ROH to Lose Major TV Partner

[Smile]

PWInsider....

Sinclair Broadcast Group, parent company of Ring Of Honor, is at a standstill with DirecTV regarding carriage rights to its stations.

Their current pact ends on 2/28 and in a statement released by Sinclair they have stated that they don't see a new deal coming together and have asked people to call DirecTV at (800) 347-3288 to complain and tell them that they want the company to come to terms on a new deal.

Obviously, if Sinclair stops broadcasting on DirecTV at the end of the months, its stations that carry ROH TV would be gone.

[TYFDK]

These things happen every year. A new deal will be reached before anything gets lost.

If they don't, I give it a month tops.

[classic-cabana]

Excuse my ignorance, but how much will this affect ROH? I really dont understand US TV and all the different networks

[jackalope3]

I don't think it will happen. I have Dish Network and there were similar threats of Sinclair stations being dropped from their packages last year. Nothing ever came out of it, so I assume that a new deal was reached.

[BTW10]

Excuse my ignorance, but how much will this affect ROH? I really dont understand US TV and all the different networks

20% of the country has Dish Network and not every city has ROH to begin with so I don't think they'll be losing all that many viewers if Sinclair & Dish don't reach an agreement.

[ROHWorld_Jon]

Excuse my ignorance, but how much will this affect ROH? I really dont understand US TV and all the different networks

DirecTV is one of the major providers of television here. DirecTV and the Dish Network are the two leading satellite television companies, but DirecTV is the leader by far. You also have the local cable providers who provide television to different areas (Comcast in one area, Charter in another, etc.).

I'm not sure how it is elsewhere, but in the U.S. television stations are usually independently owned, and are often affiliated with the major networks (CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC, MyNetwork, etc.). Sinclair owns the stations in different markets around the country, and many of the stations are affiliates.

If DirecTV stops broadcasting SBG stations, all households in the U.S. who are in SBG's markets and are subscribed to DirecTV will lose the SBG stations. People who have other forms of tv, such as Dish or cable, will not be effected. By losing the SBG stations, DirecTV customers are losing their local affiliate of the network SBG is affiliated with in the market. So the people in those markets are losing out on some important programming, including the network news and popular tv shows that air on the network.

That would be a major loss to both DirecTV and SBG. People could potentially unsubscribe from DirecTV to get programming on those stations, while SBG would lose millions of households they normally broadcast to.

Since ROH is aired on various SBG affiliates, they will also lose the markets they are in such as Cincinnati and Milwaukee. People in the markets can still get the SBG stations through other providers other than DirecTV (like Dish or cable), but it's still a big loss.

I hope that makes sense.

[Robareid]

Excuse my ignorance, but how much will this affect ROH? I really dont understand US TV and all the different networks

DirecTV is one of the major providers of television here. DirecTV and the Dish Network are the two leading satellite television companies, but DirecTV is the leader by far. You also have the local cable providers who provide television to different areas (Comcast in one area, Charter in another, etc.).

I'm not sure how it is elsewhere, but in the U.S. television stations are usually independently owned, and are often affiliated with the major networks (CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC, MyNetwork, etc.). Sinclair owns the stations in different markets around the country, and many of the stations are affiliates.

If DirecTV stops broadcasting SBG stations, all households in the U.S. who are in SBG's markets and are subscribed to DirecTV will lose the SBG stations. People who have other forms of tv, such as Dish or cable, will not be effected. By losing the SBG stations, DirecTV customers are losing their local affiliate of the network SBG is affiliated with in the market. So the people in those markets are losing out on some important programming, including the network news and popular tv shows that air on the network.

That would be a major loss to both DirecTV and SBG. People could potentially unsubscribe from DirecTV to get programming on those stations, while SBG would lose millions of households they normally broadcast to.

Since ROH is aired on various SBG affiliates, they will also lose the markets they are in such as Cincinnati and Milwaukee. People in the markets can still get the SBG stations through other providers other than DirecTV (like Dish or cable), but it's still a big loss.

I hope that makes sense.

