Estimated annual pay TV subscriber fees for 2012: Univision Deportes Network - at least $100 million based on deal with DISH Network (projected to reach $840 million by 2014) FOX Soccer - $106 million FOX Deportes - $54 million GOLTV - $23 million (but will drop significantly if DIRECTV and others were to remove GOLTV from the Sports Tier) ESPN Deportes - $11 million
So as of right now Univision Deportes is below Fox Soccer (100<106) Where did you get the $100 million figure from??? Dish Network signed a deal with Univision for 4 new Univision networks, so if that $100 million figure is true, would it not be for all four channels, rather than just the new Deportes channel?
12 million subscribers on DISH Network x $1/subscriber/month for Univision Deportes Network x 9 months = $108 million Univision Deportes Network should earn more in subscription fees than FOX Soccer and FOX Deportes combined ($160 million) by the end of 2012. I expect Univision to be a major player when the U.S. media rights to the English Premier League for 2013-2016 (3 seasons) are auctioned in August, either in a 3-way alliance with FOX Sports Media Group and ESPN, Inc. (designed to fend off Al Jazeera which is capable of bidding $80-100 million/season) or on its own. Univision has cash set aside from its failed bid for the U.S. media rights to La Liga. That cash can be used to finance a bid for some of the U.S. media rights to the English Premier League.
Univision Deportes Network will only be available on DISH's "America's Top 200" package and above, as well as DISH Latino (Spanish-language) packages. Univision Deportes Network will NOT be available on the low-end packages such as "Welcome Pack", "DISH America" or "America's Top 120". DISH has always catered to low-end customers, whereas DIRECTV has always aimed for the high end. I am using 12 million subscribers on DISH to estimate subscriber fees.
But you are forgetting Dish Latino packages... In Anyway numbers are never going to be spot on.. What is for sure is the amount of bank Univision will make regardless if its watched or not.
heh - I expect Newscorp to ratchet up the xenophobia on this rather soon. It'll be like the "Ground Zero Mosque" all over again.
Sadly I may be joining the low-end customers soon. DirecTV bill is just too damn high now. And I still hate Comcast.
If GOL TV were to forge on after losing La Liga later this year would they look to bring back Barca TV, Real Madrid TV, and maybe add an EPL club or twos TV network to spruce up their programming lineup? If there is a 24 hour window in terms of broadcasting repeats of games they could show the Saturday Barca/Madrid game on Sunday Night and air the Sunday game on Monday Night. Fill the the other times w/classic Barca/Madrid games along with their news/informational programming. I just don't think it's that easy to expect the people that own GOL TV to just sell to the Qataris.
The big problem GOLTV, Inc. is facing if it isn't bought out by Al Jazeera: DIRECTV and the cable companies may remove GOLTV U.S. from the English-language sport tier, leaving GOLTV in just the Spanish-language tiers, because the live matches left on GOLTV (Bayern Munich, Boca Juniors, River Plate, and the Brazilian clubs) don't appeal to enough English-speaking viewers. (DIRECTV removed FOX Deportes from the English-language sports tier in January, resulting in a net loss of 5 million subscribers. Liga Mexicana, Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana don't appeal to enough English-speaking viewers.) 48-hour delay "club channel" programming don't appeal to many viewers now that everything is available live somewhere else. That's the reason why GOLTV, Inc. discontinued Arsenal TV and Liverpool TV several years ago and FOX Soccer discontinued Barca TV. (GOLTV, Inc. still has AC Milan Channel, but that may have been bundled with Coppa Italia.) If that "worst case" were to happen, GOLTV U.S. drops from 13 million subscribers to 4 million. GOLTV, Inc.'s valuation will then drop from $150-200 million to less than $50 million. After subtracting initial startup costs, the HD TV infrastructure upgrade cost, and accumulated deficits over the past 10 years, the value of the equity held by Francisco Casal, Enzo Francescoli, et. al. would be worthless. I believe that Casal will sell GOLTV, Inc. for $200 million, but the Qataris might not want to buy because MEDIAPRO would make more money for itself (in consulting fees) if Al Jazeera were to start a new channel instead with MEDIAPRO serving as its advisor. -- Over the years, GOLTV, Inc. has shown that it actually cares about the viewers. GOLTV, Inc. and ESPN Deportes share a common goal of airing as many La Liga matches live as possible so they sometimes swap picks 4, 5, and 6 in order accomplish that goal. On the other hand, I understand that MEDIAPRO is only looking out for MEDIAPRO and is putting its interest ahead of its clients.
Are the Qataris that stupid to realize that by the time they get a new channel started and in as many households as GolTv currently has that the rights for La Liga would be over?
Wow! I know it is very early in the game, but is it entirely possible that we DirecTV subscribers could be left in the dark next season?
