In response to a comment received putting succinctly Mr. Bettman’s effect on the NHL, I would like to present two screen captures comparing the customer relations aspects of licensing issue manifestations.
We have the new South Park Studios web site, which is trying to make all episodes available for free through the Internet. It is an official site. It acknowledges some licensing glitches with cable companies in other jurisdictions, and indicates that it is attempting to solve them:
And then we have the Hulu website, which makes no such indication. While the individual series rebroadcast have their own producers and intentions, the NHL is more than a TV series: it is an entire sports league. One could say it includes 30 series. And its message to those whose locales are verboten:
The difference is the intent to please the consumer, a.k.a. the revenue source, likely believable from South Park, since the South Park episodes are available at Canada’s The Comedy Network website and therefore a license is plausibly negotiable, and likely being dragged through the mud for the NHL considering its less than stellar licensing and negotiation record, from the consumers’ perspective.
NHL and Mr. Bettman, wake up and smell the $CDN. Canada’s 6 teams’ fans are the source of your revenue and will continue to be even when the markets south of the snow line have melted away. Maybe that’s the problem… The NHL knows we’ll keep forking over pay-per-view and merchandising shekels, no matter how little convenience they offer us. A shrewd business model,but I ask again, is it sound in the long run? Will Canadians demand that NHL lawyers pay attention and try to negotiate in their favour?
Loading ...