Here's some stuff from The Athletic
The streaming solution or a waste of money?
Every year seems to bring a new quasi-solution to the neverending morass of watching live sports on television. Where do I find this game? Is that streaming? Oh, didn’t you hear all those games are on [insert app] now? The cable bundle is dying, and no one has been able to actually replace it.
Yesterday brought another “solution,” which could have a massive effect on the industry at large: ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery are teaming up to launch a new, stand-alone streaming app to air their combined content. Two initial questions, answered:
Wait, what’s included? Every ESPN property and every Fox sports channel, plus Big Ten Network, TNT, TBS and even truTV. So, every essential sports channel outside of CBS, NBC and Amazon.
How much will it cost? Unclear as of now. We’ll get to this in a sec..
So is this The Big One? Or is it just more of the same? I asked Andrew Marchand, The Athletic’s newest sports business and media reporter, to help us contextualize:
This could be so impactful on multiple levels. What are the most important cascading effects of this, to you?
Andrew: I think it feels impactful, but it is not actually going to be. At least in the near term. The reason? It will probably cost in the $50 range per month. You can basically receive everything it is offering [plus non-sports content] for $72 a month with YouTube TV.
This might be a little simplistic, but: Are we just recreating cable?
Andrew: That's the lede to my column, so good question. Yes and no. We are starting the Great Rebundling. There are combo deals everywhere, but we are not yet to a point that we are solving the sports fans’ problem of simplifying their viewing experience and doing it at an affordable price. This is a step in that direction, but further consolidation is needed.
We are calling this The Great Rebundling from now on, by the way. See our full explainer here, and don’t miss Andrew’s upcoming column on the move.
Thread Replies (40)
ESPN, FOX and Warner Bros. Discovery Forming Joint Streaming Venture
-- Will Stewart
Feb 06, 2024 at 05:14 PM ET
Will Stewart
•
02/06/24 05:14 PM ET
Verizon et al has got to be shaking in their boots**
-- ombandit
Feb 07, 2024 at 11:19 AM ET
ombandit
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02/07/24 11:19 AM ET
Why? Verizon will just charge more for Internet.**
-- dallasvt
Feb 08, 2024 at 01:17 AM ET
dallasvt
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02/08/24 01:17 AM ET
All I mean is I think Internet providers will find a way to get
-- dallasvt
Feb 08, 2024 at 11:33 AM ET
dallasvt
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02/08/24 11:33 AM ET
Here's some stuff from The Athletic
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-- mancunian
Feb 07, 2024 at 09:50 AM ET
mancunian
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02/07/24 09:50 AM ET
Fascinating he thinks it’s about rebundling and not about a la cart. Bring
-- Stech
Feb 07, 2024 at 01:08 PM ET
Stech
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02/07/24 01:08 PM ET
The cable packages will be able to unbundle the sports channels.
-- tarheelblue
Feb 07, 2024 at 01:13 PM ET
tarheelblue
•
02/07/24 01:13 PM ET
ESPN and Fox...I see this as the P2 bundle**
-- EDGEMAN
Feb 07, 2024 at 08:27 AM ET
EDGEMAN
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02/07/24 08:27 AM ET
One thing guaranteed.... the content owners/distributors will make more $
-- Vienna_Hokie
Feb 07, 2024 at 08:11 AM ET
Vienna_Hokie
•
02/07/24 08:11 AM ET
NBC Universal and CBS Paramount going to partner up next?
-- BUGGZY
Feb 06, 2024 at 10:47 PM ET
BUGGZY
•
02/06/24 10:47 PM ET
Really interested to see the monthly cost
-- MBHokie90
Feb 06, 2024 at 10:17 PM ET
MBHokie90
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02/06/24 10:17 PM ET
I am hearing $50 per month**
-- CobbCountyHokie
Feb 07, 2024 at 05:27 PM ET
CobbCountyHokie
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02/07/24 05:27 PM ET
And they will price themselves right out of the market.
-- EDGEMAN
Feb 07, 2024 at 06:12 AM ET
EDGEMAN
•
02/07/24 06:12 AM ET
Same thing that happened to cable TV and is currently happening to streamin
-- wwhokie1
Feb 07, 2024 at 09:24 AM ET
wwhokie1
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02/07/24 09:24 AM ET
I think they would be much better off by offering individual sports...
