"Greg R. Berge" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
 
> area good will?  Why not discuss it, at least, and *why* announce they are
> abandoning HE during a season in which they're already committed to a slate
> of HE games?
>
> More suspicious minds than mine can concoct a rationale for how the timing
> or manner of this announcement benefits *somebody*, but to me it seems to
> have been impolitic and/or dumb.
 
Actually I believe the way the announcement was made was brilliant.  Think
about it.  Suppose someone within NESN really did NOT want to abandon HE.
However, the numbers were just too glaring to ignore from a business sense.
So, what do you do?  You announce *real* early that you are going to drop
HE coverage.  Then you sit back and wait.  You wait for the reaction.  You
wait for a possible corporate sponsor to step in and bail out the situation.
You wait for a possible deal with HE to be worked out.  Or, as one post
seemed to indicate, you even allow time for other stations to pick up the
slack.
 
It's also the polite thing to do.  If you wait too long to announce this like
during the summer negotiations and schedule making, then you do not allow any
time for anyone to react to it.  I would much rather hear bad news as soon as
possible, so I have time to deal with it.  If you were going to get laid off,
would you like to know today not to bother coming in on Monday, or would you
like a few weeks notice to get your act together to look for a new job?  The
way NESN made the announcement was polite and smart.
 
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