Time Warner will need to take the NFL Network on. Their subscribers will demand it. Plus, Time Warner needs the NFL Network more than some channel about gardening or something like that.
This is a really smart move. The NFL Network will get many more subscribers and is going to be available to many more households. That will allow the NFL Network to be viewed by tens of millions more people regularly.
The NFL is fortunate to be in a position where they can put their games on almost any delivering system and know fans will seek them out. It's a unique situation. There is no other programming concept in the United States that can say that.
They'll be able to build the NFL Network into something far more significant. On the 357 days when games are not being carried, NFL programming will be going into people's homes.
The cable operators are going to be compelled to carry the NFL network. Their subscribers want NFL programming. They will be heard loudly if the cable companies provide niche channels with gardening shows and not the NFL Network.
The key is to get on basic. We'll see a dramatic rise in the number of homes that the NFL Network reaches.