Broadcasting rights

[jdub27]

On 4/23/2022 at 8:30 AM, gfhockey said:

It was low bid and und went with rfp to call their bluff 

That's not how any of this works. 

[fightingsioux4life]

5 hours ago, Bison Dan said:

LOL, the jealousy on this is hilarious.  What pro football player does und have as a spokesman?  When you have an athletic dept as a whole that's terrible but for hockey and that hasn't done anything for a while I guess you have go for the cheap shots to make yourselves feel better.  

I believe the topic was quality of broadcasts. And NDSU has been lacking in that area.

[nodak651]

Looks like UND officially posted the RFP's - 1 for radio and 1 for tv.  Very thorough and well thought out requests, imo.  I'd be surprised if WDAY/Inforum put in a bid, because all sports seem to be grouped together.  However, is it true that they just bought a new TV station in the area (which could help with conflicting games)?  

[bincitysioux]

7 hours ago, nodak651 said:

Looks like UND officially posted the RFP's - 1 for radio and 1 for tv.  Very thorough and well thought out requests, imo.  I'd be surprised if WDAY/Inforum put in a bid, because all sports seem to be grouped together.  However, is it true that they just bought a new TV station in the area (which could help with conflicting games)?  

They are buying KVRR/FOX station.....

 

[gfNDfan]

31 minutes ago, bincitysioux said:

They are buying KVRR/FOX station.....

 

 

31 minutes ago, bincitysioux said:

They are buying KVRR/FOX station.....

 

It's a LOT more than having a place to show the game - that's the easy part!  It's having quality production standards, quality equipment and a technically proficient crew to make it all work.  Can WDAY even guarantee UND Hockey would have a Penalty Clock Bug on the scoreboard?   That's what cost them the contract back in the day when it was the Fighting Sioux Sports Network.  They were lame then and since then they've given GF the big middle finger by shutting down WDAZ and turning the Herald into a weekly shopper newspaper.  F*ck them!    Midco has shown they can produce top quality broadcasts for all UND sports and beyond.  Dance with the girl that brought you to the dance I say.

[nodak651]

23 minutes ago, gfNDfan said:

 

It's a LOT more than having a place to show the game - that's the easy part!  It's having quality production standards, quality equipment and a technically proficient crew to make it all work.  Can WDAY even guarantee UND Hockey would have a Penalty Clock Bug on the scoreboard?   That's what cost them the contract back in the day when it was the Fighting Sioux Sports Network.  They were lame then and since then they've given GF the big middle finger by shutting down WDAZ and turning the Herald into a weekly shopper newspaper.  F*ck them!    Midco has shown they can produce top quality broadcasts for all UND sports and beyond.  Dance with the girl that brought you to the dance I say.

Can't disagree with that.  What about radio?

[bincitysioux]

Midco's production and coverage is great, no doubt.  Far better than what I have seen from either the KVLY or ForumComm coverage of NDSU in the past 10 years, and it's not close.  I just keep coming around to availability.  I know Midco coverage of games is fairly accessible via numerous combinations of apps and/or streaming services.  But that's just not the same as simply flipping on the TV on a Saturday afternoon, and boom there's the football game.  I think there is value to terrestrial/linear TV coverage.  Not saying I favor leaving Midco just because of that, just that it is worth exploring IMO.

As far as radio, I would really love it if KNOX were the flagship of UND sports.  There is so little radio talk of UND sports it really frustrates me.  I feel there would be more buzz around UND sports in general if the only station that has local talk for 12 hours a day had the rights, because then they would actually talk about them.

[homer]

17 minutes ago, bincitysioux said:

Midco's production and coverage is great, no doubt.  Far better than what I have seen from either the KVLY or ForumComm coverage of NDSU in the past 10 years, and it's not close.  I just keep coming around to availability.  I know Midco coverage of games is fairly accessible via numerous combinations of apps and/or streaming services.  But that's just not the same as simply flipping on the TV on a Saturday afternoon, and boom there's the football game.  I think there is value to terrestrial/linear TV coverage.  Not saying I favor leaving Midco just because of that, just that it is worth exploring IMO.

As far as radio, I would really love it if KNOX were the flagship of UND sports.  There is so little radio talk of UND sports it really frustrates me.  I feel there would be more buzz around UND sports in general if the only station that has local talk for 12 hours a day had the rights, because then they would actually talk about them.

Agree with your first paragraph 100%. 
 

The girl that got us there also has two other guys she is seeing for other sports outside hockey.  That is where UNDs growth potential is at for the athletic dept. 

[SIOUXFAN97]

On 4/24/2022 at 8:01 AM, Bison Dan said:

LOL, the jealousy on this is hilarious.  What pro football player does und have as a spokesman?  When you have an athletic dept as a whole that's terrible but for hockey and that hasn't done anything for a while I guess you have go for the cheap shots to make yourselves feel better.  

they aren't cheap shots if they are true.....

