UND/Midco 5 year contract

[siouxkid12]

Funny how Midcontinent can afford HD and having a Penalty Clock and Forum Communications kept telling us that it was "too expensive" and it wasn't "feasible". Well, I wonder how "feasible" it will be to not have UND sports as a product starting this year. This is a clear-cut example of the difference between the "penny-wise and pound foolish" management philosophy and the "build for the present and future" management philosophy.

Thank you Midco for the investment in UND athletics!

Do you pay for Midcontinent?....Do you pay for WDAZ or WDAY? It's that simple...You are not that bright when it comes to basic economics.

[zonadub]

Has anyone heard if Midcontinent Cable will be picking up ROOT Sports?

[sprig]

Email from UND:

Good afternoon everyone.

As you have heard, UND Athletics has reached a five-year agreement with Midcontinent Communications for the exclusive local rights to televise live home events.

In the past, you have dealt with the Ralph Engelstad Arena when it came to program delivery and costs.

Now those areas will be handled exclusively by Midcontinent.

Their intent, as is ours at UND, is that all the cable systems that have been part of FSSN in the past remain part of the network.

You will receive communication from Midcontinent the week of July 8th.

As always, we greatly appreciate you being our television partners and hope to continue that relationship.

[sprig]

FTA, not a chance. Fox Regionals buying broadcasts from Midco, I think no chance but have no idea. Other cable co's that paid the REA for broadcasts, maybe, better chance than the first two options.

[Blackheart]

Wow, that would be a huge step backwards for the exposure of the program. Yay, we get a penalty clock but boo, we only get to see it a couple times a year...

[watchmaker49]

FTA, not a chance. Fox Regionals buying broadcasts from Midco, I think no chance but have no idea. Other cable co's that paid the REA for broadcasts, maybe, better chance than the first two options.

Why not if the price is right and they can make money?

[sprig]

No doubt they'll sell to whomever will buy, including the satellite networks, although I doubt dish or directtv will buy. Would cable in the TC buy? I don't think so. Cable where I live might, but I don't like the rest of what they offer, but may be stuck switching to cable if I want UND hockey.

[The Sicatoka]

In the past, you have dealt with the Ralph Engelstad Arena when it came to program delivery and costs.

Now those areas will be handled exclusively by Midcontinent.

What does that mean?

Does that mean that we'll see games on the live stream at http://www.midcosportsnet.com/schedule/watchonline/

[UNDColorado]

What does that mean?

Does that mean that we'll see games on the live stream at http://www.midcospor...le/watchonline/

I was wondering the same thing because it looks like midco sports has just as much, if not more, live streaming capability. Also, a couple weeks ago Jason Hajdu mentioned on one of these threads that they were working to improve the quality of the webcasts. This was before the midco announcement. The way they have been dropping hints leads me to believe that midco sports will be involved in the webcasts in some way...

[choyt3]

Live streaming on a high speed connection and then to the tv via hdmi cable may make this deal a little more palatable.

[sprig]

What does that mean?

Does that mean that we'll see games on the live stream at http://www.midcospor...le/watchonline/

Called Midco, sounds like theralph will still sell the web stream, other than that, they are out of the picture. Midco thought it unlikely that there will be any satellite uplink, and only midco and any other tv provider that buys their broadcast will get the games. Not sure if my local cable will continue to buy the midco broadcast (would guess they will if there is not a huge price increase), but I think any type of satellite broadcasts are out of the question (FTA, directtv, dishnetwork). I'll likely be buying the web stream, at least until my rural telco starts charging for data downloads by the megabyte, which they are likely to do soon. I wonder how the web stream will work when it's the only option for thousands of Sioux fans around the country?

[fightingsioux4life]

Do you pay for Midcontinent?....Do you pay for WDAZ or WDAY? It's that simple...You are not that bright when it comes to basic economics.

Oh really?!?! So if I am a "mere consumer" and not the owner of the company, I have absolutely no right to comment on the product and/or the quality of the product being offered? Sorry son, but YOU are not that bright in this area. In this country, the consumer decides whether a product is worth his or her time and money. Since I am a subscriber to Midcontinent Communications and a viewer of WDAZ (I live in Grand Forks), I can and will comment on the quality of the product being offered. And, IMO, the extensive investments being offered by Midco to improve the broadcast of UND sports is one of the reasons they won the broadcast rights from Forum Communications. Midco obviously is adding the penalty clock and HD in part because that is what WE THE FANS have been demanding for some time. But in your monopolistic-loving world of "basic economics", the average consumer is "expendable" and "replaceable". Please don't start your own business as I would hate to watch you fail.

