Lapas attēli
PDF
ePub

EXHIBIT C

REPRESENTATIVE COMMENTS OF MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAMS ON THE IMPACT OF CATV UPON THEIR ATTENDANCE

"I definitely feel that CATV would kill practically all of our fans we have left." "There is no doubt as to the fact that this WOULD HURT our attendance TREMENDOUSLY, as do ALL telecasts against our HOME games. This is the very thing that can and will put us all out of business, but quick."

"It is my definite opinion that telecasts [by] cable [of] league games into this area would definitely hinder our attendance. I do not have to remind you that attendance in minor league baseball parks is a nationwide problem and any further infringement of telecast baseball broadcasts would probably make it impossible for most minor league clubs to continue a successful operation. It is too easy even now to stay at home and watch television than to go out and support your own local activities whether it be baseball, hockey or basketball-and we have all three in Salem."

“Again, in my opinion, CATV in this area would come close to being the death knell of minor league baseball in Rochester. We are trying by every promotional means possible to keep AAA baseball in Rochester for the benefit of the entire community and are attempting in every way possible to provide wholesome recreation for families and youth in Rochester. I feel it is about time we help instead of hindrance."

"Cable TV does hurt our attendance when we play at home. Most every night of the week you are able to get either the Mets or Yankees games when they play at night. Sometimes you can get both the Yankee and Met games. On holidays it kills our attendance when we play at night."

"During the 1968 season, the telecasts of Major League games via CATV did reach Elmira and, although it is hard to estimate if these games had any effect on our attendance, I'm sure it did. On nights when there was a so-called 'crucial' game on TV and we were playing home, our game attendance was down. This was also true if the weather conditions were less than ideal."

"In reply to your request for CATV information, the telecasts of the games played by the Mets and Yankees all reached our city in the three years we have been members of the NY-Penn League. These are the years 1966, 1967, and 1968. "While it is most difficult to accurately gauge the effect of the activities without a comprehensive study, I would think they did adversely affect our attendance. One thing is sure they did affect us on the nites which were threatened

by inclement weather."

"I did operate the Williamsport Club in 1964 and 1965 and we did have cable TV there. I felt that it did hurt our attendance, since people were less inclined to go out at night and pay to see minor league baseball when they could see one or more major league games at home in the comfort of their living room, at a much lower price, which was next to nothing."

"Should the CATV telecasts of Major League games ... come to our city I believe we would have to disband baseball. This year the Major League night telecast of baseball cut our attendance about four fifths."

"If we were to be exposed to this type coverage, there would be no doubt in our minds that it would affect our attendance seriously."

"Obviously, if such telecasts were to reach our city, our attendance would suffer drastically."

"I sincerely believe that any telecasts of major league games into our city while we are playing hurts our attendance very much. I do not see how TV games can help the minor league attendance."

STATEMENT OF DON V. RUCK, VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

Mr. Chairman, my name is Don V. Ruck and I am Vice President of the National Hockey League. I am accompanied by counsel, Philip R. Hochberg of Washington, D.C.

We appreciate the opportunity to come before you and testify on your bill, S. 1361, which we fully support. I think there is a consensus that this Subcommittee may be the court of last resort in the copyright area; we welcome the chance to place our case before you.

I would like to second the remarks offered by Commissioner Kuhn. Since hockey and baseball share similar player developmental patterns, we echo his concern for the minor leagues.

The National Hockey League is not the benefactor of ready-made players from the Collegiate ranks. We must develop our own talent. There are, in the United States, five leagues on a minor level. And it is the NHL teams which underwrite the bulk of the cost to operate the minor teams so as to assure the development of young talent.

We, like baseball, are very concerned with the impact that importation of sports signals via cable systems would have on these minor leagues.

More importantly, however, is our concern for the major league of hockey, the National Hockey League. Again, like baseball (and like basketball), the NHL has games scheduled virtually every night of the week. You can well imagine what would be the fate of our new Washington hockey team in 1974 if it facedon a Washington cable system-the importation of NHL hockey from Philadelphia, New York, and Boston on a nightly basis. The same problem would be faced by our newer teams in Los Angeles, Oakland and Atlanta where hockey has not yet caught on.