Wow, that sounds like a really confusing system. Here in the the UK you either have Freeview, Satellite or Cable. Freeview is the free basic, then Satellite you either have Freesat or Sky, and Cabel is Virgin Media. They all pretty much have the same channels apart from Sky which gives you some extras. None of this local stations or different channels for different providers. So much simpler.

I'm still a little confused, is SBG a channel/a group of channels or is it something else?

[Blackshirt30]

Won't happen. DirecTV gets into the negotiations with local affiliates all the time. They run a scroller at the bottom of the screen on these channels a few weeks leading up the deadline date. They always get worked out...usually the day before. Nothing to worry about....the deal will get done.

[BigTChamp]

I'm still a little confused, is SBG a channel/a group of channels or is it something else?

Sinclair Broadcast group is a media conglomerate which owns a couple dozen local television stations throughout the country. Most, if not all of the SBG stations are affiliated with one of the broadcast television networks, which provide the stations with their major programming. My local SBG station airs programming from the CW network, but they own stations affiliated with other networks in other markets.

Outside of primetime hours or nationwide sports broadcasts, the broadcast networks aren't airing content and local stations, including the ones SBG owns, are free to air repeats, syndicated television, or local programming. ROH airs on SBG stations during these off-primetime hours, on Saturday or late Sunday nights in most markets. The stations couldn't air them in primetime because they are obligated to show programming from their network during these hours. SBG is not a TV network and to my knowledge ROH is it's only real foray into exclusive original content.

Direct TV is one of two major satellite providers in the country. If they are unable to come to an arrangement with SBG, it would stop carrying the feed for the local affiliates which SBG owns. These are free, over the air broadcast stations and anyone with Direct TV who is affected would theoretically be able to hook up an antenna and continue getting the station, provided they don't live too far out in the sticks to get a decent signal.

[Northwoods_Nightmare]

I'm going to put this simply, since the other responses are very long and kind of confusing.
-SBG is a company that owns tv stations (that carry ROH).
-Direct TV is a satellite tv provider that consumers can order their tv from.
-SBG and Direct TV may or may not come to a contractual deal that would allow SBG stations to be broadcast by Direct TV.
-Many people in other countries and the US do not have Direct TV, and will not be affected either way.

[Smile]

The problem here is that Sinclair is asking for a lot of money, too much in fact for a company that broadcasts to less than 30% of the country (which doesn't include most big cities like NYC, LA, and Chicago) and DirecTV doesn't have enough subscribers in the towns that SBG broadcasts to justify that kind of deal. SBG is also insisting on DirecTV carrying MyNetwork as part of the package. DirecTV is in a tough situation. Either dump SBG and alienate thousands of customers or pay the fee and not make a profit. The latter seems like the better option obviously but DirecTV will not be eager or in a rush to sign that deal.

[Blackshirt30]

SBG will cave. They've been involved in these type of disputes several times over the years (w/ DirecTV in 2009, Time Warner & Comcast in 2010, and DISH in 2011) and have always caved. Most companies that own these local affiliates usually do. In my market, we've had two of these disputes over the past 5 months that ended up getting settled the day before the deadline without any station loss at all. These kind of disputes come up all the time w/ DirecTV and believe it or not, they're are quite common. 95% sure that DirecTV subscribers will not miss one second of any of their local SBG affiliates.

[187_Joeism]

ROH post this on their facebook:

Hi Justin, We apologize for the interpretation of this news. ROH is not in jeopardy of losing its deal with Sinclair by any means and is in fact off to a great start in 2013. This issue is strictly between Sinclair and DirecTV. These negotiations happen often in the broadcasting world. If an agreement isn't made by the 28th, Sinclair stations would cease to exist on DirecTV until a deal is made. If you are a DirecTV subscriber, please feel free to contact them and let them know how important ROH programming is to you.

[187_Joeism]

From 441mania.com:

- ROH parent company Sinclair Broadcast Group and DirecTV have reportedly reached a short-term extension of their existing TV deal that was set to expire at midnight tonight. The new agreement will give the two sides more time to reach a long-term agreement on their retransimission consent agreement.
Read more at http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/news/ ... agzBEmk.99