[fightingsioux4life]

Midco is trying to build a regional sports entity. And they have a distribution system that covers the Dakotas plus part of Minnesota. The sports channel is a niche that they can fill, in part using UND athletics as an anchor. At best, Forum has an extended single market between Grand Forks and Fargo. Plus they would have contractual issues with ABC if they wanted to show games on Channels 6 and 8. Forum Communications has more limitations on where they could go with the product. Their only other option would be to go to Midco or other distribution outlets to move the product. It's just a better business fit for the Midco Sports Network.

The other thing to remember is that the equipment that Midco will be purchasing will not be limited to use on UND athletics. They will get a lot more use out of the equipment than Forum could ever get. It's more cost effective for Midco.

I have a feeling that if it was NDSU sports, then Forum Communications would have invested more into it. Just my 2 cents.

[Hammersmith]

I have a feeling that if it was NDSU sports, then Forum Communications would have invested more into it. Just my 2 cents.

Yes and no; in the past no, in the future yes. ForumComm lost the NDSU contract to Hoak for basically the same reasons they lost the UND contract to Midco; they're spendthrifts. It didn't hurt them that badly in the past because there were two major universities(for our area) and two significant media companies. Even if they lost one they could get the other. With Midco entering the fray, ForumComm can't be as complacent and still get one of the big-two contracts. Going forward, they either need to step up their game in a big way, or be content with MSUM and high school sports. I think the NDSU TV contract will be up next year, so we should know what ForumComm's plans for the future are before then.

[bincitysioux]

Do you pay for Midcontinent?....Do you pay for WDAZ or WDAY? It's that simple...You are not that bright when it comes to basic economics.

Oh really?!?! So if I am a "mere consumer" and not the owner of the company, I have absolutely no right to comment on the product and/or the quality of the product being offered?

I think the point that siouxkid12 may have been trying to make was the fact that Forum Communication's TV stations are free Over-The-Air stations that everybody within range of their towers can view for no cost. They rely on advertising dollars alone to generate the income needed to cover their costs. Midcontinent on the other hand is a paid cable provider. In addition to the advertising they can sell, they can bank on X number of subscribers that pay a fee to watch their programming. My guess is that there are way more people paying to watch TV through Midco's services in the tri-state area than there are people watching Forum Com's 5 stations in North Dakota. Heck, probably close to half of the people that watch Forum Com's stations pay for it through Midco. Point is, Midco probably has more veiwers, makes more money, and therefore can pay more for the rights to televise UND sports.

[bincitysioux]

Yes and no; in the past no, in the future yes. ForumComm lost the NDSU contract to Hoak for basically the same reasons they lost the UND contract to Midco; they're spendthrifts. It didn't hurt them that badly in the past because there were two major universities(for our area) and two significant media companies. Even if they lost one they could get the other. With Midco entering the fray, ForumComm can't be as complacent and still get one of the big-two contracts. Going forward, they either need to step up their game in a big way, or be content with MSUM and high school sports. I think the NDSU TV contract will be up next year, so we should know what ForumComm's plans for the future are before then.

Forum is a notoriously frugal company. That's why I am still shocked that they are the first local station to go HD with their newcasts. You make a good point about them being able to "fall back" on North Dakota when they lost the radio rights to NDSU, but prior to NDSU's move to Hoak, Forum Com had the TV rights to both schools. What surprised me more was when they let NDSU radio go to Radio Fargo-Moorhead. Great move for NDSU, but RFM has been kicking the crap out of WDAY radio for years. The only thing that kept WDAY 970 relevent, IMO, was their 50 year old strangle-hold on NDSU sports.

WDAY's move to HD kind of makes me think that they are gearing up to make a play for the NDSU TV rights again when they are available.

