Raissman: Comcast takes shot at Yankees in dispute

The plots in these di$ pute$ between cable operators, like Comcast, and regional sports networks (RSNs), like the Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network, are usually the same.

But last week, when Comcast blacked out YES, leaving its more than 900,000 subscribers in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania in the dark, the initial propaganda blast wasn’t just directed at Fox-owned YES, but also its programming jewel — the Yankees. Comcast said that, over the course of the 2015 season, most of its subscribers were tuning out the Bombers.

“… Over 90% of our 900,000 plus customers who receive YES Network didn’t watch the equivalent of even one quarter of those (130) games (on YES) during the season,” Comcast said. “Even while the Yankees were in the hunt for a playoff berth.”

This amounts to not very well-disguised double talk. What Comcast is saying is that, for whatever reason, whether it be a lack of marquee stars or a boring style of play, the product the Yankees put on the field is not compelling.

Worse still, Comcast is saying the Yankees, the most storied franchise in all of sports, have become irrelevant to its subscribers.

Yankees president Randy Levine took strong issue with Comcast’s stance. “It’s a typical gutless act by a cable carrier seeking to promote it’s own self-interest.”

Levine said if Comcast had issue with the Yankees product, why did it wait until now to shut down YES?

“This amounts to nothing more than a money grab. Comcast, who said it had an agreement in principle with YES, is saving millions of dollars now by not airing YES in the offseason.”

STARLIN CASTRO ON YANKEES RADAR, JUST NOT FOR BRETT GARDNER

Comcast’s aggressive posture is not the way cable operators normally come out firing in these confrontations. They are more likely to make their attack general, saying subscribers who have no interest in baseball, or any other sport, should not have to pony up for the exorbitant increase the RSN is asking for. To suggest — even subtly — the on-field product sucks is heavy artillery.

It’s not likely that Comcast’s “suggestion” will cause Brian Cashman to cast his line in the free agent ocean and land a big-money fish. Yet the inflammatory rhetoric used by Comcast suits could signal their desire for a different conclusion here, which will prolong the stalemate.

Comcast wears two hats. Through its ownership of eight RSNs serving nine markets from coast-to-coast, including a stake in SNY, it is also a programmer holding rights fee agreements with six baseball teams. Five of those clubs (Giants, Phillies, Cubs, White Sox, Mets) are also equity partners in their respective Comcast RSNs.

COMCAST SAYS NO TO YES, DROPS NETWORK

Comcast honchos know what impact the costs associated with owning rights to air baseball have on their own RSNs. They also are acutely aware of the effect carriage fees RSNs charge have on a cable operator’s bottom line. If they have concluded excessive carriage fees have a bigger negative impact on their overall business, Comcast could look to use the YES dispute to change the structure of the way it, as a cable system operator, does business with RSNs.

And that would mean not negotiating a deal with YES until it agreed to be placed on a “sports tier” rather than being part of a basic cable package, where YES gets monthly payments based on ALL 900,000 Comcast subscribers. In a “tier” system, only subscribers who want to watch baseball or Nets basketball would pay a monthly fee to access YES.

A “tier” system would not only reduce the carriage fees cable operators pay RSNs, it would reduce — drastically — the rights fees baseball teams receive from the RSNs. This would result in teams losing millions of dollars in TV money, which would lead to significantly reducing huge free agent contracts and likely lowering player salaries across the board.

If the “tier” system were established, other cable operators would use it on Comcast’s RSNs. Again, if Comcast has determined the “tier” is better for its overall cable business it would live with that reality. If this is the plan, look for this economic confrontation between Comcast and YES to last for quite a while — maybe even the entire 2016 season.

MUST-WATCH JETS

Life without Rex Ryan ain’t so bad after all.

Or maybe eyeballs are attracted to the monotone postgame press conference stylings of Todd Bowles.

