NFL Net, MyNetTV Near 'Total Access' Deal

John Consoli

 

AUGUST 15, 2007 -

 

The NFL Network is close to finalizing a deal with MyNetworkTV which would create an exclusive edition of NFL Total Access. The show would air on MNTV on Saturday nights at 9 beginning Sept. 8 and run each week in prime time into mid-February.

 

The deal would have the NFL Network sell the national advertising time, and the local MNTV affiliates would sell the local time on the show, which previews the weekends upcoming games and shows highlights of games from the week before. The NFL Network would pay MNTV an undisclosed fee for it to carry the show.

 

No agreement has yet been signed but media buyers told Mediaweek that NFL sales personnel have been quietly shopping the show in an attempt to sign up advertisers. In fact, General Motors and Wendy's have already been tenetatively signed on as sponsors of the show, Mediaweek has learned.

 

An insider at MNTV said emphatically that "the deal is not done," and the NFL Network officials agreed and would not comment officially. But insiders at the NFL Network were confident that the deal will be completed--confident enough that the network was already getting sponsorship commitments from advertisers and their media agencies.

 

The show, like its sister program on the NFL Network, which airs at 6 p.m. Mondays and 7 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday on that network, will also be hosted NFL Total Access host Rich Eisen. But it will not be a repeat of the show that airs Saturday nights on NFL Network. It will be a fresh, one-hour show specially created for the MNTV audience.

 

The show will offer highlights of all the games the week before and also do previews of the upcoming games that particular weekend.

 

The deal has positives for both the NFL Network and MNTV. The NFL Network still does not have cable carriage deals with Comcast and Time Warner, two of the nation's largest MSOs. NFL Network is hoping that airing NFL Total Access will not only reach a portion of the 28 million homes that have broadcast but not cable access, but also other fans in the Comcast and Time Warner markets.

 

For MNTV, the plus is that the show will draw more male viewers to the network. MNTV, which went on the air last September with only prime-time soap operas geared toward women on Monday-Saturday, has since revamped its programming lineup to include more male-oriented shows. It added International Fight League programming and also airs male-oriented theatricals on Thursday nights. This new hour of programming is expected to draw more male viewers to the network on Saturday nights.

 

On media agency executive agreed, saying, "There are lots of men home on Saturday nights. Cops on Fox draws a decent sized male audience, so this show could bring in some men."

With major advertisers like General Motors and Wendy's already in the fold, some advertisers already agree.

 

The show will be promoted on the NFL Network and on MNTV and all of its affiliates around the country. And it will also be promoted on NFL.com.

 

NFL Network promotion spots within the show are expected to urge viewers in the Comcast and Time Warner markets to contact those cable operators and urge them to do deals with the network.

 

The MNTV NFL Total Access show is expected to air 20 weeks during the season. The only Saturdays it will not air are three Saturdays in which the NFL Network is airing regular season NFL games ("we don't want to compete with ourselves." said one NFL Network insider) and during two post-season games that will air in prime time on other broadcast networks.

 

"This will get great sampling for the NFL Network and will draw more male viewers to MyNetworkTV," said an NFL Network insider. "It is a winning deal for both of us."

 

The deal on the table is reportedly just for this season and has been agreed upon in principle. But as of Aug. 15, the deal had not officially been signed.

Deal is done between News Corp. and the NFL: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/conten...8a0199c51d3e3d0

 

A good deal for fans.....having a Saturday Night Highlights Show on free TV from the NFL Network should help raise the profile of the network...and maybe...get the channel into the homes of more fans. MNTV also airs IFL Battleground, movies, and telenovelas. You can find your local MNTV station by clicking here.