Suddenlink FYI

In all the hulabaloo about the NFL Nework and cable companies, it’s often forgetten that fans who live in the TV markets of competing professional teams can still watch those games on local broadcast TV stations, subject to standard network blackout rules. For instance, the Dec. 22 contest between the Cowboys and the Panthers will be televised on KDFI-TV, according to information posted on the home page of that station’s Web site as of Dec. 14.

Suddenlink Communications does not carry the NFL Network, but it does carry KDFI in various communities in the larger Dallas/Fort Worth television market, including but not limited to the following Texas towns …

On Suddenlink Channel 7: Honey Grove, Krum, Paris, Pilot Point, Anna, Melissa, Prosper, Aubrey, Little Elm, and Sanger

On Suddenlink Channel 9: Terrell, Seagoville, Royse City, Forney, and Balch Springs

On Suddenlink Channel 12: Athens, Sulphur Springs, and Winnsboro

On Suddenlink Channel 14: Gainesville and Whitesboro

On Suddenlink Channel 16: Mineral Wells

On Suddenlink Channel 18: Lowry Crossing and Lucas

Note: Fans served by Suddenlink who do not see their cities listed here can check to confirm if and where KDFI is carried on their Suddenlink lineup by visiting our Web site and entering their zip code.

Check here for more information on the NFL Network.

In addition to offering the NFL its own, stand-alone channel, we asked them if they’d give us a deal like the one they granted Cox Communications in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Once again, the NFL said, “No,” indicating that the Cox deal was “not available anymore.”

Huh?

The NFL made a big announcement about the Cox deal in early November, with Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones on hand. A mere three weeks later, Suddenlink made its request. Is the NFL making up the rules as they go along?

And why are they giving fans in certain areas of the country preferential treatment? Don’t NFL fans in markets outside Oklahoma City and Tulsa deserve the same treatment?

Check here for more information on the NFL Network.

In Suddenlink’s ongoing efforts to make the NFL Network available to our customers, we sent a series of offers to the NFL on Wednesday, Nov. 21.

Those offers included one that would give the NFL Network its own channel, widely available to Suddenlink’s customers who want it. We told the NFL they could make this channel available for free or set whatever price they wanted for it and keep all revenues from it, including all advertising revenues. Under that option, Suddenlink would have made no money.

On Nov. 27, the NFL contacted us to decline this offer and all others, reiterating that they would accept nothing less than the same $100 million ransom they demanded more than a year ago.

Suddenlink remains ready to work out a deal with the NFL Network at any time. We are also today asking the citizens and leaders of the communities we serve to contact the NFL and ask them to accept Suddenlink’s generous offer of a channel devoted to the NFL Network, widely available to customers who want it.

To reach the NFL, call: 212-450-2000.

To reach the NFL Network, call: 310-840-4635.

Check here for more information on the NFL Network.

Tom Giovanetti, president of the Institute for Policy Innovation, a free-market public policy organization based in Dallas

Dale Hansen, prominent Dallas sportscaster, WFAA-TV

Michael Hiestand, sports TV columnist, USA Today

Editorial Board, USA Today

Check here for more information on the NFL Network.