As you're no doubt aware, KJZZ & DirecTV finally resolved their little spat that did nothing but hurt fans. I got a text message half-way through the Lakers game that stated KJZZ was back on DTV.
What was funny was that KJZZ had a DirecTV customer party at Jordan Commons (one of Larry H Miller's theater compounds) where those affected could watch the game on the big screen that same night. As a side note, why don't they do this more often? Fans get to come watch the game on the big screen an socialize while LHM Inc cleans up on concessions? There's probably some NBA broadcast provision in there somewhere that prohibits that normally.
KJZZ was asking for $.16 per subscriber and DTV balked. So while no terms of the deal were released (at least that I could find), KJZZ probably had to come down from that amount.
Either way, it sounds like things are going to be good for the next couple of years anyway.
But let's make sure this doesn't happen again. So here's my idea for KJZZ going forward.
Do away with all of the crappy sitcom reruns, judge shows, talk shows, etc. and become true to your namesake. Run nothing but Jazz games. Think of it as an ESPN Classic for the Jazz.
The Jazz have 30+ years of regular season games, playoffs, Rocky Mountain Revues, etc. in addition to the current games being played. You're not going to run out of material any time soon. There's so much content that no one will even notice when you finally start over.
You can keep PowerHouse and 2News (maybe) if you'd like, but the rest should be non-stop Jazz. There's plenty of content. You could even throw in a daily Jazz-only news & highlight program. And how about some on-demand availability of some of the more famous Jazz games? How about a fan-voted game of the day/night/week? How about some crafty video editing that shows Jordan missing the 1998 Finals shot like they did in the Gatorade commercials? A blogger roundtable show?
I became a Cubs fan because the only station I got that showed baseball was WGN. Think of the additional exposure and fans (translated = $$$) that could be gained by having an exclusive Jazz channel. I would pay a premium for it and I'm guessing a lot of other fans, especially those outside of the traditional Jazz market area, would as well.
Now I don't know all of the ins and outs of running a TV station and if something like this would even be possible. But I think it would add value to KJZZ and in turn would allow you to get what you want for subscriber fees, advertising, etc.
Right now, Jazz games are the only thing on KJZZ that are of value to me and I'm guessing to a lot of others. You can get all of that other garbage online or any one of the other more popular TNT, TBS, WGN, FOX, etc.