ACC Network coming plus ten year ESPN and grant of rights extension

[cf-62]

For a few years now, the Powers that Be here at DBR have talked about eh changing landscape of media.

I agree with them that changes are coming in the media market.

Where we disagree is that THAT is a good thing.

Look - iTunes was a good thing, consolidating and curating my music. But from an audiophile's perspective, iTunes is one of the worst things to ever happen to music. Why? Because the transformation to a compressed music file destroys the depth and richness of sound. Over the years, as streaming became the norm (Apple music instead of iTunes) the depth and nuance of the MPeg got WORSE, not better.

And the same is happening to video. ESPN3 is fabulous in that it gives access to events I would not otherwise have, including replays. However, it is NOT good sports broadcasting. In fact, it's absolutely HORRIBLE sports broadcasting. I have a 30MB ISP, but most of the time, I do NOT get HD quality in my ESPN3 feeds. The UI is kludgey, especially if you have a streaming device and don't hook up with HDMI.

And when I watch SportsCenter now, sometimes the Top 10, or even WHOLE GAME highlights, are obvious streaming reproductions. That's when I turn it off. If I wanted to watch jumpy, flat compressed video files of highlights, I'd just get on YouTube. That statement marks the difference between me and Julio et al. The day YouTube broadcasts a game as THE broadcaster is the day I stop watching live sports, not reveling in the power of Google (er, the IoT).

There are many ways to take the conversation about live sports in the future, but I want to limit this to just the idea of streaming networks being the future.

I know it's coming, but I (who am NOT a luddite) will not be happy about it. I have all my devices setup, I have multiple streaming subscriptions, but give me a DVD/Blu-Ray or broadcast TV any day of the week. I stream ONLY when I have to, not as a primary choice.

The ability to reach the world does not make you a global brand. The ACC brand will always be limited to the footprint of the schools' fan bases and the power of Duke/UNC. If we want more eyeballs, it's not about providing On-Demand access globally, it's about LAND - the REAL kind.

[moonpie23]

the transformation to a compressed music file destroys the depth and richness of sound..

thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,

[budwom]

I'm not sure that I've ever read the words "visionary" and "ACC" in the same sentence.

[Scorp4me]

I'm guessing we were all better listening on record players huh.

As for the basic premise the current distribution model is changing and the ACC is the conference best situated to take advantage of that. Any schools that are too short sighted or lack the ability to understand that deserve what they get.

[Indoor66]

I'm not sure that I've ever read the words "visionary" and "ACC" in the same sentence.

Especially since the retirement of Gene Corrigan.

[throatybeard]

I'm not sure that I've ever read the words "visionary" and "ACC" in the same sentence.

When I think of the ACC, I think of doing something half-assed, just in time to ensure surviving another round of M&A. There's something to be said for this approach, but 'visionary' isn't the operative term, no.


And concur, Vinyl is coming back for good reasons.

[jimsumner]

thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,

You know you can compress this as an MP3 file with a lot fewer thank you's.

[cf-62]

You know you can compress this as an MP3 file with a lot fewer thank you's.

And to totally take the analogy too far, it will be this:

Tx

[AIRFORCEDUKIE]

I have an xbox one, the streaming quality on ESPN 3 is very good. Its HD, maybe not top of the line HD but it comes through pretty good on my set. That with a combo of SlingTV I get all my Duke sports in HD all year around. Guess everyone will just have to buy gaming systems to steam content.

[cf-62]

I have an xbox one, the streaming quality on ESPN 3 is very good. Its HD, maybe not top of the line HD but it comes through pretty good on my set. That with a combo of SlingTV I get all my Duke sports in HD all year around. Guess everyone will just have to buy gaming systems to steam content.

I guess I got lost with my ESPN3 has problems analogy.

Even if it's HD, it's still streaming video. I get HD, that's not my issue. Compression removes things. Maybe you don't perceive them. Sometimes I don't perceive them. But the fact is that watching a streaming video --- er - SUCKS!

There are plenty of people that think an MP3 sounds just like a CD sounds just like vinyl. The truth is all three are different.

Most can tell the difference between vinyl and CD, but most cannot tell the difference between a CD and an MP3.

It's destroyed more than just our at home enjoyment.

During the heyday of American Idol, the local Top 40 station would play a track from the night before and then play the original song. Since they're Top 40, they don't have any of those "old" tracks loaded into their MP3 system, so they have to play CD (or vinyl - my guess is CD).

OMG, the sound was so awesome, it truly showed how much streaming is destroying the way we perceive things, and what we will endure for the sake of efficiency.

I, for one, who spend ~7 hours / day contributing to the Napa homes of the Pandora founders, very much dread the day that I HAVE to stream my sports.

[fidel]

I guess I got lost with my ESPN3 has problems analogy.

Even if it's HD, it's still streaming video. I get HD, that's not my issue. Compression removes things. Maybe you don't perceive them. Sometimes I don't perceive them. But the fact is that watching a streaming video --- er - SUCKS!

There are plenty of people that think an MP3 sounds just like a CD sounds just like vinyl. The truth is all three are different.

Most can tell the difference between vinyl and CD, but most cannot tell the difference between a CD and an MP3.

It's destroyed more than just our at home enjoyment.

During the heyday of American Idol, the local Top 40 station would play a track from the night before and then play the original song. Since they're Top 40, they don't have any of those "old" tracks loaded into their MP3 system, so they have to play CD (or vinyl - my guess is CD).

