The channel will start broadcasting on Thursday, August 22nd.

Let's see what we've got as far as carriage...

Altice(formerly Cablevision and Suddenlink)
DirecTV
Google Fiber
Hulu
Playstation Vue
Sling TV
Verizon Fios

A lot of the big boys are not on this list. Most of the providers are digital in fact, and one of those is primarily owned by Disney. I know people keep saying these sorts of deals come down to the wire and it's not unlike what the SEC Network experienced. That is true to some degree, but 6 weeks is not a lot of time.

The SEC benefited from a large amount of fan participation in requesting the network. The SEC has more fans for one thing and we generally have more passionate fans.

After all, cable companies want to please their customers and if your customers want a channel then that ups the pressure on you to provide it at the going rate. I've checked the ACC Network website and they certainly have a similar setup that makes fan participation easy. I just haven't heard a lot about it being utilized.

Several years ago, you had Mr. SEC and others providing day by day updates on contracts and the latest news regarding the SEC Network. I haven't seen a ton of that this go around.

It's true that the market is different than it was 5 years ago and that accounts for some portion of the muted response, but there's very little buzz around this thing.

(07-11-2019 01:58 PM)AllTideUp Wrote:  The channel will start broadcasting on Thursday, August 22nd.

Let's see what we've got as far as carriage...

Altice(formerly Cablevision and Suddenlink)
DirecTV
Google Fiber
Hulu
Playstation Vue
Sling TV
Verizon Fios

A lot of the big boys are not on this list. Most of the providers are digital in fact, and one of those is primarily owned by Disney. I know people keep saying these sorts of deals come down to the wire and it's not unlike what the SEC Network experienced. That is true to some degree, but 6 weeks is not a lot of time.

The SEC benefited from a large amount of fan participation in requesting the network. The SEC has more fans for one thing and we generally have more passionate fans.

After all, cable companies want to please their customers and if your customers want a channel then that ups the pressure on you to provide it at the going rate. I've checked the ACC Network website and they certainly have a similar setup that makes fan participation easy. I just haven't heard a lot about it being utilized.

Several years ago, you had Mr. SEC and others providing day by day updates on contracts and the latest news regarding the SEC Network. I haven't seen a ton of that this go around.

It's true that the market is different than it was 5 years ago and that accounts for some portion of the muted response, but there's very little buzz around this thing.

The reality moving forward will be that T3 inventory is only as good as the # of actual viewers who tune in. T2 inventory may wind up being ESPN prime time if the FAANG companies get in on trying to land T1 for figures being tossed around that are 30% higher than the highest estimates for the SEC's T1 to CBS. So content vs content will drive T1 values. If F.S.U. doesn't pick it back up soon the ACC will only have 1 content football team, Clemson. Content vs Content means better T2 games which networks like FOX and ESPN may have to rely upon in the future. And T1 will comprise the vast majority of media payouts by conference, and perhaps by team.

We are in for some interesting times and it could be that ESPN could be feeling what is coming. I would hate to be the ACC right now. 2022-3 the Big 10 gets a new T1 and T2 contract. 2023-4 the SEC gets a new T1 contract. 2024-5 the PAC and Big 12 get a new T1 & T2 contract. The ACC's opportunity won't come again until 12 years later. It could be a death knell.

Perhaps ACCN/ESPN will lure Paul Finebaum away from the SECN. One may hope.

(07-11-2019 04:04 PM)OdinFrigg Wrote:  Perhaps ACCN/ESPN will lure Paul Finebaum away from the SECN. One may hope.

Return to sender.

No such number.

No such soul.

From my blog post (quoted here with permission from the owne, yada, yada):

Quote:...is it time to freak out yet? Not necessarily. Consider these dates associated with the launch of a similar network a few years ago...

Cox Communications signed on July 9, 2014 (36 days before SECN launch)
Comcast signed on July 18, 2014 (27 days before SECN launch)
CableOne and WOW signed on August 1, 2014 (13 days before SECN launch)
DirectTV signed on August 5, 2014 (9 days before SECN launch)
Charter signed on August 6, 2014 (8 days before SECN launch)
NOTE: SEC Network launched on August, 14 2014.

So what does that have to do with the ACC Network? Just this: the ACCN is set to launch on August 22, 2019. Today is July 13th. We are still 40 days away - more than the number of days that Cox signed up for the SECN ahead of its launch. In fact, going by the SECN timetable, we might expect to start seeing movement in the next week or two... or it could be in the second and third weeks of August!

Remember, Comcast signed up 4 weeks ahead, and Charter didn't sign with the SECN until a mere 8 days before it launched... the same number of days before the ACCN launch would put us at August 14th, 2019.

The SECN went down to the wire, and the SEC encouraged fans to put pressure on cable companies to sign up... we should expect no less with the launch of the ACCN.

Is the ACCN a success yet? No.
Was the SECN a success 40 days before it launched? No.
Verdict: still too early to tell.

