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Incidents of televised high school sporting events have been on the rise over the last decade. I see this as a plus for Utah kids and communities in general. Now the Utah High School Activities Association has sold the rights to broadcast all post-season high school sporting events to KJZZ. In fact the deal was struck years ago but until now meant very little as games KJZZ didn’t cover were pretty much fair game to all other broadcasters big or small.
This year KJZZ has chosen to exercise its monopoly on high school football by forbidding any television broadcast of any post-season high school football game by any “subordinate” broadcaster. To be clear, they haven’t set a price for other broadcasters to meet. Rather, they’ve taken all possible permission off the table. According to their website, during the first two weeks of playoffs KJZZ intends to cover one game each week. During that period, The Valley Channel, Park City Television and Top of Utah Television (to name just a few broadcasters of high school sports) have historically covered at least one game each. By far, more game coverage is being prevented than is being presented.
In essence the government has granted monopoly power to one of many competitors in the field of high school sports broadcasting. I can understand the State selling rights of first refusal to broadcast entities like KJZZ, but to grant this monopoly to one member of a competitive market reigns beyond reason.
I wonder what the UHSAA intends to accomplish with this deal. What should be their role in governing rebroadcast of high school sports? Are they trying to prevent games from airing for some reason? Is their sole purpose to raise a maximum dollar figure? I think their role should involve delivering the greatest amount of satisfaction to the greatest number of schools and students. I wonder what satisfaction snubbed schools will enjoy this year.
My beef isn’t necessarily with KJZZ. It’s with the State being in the business of selling rights in the first place. It’s sort of like the State selling all building permits to one contracting corporation so said contractor can oversee who if any among its competitors will do business in the state. It’s like selling all alcohol licenses to one pub functionally granting them authority to dictate who if any among its competitors will be allowed to compete in the brew market.
Logan High School and Mountain Crest High School are only two of several schools that lost out this week. Local broadcasters had scheduled to cover each school’s first round home playoff games but were officially warned by KJZZ to “cease and desist”. The games were not broadcast. Logan High and Mountain Crest have no voice in the matter.
So if you expected to see your favorite high school post-season game aired this weekend and were snubbed, thank the UHSAA and KJZZ by phone, email or letter for choosing a few bucks and a brand-recognition campaign over widespread satisfaction for our public-school athletes and their fans.
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5 comments:
The plot thickens! PCTV did their game anyway. Were they offered a deal that was available to no other competitor in the market? If so, TUTV and TVC were discriminated against. We were specifically told that "NO subordinate" permission would be given at any price.
Did they simply do their game anyway in an effort to thumb their nose at KJZZ and the UHSAA? Stay tuned!
This whole thing stinks anyway. Each individual school should hold all the cards. They should have the choice to accept cash to keep their game off the air or to allow a broadcaster to air their game.
Something illegal must have ensued here no matter the explanation for PCTV airing their game.
who has control over the UHSAA? isn't it the gov & state legislature? i agree with you bluto. this isn't right to give a monopoly to one video broadcaster. i have no problem with first rights but if they ain't going to broadcast then other broadcasters should be then have the right to broadcast the game. seems to me solution to this would be to put pressure on our state legislature to limit the UHSAA's authority. what about radio broadcasts? are they next? maybe this is all about putting more people in the stands.
As I see it, the UHSAA is making money on NOT broadcasting games.
It is akin to paying a farmer $12,000 an acre to NOT plant corn.
In essence, KJZZ pays the UHSAA for the broadcast rights and KJZZ takes those rights and buries them in a hole.
But don't blame KJZZ. They are the junkie in this scenario — high on power or money or ego or whatever.
The UHSAA — dedicated to promoting a fair competitive environment, mind you — is the enabler.
The losers are the kids. The same kids to whom the UHSAA pledges ultimate dedication.
The UHSAA mission statement reads: "The UHSAA reaffirms that students are the focus and reason for the Association."
That and to make a few buck$ off them in the process.
A station in Spanish Fork either didn't get the message or chose to ignore it. They were shut down during the game.
UHSAA was at the meetings with KJZZ. They told KJZZ they could have whatever they wanted.
Local schools are pretty miffed.
From what I gather, KJZZ pays about $200K annually for these rights. I guess that is the price for the soul of HS sports in Utah.
Red Raider,
A freeze out of local radio was also talked about and decided against. However, I understand local radio will NOT be able to use the booths at Rice-Eccles and must broadcast via cellcast from the mezzanine outside at the top of the stadium on the west side.
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