The Inbox...
/Time to see what you guys are saying…
Yesterday, we did a story in which the Buffalo Bills are pulling their games from local radio and will do the games themselves, using the Bills App and website.
One FTVLive reader weighed in on that.
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My take on the Buffalo Bills taking their radio broadcasts to streaming:
The team can do this because they can geotrack the zip code for the IP address to whoever is listening. For instance, if you listen to the iHeartRadio app now, if you don't live in Western PA, the NFL blacks out Steelers coverage on WDVE, pretty much requiring you to get a SiriusXM subscription if you want to listen to any out-of-market team if there's no local radio affiliate.
The same can be said for TV. I expect Amazon to purchase one of the NFL's Sunday afternoon packages in 2029--my money is on Fox's current package, due to the NFL owning a 10% equity stake in CBS--and geotrack who gets what games on Prime Video. If you're stuck with a random Cowboys game in Tennessee, you still have NFL Sunday Ticket as an option.
Is geotracking perfect? No. My current home internet is geotracked to Cincinnati even though I live in the Columbus market and I'm at least an hour away before even sniffing the Cincinnati TV market properly. But its accurate enough where sports teams can keep their territorial rights without staying on free media.
This reader weighed in on this “story”
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That FOX station with Victoria Cantu is also run out of the same building by KNVO, which is a Univision owned outfit. All Univision stations have no problem serving up cheesecake on air, especially when it comes to WX "talent". They never use men as mets, just women dressed like they are going clubbing. So it is not surprising this spills over to the FOX side.
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Scott,
Thanks for continuing to shine a bright light on the industry. I’m getting ready to retire in April, and I’m so looking forward to getting out.
I came into TV news and thought it was the greatest job in the world. Now, it’s a shell of its former self, with bad ownership groups and journalism taking a back seat to profits.
For the past 25 years, I have started each day by reading FTVLive, and you have helped me more than you will ever know.
