Quotes about UH's new TV contract

Asked if all UH events will appear on pay-per-view eventually, HF said:
"No. My crystal ball tells me no." (HSB)


About how most events should not be on pay-per-view, KFVE General Manager John Fink said:
"I think when you look at where it is now, it's been relatively stable the last couple of years. There's a (extra) game here and there, but not huge increases. Our goal has always been to keep most of the events (on KFVE), and we still do. Over 85 percent of the events are still free on KFVE." (HSB)

HSB Note: "In every year since its inception, the cost of UH's pay-per-view package has risen, from $75 for seven UH home football games in its debut year in 2002, to $330 for renewing customers on Oahu this year ($380 for new customers) for a much broader palette.

Six women's volleyball and five men's basketball games were included, for a record total of 19 events this year. The total number of games was 15 in each of the two previous years, when the package was expanded to encompass multiple sports.

It generated more than $400,000 for UH in its first year, an amount that has grown considerably since. In the current TV contract, signed in 2004, the university gets a front-loaded $1.75 million each year, and an estimated $2 million total. But all that expires at the end of the year, when the new contract is up for grabs."


About their next TV deal, UH associate AD John McNamara said:
"I don't think anybody has a clear picture (of where it's going). I think we need to sit down and meet with our TV partners (Oceanic and KFVE). We need to take all the feedback that we've received from the fans, both the season-ticket holders and the folks who subscribe to pay-per-view." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Arthur Baverstock, 74, subscribed from the beginning at his daughter's house in Waimanalo, but dropped the package two years ago. He wasn't alone; by 2006, the user base dropped about 21 percent to 7,456."


About dropping the PPV package 2 years ago, Arthur Baverstock said:
"When they added basketball and volleyball (that's when I decided). It upped the cost and it was things wedidn't watch. Even now we shouldn't have to pay for away games." (HSB)


Asked about re-subscribing in the future, Baverstock said:
"At least it'll be good for the sports bars." (HSB)


Both Fink and HF said that the other sports were added to include some value in the PPV package for everyone, but Santos admitted:
"That really hasn't done very well. Football, like in everything else, is the driver behind this." (HSB)


Concerned that PPV has hurt their home attandance, JJ said:
"No question it has (hurt attendance). We're making more money, but we have to find a happy medium. You probably have 150,000 people watching the game on a given day and (average 34,781 in three games this year) at the stadium." (HSB)


About how ESPN took their best home games so they had to put road games on PPV, HF said:
"Normally, those are games that would have been on our pay-per-view. ... KFVE and Oceanic had to do that (adding road games) because they lose some of their inventory to ESPN. But that's because we're successful." (HSB)

HSB Note: "He added that if the requisite number of football games were included in the package, he would choose not to include basketball and volleyball."


PPV subscriber and season-ticket holder Hugh Wakuzawa likes the addition of other sports to the PPV package:
"It made the price increase more acceptable. It's supporting the school, so I don't mind doing that. I would continue (if the price remained about the same) in that way. I think that any sport, as the team goes, the fan base goes. And the package will be as good as the team goes, and people will continue on supporting the package." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Santos said that the subscriber base has indeed increased again this year, thanks largely to UH's resurgent program. The Warriors are 7-0 and are coming off an 11-3 season. He felt the service's pricing was still within the range of other comparable pay-per-view programs on Oceanic's sister stations, but its current success was at or near its apex considering the cost."


About the latest price increase in PPV, Santos said:
"From a personal standpoint, I thought it was overpriced this year. I think there's a (time) where you reach a saturation point, and people will start to rebel in one form or another." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Santos said he would be open to UH parceling out the rights to various entities to encompass things like Internet broadcasting, but that was at UH's discretion in the new contract."


About giving KFVE the first shot at the new contract, McNamara said:
"We'll have a fruitful dialogue, but can't choreograph the discussion (if an offer would be made). We'll sit down with KFVE and review things and see what's best." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Fink and Oceanic Vice President of Operations Norman Santos have expressed interest in the new contract. Bidding for the next UH television contract begins in early February or March. Oceanic was KFVE's chief opposition in the last round of bidding, but the incumbent came up with the highest bid in the end and the two are currently partners in distributing UH football, basketball and volleyball games through Oceanic."


About how KFVE will want to continue being UH's TV outlet, Fink said:
"We think it's been a great partnership, not only with us and UH, but with our clients and most importantly perhaps with the viewers." (HSB)


McNamara said that future pricing would:
"look for the best interest to the UH athletic department and its fans." (HSB)