Kerry presses on NFL Network

Maybe Senatore Kerry should ask the NFL why they have given a monopoly of the NFL Ticket package to DirectTV, shutting out non-satellite dish owners of the opportunity to watch more out of market games.

Oh thank goodness! 25,000 people die of hunger each year, oil is over $90 a barrel, and the entire financial market is in danger of a major recession from the subprime lending crises, but John Kerry's got our backs with the NFL.

in other words, "We won't lift a finger".

Doesn't this phony have anything better to do than stick his nose into a financial dispute between two private parties?

How about focusing some of that time and energy on the war abroad or the foreclosure crisis at home, John? Stop sucking up to your constituency.

If fans want the game badly enough, they can order Direct TV or better yet go to a bar and watch it.

Go Pats!

Did someone tell the 'senator' that the game will be seen on channel 5 locally? Or was he absent for that meeting like he is for the voting in the senate?

Maybe if the NFL would agree to offer the Sunday Ticket package to Comcast and other cable companies the cable companies would be a bit more cooperative with the NFL. The league and Goodell want everything their way. If the league really wants broad distribution of their product, that Sunday Ticket would be available to everyone and Comcast could share in the profits. All of the pay packages are related and the NFL just tries to frame one issue at a time. That's smart for the bottom line if everyone plays along with them. They made a calculated risk and lost. It's hard to feel badly for the rich owners. Comcast has worked with MLB to work out a partnership. NFL owners want no such partnership.

I have Verizon FIOS. I get the NFL network on my standard package and I can also watch the games streaming on the internet. I think Verizon made a deal with the NFL to do this.

Game will be seen on channel 5 LOCALLY only to the extent of WCVB's coverage, which isn't all of New England. That said, typical of the senator to weigh in on such an "important" issue...

too bad this "historic" game won't be...the pats have looked ridiculous lately, and the STEELERS have already guaranteed a victory on Sunday.

While agree that state senators should be focusing there attention on bigger matters it is refreshing to see someone stand up for the consumer as senator Kerry has done here as well as with the MLB package. Sure we all want to end world hunger, poverty and war but once in awhile it is refreshing to see someone who has the interest of the average consumer at hand. THANK YOU JOHN KERRY!

First, there is plenty of room for our congressmen to deal with big issues like world hunger AND smaller issues like these. Second, channel 5 will carry the game, but channel 5 does not broadcast all over. In fact many areas of Mass do not even get it!

Third, the reply by the NFL was a slap in the face. Basically they said they will do nothing to help the fans of the league in this matter. What matters most to them is the almighty dollar, not the fans.

Is there any chance that Bryant Gumbel will be fired by that game? I have NFL Network and cannot watch more than a few minutes without needing to take a break, because he is so terrible. I don't think I would mind his voice, if he was able to do the job of describing what is happening on the field. Tonight, he declared that Rex Grossman had seemed to hurt his ankle, but that the Bears announced it was his knee, so he had to backtrack. But it was obvious that it was his knee. They never looked at his ankle! I wished I still lived in New England and I would listen to the radio and cancel my pay subscription to NFL Network. It's not worth the fuss.

Everyone has their opinions on this issue, and it's great to see we have a forum to voice our opinions.

In a time where there are a lot of bad things in the world - the war, mortgage crisis, crime, disease, etc. - there are some events that we can rally around as a community that bring joy into our lives.

It's true, football won't save the world. It won't stop poverty, or end wars. But take into consideration that during every super bowl, the game is broadcast in Iraq for the troops. And just recently, the Patriots used their free day to help out those less fortunate at local food pantries.

This bickering between the networks is childish. Give the people what they ask for.

Whenever I see this crap from John Kerry it makes me wonder how much money Comcast and Cox cable contribute to his campaign - or some other lobby pandering to him and coughing up a donation When these fat cats try to pawn this off as fighting for the little guy it makes me want to vomit.

Whatever, we'll be able to watch the whole game on Bill B's personal video collection - unfortunately the only thing shown will be the other teams signals - here's to an undefeated season. Enjoy.

Senator Kerry is a senior member of the Senate Commerce, Science, Transportation which includes over-sight over the FCC.The FCC seems to take the position that there are too many costly channels bundled into "basic" cable service, which has caused basic cable service to increase in cost to consumers at far higher a rate than consumer inflation. The FCC's position also seems to be that consumers should be able to subscribe to free channels plus the channels they want to pay for.

