Title

NFL Network’s Red Zone Channel answers Comcast subscribers’ prayers

By ArtieFufkin

(Photo: NFL Network)

For years, in order to watch live action from more than a game or two at a time, NFL fans have been forced to either go to a sports bar, or subscribe to the prohibitively expensive DirectTV Sunday Ticket package.  Well, this season is different, thanks to the NFL Network’s Red Zone Channel, now available to Comcast subscribers.

As part of their existing sports package ($4.50/month on top of the digital starter package, which gets you NFL Network and a bunch of other sports channels), Comcast offers this channel on Sundays only, as an all-day NFL game buffet.  For those of us who are unwilling to throw down $300 for the Sunday Ticket, the Red Zone Channel is a revelation.  This is the first week I’ve had a chance to sit down and experience the channel all its glory, and so far.

It’s basically like going to a sports bar with one TV, and an ADD bar manager changing the channel every few minutes, to whichever game has the most interesting action at that moment.  In theory, that’s whichever team is in the Red Zone and threatening to score, but if nobody is inside the 20, you get a taste of a bunch of different games and near-instant highlights of any big plays.  The coverage switches from game to game so quickly that it’s admittedly disjointed, and impossible to get into the flow of any one game.  So if you’re looking to sit down and watch your favorite team and enjoy the nuances of the game football, you’ll still need to go with other options.  But if the local CBS/FOX affiliates aren’t showing anything of interest, the Red Zone channel is a fantastic alternative.

DirecTV has featured a Red Zone Channel as part of the Sunday Ticket package for a few years now, and I initially assumed this would be the same broadcast.  It’s not, and Kissing Suzy Kolber does a nice job of describing the differences.  But it’s pretty damned cool.  Scott Hanson acts as host, directing traffic from game to game, and I can’t decide whether or not he annoys me yet.  He probably will.  My biggest complaint is that, at least for now, the Red Zone Channel is NOT available in HD (update: it is available in HD, and it’s spectacular). So basically, I’m getting the experience of being at a sports bar, while sitting at home with my own food, drink, and comfort (read: i may still be in my underwear right now).  I’ve seen every highlight & lowlight, and haven’t had to turn my head once.  For Fantasy freaks, this is pure heaven.  Oh, and did I mention that there are NO commercials?!?  I just realized that I don’t have some annoying jingle stuck in my head for the first Sunday in a long time, and it feels wonderful.

UPDATE: Watching the end of the games on Red Zone is incredible.  Lots of close games today, and I haven’t had to miss a thing.

And if nothing else, The Red Zone Channel one step toward chipping away at the DirecTV monopoly.  Which is nice.