St. Tammany News

CST reportedly talking with satellite providers

Fed up with a months-long financial squabble that routinely produces air balls in attempts to air New Orleans Hornets games on the Northshore, the Hornets are looking to the heavens for alternative solutions. Satellite providers such as Dish Network and Direct TV are likely to air the Cox Sports Television channel in the near future if Charter Communications and CST don't end loggerheads to broadcast CST, exclusive owner of Hornets' broadcasting rights, Director of Broadcasting Lew Shuman, said Monday.

"We'll put our games somewhere else" if the financial jousting doesn't end soon, Shuman said. "Negotiations are under way with both Dish and Direct TV. We are putting all our weight behind it."

The pressure adds to a mounting drive by elected officials from St. Tammany Parish, the New Orleans City Council, Mandeville, Slidell and others who feel the blackout has siphoned a fan base critical to the long-term retention of the team in New Orleans.

Under a Jan. 9 agreement with Hornets owner George Shinn, the Hornets have the option of moving if average attendance through Dec. 1 through the end of next season doesn't reach 14,735 for all home games. As of Feb. 25, the average was still 1,263 short.

Shuman called St. Tammany the wealthiest parish in the state and, with population estimates at 250,000 or so, the gap in attendance is bound to close if Northshore residents could follow the team on television.

"You do the math. What's the population from Slidell to Hammond?" Shuman said.

The financial haggling between CST and Charter, the cable company that purchases CST for broadcast, has only produced the broadcast of three games this season. Meanwhile, the Hornets are earning national attention as the second-place team in the NBA's Southwest Division with a 37-18 record, and with that earning the city a much-needed financial shot in the arm more than two years after hurricane destruction.

This year alone, the team is expected to shoot an estimated $164.4 million into the greater New Orleans economy, according to a study by the University of New Orleans.

Primary spending is pegged at $101.3 million with a multiplied impact of $63.1 million as it ripples through the economy, according to the report prepared by Janet F. Speyrer, associated dean for research in UNO's College of Business Administration.

"It's time for somebody to look at this thing for the greater good," Shuman said.

Although Shuman is optimistic satellite providers will start carrying CST - "the whole enchilada" of sports packaging that includes the Hornets, New Orleans Voodoo, high school sports and Southeastern Louisiana University games - confirmation from Dish, Direct TV or CST could not be reached before deadline Tuesday morning.

St. Tammany Parish Councilman Jerry Binder, however, also confirmed last week to the St. Tammany News that negotiations between CST and satellite providers are under way.

Binder has been an outspoken critic of the closed backroom negotiations that have led to the second such Hornets blackout between CST and Cox since CST signed a 10-year exclusive broadcasting agreement with Hornets in 2002-2003.

He's rallied with Marty Gould, the St. Tammany Parish Council's vice chairman, and New Orleans City Council President Arnie Fielkow, among others, to place political pressure on the companies to end the standoff.

"It's a shame that 8-, 10- and 12-year-old kids in St. Tammany don't get to see the Hornets," Binder said. "And it all comes down to dollars and cents, and it can't come down to just dollars and cents. Cox and Charter need to get together to make sure they are good partners in our community rebuilding."