However the Commissioner essentially said NFL owners won't back down from their demands on the cable providers, while the cable providers are essentially saying they fully agree with the FCC that basic cable rates must be kept in check. However the Commissioner's letter showed no sympathy whatsoever for keeping basic cable rates in check, a key agenda of the FCC and of Congress. At this rate the Commissioner may well end up testifying before the committee next year.

"Unfortunately, millions of fans outside of the local media markets - including fans living in Massachusetts and New York - will not have access to the network that will broadcast the game. "

Based on the above qoute, I believe Kerry is well aware that the game is being broadcast locally. People in Massachusetts, but outside the Greater Boston area will not get this game on a local stations; likewise people outside the New York Metropolitan area will not get the game on a local station.

John Kerry missed 26 votes out of 645 in the 109th congress for the record. People can complain about him for legitimate things if they want but to say he missed a lot of votes is just stupid.

Kerry should just dry up and blow away. He is never around for anything important, is a bogus senator and another rich guy that "knows how the people feel". Stay away from the NFL, don't want you to mess that up too.

This is all just a bunch of grandstanding. Keep government out of the NFL...they have bigger fish to fry. Senator Kerry should use his time to show up to the Senate to vote, not playing Mr. Editorial with his public relations staff. Vote Ron Paul!

Congress should threaten to remove the NFL's anti-trust exemption. That would get them to the bargaining table *really* fast. Imagine a world without it: no college draft; enforced competition for players between teams; no league-wide television negotiations; no salary cap. The NFL would be finished without it, and it is the biggest bargaining chip Congress has.

Steve -- Did you actually read his letter, "Unfortunately, millions of fans outside of the local media markets ... "

Outside of the local media markets, that means he understands the local stations in NY and Boston will get it if within 30 miles or so.

Please what's more important? Get your priorities straight. There are 25 million football fans nationwide who are dying of NFLN hunger each year, the comcast HD package is over $90 per month, and entire segments of Patriot nation can't get either NFLN or WCVB on their cable systems.

A Patriots nation divided against itself cannot stand. Give us the NFLN or give us death!

Seriously, some Pats fans outside of the Boston area don't get NFLN or WCVB on their cable network. And they don't want the NFL package or satellite TV. They just want NFLN in HD preferably without paying for a sports package. That's all.

BTW, If JK accomplishes this it will be the first thing he's ever done for the people of MA/NE. He couldn't even beat GW. LOL. What a botched joke.

Wow, how did the American people not vote for this serious, serious man? I think he may have served during Vietnam as well...

Greg Aiello believe all fans should be able to view only the games the NFL allows them to see. Every fan should be eligible for the Sunday Ticket using cable, satellite, or computer.

Cable companies are scumbags thats why i have Direct TV. Cable & Phone companies have been sticking it to there customers for to long with there price increases every year!

I paid Comcast the lousy $4.95 a month for NFL Network. So can you.

My cable bill is high enough without being forced to have yet another channel with almost nothing I want to watch on it. Comcast is no saint, but the NFL is holding its fans hostage by moving games to its new network and then blaming Comcast for not carrying it.

The Senator should be concerned helping senior citizens, passing the Bills like GPO/WEP, helping disabled veterans bills, not just co-sponsoring them, passing would be an improvement, I think sometimes our Senator has become a Bourgeois Democrat for the Rich....

Mikes dogs # 6 "It's hard to feel BAD for the rich owners" NOT BADLY
If you use badly you are saying that your sense of touch is a problem for the rich owners, I don t think that s what you mean.

Good to see that the Senator is spending his time on worthwhile causes.

If Senator Kerry doesn't get the fact that you don't use "an" before words that don't start in vowels, I don't think he's going to get the complexity of NFL/Cable negotiations. That's "an" smart guy.

The NFL recieves public money to build stadiums, they recieve big money from broadcasters to show their product, they don't spend a lot of money taking care of their older former players who helped make them this powerful.

The teams are owned by people who cannot relate to the day to day life of the typical cable customer.

The NFL is who elected to take these 8 games off the air and decided to package them on a channel that was nothing but talking heads and re-runs of old games. Now they want my cable company to take a channel off the air and replace it with their channel.

I may not watch that channel but someone does and they want all cable customers to pay even if they are not NFL fans. The NFL markets the Sunday ticket and gave that exclusively to DirectTV.