And yet the Commission's Rules would afford greater protection to "Pantomine Quiz" and "Bridget Loves Bernie" than they would to professional and amateur sports. Something, I suggest to you, Mr. Chairman, is out of kilter there.

It is indeed ironic that we should be here this week. It was almost exactly two years ago that Chairman Burch, in his Letter of Intent of August 5, 1971, noted that the question of sports programming was a difficult one. He promised expedited consideration of the matter, so that it would be concluded before “the significant emergence of new systems".

And again, a year ago in oral argument on this issue before the Commission, the same fear was voiced. It was stated to the chairman that systems would attempt to sell hookups on the basis of importing distant sports signals.

At one point, he noted that (as of that date) only 13 Certificates had been granted. Today, some 1,100 certificates have been granted and more are being granted daily. Many of the applications and grants are for either the core city contiguous suburban area.

For instance, literally dozens are in the Philadelphia area and four are specifically within the City of Philadelphia itself-including one literally across the street from the Spectrum where these teams play. And this is the very system which has based its appeal for subscribers on distant sports signals! (I am attaching as an Exhibit an advertisement which recently appeared in a Philadelphia newspaper.)

Members of the Commission urged sports to look to Congress as its remedy. Senator Pastore, for one, has indicated his concern with cable systems importing distant sports signals not authorized to the local station. We agree.

It would seem uncommonly logical that the entrepreneurs who have invested millions of dollars to develop the professional sports franchises should quite reasonably, maintain the right to when and where their product will be telecast. Accordingly, we urge the passage intact of S. 1361.

Thank you.

[graphic]
[ocr errors]

Be a Sport and give him the New York Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Rangers, Islanders and Nots!

[graphic][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][ocr errors][ocr errors][subsumed][ocr errors][ocr errors][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][ocr errors][subsumed][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][ocr errors][ocr errors][subsumed][subsumed]

OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER,

AMERICAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE/NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE,
New York, N.Y., August 1, 1973.

Hon. JOHN L. MCCLELLAN,

Chairman, Subcommittee on Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights,
U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C.

DEAR CHAIRMAN MCCLELLAN: In response to your announcement of further hearings on S. 1361, I am pleased to submit my statement on the treatment in that bill of the carriage of sports telecasts on cable television. Copies of my statement on behalf of professional football are enclosed herewith.

Let me express the hope that the way can now be cleared for legislative action on this pressing matter in view of the recent new spurt of cable growth and the inaction of the Federal Communications Commission on the matter. In my opinion it would be unfortunate if enactment of Section 111 (c) (4) (C) and other relevant provisions were delayed further while large numbers of American families became cable subscribers, and cable owners made substantial capital investments, on the expectation that cable systems would be able to continue pirating NFL game telecasts in derogation of the rights of our member teams. As in the past, I would be glad to make myself available for further discussion and to supply further information as the Subcommittee may require.

Respectfully,

[Enclosure.]

PETE ROZELLE, Commissioner.

STATEMENT OF PETE ROZELLE, COMMISSIONER, NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE, BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON PATENTS, TRADEMARKS, AND COPYRIGHTS OF the Senate COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY ON S. 1361

Professional football maintains a strong interest in those portions of S. 1361 which would affect, from the copyright point of view, the carriage of sports telecasts on cable television. My statement is on behalf of the 26 member clubs of the National Football League who represent many cities and metropolitan areas across the country.

Our interest dates back to the days when cable systems began moving NFL game telecasts around the country without seeking any permission (or offering any compensation), and my statement to this Subcommittee dated August 3, 1966, commenting on S. 1006, expresses that interest. On March 14, and October 31, 1968, I made further statements commenting on S. 597 and H.R. 2512, and we have expressed our views several times since then.

In December 1969, the Subcommittee unanimously reported out a bill, S. 543, which recognized the rights of those who spend considerable sums to stage professional sports contests for the entertainment of many millions of fans at the ball parks and at their television sets. The Subcommittee (1) expressly gave full statutory copyright protection to live game telecasts and (2) applied that protection to cases where cable systems would import game telecasts into areas where television stations had exclusive rights to receive other games instead or where teams were playing home games. Thus the Subcommittee put cable and broadcast television on an equal footing vis-a-vis the telecasting of NFL and other professional sports contests.

