NFL to stream NBC games in real time

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by sportscurmudgeon

Smootsmack:

Since you are in the sportsmedia business, you can explain something to me.

Why is NBC happy to do this? :confused: Every person who views the games over the Internet is one person who is not watching the game on NBC TV. And fewer viewers on TV mean lower ratings and lower ratings mean lower ad revenues.

So, how is this a good deal for NBC - - and particularly their affiliate stations? :confused-

And if this is such a bonanza, why is the NFL keeping all playoff games and the Super Bowl away from these new revenue streams?

I see how fans can like this - - but NBC is paying $600M per year for SNF and now it will be available over a different "channel" and that's good for NBC???

I'm dense; I don't get it. Please help.

Well yeah the affiliates aren't too happy right now. And I don't know that it's such a bonanza at this point that they will add the playoff games and Super Bowl. This first year should give them a sense of their future business model.

However, speaking as someone who deals with the same matters for a competitor I can say that one of the more interesting aspects of watching sports online is that it doesn't cannibalize sports ratings on television. Our most watched sports online are still the most watched on television. We're setting records both online and on television. Still trying to figure out why that is exactly. Primarily it's because the people that are watching online are not those that would be watching on television in other years, but rather those that wouldn't have been able to watch at all in other years. Maybe they're at work, maybe they just have one television in the house, whatever the reason may be.