$28,000,000,000 for nine years of football games??  Plus a beefed up NFL Network?  Plus the $28B is a 63% increase over current fees?  Plus ESPN already rakes in an estimated (by SNL Kagan) $4.69/subscriber?  Plus the broadcasters want their retrans fees to catch up fast with that?

Put all those numbers together ... spin it out a little into the future ... and what do you get?  

Poor consumers.  

Poorer consumers.  

"Roughed up" consumers, in the words of the ACA's Matt Polka.

(And please, folks, don't send me notes about free over-the-air TV.  For much of the nation there is no such thing.  And just how long do you think the broadcasters would keep the actual "broadcasting" part of their business if it weren't for their we're-the-ultimate-emergency-service argument in D.C.?)

But back to football.  

I strongly agree with Matt.  Except ... Except ....

I've spent much of my life studying this industry where getting people's attention, and keeping it, is absolutely critical.

And I live in Colorado.  Where watching the last 10 minutes of Bronco football games for the last few weeks helps me understand, at least to some degree, the $28B.

Now if only we could find some way where picking up the tab for that didn't fall on all the subscribers, all the time, in all parts of the country.•

NFL Fallout: New Deal Could Sack Fans

With its new multi-year, multi-billion dollar distribution agreement, the NFL may have scored the super bowl of lucrative extensions. However, critics say with the league receiving an estimated 60% increase in annual fees, it will be football fans who ultimately pay the price.

To be sure, ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC will have to fund the price hike by tackling distributors for higher retransmission fees. And as rising sports programming costs get handed off to MVPDs, customers will eventually feel the pressure as those burdens are shuffled to monthly pay-TV bills.

ACA President & CEO Matt Polka said network TV agreeing to pay hyper-inflationary fee increases for the NFL is "a calamity for consumers and should be a clarion call to policymakers in Washington, D.C." He said the collective deals, worth an estimated $27B, will be pushed onto 90% of pay-TV subscribers who don't have any opportunity to opt out of paying for channels that air the NFL's games.
 
“Broadcasters should not be able to rely on the government’s broken retransmission consent and cable carriage rules as the means for them to recoup the cost of their corpulent NFL contracts," Polka said Thursday. "Congress and the FCC need to throw a flag, because rules and regulations shouldn’t force consumers to bear the burden of broadcasters’ profligate spending, which will surely enrich NFL owners and players just as much as it will impoverish all pay-TV subscribers, particularly those who will never watch an NFL game.”

Insert witty Tim Tebow analogy, here. •

Etc.: Verizon Launches MSG - Movies On Demand 'Paying Off' - Howard Stern's 'Got Talent'

Sports: Verizon started notifying customers via its company blog that it will add both MSG HD and MSG+ HD to FiOS' channel line-up "over the next couple days." Some markets may already have access… Meanwhile, reports say Time Warner Cable may drop MSG Network before the end of the year as the two sides have failed to reach a new carriage agreement. (Sources say MSG wants fees that would put it on par with ESPN.)

Strategy: Did cable's commitment to Movies On Demand pay off? Absolutely, says our friend Char Beales, who heads the campaign: "The Video Store Just Moved In." Deadline has an exclusive story about how cable's 2-year, $30M investment in VOD is about to pay off…

IPO: WSJ is reporting that social games maker Zynga is pricing its shares at $10 with hopes of raising $1B (the biggest U.S. Internet debut since Google). The price for the 100M shares values the SF-based company at $7 billion.

Rules & Regs: FCC Chair Julius Genachowski said while House passage of incentive auction authority was a major achievement, the legislation now needs to become law. "Unless we free up new spectrum for mobile broadband, the looming spectrum crunch risks throttling our mobile economy…" The Commissioner's full comments can be read, here. --- Genachowski also said the GOP's payroll tax bill restricting the agency's ability to regulate airwaves could "threaten U.S. global leadership in spectrum-related innovation." Hillicon Valley has the story. --- Two House Democrats intro'd a bill this week that would provide $300M to research the creation of a national public safety broadband network. Read more.

Retrans: Sinclair's contract with Verizon's FiOS for WPGH (Fox) and WPMY (MNT) expires on Dec. 31. The broadcaster says "based on the current status of negotiations we do not believe (FiOS) will be carrying these stations after that date." --- Local reports detail a retrans dispute between DISH and Heritage Broadcasting in Michigan. DISH says the broadcaster is asking for a 600% increase; Heritage says it's asking for "$.05 more per day or $1.50 more a month or $18 a year..." Semantics! Read more.

Service: Time Warner Cable expanded its high-def channel line-up in Dallas with an additional 20 HD channels bringing its total to 134. Details here.

Research: IDC says global tablet shipments increased 23.9% in 3Q11 to 18.1M units. The growth represents an increase of 264.5% from the same quarter last year, but 5.8% below the firm's original forecast of 19.2M units. However, with strong demand in 4Q11, IDS increased its  forecast for FY11 to 63.3M.

Tech: TiVUS said it has started inserting TV commercials on channels in the company's satellite-based HD IP ad-insertion platform for the hotel industry. --- How about a TV guide for YouTube? Options are (probably) few at the moment, but it won't be like that for long. Check out NOWBox's YouTube TV guide app for the iPad, here. --- Promoting the cord-cutting trend, OEM tech company WallTenna is pushing an indoor $40 antenna for OTA stations. Cable360 has the scoop.

M&A: Liberty Global said that it has completed its $4.1B acquisition of German cable-op Kabel BW GmbH and its 2.4M customers.

SkyREPORT: SiriusXM said for the first time it will air live play-by-play action from every bowl game during this year's college football postseason. Subs can get info, here. --- Arianespace said its second Soyuz mission from French Guiana has been given the go-ahead for tonight's launch of France's Pleiades-1 satellite and five other micro-satellite passengers.

Up, Down & Over There: The European Commission is suspending its antitrust investigation into Google's bid to acquire Motorola Mobility until it can review certain documents regarding the merger. The agency wants more detailed info; Google said 'no problem.' --- Microsoft signed a deal with Orange to offer OrangeTV on the Xbox 360 starting in the spring of 2012. BroadbandTV News says through the deal, Orange will offer a total of 30 channels, including 'major French services,' to the gaming-turned-OTT console. --- Eurosport will start making 3D content available on Nintendo's 3DS device. --- Rogers launched a beta version of its Rogers Live TV app that will allow customers to stream live TV to iPads.

People: As our bulletin last night noted, Tom Rutledge resigned from Cablevision as COO effective the 19th. --- Business Insider says the "buzz is deafening" that Google's chief business officer, Nikesh Arora, is on "the very short list" of candidates to become the new CEO of Yahoo. --- The Twittersphere is confirming that Howard Stern has signed on to judge the next "America's Got Talent." --- Politico called him the "rock star regulator." Here's a nice piece the pub ran honoring the Michael Copps as he retires from the FCC.

Holidays: Online radio portal Live365 is running a "musical holiday card" service you can send to family and friends. Check it out. --- Verizon is teaming up with NORAD to track Santa on Christmas Eve. You and your kiddos can call (877) HI-NORAD to hear where on the planet is St. Nick. It's toll free. Apparently you can also track him on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google+ with "@noradsanta." --- 'Tis the season for gathering with loved ones around the fireplace … of the digital variety! iN Demand is again running its Yule Log video in standard-def, HD and 3D this year. Fire it up.

--- Catch today's media market news in The Evening BRIDGE. •