(07-13-2019 06:45 AM)Hokie Mark Wrote:  From my blog post (quoted here with permission from the owne, yada, yada):

Quote:...is it time to freak out yet? Not necessarily. Consider these dates associated with the launch of a similar network a few years ago...

Cox Communications signed on July 9, 2014 (36 days before SECN launch)
Comcast signed on July 18, 2014 (27 days before SECN launch)
CableOne and WOW signed on August 1, 2014 (13 days before SECN launch)
DirectTV signed on August 5, 2014 (9 days before SECN launch)
Charter signed on August 6, 2014 (8 days before SECN launch)
NOTE: SEC Network launched on August, 14 2014.

So what does that have to do with the ACC Network? Just this: the ACCN is set to launch on August 22, 2019. Today is July 13th. We are still 40 days away - more than the number of days that Cox signed up for the SECN ahead of its launch. In fact, going by the SECN timetable, we might expect to start seeing movement in the next week or two... or it could be in the second and third weeks of August!

Remember, Comcast signed up 4 weeks ahead, and Charter didn't sign with the SECN until a mere 8 days before it launched... the same number of days before the ACCN launch would put us at August 14th, 2019.

The SECN went down to the wire, and the SEC encouraged fans to put pressure on cable companies to sign up... we should expect no less with the launch of the ACCN.

Is the ACCN a success yet? No.
Was the SECN a success 40 days before it launched? No.
Verdict: still too early to tell.

In the words of Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams, "Too much, too little, too late."

There's a good chance our benefactor is about to change.

(07-13-2019 06:45 AM)Hokie Mark Wrote:  From my blog post (quoted here with permission from the owne, yada, yada):

Quote:...is it time to freak out yet? Not necessarily. Consider these dates associated with the launch of a similar network a few years ago...

Cox Communications signed on July 9, 2014 (36 days before SECN launch)
Comcast signed on July 18, 2014 (27 days before SECN launch)
CableOne and WOW signed on August 1, 2014 (13 days before SECN launch)
DirectTV signed on August 5, 2014 (9 days before SECN launch)
Charter signed on August 6, 2014 (8 days before SECN launch)
NOTE: SEC Network launched on August, 14 2014.

So what does that have to do with the ACC Network? Just this: the ACCN is set to launch on August 22, 2019. Today is July 13th. We are still 40 days away - more than the number of days that Cox signed up for the SECN ahead of its launch. In fact, going by the SECN timetable, we might expect to start seeing movement in the next week or two... or it could be in the second and third weeks of August!

Remember, Comcast signed up 4 weeks ahead, and Charter didn't sign with the SECN until a mere 8 days before it launched... the same number of days before the ACCN launch would put us at August 14th, 2019.

The SECN went down to the wire, and the SEC encouraged fans to put pressure on cable companies to sign up... we should expect no less with the launch of the ACCN.

Is the ACCN a success yet? No.
Was the SECN a success 40 days before it launched? No.
Verdict: still too early to tell.

My point was more about the difference in fan support.

The timeline for progress is not that different, but 2 things are working against the ACC Network. The market for linear channel growth is not great. Perhaps most importantly, the fan support for the ACC is much smaller.

Regardless of the market size of most ACC states, that's not going to mean much unless a critical mass of people are demanding the product.

(07-14-2019 12:06 AM)AllTideUp Wrote:  

(07-13-2019 06:45 AM)Hokie Mark Wrote:  From my blog post (quoted here with permission from the owne, yada, yada):

Quote:...is it time to freak out yet? Not necessarily. Consider these dates associated with the launch of a similar network a few years ago...

Cox Communications signed on July 9, 2014 (36 days before SECN launch)
Comcast signed on July 18, 2014 (27 days before SECN launch)
CableOne and WOW signed on August 1, 2014 (13 days before SECN launch)
DirectTV signed on August 5, 2014 (9 days before SECN launch)
Charter signed on August 6, 2014 (8 days before SECN launch)
NOTE: SEC Network launched on August, 14 2014.

So what does that have to do with the ACC Network? Just this: the ACCN is set to launch on August 22, 2019. Today is July 13th. We are still 40 days away - more than the number of days that Cox signed up for the SECN ahead of its launch. In fact, going by the SECN timetable, we might expect to start seeing movement in the next week or two... or it could be in the second and third weeks of August!

Remember, Comcast signed up 4 weeks ahead, and Charter didn't sign with the SECN until a mere 8 days before it launched... the same number of days before the ACCN launch would put us at August 14th, 2019.

The SECN went down to the wire, and the SEC encouraged fans to put pressure on cable companies to sign up... we should expect no less with the launch of the ACCN.

Is the ACCN a success yet? No.
Was the SECN a success 40 days before it launched? No.
Verdict: still too early to tell.

My point was more about the difference in fan support.

The timeline for progress is not that different, but 2 things are working against the ACC Network. The market for linear channel growth is not great. Perhaps most importantly, the fan support for the ACC is much smaller.

Regardless of the market size of most ACC states, that's not going to mean much unless a critical mass of people are demanding the product.

