Marking a shift in its media strategy to protect the value of its money-making TV deals, the National Football League is going to release mobile feeds from its RedZone Channel to cell phone users next season, a move that has its broadcast partners questioning whether they will still get the same bang for their buck on their multibillion-dollar TV deals.
The RedZone cable channel is known for its all-day Sunday coverage of games that cuts away to breaking action whenever a team is within 20 yards of a touchdown, serving as the viewer’s omniscient remote control, switching between scoring plays, key ball turnovers and other “wow” plays.
Aside from being a potential couch-emptier of the first order, RedZone’s growth could eat away at a hitherto dependable and expensive audience for FOX and CBS NFL programming, which between them pay the NFL more than a billion dollars to air live league games on Sunday.
