Streaming Wars For Live Sports, Entertainment, and Gambling

Interesting but for some time I have been using subtitles for everything as well. I find that you usually don’t miss those muffled or slurred words if you have subtitles on and don’t have to rewind as a result. It’s less than perfect for live shows though as much gets missed.

3 Likes

glad to know that I am not the only one who uses them. Especially if the show is from England. Some of those accents are a little difficult to catch and understand sometimes.

3 Likes

This is rather big news via the NFL and Amazon for November.

The following says it all about the general direction of sports and also a few more NFL games before too long.

It will be interesting how easy or not they make it for those of us who are not customers of Amazon Prime in the US, for some like me have zero use for Amazon Prime where I live. I also wonder what options they will give customers in Canada for streaming, or will the game merely be broadcast on CTV or TSN and then simulcast to a streaming option?

The exclusive Black Friday game marks a further extension of Prime Video’s relationship with the NFL, and offers a free sample of the benefits that come with Prime membership. The service took over as the exclusive home of Thursday Night Football in 2022, and over the course of 15 games, presented the most streamed NFL contests in history, attracted audiences that were eight years younger than NFL audiences on the linear channels, and regularly topped all competing programming across broadcast and cable.

4 Likes

NHL and Regional Sports Networks in the US

Well, in looking at the schedule in the US for the rest of March, it relies heavily on those regional sports networks including those in financial trouble.

For most people like me, your best alternative is the Pirate Sports Network.

A few games are on ABC this weekend but it seems like almost all those games on ABC are teams in the Metropolitan Division or Detroit or Boston. With some of these teams not making the playoffs, what gives!?

The local Flyers won't make the playoffs and at this point I hope their sorry NBC Sports Philadelphia network is flushed down into the local sewers for good because that channel and its coverage sucked years ago even though we were paying for that crap on our cable bills. Screw you again Comcast!

The NHL better figure out a solution in the US that does not rely on Regional Sports Networks or TNT for key coverage.

It's only starting on 1 April that we have a game almost every day on either broadcast or cable.

3 Likes
3 Likes

Brass tacks again here

Under a four-year old, put-call agreement, Comcast can force Disney to buy the stake (or Disney can force Comcast to sell it) early next year.

The Hulu agreement calls for the streamer’s valuation at deal time to be set by independent experts but gives a guaranteed minimum valuation of $27.5 billion, meaning Comcast’s one-third stake would cost at least $9 billion. Disney already owns the other two-thirds.

To not only me, the ultimate question remains for Disney as soon as the calendar turns into 2024:

Disney,

If you don’t want to spend the money to buy the remaining stake and if there is not another player of whom you approve who wants to buy Comcast’s stake for at least $9B, how long can you allow at least $18B for YOUR stake in Hulu to sit on the table?

Or how do you know if your stake in Hulu at market will still be worth at least $18B?


Now given Hulu’s market share, barring another “black swan” event as these days seems more likely given we have had two already in the 2020s, I don’t see great issues arising with the current estimate of market valuation.

One way or the other I don’t see all that money sitting on the table very long come 2024.

2 Likes

Yeah I am with you - it is going to be interesting to see that happens with the Disney Hulu thing. The two items of intelectual property that Disney wants back from Comcast is the rights to the “Hulk” and “Submariner.” Marvel can use those characters in a movie with others but they can’t make a standalone “Hulk” or “Submariner” movie without giving Comcast a huge slice of the profits. If there is a deal where Comcast buys Hulu I would expect to see the rights to “Hulk” and “Submariner” revert back to Disney Marvel as those two characters could be billion dollar per movies if done correctly.

3 Likes

Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ to Hike Subscription Rates Again

More here with the general direction up and more up of prices for streaming of quality content as some platforms will be acquired and/or rebranded or simply go out of business …as I have posted, the writing has been on the wall and now is the time to get those annual pre-paid discount deals if you are signing up because you won’t see any such price again.

“In our zeal to grow global subs, I think we were off in terms of our pricing strategy, and we’re now starting to learn more about it and to adjust accordingly.” Iger also said Disney overall had a “disconnect” between what it was spending on content and how it was monetizing that — and that the company needs to become “more judicious” about content investments as production costs have skyrocketed.