Some of the crazy numbers from the last international media rights auctions for the English Premier League for the 2010-2013 cycle when "stupid money" got involved: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...ights-bonanza-1925462.html?printService=print Middle East and Northern Africa - Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC) bid $300 million total ($100 million/season), up from the $120 million total ($40 million/season) previously paid by Showtime Arabia (150% increase) (ADMC realistically can sign up no more than 3 million subscribers in the region.) Singapore (4.8 million people, less than 2 million TV households) - SingTel mioTV bid GBP 200 million total, up from the GBP 67 million previously paid by StarHub (200% increase) (Recall that SingTel and StarHub are both controlled by the Singapore government through the Temasek investment fund. That meant the Singapore government was bidding against itself.) Hong Kong (7 million people, around 2.5 million TV households) - Cable TV Hong Kong bid GBP 150 million total, up from the GBP 115 million total previously paid by PCCW Now TV (30% increase) -- There is a note at the bottom of the article regarding GuangDong TV's WinTV service in Mainland China (which topped out at around 20,000 subscribers before the Premier League required one match each week to be on free-to-air TV) that should serve as a cautionary tale to sports leagues that blindly accept the biggest bid for media rights without asking questions regarding distribution methods first. The Premier League has learned its lesson. UEFA's way of conducting business (requiring sample broadcast schedules and current subscriber count for each channel to be used) means a WinTV-style debacle is unlikely to happen with the UEFA events. Sadly, La Liga is still in the dark ages.
Al Jazeera will use an a la carte premium subscription model in France: EURO 11/month for Al Jazeera Sport 1 and Al Jazeera Sport 2: http://www.digitaltveurope.net/22359/al-jazeera-to-charge-e11-for-french-sport-channels/ Rival Canal Plus is already complaining that Al Jazeera's business model in France is "irrational", as Al Jazeera Sport 1 & 2 in France will need 3 million subscribers to break even. (Ligue 1 is NOT the most popular sports TV product in France, as the audience for Ligue 1 tends to skew toward immigrants from Africa. France has a population of 65 million and has less than 25 million TV households. Canal Plus, which will keep "1st pick" of Ligue 1 matches, has an audience share of about 3%. That means a rational person would expect Al Jazeera Sport 1 & 2 in France to sign up no more than 1 million subscribers.) == One would expect a French-language international version of Al Jazeera Sports for North America to be sold a la carte in the U.S. (and Canada, pending CRTC approval and addition of Canadian Content) to be the new home of Ligue 1 in French.
One thing to correct above: the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region excluding Israel and Turkey only had 3.6 million pay TV households TOTAL at the end of 2010. http://www.telecomsmarketresearch.com/resources/Arab_television_1.shtml By paying $100 million/season for the rights to the English Premier League for the 2010-2013 seasons in MENA except Israel and Turkey, Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC) needed to sign up around 1 million households, or nearly 30% of all pay TV households in the MENA region except Israel and Turkey, in order to break even. == The effect of "petro currency" has driven the ruling families in MENA to make insane bids for media rights to European club soccer. The Qataris (Al Jazeera) have taken the insanity to the next level by bidding up the media rights to European club soccer in France and the U.S., with the U.K. market being the next target.
Wait...What? How is Ligue 1 not the most popular sport in it's own country of France? What exactly is the most popular league in France then?
Cycling and Rugby Union tend to be more popular among French citizens of European descent than Ligue 1 which attracts mostly immigrants from Africa.
So cycling and rugby is more popular than soccer in France? The country that won the Euro, WC and lays claim to Platini, Zidane and Henry? Actually just read the wikipedia of sport in France and it seems that Soccer is popular in the North while Rugby is in the south (weird because it is near Basque Country and Catalonia of Spain where they are soccer crazy). I am actually amazed by this. I didn't even know rugby was popular in France, I mean at all!
And all 3 of those players are children of immigrants... Seriously though, it's not that soccer isn't popular; it is that it is most popular with the poor and immigrants. Those that can't afford expensive TV packages. Also, Tennis is very popular with the middle and upper classes.
So do the rich look down at Soccer? Do they act like the anti-soccer crowd in the US does? It just amazes me really. I thought France was like Spain or Italy where soccer is king among all people no matter the race, ethnicity or wealth.
IMHO, It's rather complicated. To try to simplify it, it's not that they look down on soccer specifically, but rather it is a result of the tense relationship between ethnic French and immigrants. Some would even say that it's just pure racism. But there are other elements, such as religion (since a majority of immigrants are Muslim), that play some part.
Oh I see. Its like that because they don't like the people so don't want to like things that those people enjoy. So if the poor/immigrants liked chocolate then the rich/ethnic french would hate chocolate, its kind of like that? It just amazes me though that a European country has areas/regions that do not like soccer. Especially France of all places where French is the language for the letters that FIFA stand for.