Channel 4 is gonna die

[padrefanforever]

yeah this is fantastic news.......the length is scary, but money isn't what I'd hoped for, but Fox Sports San Diego has a very nice ring to it

SAN DIEGO -- Channel 4 San Diego officials held a meeting Thursday in which employees were told that the station won't retain the rights to broadcast Padres games when the current contract expires after this season, multiple sources confirmed.

Officials didn't say which entity would secure the contract rights, sources said, but did inform the staff that the station won't carry games beginning in 2012.

The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Fox Sports, industry sources said, has proposed a 20-year broadcast agreement that would assure the Padres of $17-22 million per season. It would require Fox to start a San Diego-based network similar to Fox Sports West in Los Angeles. Multiple sources confirmed that if Fox Sports wins the rights, Channel 4 would pitch the network on retaining as many of its employees as possible.

Any TV contract would require the approval of Major League Baseball.

"We had a meeting today to debunk the rumors," Channel 4 manager Dennis Morgigno said Thursday night. "We have not heard that the Padres have a new deal, but we are not negotiating with them actively. We have a good relationship with the Padres and will continue to have a good relationship. They have been a vital and good partner."

The Padres and Channel 4 are at least $6 million per season apart in negotiations, industry sources said. Channel 4 has broadcast at least 140 Padres games for the last 11 seasons, and station owner Cox Communications is in the 15th season of its business relationship with the club.

Padres president Tom Garfinkel declined to comment.

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[realmofotalk]

20-year contracts in which the rate toward the end of the deal will be far below market are exactly what the vampires at Fox Sports want.

[padrefanforever]

Length of contract and dollar amount are good reasons for concerns, but it's still almost double what Cox is giving them, and it will be on Fox not just a small cable station. Hopefully the years and $$$ will be appropriate, and that article was just talking first figures

[realmofotalk]

The money is all relative to market size, anyway. It's not as if the value of Padres broadcast rights will exceed, say, Colorado's.

[padrefanforever]

True.......however the Padres have been getting screwed since the day they signed that agreement.......now they will at least have a chance to right that wrong.....whether they are able too remains to be seen

[realmofotalk]

Bottom line, it's more lucrative to start your own regional sports network and to cut out the middlemen like Cox and Fox Sports.

[padrefanforever]

Well yeah...and if it were that easy everyone would do it. I totally agree with you and think they should take a lesson from YES and the Padres and Chargers should figure out a way to build and operate their own station full time