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Fox already has shut off the first-down line in NFL games, and now some college football and Lightning broadcasts are set to be dropped.
By SHARON GINN
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 4, 2001
The uncertainty of the U.S. economy, which was jolted further by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, now is affecting what you will see on sports broadcasts in the coming months. Or, more accurately, won't see.
On Sunday, Fox Sports dumped the Emmy-winning First-and-Ten line from its NFL coverage and gave no timeline for its return. That is the most visible of the cuts, but more are coming.
With parent company Disney's stock in decline partly because of poor theme park attendance, ABC is "looking at all kinds of ways we can operate more efficiently," spokesman Mark Mandel said. That apparently means reducing the number of games on its regional college football schedule.
Big 12 associate commissioner Tim Allen said Wednesday that an ABC game scheduled for Oct. 13 has been dropped by the network, and "I believe they've cut back games for lots of conferences. That's my understanding, not from ABC but from talking to other (conference representatives)."
Atlantic Coast Conference assistant commissioner Mike Finn said his league will lose broadcasts, but that Florida State, scheduled to appear on ABC three times in four weeks beginning Oct. 20, likely won't be affected.
Locally, Sunshine Network -- about 70 percent of which is owned by Fox -- is expected to cut back a Lightning schedule that just two weeks ago was lauded by team officials because, for the first time, every road game was scheduled to air.
Virtually all media, including television networks, newspapers and radio, have faced declining advertising revenue all year. But from Sept. 11-15, networks and local TV stations lost an estimated $313.2-million in advertising sales, according to a report this week from ad research firm CMR.
Attendance at Disney's theme parks has substantially declined, and its stock is down 20 percent since the attacks. Fox's parent company, NewsCorp, has cut its profit forecasts for fiscal year 2002.
Officials from ESPN, also owned by Disney, say that as of now they anticipate no programming or production cuts. CBS Sports president Sean McManus said no cuts are in the works for his division of the network, even though the attacks cost CBS $85-million in lost advertising.
NBC spokesman Kevin Sullivan said cutbacks have been on smaller items such as catering and travel or dropping a camera or two from a broadcast. But the network is in an exclusive negotiating period for rights to NBA games, and industry observers are waiting to see how a deal might be affected by the economy, Michael Jordan's return and other factors.
So far, the most evident change to sports broadcasts has been Fox's decision to drop the yellow first-down line from its NFL coverage. The network had been using the technology on two games a week at a reported cost of about $25,000 per game.
Just months ago, Fox was considering using the first-down line in all its NFL broadcasts, said Bill Squadron, chief executive officer of Sportvision, which provides the technology for Fox, ABC and ESPN. But about two weeks ago, network officials told Squadron they were planning to drop the line.
"We were supposed to do the Tampa game (Sunday) with the Vikings," Squadron said. "We were explaining to them that this was something that fans have really come not just to expect but to love. The research is incredible. We certainly appreciate the financial situation everyone is in, but this is just a bad place to look for savings."
Neither Fox nor Sportvision will reveal an exact price per game, but Squadron doesn't deny the $25,000 figure. The line will continue to be used by CBS, ESPN and ABC as planned for selected NFL and college games. CBS pays somewhat less; McManus said it gets the technology from Princeton Video Image at a cost of $15,000 to $18,000 a game.
"The bottom line is, first downs are still going to be made or not made on the field," Fox spokesman Lou D'Ermilio said. "Close calls are still going to be called by the chain, and nothing is going to be official until the ref says it is."
Fox Sports Net will continue to use the first-down line on two of its college broadcasts a week, because the NCAA allows networks to sell advertising sponsorships within the broadcast -- of the first-down line, for example. The NFL does not.
Behind the scenes, Fox has been grumbling for several years about the part of the networks' contract with the NFL that prevents them from selling sponsorships within game broadcasts. The contract runs through 2005. At least one network is not interested in renegotiating that portion with the league.
"I feel very strongly the lack of (advertising) enhancements in the game make it an easier product to sell (commercials for)," CBS' McManus said. "The telecast is so much less cluttered. I think the worst time to add enhancements is in a depressed marketplace when you end up underselling them."
All agree the marketplace is depressed.
ABC won't detail the cuts it is planning, declining to confirm how many college games it will end up cutting or even whether it is doing so. But the Big 12's Allen said, "ABC asked our understanding in a situation that's very difficult for not only them but everybody in the television industry. ... We wanted to cooperate and work with them. They're our partners in the long haul."
Any cuts to Sunshine's Lightning schedule are expected to be finalized next week. The network could cut as many as 10 games of the 70 it plans between Sunshine and a loose group of cable system stations known as the Lightning Hockey Network.
- Times researcher Kitty Bennett contributed to this report.