Iger’s remarks about Disney+’s pricing indicates the company believes it has room to raise fees, even after the streamer’s ad-free tier increased from $7.99 to $10.99 per month in the U.S. in December. On Disney’s Feb. 8 earnings call, Iger noted that even with the price increase on the core package “we only suffered a de minimis loss of subs… that tells us something.”

3 Likes

Also of note they are not tipping their hand in regard to what they are going to do with ESPN and Hulu, which is a good business practice. But I really don’t think that in a years time both Hulu and ESPN are both still owned by Disney.

And as cable TV keeps shedding viewers i really don’t think that ESPN is nearly as valuable as it once was.

3 Likes

Don’t know how this impacts Hulu or Sinclair but it should be noted that Sinclair owns the RSNs that are going to be declaring bankruptcy. Sinclair bought the RSNs from Disney. I don’t know if this is something big or just a side effect of something bigger happening, but it should be noted that all this stuff is interconnected.

2 Likes

So we have Scripps and The CW entering into the sports broadcasting as the RSN model crumbles. This will put them in direct conflict with Fox and ABC/Disney.

2 Likes

Perhaps they enjoyed poking the Marvel wing of Disney with their DC Superheroes so much that they decided to throw sand in FOX’s eyes as well :joy:

2 Likes

This development also goes with your prior post via Sinclair pulling all the ABC affiliates from streaming. All the broadcast players see the opportunity for the return to broadcast now for more live sports instead of all the other crap, and the battle lines have been and are being drawn. PREPARE FOR WAR!

1 Like

You are right on this one prepare for war - as there seems to be a lot of content that is going to be looking for a home to broadcast it as well as a bunch of terrestrial networks in the market for sports content.

I wonder what happens to ESPN and their business model if there is a lot of content on the terrestrial Over The Air broadcast networks? I know this sounds crazy but I really think that ESPN might be vulnerable. It has a bunch of high dollar sports broadcast rights but that only works if people are willing to pay for that content via cable TV and that wall is crumbling.

2 Likes

It’s not crazy. They’ve been told since 2010, and they have been arrogant arses much of the time with poor leadership.

Disney has been told time and time again to cash out of ESPN whilst it does have some value, which in five years unless revived under new ownership, it simply will not have value especially with most anybody under about 50 by 2030.

As we have discussed here and beyond, these days people can find more entertainment than ever for FREE. Most people under 60 have more they want to watch saved now for later than they can possibly watch. “There is ALWAYS something cool to watch on” these days.

You either make it available and easy via broadcast for live events for a premium on such advertising, or you make the streaming package pleasant and easy to use if it’s not simulcast. Failure leads to you being out of business and the Pirate Sports Network continuing to sail and capitalize on your assets for FREE.

I would note also that these days so many replays and highlights are on YouTube, but before too long I bet you that will change and those will be limited to a streaming platform so that firms don’t have to share associated ad revenue with Google getting the lion’s share.

2 Likes

Disney has some choice to make in regard to Hulu and ESPN. If/when Comcast forces Disney to purchase their portion of Hulu, for $9 billion dollars that is not chump change even for the House of Mouse.

1 Like

Bill C 11 is a game changer for streaming .... content wise here .

you basically had no rules or regulations in Canada ..

Not sure I like it or not ... I like having more Canadian content but don't like big brother censorship .

1 Like

Half of the MLB teams are going to lose their cable TV cash cows here shortly as well as a whole bunch of NHL and NBA teams. MLB is telling everyone that there is nothing to worry about and they have backup plans to switch over to streaming services or direct to consumer type delivery streaming options but I can’t imagine that those revenue streams are going to replace what the Regional Sports Networks are sending to the MLB/NBA/NHL coffers. I really think there is a big re-calibration coming for some of these leagues and the influx of cash.