Incredibly, especially considering the quality of Rex’s past performances, through nine games SNY’s “Jets Post-Game Live” is enjoying its highest household rating and second highest total viewership (2009 was No. 1) in the show’s history.

The ratings are up 26% (.48 vs. .38) in households and 18% (42,220 vs. 35,753) in total viewers compared to Ryan’s final season. So maybe Ryan was not as big a part of this as we thought — and Bowles isn’t, either.

Is the ratings magnet Ray Lucas’ beard? Mike Westhoff perfecting the art of crankiness? Chad Cascadden’s know-it-all attitude, perhaps? Jeane Coakley’s interviews? Or Brian Custer skillfully dealing with these Wing Nuts, er Wing Men.

Maybe it’s just a case of genuine spontaneity, reacting on the fly, and the cast members knowing their roles. To their credit, this show is still a must watch.

WAITING ON THE ZINGER

We are still trying to obtain a credential for Kristaps Porzingis’ Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Seriously though, the excitement surrounding the Knicks rookie is shaking a lot of folks up, messing with minds.

Take the MSGulag Network, for example. On Tuesday’s pregame show, Al (Wiggie) Trautwig, leading into a highlight package from Sunday’s Pelicans-Knicks game, said: “Sunday, Paris was on everyone’s mind. Then came the game.” Yet instead of airing highlights of Pelicans-Knicks, up popped LeBron James and highlights from Friday’s Cavs-Knicks tilt, and silence on Trautwig’s end.

Maybe he was daydreaming about Porzingis.

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SLICE OF PIE, IAN?

The late, legendary Phil Rizzuto described show-offy stuff as “cutting the pie.”

On Wednesday, YES’ Ian (The Bird) Eagle, didn’t just cut, he cleaned out the entire deep dish in the second quarter of Nets-Hornets.

After Rondae Hollis-Jefferson stole the ball and went all the way in for an emphatic jam the Bird paused and then turned up the volume, saying: “Oh! …. The Hyphen has hops.”

What’s next? The Period, posting up in the paint?

KAY GOES UNDENIED

Was Michael Kay being self-deprecating? Or just telling the truth?

After basically accusing Joe Buck of stealing the concept for his new DirecTV show “Undeniable” from YES’ “CenterStage,” Kay reversed field, saying: “He (Buck) is talented. I’m not.”

Naturally his 98.7 crew rushed to Kay’s defense, saying he was being too hard on himself. How touching.

* * *

DUDE OF THE WEEK: AARON RODGERS

After a 6-0 start, Rodgers and the Packers have dropped three straight. The disappointment has not prevented the quarterback from keeping life in perspective. Rodgers took a moment during his postgame press conference to chastise a prejudiced fan who made an inappropriate comment during a moment of silence for the lives lost in the terrorist attacks in Paris. Rodgers said: “It’s that kind of prejudicial ideology that I think puts us in a position that we’re in today as a world.”

DWEEB OF THE WEEK: KIRK HERBSTREIT

For accusing Baylor senior safety Terrell Burt of faking an injury during the Bears’ loss to Oklahoma. “I’ve never seen anything like that in my life,” Herbstreit, claiming Burt was prompted by a teammate to get down causing an injury timeout to be called, said on the telecast. “That is awful. Now he’s going to fake a limp. I mean that is bush league.” Turns out Burt had sprained his right ankle on the kickoff before the Sooners had snapped the ball twice. Herbstreit should know better than to play doctor. He wound up looking like a fool. His subsequent apology did not alter that perception.

DOUBLE TALK

What Marc Malusis said: “Derek Fisher grew his beard because he wants to look smarter than he really is.”

What Marc Malusis meant to say: “Derek Fisher will never be mistaken for a nuclear physicist.”

Tags:

new york yankees ,

media ,

comcast ,

new york jets ,

todd bowles ,

rex ryan ,

kristaps porzingis ,

rondae hollis-jefferson ,

aaron rodgers ,

derek fisher

Baseball – NY Daily News

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