[gfNDfan]

On 4/22/2022 at 11:42 AM, The Sicatoka said:

My concern here is Kyle Doperalski has announced he's taking a job in Kansas on July 1. He's been media point-guy for Athletics for a while. If UND Athletics plans on doing it itself, who'll be in charge?

Or will REA be the marketing face for everything and act sort of like Learfield did in the past. 

This IS a legit concern with the rights out there.   KD "got it" - knows what it takes to put out a quality product even if he had to get behind the mic himself which he did very impressively with FoxSportsNorth.   I don't understand exactly where the relationship with Learfield stands because for the last several seasons Hornbachers has been the "Official" grocery store of UND Athletics but they bailed on GF 2 years ago and Learfield sold that sponsorship.  That seems to be "all about the money" - despite what a great LOCAL sponsor Hugo's has been for UND Athletics?   These things make my head hurt sometimes...

[SWSiouxMN]

https://www.inforum.com/sports/mcfeely-blog-und-wants-what-ndsu-has-for-television-exposure-and-more

Interesting

[The Sicatoka]

The scoring for Television:

Quote

 

The evaluation criteria and relative weight is as follows:

Technical Proposal Evaluation: 75 Points
A.    Scope of Work Strategy– 65 Points
    
Production Value                                                                                                                                         

Equipment, production personnel, talent personnel, experience for all productions for all     sports     and events

Coverage/Clearance of live games and events 
How many games/events

Content Creation 
Creative and Innovative live, on-demand, and social content creation including but not limited to 
•    Through These Doors
•    #DayByDay, 
•    Pregame and postgame shows
•    Live Signing Day Shows on linear and the ability to stream

Distribution/Reach
How many people will see our content on linear TV
How easy is it for people to find

Promotional and marketing plan

• Promotion of Fighting Hawks programming and the university in general
• Frequency and reach of promotional assets
• Ability for UND’s communications, marketing and promotions department to work with your organization to enhance coverage of the Fighting Hawks and other UND events
• Innovative solutions to help UND reach new fans
• •    New assets/platforms (e.g., mobile applications)
• •    Ability to provide enhanced reach and distribution of UND programming
• •    Differentiating the Fighting Hawks among their conference peers

B.    Experience and Qualifications – 10 Points
•    Experience of the Offeror performing similar work
•    Experience and qualifications of the project team
•    Ability to meet all requirements

Cost Proposal Evaluation: 25 Points
•    Guaranteed annual payments and revenue shares for TV rights
•    Sales/advertising model

• Inventory split on TV programming

 

Money is important (25%).
Coverage, Promotion, and Content rules the decision. 

[The Sicatoka]

The scoring for Radio:

Quote

 

The evaluation criteria and relative weight is as follows:

Technical Proposal Evaluation: 75 Points
A.    Scope of Work Strategy– 65 Points

Evaluations of RFP submissions will include, but not be limited to, the following criteria:

Signal Power/Wattage
What stations will be used to air the games.  Please include conflict plans for multiple games at the same time.
 

How easy is it for fans to find our content 
 

Coverage/Clearance
What games for what sports will be aired
 

Content creation 
On-demand programming and platforms
 

Promotional and marketing plan 
•    Promotion of Fighting Hawks programming and the university in general
•    Frequency and reach of promotional assets
•    Ability for UND’s communications, marketing, and promotions department to work with your organization to enhance coverage of the Fighting Hawks and other UND events
•    Innovative solutions to help UND reach new fans

•     New assets/platforms (e.g., mobile applications)
•     Ability to provide enhanced reach and distribution of UND programming
•     Differentiating the Fighting Hawks among their conference peers

B.    Experience and Qualifications – 10 Points
•    Experience of the Offeror performing similar work
•    Experience and qualifications of the project team
•    Ability to meet all requirements

Cost Proposal Evaluation: 25 Points
•    Guaranteed annual payments and revenue shares for Radio rights

 

This too reads as ....
Money is important (25%).
Coverage, Promotion, and Content rules the decision. 

[NeutralObserver]

On 4/30/2022 at 11:33 PM, bincitysioux said:

They are buying KVRR/FOX station.....

 

If the FCC approves it.  If it went through, you'd have NBC and CBS owned by Gray, and ABC and Fox owned by Forum.  Sioux Falls has ABC, NBC and Fox all owned by Gray, and CBS owned by Nexstar, so a waiver for a market that size or bigger isn't impossible.  Forum will just have to argue that it is in the public's best interest to have co-ownership. 

[The Sicatoka]

What I enjoy:

• Forum Comm holds the WDAY-TV license
• Flag Family Media holds the WDAY-AM license
• Midwest Communications holds the KOYY-FM license (which up to 2016 was the WDAY-FM license)

[The Sicatoka]

7 hours ago, NeutralObserver said:

... Sioux Falls has ABC, NBC and Fox all owned by Gray, and CBS owned by Nexstar ... 