OMG, the sound was so awesome, it truly showed how much streaming is destroying the way we perceive things, and what we will endure for the sake of efficiency.

I, for one, who spend ~7 hours / day contributing to the Napa homes of the Pandora founders, very much dread the day that I HAVE to stream my sports.

Digital Cable Television is compressed as well. You may not have bandwidth/timing jitters, but it isn't full HD either.

I notice ESPN picture quality fading in/out more than anything else I stream. However, it is way good enough for me to not pay 100+ for the right to watch honey boo boo.

[Scorp4me]

Give me an old Victrola and an over the air antenna and I'll lack for nothing...except you know, all that stuff I'll miss.

[hallcity]

Something is coming very soon, probably Thursday. (http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/luke-decock/article90393122.html)

[MarkD83]

Something is coming very soon, probably Thursday. (http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/luke-decock/article90393122.html)

OK I have to get past my cynicism but I saw this quote from Coach K in the article : “You talk about the five power conferences, you have to be a power conference in every way”

and my mind went to "including having a school who will sell their soul to win at all costs (UNC)".

I have to do better...and will try...

[NSDukeFan]

Too bad UNC doesn't appear to be trying to do things any better

[AIRFORCEDUKIE]

Looks like the deal with ESPN is done http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/17102933/acc-espn-agree-20-year-rights-deal-lead-2019-launch-acc-network

nothing in the story about details, just that it will launch August 2019. its a 20 year deal, that makes it nearly impossible for schools to leave the conference, all their home games would remain with the ACC.

If Notre Dame leaves independence in football they are contractually obligated to join the ACC. Not sure if thats tied into the media deal or if that's part of the every sport but football deal.

[SCMatt33]

I thought with the news being this extensive and containing a "traditional" as opposed to a "visionary" network, a new thread was in order, but merge if necessary. So technically, this is only "according to league sources", but if ESPN is publishing it (http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/17102933/acc-espn-agree-20-year-rights-deal-lead-2019-launch-acc-network), I have to believe it's valid. Highlights include:


Ten year grant of rights extension through 2036
ACC cable network with over the top content as well
Ten year extension of ESPN contract through 2036
Notre Dame cannot join any other conference for football through 2036


This looks pretty huge and should help close the gap with other leagues. Even if it doesn't close it all the way, or others surpas it in 8-10 years, the grant of rights extension should be huge towards having security the next time an expansion frenzy hits.

[weezie]

I have an xbox one, the streaming quality on ESPN 3 is very good. Its HD, maybe not top of the line HD but it comes through pretty good on my set. That with a combo of SlingTV I get all my Duke sports in HD all year around. Guess everyone will just have to buy gaming systems to steam content.

My son has this set up and I am amazed at the excellent quality of the picture.

[JasonEvans]

I thought with the news being this extensive and containing a "traditional" as opposed to a "visionary" network, a new thread was in order, but merge if necessary. So technically, this is only "according to league sources", but if ESPN is publishing it (http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/17102933/acc-espn-agree-20-year-rights-deal-lead-2019-launch-acc-network), I have to believe it's valid. Highlights include:


Ten year grant of rights extension through 2036
ACC cable network with over the top content as well
Ten year extension of ESPN contract through 2036
Notre Dame cannot join any other conference for football through 2036


This looks pretty huge and should help close the gap with other leagues. Even if it doesn't close it all the way, or others surpas it in 8-10 years, the grant of rights extension should be huge towards having security the next time an expansion frenzy hits.

Florida St and Clemson -- the football-centric schools -- really wanted an ACC Network to balance the B10 and SEC networks. This was a critically important step by the conference and will result in more money and more exposure for the ACC. I'm a little bummed the network won't go on the air until 2019, but better late than never.

-Jason "I suspect this will make watching non-revenue sports a lot easier, which is kinda fun!" Evans

[SCMatt33]

Florida St and Clemson -- the football-centric schools -- really wanted an ACC Network to balance the B10 and SEC networks. This was a critically important step by the conference and will result in more money and more exposure for the ACC. I'm a little bummed the network won't go on the air until 2019, but better late than never.

-Jason "I suspect this will make watching non-revenue sports a lot easier, which is kinda fun!" Evans

One thing I've pondered today about the 2019 date is what the exact language of the agreement would be. Obviously, ESPN got to avoid that huge $45 million per year penalty, but also don't have to bring a network to air for 3 years. I would hope the ACC got language that states the original penalty must be paid retroactively if ESPN backs out in 18 months in the case where the cord cutting phenomenon gets much worse. Of course, were unlikely to know those details, but wondering out loud.

Even if it's not, getting the ten year GoR should keep things quiet on that front until at least 2030 from the standpoint of teams leaving so I'm happy. I was kind of worried that we were about to see the "next" expansion frenzy in 5-7 years as everyone's deal neared an end and the last few years of any GoR got essentially reduced to a manageable exit fee.

[77devil]

Digital Cable Television is compressed as well. You may not have bandwidth/timing jitters, but it isn't full HD either.

I notice ESPN picture quality fading in/out more than anything else I stream. However, it is way good enough for me to not pay 100+ for the right to watch honey boo boo.

Not if its delivered by fiber optic cable.

[CameronBornAndBred]

DirecTV is now signed on.

https://www.wralsportsfan.com/acc-network-gains-distribution-deal-with-directv/18252738/