Familiar announcers returning to booth

(WEB UPDATE: FEB. 23, 2006)
SportsTime Ohio is the name of the new Cleveland Indians television network.

Jim Liberatore, president of the new network, announced at a press conference Feb. 23 at Jacobs Field that longtime Tribe announcers Mike Hegan, Rick Manning and John Sanders will broadcast the 130 regular season games carried by the new network. WKYC sports director Jim Donovan will join the returning broadcasters as play-by-play announcer on the 20 games telecast on Channel 3. Donovan will also host the pre-game show for SportsTime Ohio as well as a weekly baseball program to be carried by both WKYC and the cable network.

Liberatore said negotiations with cable operators and satellite companies to carry SportsTime Ohio are continuing. Only Time Warner Cable has finalized a deal to carry the network as of Thursday, but deals were imminent with several companies, Liberatore said.

On the Net:

• SportsTime Ohio
• 2006 Indians schedule with TV coverage
• Press release on new network

Cox Cable balks at Tribe network's initial pitch
By Kevin Kelley
Westshore
Published Feb. 22, 2006

Deal or no deal?

That’s the question Northeast Ohio cable and satellite TV subscribers will be asking as baseball’s opening day approaches.

The Cleveland Indians announced last month they are launching their own television sports network to carry the majority of the team’s games this season. But as yet, the team has reached an agreement with only one cable system — Time Warner Cable — to carry the new network.

Jim Liberatore, president of the new network, said deals are imminent with three cable systems. Negotiations continue with satellite companies and other cable systems, he added.

Cox Communications, which provides cable service in Fairview Park, Rocky River, and Olmsted Falls and Olmsted Township, has been the most vocal in complaining that the fees the Indians network is seeking are too high.

They’ve even created a Web site — www.makethemplayfair.com — to inform customers about the dispute.

Christy Frederick, Cox’s director of public relations and government affairs for Northeast Ohio, said negotiations between Cox and the Indians are continuing. She said she is hopeful a deal can be reached by opening day.

“What we’re asking for are more reasonable rates,” Frederick said. “All the parties want the same thing. We all want Cleveland to see the Indians. We just want acceptable terms and reasonable rates.”

Frederick said the new Indians network is asking twice the fee of Fox Sports Net Ohio, which carried Tribe games in 2005. In addition, Cox argues the Indians network will carry 20 fewer games in 2006 than FSN did last year (20 games will air on WKYC-TV3). And FSN also carries the Cleveland Cavaliers and major college football and basketball games as well as other programming, Cox says, while the Indians network initially will only carry baseball games plus pre- and post-game shows.

Liberatore disputed the 200 percent fee increase quoted by Cox. He also noted all the Indians programming will be live and first-run, not repeats. In addition, Indians games often receive ratings far superior — often 40 times greater — than typical cable network programming.

“All programming is not created equally,” Liberatore said.

“If you take a date to a movie, you’ve just paid more for those three hours of entertainment than you would pay for the Indians all season long — for 500, 600, 700 of hours of programming,” he said.

“Are 600 hours of Indians programming worth what it costs to go to a movie?” Liberatore asked. “I think most people would say they are.”

Although Cox created the makethemplayfair.com Web site, it doesn’t carry the company’s name or logo. Frederick said that’s because other cable companies concerned about the higher fees are planning to link to it.

“It’s really a consumer education / consumer advocacy site,” she said.

The Web site calls on the Indians to allow cable operators to offer the new network as an optional channel for those who want to pay extra for it if negotiations to include it in the basic tier of channels fails.

But Liberatore said the Indians are refusing to consider this option.

Consumer advocacy groups have long called for cable operators to allow viewers the choice to subscribe to only those channel they want rather than blocks of channels. But cable operators and networks have long resisted this proposal, known as “a la carte.” They say such a pricing system would limit the variety of channels now offered. The costs of popular channels like ESPN would skyrocket while niche channels would likely cease to exist.

But Frederick said such an option might work in the case of the Indians network because it would prevent cable operators from passing along cost increases to all its customers.

“For Cox, it’s about protecting the customer,” she said.

While Cox’s Web site asks customers to contact the Indians and ask them to moderate their fees for their network, the Indians are asking their fans to tell their cable companies that Indians games are important to them.

Frederick said the feedback Cox has received is positive.

“Mostly customers are appreciative that we’re trying to fight for a better price,” she said.

Talks are ongoing with the major satellite companies as well as other Westshore cable operators such as Adelphia and Wide Open West, Liberatore said. Time Warner Cable, which already has a deal inked with the Indians network, is scheduled to purchase Adelphia’s Northeast Ohio systems this summer. However, until that takeover is finalized, Liberatore said Adelphia is being dealt with separately.

Noting the negotiations with most cable operators began only two weeks ago, Liberatore said they are “progressing really nicely.”

“There’s nobody who has said ‘No. These conversations are over.’ Actually, things are going great,” Liberatore said.

He said he expects most cable viewers in the Cuyahoga County and adjoining counties will be able to see Indians games by opening day.