by: Scott Fish
Sports is filled with Rights and fees. Who has the right to broadcast and reproduce sports, and how gets paid? College Universities always hold local radio rights for their sports programs. Satellite radio has caused a conflict with these schools due to the amount of the local broadcasts going national over satellite systems.
Many universities believe that the local radio stations should receive some proceeds from these broadcasts. However in many cases, they are not currently getting any money from Satellite Radio Services.
Negotiations have occurred at some level but not for every one, it has been a league-by-league issue. XM, for example, deals with several major conferences, including the Pac-10. However, Sirius negotiated individual deals with Southern California and UCLA, and these are all creating a conflict between the companies and their respective teams and leagues. And although these fees are not very large, with a growing subscriber base and increased satellite radio popularity, the fees and the battle to control rights are definitely going to increase and heat up!
It’s going to be very interesting as the fight to control content gets more heated, we have seen it happen with TV and traditional radio, and now it’s satellite radio’s turn.