So I'm listening in on a conference call with Comcast CEO Brian L. Roberts and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell — two of the most powerful men in the entertainment industry — and all of a sudden it hits me: My feelings toward these individuals are very different, yet they do basically the same thing for me.
They both provide me an escape from the rigors of my day, but one is often perceived as greedy and evil, while the other governs one of the most beloved American sports, professional football.
The headline in many newspapers Tuesday read: "Comcast reaches deal with NFL."
The two multibillion-dollar corporations signed a deal that will end their long-simmering cable-viewing feud. Beginning Aug. 1, Comcast will carry the NFL Network, a channel devoted to football, on its "digital classic" service tier, and the NFL will reduce its charge from about 80 cents per subscriber to about 50 cents (this cost is passed on to Comcast customers). The NFL also gave Comcast rights to the Red Zone, an NFL channel still in development that would show football teams as they advance within 20 yards of the end zone to score.
This is a good deal for football fans and Comcast customers. The cable provider did not want to pass along the high charge to customers, and the NFL did not want to be on a less attractive "sports tier." Moving to the digital classic tier increases viewership from 2 million homes to 11 million, Goodell said. Fans of the network will not have to pay $5 extra a month for the channel, as they did when it was on a sports tier with about a dozen other sports channels.
Roberts was asked whether Comcast customers would see a rate increase as a result of the deal. He said he did not think there would be an extra charge. His answer left room for a price hike at a later date, but cable prices are bound to go up; they always do. And it's getting easier to see why.
When Goodell's NFL teams raise the price of tickets and concessions and ask top dollar for memorabilia, they justify the high prices by saying they're good for the teams. They say it helps to bring in big-name free agents and retain talent. As a fan who grew up following an NFL team and wanting that team to do well, I buy in to their explanations. Yet the NFL, with its high charge for carrying the NFL Network and its tough negotiations with Comcast, strikes me as caring less about fans and more about the bottom line.
When Comcast raises rates, we think it's a sin to charge that much. We think the cable giant is more concerned about its stock value than its customers. But if we thought of the extra cost as helping to preserve the network or add a popular show, we might take the charge a little easier.
In the end, the reality is that both men are in business to make money.
'Guiding Light' switched off: The longest-running program in television history, the daytime soap "Guiding Light," will come to an end in September after 57 years on the air.
The final episode of the CBS drama airs Sept. 18. Though it first came to television in 1952, the show gained life as a radio serial in 1937, so it's actually 72 years old.
Staff writer Eric Stark discusses trends and tidbits in broadcast media each week in the Sunday News. E-mail him at estark@lnpnews.com. 
