NFL Network's Partial Visibility

Ravens-Bengals Game Can Be Seen by Some, Not by Others

Area football fans who want to watch the Baltimore Ravens try to clinch the AFC North Division tonight on television better hook up the rabbit ears and pray for clear skies.

Viewers in the Washington area, and across the country, will be shut out of the Ravens' game against the Bengals in Cincinnati because of a stalemate between the NFL and cable companies over the fees the league is demanding for its three-year-old NFL Network.

The NFL Network is broadcasting eight regular season games on Thursday and Saturday nights, and the NFL wants cable companies to offer the network as part of their basic-service packages. Many cable companies, however, believe the network should be part of their premium package of channels and have refused to grant the league's wishes.

The result is that many cable customers -- including those who subscribe to Comcast and Cox in the Washington region -- do not get the network unless they pay for higher-end services such as digital cable.

Tonight, viewers around Baltimore can get the game on ABC's over-the-air station, WMAR (Channel 2). People in Cincinnati can get the game on a local broadcast station there as well. Drew Berry, vice president and general manager of WMAR, said D.C. area fans have a shot at getting the game if they unplug the cable and hook up rabbit ears.

"The engineers say that in perfect conditions with outdoor antennas, even northern D.C. may be able to get us," Berry said.

The NFL Network is available in 40 million homes, which is about 36 percent of the nation's 111 million television households. The league is suing some cable companies to force them to carry the network to all their customers.

"Comcast is prepared to add the NFL Network on our digital sports tier," Comcast Corp. Executive Vice President David Cohen said in a statement. "Unfortunately, the NFL has filed a lawsuit and Comcast cannot move ahead until the litigation is resolved. Comcast believes it has the right to carry the NFL Network on a sports tier and will vigorously defend its position."

Comcast is the largest cable provider in the United States with 24 million customers. About 60 percent of the 1.1 million Comcast cable customers in the Washington region get digital cable and can access the NFL Network games and some other sports and entertainment channels for an extra $4.95 per month. Cox Communications Inc., which is the second largest cable system in the region with 260,000 subscribers, also provides the NFL Network on its digital tier and on a special, high-definition channel.

Satellite television providers DirecTV Group Inc. and EchoStar Communications Corp. both carry the NFL Network.

Even some cable companies that carry the NFL Network won't show the games because the NFL bills them for an additional fee for the eight games. RCN Corp., which reaches thousands of subscribers in the District, Montgomery County and parts of Virginia, does not show the games even though it carries the network.

"It's perplexing to us, honestly, to have a company that has carried the network for several years but elected not to show the games," NFL Network spokesman Seth Palansky said.

"We are pro-NFL Network," said Lynne Buening, head of programming for RCN. But, she added, "we are struggling with how to absorb the high cost of these games without impacting our customers with more fees. We would love to carry [the games], but at this point we haven't been able to successfully conclude negotiations for the right to carry them."

The situation came to a head on Thanksgiving night, when the NFL Network broadcast its first regular season game between the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs.

The final NFL Network game of the season will be the Dec. 30 game between the Washington Redskins and New York Giants at FedEx Field, but it will be shown locally.