL has an exclusive deal with DirecTV for the Sunday ticket until 2005 (I think), I wonder if they will even be able to have this channel on cable or dish....sounds unlikely.

For anyone who has ordered the NFL Sunday Ticket from DirecTV, you'll know that they get people pumped up about the season by having a "virtual channel" setup temporarily on channel 701 (or a channel close to that) where it is essentially the NFL channel. There is a LOT more content that you might think, and all have they to do is setup a talk show hosted by Art Donnovan, or some other funny ex-players, and they'll have cheap content for days.

I can't wait until it premieres...should be cool, and great that it's included for free for DirecTV customers.