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"Freeview" a preview of things to come

Neil Best

December 31, 2006

The Sunday editor had no interest in a sports media Year in Review. He said to look ahead.

Excellent idea. But what made it even better was that in the past week, the present offered a glimpse into the future, thanks to our friendly local cable companies' "freeview" of the NFL Network.

Never mind the quality of the product for now -- we'll get to that Tuesday. It is the very existence of the network that hints at how the sports TV landscape could change in the next decade.

To understand the likely evolution, think of ESPN's mantra to give sports fans what they want, when they want it and how they want it.

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That policy is as brilliant as it is inevitable. The only trouble is, ESPN -- and every other TV network and cable, satellite and fiber optic company -- does not control the ultimate power to make it happen.

"Content is king" is a given of the media business, and every year it becomes more true.

As televisions evolve into mere monitors for video distributed over the Internet, the power will reside more and more with content providers.

Live sports are among the most valuable of such content, and football is king among sports.

Enter the NFL Network. For now, the league needs the traditional networks' money and exposure (just as the networks desperately need the league).

But in putting eight games on its fledgling network starting this season, the NFL reminded established media giants that there are alternatives, and it began preparing for an emerging new world.

Ten years from now, when wireless Internet access is a public utility and the video that arrives through it rivals anything now on television, why bother with middlemen?

The NFL could sell games directly to viewers and advertisers while keeping the peace with fans and Congress by offering local teams' games free or at a discount. Sort of like the current "Sunday Ticket," only without the satellite company as a go-between.

Already, services such as CSTV offer hundreds of games through Internet subscriptions, and you can buy every Major League Baseball game to view on your laptop. Even the NFL is experimenting with live streaming of its eight late-season games for customers of Verizon's TV and broadband service.

Throw in the interactivity of computers and the booming possibilities in downloading video to portable devices, and the traditional mode of delivering and watching sports seems less and less sustainable. That will be increasingly true as video quality improves and the market for Internet advertising matures.

Some warnings, though, for the NFL and its counterparts in the own-your-own-show genre (that includes you, YES and SNY):

First, be sure to remain widely exposed, whatever the delivery system, lest you fall into the niche-market abyss with boxing and other former contenders. (In other words, no pay-per-view Super Bowl!)

Second, don't charge too much money. Third, tell it like it is, or fans will see right through you.

Content may be king. But no matter how much abuse sports fans traditionally have been willing to take, they have limits. And in an increasingly consumer-driven media world, they are ready, willing and able to stage a coup.

Farewell to a former scribe

Like most longtime general managers, Ernie Accorsi had his share of hits and misses, although history might judge him most for where his swing for the fences with Eli Manning eventually lands.

Overall, he was an able steward for the Giants in the post-George Young era. But among journalists, he will be recalled most fondly for his accessibility and his ability to put anything into historical perspective with an old story or a pithy quote.

No surprise there. He's a member of the club, a former sportswriter who in 1963 interviewed the future "Field of Dreams" character Archibald "Moonlight" Graham, then 87, for the Charlotte Observer.

Later, he broke the news in the Philadelphia Inquirer of the 76ers' trade of Wilt Chamberlain.

Excuse the cliche, but in this case, it's the best way to put it: Thanks for the memories, Ernie.