Senator Kerry should be asking all of these questions before he says please negotiate with cable.

The NFL wants their cake and eat it too. They finally met their match with the cable companies.

Here is the deal - Put the NFL Network on a Sports Tier so all customers who want the channel have to have a digital tuner and pay extra to see this network. The NFL probably doesn't want to do this because they will find out that the majority of cable customers really don't want their network.

Too bad, so sad....

Fans...just switch to Satellite TV. There is not a cable reception in the world that can compare to the reception you get with Dish or DirecTV. Ever notice how some of your cable stations come in cloudy......or with shadows.....or how some come in better than others? Well, take the quality of your best cable reception and EVERY satelitte station will come in better than that. And why subject your reception to the maintainance of miles of underground cable lines that split down every street, when all you should have to worry about is the quality of cable hook ups between your tv, and your satelitte dish 25-100 feet away? Is it about your discount on internet? Take the time to think things through folks? Why pay thousands of dollars for your TV, then accept lesser performace from that investment just to save $5-10 a month on internet - which is unrelated to your TV viewing pleasure?

No - I do not work in the Satellite or TV/Audio Industry - but I use to. Anyway, trust me. Try it - you can always go back if you do not like it.

hey commish - watch your back!

I don't see what the big deal is here. The Patriots are gonna lose this Sunday to the Steelers, so there won't be any "historic" game.

oh, and having the NFL Network would be nice.

Who need allies like Kerry??? This narcissist can't resist getting his name in the paper. I watch the Patriots to escape hustlers like Kerry. I wish he would stay out.

When we received a postcard from Comcast back in June about transferring the NFL Network to their Sports Package, we switched over to DirecTV. Best move we ever made, especially given Comcast's spotty service in our area.

Steelers LOST to the Jets, now thats an historic game!!!

Regard the BS comment by JJCRUISER: Oh thank goodness! 25,000 people die of hunger each year, oil is over $90 a barrel, and the entire financial market is in danger of a major recession from the subprime lending crises, but John Kerry's got our backs with the NFL.

Yeah, kerry should take the 20 minutes he spent writing the letter to solve the world oil crisis. Idiot

Anyone who has had any dealings with Comcast knows the shoddy and greedy way in which they operate. They remove channels from your package without even telling you so this reprehensible behavoir does not surprise me in the least.

34 - Have you ever listened to the man speak? He doesn't voice the 'h' sound in many of his words, and if you don't voice the 'h', "an" is the correct article.

It's more common in Commonwealth English, but "an historic" is a-ok.

Gooooooooooooo Steelers

Im 15 and i live in mass.and it makes me really mad that i might not be able 2 watch the last game of the season that will most likely make history. and i watch every single game of the season.The patriots are my life. and its ashame i cant even watch it.................................................................

Actually, Kerry is in Bali right now at the international Climate Change conference, addressing the issue of global warming, but you'd never know that because the Globe never reports on anything legislative or diplomatic that Kerry does. So as a result you have all these idiots on this blog commenting that he "doesn't do anything." No, he DOES do plenty of things, but you people rely on the Globe to tell you Kerry's every movement, and that's your mistake.

Is Al Gore in Bali with Kerry solving global warming ? That comment was supposed to vindicate him???????????????????????????? LOL

Maybe the whiney cable subscribers should take their bitching and moaning to those who deserve it - THE CABLE COMPANIES! - These people act as if the Satellite carriers didn't pay the NFL for the rights to carry the channel which is exactly what the cable companies REFUSE to do. It's quite simple, the NFL and their network are not part of PBS or CPB and therefore are entitled to payment if you want to utilize their product. The crying from cable subscribers only illustrate the childish mentality that these people have. Maybe if the cable companies didn't inflate their prices at a ridiculous rate over the past years they'd be in a position to absorb the cost of forging a deal with the NFL. Personally, I think these whining babies don't deserve to see the game when all they have to do is switch to a lower cost, higher quality television service. The fact that a 'senator' finds time to draft a letter to the NFL Commissioner when he holds one of the highest absentee rates when it comes to senate voting is a demonstration of how inept and incompetant our congress really is. QUIT BITCHING AT THE NFL! It's your precious cable company's fault!!!! Instead of writing the NFL try writing your cable provider or even better, take your business elsewhere! Thank God for CAPITALISM!!!!

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