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The Bradley Athletic office wanted to pass along to the fans more information about the TV deal and why it came out like it did.
Here was the release from Bradley about the TV deal--
But there is more to this than was officially released, and it involves some great things for the future if things fall in place the way everyone hopes.
The final decision that WEEK would not be doing the TV broadcasts, that they had done for many years, did not come until it was a little late to work out any other sort of a good deal for local telecasts. And the main reason for WEEK's decision was related to the cost of doing the games, and the even greater losses they incur when they pre-empt their network programming. It might have been different if they could have picked the top games to broadcast, but several of the top games were gobbled up by the MVC Network and ESPN.
So even if Bradley would have had more time, the other local broadcast stations would have the same problems, in that they would not be eager to pre-empt network shows, incur the increasing expenses of doing road games, and settle for a TV package that didn't include some of the top games. WMBD, for example, has also cut back on their telecasts of ISU games for these same reasons. They will broadcast only 1 ISU game-- the Bradley game at ISU. WTVP (channel 47) was interested, but there were cost and logistical issues for them as well. They were not well equipped to do road games, and the quality of their broadcasts is a bit different than that of the network stations. Note that WTVP will be broadcasting one game-- the Dec. 29 game at Carver Arena against Northern Iowa.
In pursuing a new television package, one of the primary goals was to maximize the number of road games broadcast back to the Peoria area. This agreement is not primarily motivated by money, but rather motivated by the desire to make sure fans have the best opportunity possible to follow the team. Insight was willing to step up and has guaranteed six of Bradley's road games that would not have otherwise been televised in Central Illinois, which will make them available to the largest bulk of the fan base. They also are willing to increase that number to eight (the Butler and Wright State games) if sponsorship can be arranged that suits Insight.
Obviously, over-the-air broadcast stations reach the greatest number of homes, but as stated above, it became impossible to continue trying to televise the Bradley games via the local broadcast stations. As the publicity release on the BU website stated (see link above), Insight has expressed a willingness to make their telecasts available to other cable systems, allowing Bradley to potentially create a network to reach more people in the future. Bradley and Insight are working on those details and they hope to soon make the games available beyond Insight's local service area. This extended network deal may not be an overnight development, but it is something they hope could happen quicker rather than later (maybe some developments could come before this season is over?).
Comcast will be taking over Insight's operations in January, and that is an encouraging development because Comcast reaches a much larger subscriber base, including the Chicago area, and several surrounding states. It is hoped that the Bradley games could be networked into the Chicago area Comcast system, and maybe further.
So again, the people at Bradley who have done a tremendous job of putting this TV package together on very short notice, ask all Bradley fans to be patient. The network that hopefully could develop in the near future will be far better than anything we have had in the past, and will cover the great majority of Bradley's games each year.
Here was the release from Bradley about the TV deal--
But there is more to this than was officially released, and it involves some great things for the future if things fall in place the way everyone hopes.
The final decision that WEEK would not be doing the TV broadcasts, that they had done for many years, did not come until it was a little late to work out any other sort of a good deal for local telecasts. And the main reason for WEEK's decision was related to the cost of doing the games, and the even greater losses they incur when they pre-empt their network programming. It might have been different if they could have picked the top games to broadcast, but several of the top games were gobbled up by the MVC Network and ESPN.
So even if Bradley would have had more time, the other local broadcast stations would have the same problems, in that they would not be eager to pre-empt network shows, incur the increasing expenses of doing road games, and settle for a TV package that didn't include some of the top games. WMBD, for example, has also cut back on their telecasts of ISU games for these same reasons. They will broadcast only 1 ISU game-- the Bradley game at ISU. WTVP (channel 47) was interested, but there were cost and logistical issues for them as well. They were not well equipped to do road games, and the quality of their broadcasts is a bit different than that of the network stations. Note that WTVP will be broadcasting one game-- the Dec. 29 game at Carver Arena against Northern Iowa.
In pursuing a new television package, one of the primary goals was to maximize the number of road games broadcast back to the Peoria area. This agreement is not primarily motivated by money, but rather motivated by the desire to make sure fans have the best opportunity possible to follow the team. Insight was willing to step up and has guaranteed six of Bradley's road games that would not have otherwise been televised in Central Illinois, which will make them available to the largest bulk of the fan base. They also are willing to increase that number to eight (the Butler and Wright State games) if sponsorship can be arranged that suits Insight.
Obviously, over-the-air broadcast stations reach the greatest number of homes, but as stated above, it became impossible to continue trying to televise the Bradley games via the local broadcast stations. As the publicity release on the BU website stated (see link above), Insight has expressed a willingness to make their telecasts available to other cable systems, allowing Bradley to potentially create a network to reach more people in the future. Bradley and Insight are working on those details and they hope to soon make the games available beyond Insight's local service area. This extended network deal may not be an overnight development, but it is something they hope could happen quicker rather than later (maybe some developments could come before this season is over?).
Comcast will be taking over Insight's operations in January, and that is an encouraging development because Comcast reaches a much larger subscriber base, including the Chicago area, and several surrounding states. It is hoped that the Bradley games could be networked into the Chicago area Comcast system, and maybe further.
So again, the people at Bradley who have done a tremendous job of putting this TV package together on very short notice, ask all Bradley fans to be patient. The network that hopefully could develop in the near future will be far better than anything we have had in the past, and will cover the great majority of Bradley's games each year.
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