I was quite pissed (and still am) when Radio Fargo-Moorhead dumped North Dakota for NDSU. I understand why they did, they are a Fargo based media group and NDSU is a big thing in Fargo, I just didn't like the way it was handled. The best thing about being on KFGO, is that everybody listens to that station, that is why it was valuable to UND and why it is now so valuable to NDSU. But I will say that since the change, WDAY has actually been a better partner for North Dakota as far as coverage. They air the weekly coach's show on Wednesday, Schlossman is on every Thursday night at 6:45, and they carry at least one game other than football or hockey each week during the season whether it be men's or women's basketball, volleyball, or women's hockey. That is very nice. Only problem is that WDAY gets about half the casual listeners as does KFGO.

[goyotes]

Following is a link to an interview with Tom Nieman from Midco Sports. http://callingallsportssd.com/archives.php The applicable interview is Segment 2 on 6/8/12. It deals primarily with Midco's coverage of USD & SDSU, but does talk some of long term plans and NDSU coverage.

With regards to long-term plans, they eventually plan to make broadcasts available to other cable systems (& I assume also to Direct TV & Dish). I got the impression that this will not happen for 2012-2013 season.

With regards to coverage of the Bison, they tried to make arrangements to cover Bison football for the upcoming season, but could not reach an agreement. (Likely because Midco doesn't have access to the Fargo market). They did say that Bison have an agreement with a local ND station to broadcast all home Bison football games. Midco still trying to reach an agreement to televise some Bison basketball.

[UNDColorado]

Interesting, thanks for the update. Sidebar- I really hope to get the Yotes back on the schedule in football soon!

[TBR]

I would also like to see USD vs UND re-established since I live in Vermillion and love watching the TTFKATFS beating the Coyotes in the DakotaDome.

[fightingsioux4life]

Forum is a notoriously frugal company.

Which is why they won't be televising UND sports anymore.

I was quite pissed (and still am) when Radio Fargo-Moorhead dumped North Dakota for NDSU. I understand why they did, they are a Fargo based media group and NDSU is a big thing in Fargo, I just didn't like the way it was handled.

I will second you on that. It was a backhanded, back-stabbing move and I am still ticked off about it. I wonder how many UND alums that live in Imperial Cass have stopped listening to KFGO since that happened? People seem to forget how many of our fans live down there. Of course, Bison fans will have you believe that hockey "just doesn't matter" outside the Grand Forks city limits and NDSU is ALL that matters in the state.

[sprig]

From Midco, the following numbers of UND games will be on their sportsnet channel:

* 20 men’s hockey games

* 4 women’s hockey games

* 1st round WCHA playoff game

* 5 football games

* 10 basketball games

* 3 volleyball games

Broadcasts will be uplinked to satellite, but don't know for sure if it will be FTA or encrypted.

[TBR]

This thread died without resolving a question posed by another poster as to the broadcasting of certain games by Root Sports, most noteably the U Montana fb game. Does anyone know whether this gane and other Root broadcasted games would be webcast by UND Insider? How about Midcontinent, would midco be given the option of carrying certain games (since the don't carry a Root channel)?

[sprig]

This thread died without resolving a question posed by another poster as to the broadcasting of certain games by Root Sports, most noteably the U Montana fb game. Does anyone know whether this gane and other Root broadcasted games would be webcast by UND Insider? How about Midcontinent, would midco be given the option of carrying certain games (since the don't carry a Root channel)?

They would likely have to buy them from directtv, who owns the ROOT sports regionals (formerly Fox Sports Net regionals). Would guess UND insider would have to buy them as well, so I doubt it. The Big Sky broadcasts have been FTA, uplinked to satellite, and not encrypted yet last year, so they may be available.

[bincitysioux]

This thread died without resolving a question posed by another poster as to the broadcasting of certain games by Root Sports, most noteably the U Montana fb game. Does anyone know whether this gane and other Root broadcasted games would be webcast by UND Insider? How about Midcontinent, would midco be given the option of carrying certain games (since the don't carry a Root channel)?

Shorth answer is no. From what I understand, if it is on Root, that is the only avenue that it will be on.......................

[Blackheart]

Cripes, can't they put the games on Pay per view or something? I would gladly pay $99 for the home games every season...somebody must have crunched the numbers; with all the viewers they have been getting on the Fox College channels their should be enough meat on the bone to make a little profit...Offer it through Direct TV, Dish Network, Comcast in the Twin Cities...I don't want to go back to webcasts!

I guess I can always just listen to Hennessy on internet radio...