The NBA rights deal is up at the end of the 2025 season and the non exclusive negotiation period is up in the end of 2024 season. Warner Bros - Discovery is a current NBA rights holder and they are talking about tapping out, but you have Amazon and Apple TV waiting in the wings either one of those could pay the NBA a chunk of change for the NBA TV rights and not even blink.

Another player that is talking about getting back into the NBA streaming broadcast game is Comcast which is interesting considering that they have Peacock as a streaming platform that has been an under performing conduit of content into the marketplace. Bottom line in the next two years things are fixing to get a little bit weird as we search for the “new normal.”

1 Like

You are spot on for your points, and this one is interesting.

Even the NFL had told Peacock by 2021, except for NBC games and oddly one playoff game on CBS this past season (as I don’t understand given that CBS’ Paramount+ is a far better platform, but maybe this was borne of an older discussion on media rights), and also via the USFL previously but we shall see if they simulcast to Peacock this season or not: “Uh wait, you would like to simulcast more NFL games to Peacock? < expletive > NO”.
:unamused:

Only the Barclays Premier League stands as the only major league to foolishly allow Peacock. Like many fans, I was not excited to have heard that NBC won the new rights, and their current “football library” not show production like at CBS certainly shows its stuffiness and age.

The NHL is its own separate discussion given that the NHL has a relationship with ESPN+ but a mess on their hands given heavy reliance on those regional sports networks in the US. They have to shore up their broadcast and cable presence even if it involves the smaller broadcasters and local television stations much as have the NBA and NHL.

The MLB and NBA would laugh in the faces of any Comcast parties proposing more exposure on Peacock.

Of course in 2024, I very much doubt one way or the other that it’s merely the lousy Peacock we have known any longer.

Given how Peacock is faring financially and a soured brand despite all their bluster every quarter as they are simply stalling for time after their missed opportunity at Comcast for a timely rebrand and relaunch after those stupid rescheduled Olympics held in late July to early August 2021, I figure this is the last year we know Peacock in its current awful form.

Peacock is another example of many of what happens when you have a cable company try to innovate yet still stuck in the paradigms of 1995 with set-top box cable TV. Even the brand is recognized by those well over a certain age and not the core youth demographic. It’s like perhaps one of our giddy and nostalgic uncles came up with the branding campaign for NBC and took that NBC “consulting” money and ran into retirement with that one!

As a former customer of millions who have left Comcast who likely would have stayed had they a better streaming platform and live sports on the regular, I personally remind Comcast early and often how much they suck and of the competition who is performing better and will do so until for starters they finally ditch this lousy Peacock bird for good.

1 Like

I’m going to recycle a post from January 2022 here in response to these fine points.

The major leagues will ONLY go with EXCELLENT streaming platforms that can sustain themselves for years now given the inevitable shake-up coming in the next year in the industry and the underperformance of platforms such as Peacock.

We are back to the future of what the NFL did in 2003 as part of the aftermath of all the arrogant and aloof foul-ups of ESPN at the time to also tarnish the NFL Shield.

At times it was done unintentionally, and at other times it was done with a certain degree of arrogance from the Northeast and especially Manhattan.

As described, the NFL decided, “!No Mas! We will start our OWN cable network just in case.” Rich Eisen promptly left ESPN for the new opportunity and I clearly remember thinking he’ll laugh his way all the way to the bank, which indeed he did. This was just one of the many missiles fired at ESPN to remind them of who not only is in charge of their own business but also to remind them that without an NFL exposure, their sports operation is worth far, far less. And then a few years later the NFL was able to gouge ESPN for the rights to Monday Night Football which ESPN et al sucked up and paid because the alternative was you don’t count and will be merely an arm of the NBA and some college sports, AND also made them take the last choice of games for well over a decade.

This is what happens when you decide to take on the NFL.

Now the MLB and NBA don’t have quite that clout, but given their options they don’t have to settle for crap streaming and of course all the same could just subcontract their operation in-house as a fail-safe in case any given one of these platforms does not offer excellence all-around.

Once again it’s a brave new world, and all are at war.

As an old saying from Mr. Buzzcut goes, “In the jungle boys, no one was innocent. You got them before they got you.”

We are there already.

3 Likes