And yet KELOland (Nexstar) is the most prolific and penetrated media group in that state. Walk into any diner in any SD small town for breakfast or lunch and KELOland news/weather is on the TVs. 

I fully expect the FCC to approve the Forum Comm acquisition of KVRR (Fox affiliate). The precedent is Sioux Falls. They'd rather allow consolidation than let one of the four die in a market. 

Me? I'll enjoy watching Mike McFeely squirm when his Forum Comm paycheck comes from an organization also broadcasting Fox News personalities. (I guess that goes for Schlossman too.) 

[The Sicatoka]

 

[BIGSIOUX]

Just now, The Sicatoka said:

 

SHOCKING!!!!!!! gfhockey- wrong again.  Turns out the state requires a new RFP every 10 years.

[The Sicatoka]

2 hours ago, BIGSIOUX said:

SHOCKING!!!!!!! gfhockey- wrong again.  Turns out the state requires a new RFP every 10 years.

Sometimes the blind squirrel is hit by the bus. 

[The Sicatoka]

Kinda sad Schlossman didn't cover radio too ... or is that for his next deadline.  

[The Sicatoka]

[gfNDfan]

Hopefully UND will recognize one of the so-called big "check writers" also shut down their local GF TV station entirely.   Didn't just downsize it into a bureau operation that still had real people on the ground in town to cover news but completely shuttered it.   (and then went on to buy a lot of regional tanking newspapers so they HAD money to spend but that's another story)

I can understand Miller hedging his bets - his job is on the line too as Forum continues to turn the Herald into a glorified Tidbits - that's sad.

Regarding another one of the "check writers" - KVLY maintained a GF bureau for more than 20 years but they've also bailed on GF - many years ago.   They were complete and utter whores for NDSU when they had football.   They would turn trick right away if they thought they could shave off the UND FB package but at what cost?  Who trusts a whore?

The first thing UND should be asking is what resources do you have in GF?   Midco Sports has an office, studio, producers and the ability to shoot and turn around content within a 2 minute walk to the Ralph.   In this great world of instant social media we live in no other bidders can claim that - the first thing they have to do is get in a car and DRIVE to Grand Forks.   I would hope some of those considerations would be considered above just the dollar sign on the check.

 

[Goon]

8 hours ago, gfNDfan said:

Hopefully UND will recognize one of the so-called big "check writers" also shut down their local GF TV station entirely.   Didn't just downsize it into a bureau operation that still had real people on the ground in town to cover news but completely shuttered it.   (and then went on to buy a lot of regional tanking newspapers so they HAD money to spend but that's another story)

I can understand Miller hedging his bets - his job is on the line too as Forum continues to turn the Herald into a glorified Tidbits - that's sad.

Regarding another one of the "check writers" - KVLY maintained a GF bureau for more than 20 years but they've also bailed on GF - many years ago.   They were complete and utter whores for NDSU when they had football.   They would turn trick right away if they thought they could shave off the UND FB package but at what cost?  Who trusts a whore?

The first thing UND should be asking is what resources do you have in GF?   Midco Sports has an office, studio, producers and the ability to shoot and turn around content within a 2 minute walk to the Ralph.   In this great world of instant social media we live in no other bidders can claim that - the first thing they have to do is get in a car and DRIVE to Grand Forks.   I would hope some of those considerations would be considered above just the dollar sign on the check.

 

If I was a betting man, we're going to see Midco win the bid. I don't see any reason to change things up. You laid out great reasons why we don't want to go back to a local channel. 

[nodakvindy]

Agree that Midco is only choice for TV. Beyond the vast difference in production quality, giving Forum Communications a penny would make me sick after what they have done to Grand Forks media. For radio, reach is the issue and also importance of game coverage vs coaches shows, etc which network affiliates less likely to also pick up. 

Think streaming needs to be a key component in both deals as that is the future. 

[NeutralObserver]

15 hours ago, gfNDfan said:

Hopefully UND will recognize one of the so-called big "check writers" also shut down their local GF TV station entirely.   Didn't just downsize it into a bureau operation that still had real people on the ground in town to cover news but completely shuttered it.   (and then went on to buy a lot of regional tanking newspapers so they HAD money to spend but that's another story)

 

 

This is semantics... but to me, shutting down entirely would mean stopping all broadcasting of WDAZ and tearing down the TV tower.  They did not do that, the station is still broadcasting.  Just no local news.    The worst thing is that you can't even blame some national corporate ownership, since Forum is "Local".  Speaking as a complete outsider, the idea that a town of 50000+ can't support local news is ridiculous.  KUMV in Williston still has reporters stationed there and I think still has local news inserts.  Although it is true that sending reporters from Bismarck to Williston to cover stories is much harder thing to do than from Fargo to Grand Forks.