Friday, July 08, 2011

Suggested programming for regional New England Sports Networks

The Globe had an interesting article on the two regional New England sports networks -- CSNNE and NESN. Both have their respective niches and based on the article are both willing to explore new ideas in order to drive more viewers. What both are clearly lacking is Boston College content. While I appreciate the occasional taped piece that both will run on BC sports, there is a huge void. Both could and should do more. Given NESN and BC's relationship with the Red Sox, NESN's lack of BC programming is inexcusable. Here are my thoughts. All are relatively cheap and should be easy to implement.

1. Carry all ESPN3.com games live. NESN has numerous Red Sox scheduling conflicts during the fall, so this would probably have to fall to CSNNE. I don't know the logistics or what it would cost the network to buy the regional rights, but I know it is done in other parts of the country. I don't think it would be a huge ratings boost, but I know it would be a better draw than any alternate programming they would use instead (often other lower level college football games). Getting BC on TV screens instead of PC screens would be a huge improvement for fans in New England. Those of us outside the region with satellite/cable "sports packs" would also appreciate an alternative to watching on a laptop.

2. Replay of all games Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. This is another seemingly simple solution. I live in Atlanta and can see Big East games replayed on YES or SNY, but not a BC game. Something is wrong there. If the regional New York stations can acquire the rights and make money on Rutgers and UConn replays, there must be a market for it in Boston. This is something NESN could do with ease. They have the programming slots. They have the relationship with BC. They have a sponsorship base that I presume would like to extend their brands to TV ("The Giant Glass BC replay" or "BC rewind brought to you by BMW of Peabody").


3. Football and Basketball coaches shows.
I know this has been tried before with little ratings success. But that doesn't mean BC and the networks shouldn't keep trying. The cost to produce a show is minimal. All you need is Meter and the respective coach to talk for 20 minutes. Have a BC student produce a "field" piece each week for free and you are down to 16 minutes. No travel needed. Very few highlights needed. If NESN can make more money showing an informercial, than BC should buy the time. We waste money on so many things around the program, this seems like a straight forward way to sell the programs and help the coaches reach fans and future players.

10 comments:

mod34b said...

Coaches show? Spaz for 20 minutes with Meter "eagle in the end zone"?

I would watch for amusement value and cringe factor.

Mr. Tambourine MAn said...

The lack of BC programming in Boston has always been puzzling to me. I'd think that every BC game not picked up on a major network should be on a local station.

ATL do you have any insights into why BC coverage is so poor locally?

PJ Stevens said...

CSNNE does show a replay of BC football games on Monday afternoons.

Lenny Sienko said...

All excellent suggestions--so long as they are not "blacked out" outside the Boston area. BC has to realize it is not providing sufficient access to its content for fans nation-wide.

The All-Access idea should be successfully implemented by a professional media/broadcast group.

TheShowGoesOnLupeFiasco said...

I don't think a show with Coach Calzone would be such a good idea.

EagleDave said...

Every time Spaz speaks, it makes me question why I'm buying season tickets. A coaches show would only guarantee that I don't renew next year.

eagleboston said...

I guess you all should turn on Mark Herzlich now. He is the one that called GDF and pleaded that he hire Coach Spaz. I'm not ready to say Spaz is a good coach but I am certainly not ready to throw him under the bus as most of you have done. He won 8 games without a flipping qb in his first season and rescued a horrid season last year with a nice winning streak to close out the season. He has some nice young players. Let's see what he can do.

Let's also talk about expectations. BC is located in a pro sports town and is a small, academic college with fickle fans that don't even show up for kick-off, even when they are in the hunt for the ACC. That is an unbelievably hard environment to attract top-level recruits. Even with Flutie, one of the greatest college QB's of all time, BC barely managed a top 5 finish. BC has never won the ACC and never won the Big East, even with the almighty Coughlin at the helm.

We will never win a national title. Never. Never have, never will. We don't cheat enough to win it all. But we can win the ACC and get to a BCS. Even though that has never been accomplished by BC, it is possible and that is what we should shoot for as our pie-in-the-sky goal. Every season, we need to have 8 wins in sight with the hope that every few years, we have enough talent to win the ACC. National title? You will never be a happy BC fan if that is your measure of success.

EagleDave said...

Nobody ever questioned that Spaz was a great defensive mind and great coordinator...Mark was passionate about him for the work that he did on defense.

I think it's generally accepted that the players like Spaz and that's great. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't that one of the selling points for West Virginia when they hired that disaster Bill Stewart?

Players don't make coaching hires for a reason...

ATL_eagle said...

Pajamas:

Is the Monday replay new? I've never heard about it. Do they do it with the ESPN3.com games too?

TheShowGoesOnLupeFiasco said...

Yeah I think they do replay ESPN3 games