Yeah, I have no idea, nor do I know of any public source of such information. From TV ratings it certainly seems like the demand for ACCN won't be as great as it is for SECN, but there are lots of variables there, too (like football vs. basketball, TV tiers, etc.). Not saying the ACCN will definitely do as well as the SECN (unlikely) or any particular fraction of SECN (90%? 80%? 70%? who knows!) - insufficient information at this time.

I did find this from an old blog post:

Quote:Given the fact that it looks like the ACC can fill a network with 0.46 to 0.92 rated games (i.e. about 600K to 1.3M viewers per game), we see that an ACC Network channel would be about as valuable as ESPNU, FS1, etc. - basic cable in the footprint, extended cable outside it.

https://accfootballrx.blogspot.com/2015/...-accn.html

A view from Tallahassee:

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/sports...701843001/

From the Orlando Sentinel:

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/c...story.html

Of course Swofford and ESPN will sound optimistic about the launch.

It is now 4 weeks until the launch of the ACC Network and not much has changed.

There was this news yesterday about the NCTC(National Cable Television Cooperative) agreeing to allow their members the ability to opt-in for the ACC Network, but that's not the same as guaranteed carriage with any of the members.

Awful Announcing reports

As I said in my original post...6 weeks is not a lot of time. The last 2 weeks have passed quickly and the next 4 are just around the corner.

There does appear to be at least one corner of the ACC that doesn't have a lot of faith in John Swofford or the ACC Network at this juncture.

This article, in fairness, is a bit of a polemic, but there are a few interesting points made.

UNC nepotism puts ACC Network in peril

Quote:By zooming in all next season on the UNC program — rather than Duke basketball or another conference member — the Tar Heel-led ACC brass isn’t doing its new network any favors.

Former UNC athletic director John Swofford, who has now generously served his alma mater as the ACC commissioner for 22 years too long, once again requires a Duke basketball watchdog.

Tar Heel born. Tar Heel bred. Tar Heel til the ACC Network is dead.

(07-27-2019 10:59 PM)AllTideUp Wrote:  There does appear to be at least one corner of the ACC that doesn't have a lot of faith in John Swofford or the ACC Network at this juncture.

This article, in fairness, is a bit of a polemic, but there are a few interesting points made.

UNC nepotism puts ACC Network in peril

Quote:By zooming in all next season on the UNC program — rather than Duke basketball or another conference member — the Tar Heel-led ACC brass isn’t doing its new network any favors.

Former UNC athletic director John Swofford, who has now generously served his alma mater as the ACC commissioner for 22 years too long, once again requires a Duke basketball watchdog.

Tar Heel born. Tar Heel bred. Tar Heel til the ACC Network is dead.

Interesting, but not surprised, ATU. When Duke is calling foul about UNC favoritism and nepotism, there is a problem. Of course UNC's political and administrative dominance of the conference has occurred for a handful of decades. UNC getting so much help in escaping penalties for academic fraud doesn't go unnoticed. The SEC's Sankey and his oversight committee on this totally folded in holding UNC accountable.

If the ACC network becomes predominantly a featured UNC bb mouthpiece, that will not bode well. Other conference members must demand fairness and equity, or purge the UNC-tied management team.

The ACC may have that grand GoR extending to the 2030s, but they are not beyond imploding if the network becomes a failure.

On a side note, today is officially 3 weeks until the launch of the ACC Network.

Not much has changed since last week.

Well, some FCS schools will get featured early.

http://amp.awfulannouncing.com/espn/espn...twork.html

(08-02-2019 09:50 AM)OdinFrigg Wrote:  Well, some FCS schools will get featured early.

http://amp.awfulannouncing.com/espn/espn...twork.html

In some cases "streaming only" isn't really accurate - more like "regional broadcast plus streaming nationwide"

(07-11-2019 04:04 PM)OdinFrigg Wrote:  Perhaps ACCN/ESPN will lure Paul Finebaum away from the SECN. One may hope.

Roooooooll Tiiiiiide! Call Paul!

Nah, you guys can keep PAWL. And Phillis from Mulga.

(08-07-2019 09:43 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  Nah, you guys can keep PAWL. And Phillis from Mulga.

None of us would touch Phyllis from Mulga with your thing, let alone ours! And Paul gets more boring by the day. We could do much better.

(08-07-2019 09:53 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(08-07-2019 09:43 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  Nah, you guys can keep PAWL. And Phillis from Mulga.

None of us would touch Phyllis from Mulga with your thing, let alone ours! And Paul gets more boring by the day. We could do much better.

Phyllis screeches. Are Jim, Dave, and the whole mess of those callers still around? I stopped watching about two years ago. Sadly, Auburn fan, Tammy, and her granddaughter deceased from a vehicular accident last November.

And Stingray? Does Mississippi State really want that showcased? I don't.

Feinbaum and his technical/commentary studio duet are actually being condescending, and making fun of ignorant and/or inappropriately emotional callers, supposedly to generate humor. Taking calls from anyone intoxicated is sending the wrong message.