ESPN, NFL Network are To Partner to distribute NFL Content
ESPN and NFL Network are to distribute the NFL contents through any one or more of ESPN’s existing expanded basic cable channels. ESPN’s former chairman and president of Disney’s ABC network and chief executive of the NFL Network are in high-level discussion to decide on the partnership. Many cable operators like Comcast, Time Warner have moved the network to sports tier. NFL Network also withheld eight games in 2006 season from its lucrative TV licensing packages to broadcast on its own channel in an attempt to gain leverage with cable operators in securing distribution for its network. But major cable operators such as Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision Systems and Charter Communications balked at the network’s push for digital-basic positioning and its pricey 70-cent monthly subscriber fee.