Winners Expect To Profit From TV Deal But Nbc’s Ebersol, Whose Network Was Shut Out, Fails To See Pot Of Gold

ABC, CBS and Fox executives said they expect to profit from their newly minted National Football League contracts, which will cost the networks a total $17.6 billion.

Under terms of the eight-year contracts, ABC and ESPN will pay $9.2 billion for the rights to air Monday and Sunday night games. CBS won the American Football Conference rights for $4 billion and News Corp.’s Fox kept the National Football Conference for $4.4 billion.

The network executives said many factors will enable them to make money. Those include higher advertising revenue and better promotions of their other shows.

“We think this is a good economic deal,” said Michael Jordan, chairman of CBS Corp. “This was a hard-headed business decision.”

Not all network executives agree. NBC Sports president Dick Ebersol, whose network was shut out of pro football for the first time in 33 years, said ABC, CBS and Fox each will lose at least $150 million a year over the life of their agreements. That amount could double if the economy slows.

“It’s a foolhardy economic venture,” Ebersol said. “This is a business. This isn’t fantasy island.”

One benefit for third-ranked ABC is the shift of “Monday Night Football” - its highest-rated program during the football season - to 5 p.m. Pacific time from 6 p.m. That will allow local newscasts on the East Coast to start at their scheduled 11 p.m. time, a move likely to please affiliates.

ABC President Bob Iger said all the networks likely will ask their affiliates for help in paying for the new contract.

“The affiliates of all the major networks involved will be thrilled that their stations will continue to carry football,” he said. “They will be asked in some way to support the package from a financial standpoint.”

Ebersol said they won’t.

“The day that affiliates start paying big-time money for things is the day the business changes forever,” Ebersol said.

Consumers, however, likely will pay more, said Steven Bornstein, president of ABC Sports and ESPN. He said cable companies likely will raise their rates, forcing customers to pay “a few cents” more for service.