No TV football this New Year's Day?

(Univ. of Mich. drum major David Hines Jr. by David Guralnick, The Detroit News)

College football is my game. It’s erratic. The moods and moves of young football players never fail to surprise, and there are plenty of upsets. But with a total of three – count ‘em, three – games on broadcast TV, the college bowl system is no longer what it was.

To paraphrase Churchill, this is not the beginning of the end of bowl games as we once knew them. It is the end of the beginning of an all-new college bowl system.

Follow the money. TV execs decided to not bid against ESPN for broadcast rights to the remaining 32 bowl games. I didn’t really notice or care until it interrupted my annual New Year’s Day ritual. For me, New Year’s Day is “pro scouting day.” It’s relaxing. It’s the culmination of the season’s drama, NCAA sanctions, player mishaps and coaching scandals.

But as a committed member of the “Rabbit Ears Coalition” (we who do not have cable/satellite), there is only one bowl game at my house this New Years Day, the totally inconsequential Outback Bowl between 7 and 5’s Penn State (coached by 84-year old Joe Paterno) and Florida (coached by 46 year-old Urban Meyer). Good players, good coaches, should be a decent game. But there’s no Sugar Bowl, no Fiesta Bowl, no Orange Bowl for we broadcast patrons.

NBC opted for the outdoor NHL game. ABC wants to get us hyped up for the sci-fi drama “V,” so they’re showing last season’s closing episodes. CBS chose “48 Hours.” Fox is sticking with “Cops” and “America’s Most Wanted.” The networks have no enthusiasm at all for the college football audience (compared to the cost of buying the TV rights). Are they right? Does the college football fan only want games that “matter” in the form of a college football playoff system?

A word on ESPN3.com. I had a glimmer of hope that I could go on line to watch a game. I’ve figured out how to cross the “living room divide” and get the internet on my TV (S-video cable from an older laptop or Wii Internet). Alas, my provider (Qwest) does not have access to ESPN3.com. The good folks in Bristol did provide me a comment page to “ask my provider” to offer access to ESPN3.com. Does that mean Qwest has to pay ESPN the same way cable/satellite providers pay for content? I’m certain of it.

So that’s the game, and those are the players. I am finally convinced that to get my bowl games back on “Free TV,” a playoff system is required. “Games that matter” will bring back the audiences, and the major networks will pay up. Dang. I understand progress, but I kind of liked things the way they were.

Wizbangblog.com stayed up late and wrote the first blog on the dearth of TV bowl games found on my Google search.

U2, Prince camp on late night TV

Prince just finished a three-night engagement on NBC’s Tonight Show. U2 just did five straight nights on the CBS Late Show a couple of weeks ago. Record companies are pulling out all the stops to get eyes and ears on their product. It’s a battle for dollars in an age of file sharing and online music sales-one-track-at-a-time.

It’s a smart move for the TV networks too. They’re offering a unique platform for top music acts, and it lends to their credibility as well. Think the networks are all washed up? Not so fast.

Here’s what the rest of us can get out of these high profile engagements.
1) Partnerships work. Fighting over domain is the most fruitless kind of fearful, desperate act – the dying grasp of someone who has run out of ideas. Find partners. Create partnerships. (I’m trying really hard here to avoid the word “synergy.”) The fact is that collaborations with people that bring different but complimentary assets to the table are essential in this tough economy.

Plus, your customers win by gaining product from two great creators, not just one.

2) New technologies are not always the answer. What’s more simple than a four-piece combo (albeit the “greatest rock band in the world”)? What’s new about an 80-90s disco icon recycling old funk beats in strange make-up? Everything, because artists like Prince constant hit the “refresh” button on their styles.

Do what you do best, keep it fresh, and find new outlets that get your best work in front of customers in a fresh way.

3) New technologies are also part of the solution. I missed the third night of the Prince/JayLeno event live, but I found it on YouTube (of course). And Prince’s new album, while available in Target stores on Sunday, was available on line days earlier. Just because the top musicians are on TV, it doesn’t mean they’ve abandoned the brave new world of the Internet. That’s were most of their customers hang out. Apple passed Wal-Mart in music sales a year ago (April 2008) according to online tech mag arstechnica.com. In the not-too-distant future, music sales will “tip” to on line.

How can you engage your customers where they hang out? I want to help you figure it out. Give me a ring.