The Federal Communications Commission has not yet acted on its expressed intent to deal with this problem. After the Subcommittee reported S. 543, the Commission announced that it would address itself to various cable television matters, including the carriage of distant stations televising professional games. The Commission has adopted rules that govern general distant-station carriage, and these rules fortuitously resolve many of the NFL's concerns by generally forbidding carriage of distant network-affiliated stations in most television markets; most professional football telecasts are on these network stations. But these rules contain provisions that would permit cable systems to carry single programs from these distant stations at various times. It is likely that cable owners, who often advertise outside sports programming a a prime attraction to gain new subscribers, will take full advantage of these provisions. The Commission said in July 1970 (Docket No. 18397-A), and again in February 1972 (Docket No. 19417) that it would deal specifically with the unique problem of cable carriage of sports telecasts, and we have on many occasions expressed our views to the Commission in writing and orally. No action, however, has

yet been taken. Nor is it entirely clear that the Commission has accepted our position that it has the statutory authority to deal comprehensively with the problem.

Meanwhile matters grow more pressing. After an earlier FCC action slowed much of cable's previously rapid growth, the current rules have once again permitted the industry to expand. In just over one year the Commission has issued over 1,000 certificates authorizing establishment of new cable systems or addition of new distant stations on existing systems; many of these systems are or will be located in the heart of the nation's larger metropolitan areas. Systems are now authorized or operating in substantial segments of the Atlanta, Boston, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Diego, San Francisco and St. Louis markets, to name only areas where NFL teams are located, and in many other cities and towns as well. There are something like 3,000 cable systems serving about 7 million homes in 6,000 communities across the nation, and one estimate is that 25 million homes will be connected to the cable by 1975.

Thus, the need for an effective solution increases. And that solution simply is to implement either in the copyright law or in FCC regulations the national policy as it affects televising of professional sports contests. As the Subcommittee's earlier action on S. 543 recognizes, that policy is most forcefully expressed in Public Law 87-331 (the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961), as amended, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1291-95. There are three principal points:

(1) It has always been the right and the practice of NFL teams not to televise a game in the very area in which it is being played. No television station in that area is authorized to carry that game (except by delayed bradcast), and no cable system should have any greater privilege. (The recent action of the Commerce Committee regarding telecasts of sold-out games, even if enacted into law, will have no bearing on this issue, because our concern in the copyright area is simply to see that cable stands on no different footing from broadcasting.) (2) The 1961 Act gave sports leagues like the NFL the right to sell television privileges on a package basis and thereby to control the patterns of game telecasts. This has enabled the NFL to require networks to bring every team's away games back to its home city, which as a practical matter has resulted in games being carried on regional networks. And with one of these games also carried nationally under our relatively new "double header" program, we have been able to give most football fans two or three live telecasts of NFL games each Sunday afternoon during the season while also giving each team roughly equal television exposure. (Of course, Monday night games are also televised as are Saturday games late in the season.)

(3) As reflected in Section 3 of the 1961 Act, protecting attendance at college and high school games is an important feature of national policy. We impose restrictions upon the television networks and upon the teams to carry out this policy.

As we have shown many times, unrestricted cable television would undermine, perhaps seriously, these aspects of national policy and wou'd upset the League's television patterns; it would also erode the value of the television rights we sell to the national networks. To prevent the-e unwanted and unfair results, we reaffirm our support for Section 111 (c) (4) (C') of the pending bill, S. 1361, and for the other provisions entitling live sports telecasts to full copyright protection. We also urge vigorous action looking toward final enactment of these provisions into law.

STATEMENT OF J. WALTER KENNEDY, COMMISSIONER OF THE NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION, BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE OF PATENTS, TRADEMARKS AND COPYRIGHTS. COMMITTEE OF THE JUDICIARY, U.S. SENATE ON S. 1361

This statement is submitted in connection with the proposed Omnibus Copyright Bill, S. 1361, and specifically to support the retention in its present form of Section 111(e) (4) (C) of that Bill relating to the carriage of sports programs on cable television systems.

The proposed draft of the Copyright Bill contains provisions which would give to sports events the long overdue copyright-type protection which traditionally has been available to other forms of privately produced entertainment. In addition, the Bill would give to sports the vital blackout protection with respect to cable television systems like that which they presently receive with respect to over-the-air television.

« iepriekšējāTurpināt »