Ducks’ effort to extend network’s reach fails
A last-ditch effort by the Ducks on Friday to expand the reach of television network Versus here in time for Game 1 of the Western Conference finals failed. But the team did get one concession: Time Warner Cable agreed to add the network to its high-definition package for the rest of the series.
Bob Wagner, the Ducks’ senior vice president and marketing chief, tried to persuade Time Warner, the largest cable provider in Southern California, to put Versus on a basic channel, thus making it available to all 1.9 million of Time Warner’s L.A.-market subscribers.
Versus, which is available only on a digital pay tier, has all but one game in this series exclusively. Game 5, if necessary, will be televised by NBC, which has all but the first two games of the Stanley Cup finals.
Time Warner refused to switch Versus, but shortly before the opening game of the best-of-seven series against the Detroit Red Wings, it agreed to add the network on an HD channel, 422, in addition to the regular channel, 267. Channel 422 usually carries the Mojo HD network. The increase in potential viewership is negligible, however.
Time Warner, Cox and Charter, L.A.’s three major cable providers, all carry Versus on a digital pay tier, which requires a digital receiver box and an additional monthly fee -- generally $5 or less per month beyond the price for basic cable. About 50% of the cable households in the Southland get the channel.
Time Warner’s monthly price for digital service is $44.95, which in some cases, depending on location, is less than the monthly cost of basic analog service. About 75% of Time Warner’s customers now have digital service.
On DirecTV and Dish Network satellite services, Versus is also on popular tiers that generally cost $5 a month more.
Wagner said he was hoping to reprise what happened with the Buffalo Sabres during last year’s playoffs, when Adelphia, besieged by that city’s fans and politicians alike, moved the network to a basic channel.
But the Sabres have a huge following. A playoff game between the Sabres and New York Rangers on May 1 got a 24.8 rating in Buffalo. The same night, a Ducks game against Minnesota averaged a 0.9 in L.A., the highest rating of the season.
“We think the hard-core fans have it figured out this year and know how to get Versus,” Wagner said. “We’re now going after the more casual fan.”
He also is talking with Charter, which has 286,000 L.A. subscribers, and Cox, with 280,000.
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