-- EDGEMAN
Feb 07, 2024 at 09:48 AM ET
EDGEMAN
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02/07/24 09:48 AM ET
ESPN is under contract to distribute the ACCN until 2036
-- PadrosWindup
Feb 07, 2024 at 09:04 AM ET
PadrosWindup
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02/07/24 09:04 AM ET
Seems to me that they do not get carrier fees by putting the network on a
-- Big12 guy
Feb 07, 2024 at 09:28 AM ET
Big12 guy
•
02/07/24 09:28 AM ET
SlingTV must be seething, since "mostly sports" was their angle a long time**
-- Synaesthesia
Feb 06, 2024 at 07:52 PM ET
Synaesthesia
•
02/06/24 07:52 PM ET
Looks like CBS will be out of March Madness.**
-- IB4TECH
Feb 06, 2024 at 06:06 PM ET
IB4TECH
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02/06/24 06:06 PM ET
I have always wanted April Madness for tailgating, 🏀 starts a month early.
-- Stech
Feb 06, 2024 at 09:02 PM ET
Stech
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02/06/24 09:02 PM ET
26% of linear cable subs watch only live sports
-- CobbCountyHokie
Feb 06, 2024 at 05:59 PM ET
CobbCountyHokie
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02/06/24 05:59 PM ET
They'll just recoup it by raising their internet provider cost
-- Victor Tango
Feb 07, 2024 at 08:41 AM ET
Victor Tango
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02/07/24 08:41 AM ET
I thought it was that only 26% of cable TV subs ever watch live sports**
-- tarheelblue
Feb 06, 2024 at 07:45 PM ET
tarheelblue
•
02/06/24 07:45 PM ET
I’ve created the viewer segmentation models so I know this area well
-- CobbCountyHokie
Feb 06, 2024 at 10:27 PM ET
CobbCountyHokie
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02/06/24 10:27 PM ET
What %% of thec 26% is RSNs and the league networks?
-- PadrosWindup
Feb 07, 2024 at 08:14 AM ET
PadrosWindup
•
02/07/24 08:14 AM ET
These are very good questions
-- CobbCountyHokie
Feb 07, 2024 at 08:26 AM ET
CobbCountyHokie
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02/07/24 08:26 AM ET
Won't this streaming service be in addition to linear, though?
-- Will Stewart
Feb 06, 2024 at 10:31 PM ET
Will Stewart
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02/06/24 10:31 PM ET
I think they cancel the cable bundle
-- CobbCountyHokie
Feb 06, 2024 at 10:49 PM ET
CobbCountyHokie
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02/06/24 10:49 PM ET
Except for the 10 other channels you want to see that ...
-- Atlee Hokie
Feb 06, 2024 at 11:38 PM ET
Atlee Hokie
•
02/06/24 11:38 PM ET
Cable services will be able to unbundle the sports channels.
-- tarheelblue
Feb 07, 2024 at 01:05 PM ET
tarheelblue
•
02/07/24 01:05 PM ET
If it happens, it'll be expensive af...**
-- Brewing_Hokie
Feb 06, 2024 at 05:40 PM ET
Brewing_Hokie
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02/06/24 05:40 PM ET
I'm seeing estimates of $50/month.
-- tarheelblue
Feb 07, 2024 at 01:08 PM ET
tarheelblue
•
02/07/24 01:08 PM ET
Sure to start…. That won’t last **
-- Brewing_Hokie
Feb 07, 2024 at 01:10 PM ET
Brewing_Hokie
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02/07/24 01:10 PM ET
Maybe not if you don’t want the other 100+ channels you never watch.**
-- Stech
Feb 06, 2024 at 09:11 PM ET
Stech
•
02/06/24 09:11 PM ET
Yeah corporate greed will take over…**
-- Brewing_Hokie
Feb 06, 2024 at 10:38 PM ET
Brewing_Hokie
•
02/06/24 10:38 PM ET
If this survives antitrust scrutiny this is huge
-- VT ChemE 1986
Feb 06, 2024 at 05:28 PM ET
VT ChemE 1986
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02/06/24 05:28 PM ET
That was my first thought. Seems like an end around to avoid a "monopoly"
-- HokieAl
Feb 06, 2024 at 05:35 PM ET
HokieAl
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02/06/24 05:35 PM ET
We knew who was going to pay for these media deals. What surprises me,
-- Big12 guy
Feb 06, 2024 at 07:40 PM ET
Big12 guy
•
02/06/24 07:40 PM ET