ESPN, Fox, Warner Bros./Discovery Create Sports Streaming Super Platform

[atomheartbevo 89675]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/06/media/espn-fox-warner-bros-discovery-team-up-sports-streamer/index.html
 

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Three of the biggest sports broadcasters are uniting to create a super-platform that will house their sports assets under a single streaming roof, a seismic and once-unthinkable move as the industry rapidly transitions away from linear television to streaming services.

Disney’s ESPN, Fox Corporation, and Warner Bros. Discovery (CNN’s parent company) announced Tuesday that they will launch the new service in the fall.

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The service, which each company will own one-third of, will offer consumers access to a host of sporting events, including NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and FIFA World Cup games. It will also feature NASCAR races, UFC matches, and PGA TOUR Golf tournaments.

The companies did not specify how much a subscription to the forthcoming sports platform will cost or what it will be named. Additional information is expected to be announced closer to launch. An ESPN spokesperson said that the company plans on launching its own robust direct-to-consumer service. And Warner Bros. Discovery has put its sports offerings on its own platform, Max.

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Shares in Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox Corp. were up slightly in after-hours trading following the news. Disney, which reports earnings on Wednesday, saw its stock down about 1%. The three media companies celebrated the tentative deal to launch the service as a major moment for the industry.

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Iger called “the launch of this new streaming sports service” an “important step forward for the media business.” Zaslav said the partnership “exemplifies our ability as an industry to drive innovation.” And Lachlan Murdoch, chief executive of Fox Corporation, said he believed the streamer “will provide passionate fans outside of the traditional bundle an array of amazing sports content.”

Making sports available via a direct-to-consumer product is likely to accelerate the decline of the cable subscription business, given that such live events have long been a pillar of consumer demand holding together the traditional bundle.

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Discussions about the creation of the sports streaming service, which will have an independent management team, began among the executives involved roughly six months ago.

Notably absent from the partnership was NBCUniversal and Paramount Global, both of which have their own services where sporting events are streamed.

[NeverMarryAStripper 21907]

I assume the bottom line is this will cost me more to watch stuff I want to watch

[RPM 26321]

1 hour ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

I assume the bottom line is this will cost me more to watch stuff I want to watch

[Dbeasy 15051]

1 hour ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

I assume the bottom line is this will cost me more to watch stuff I want to watch

Yup, because our government will completely ignore this move by an oligopoly. 

[Parliament 14260]

No Peacock?  Hard pass.

[atomheartbevo 89675]

4 hours ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

I assume the bottom line is this will cost me more to watch stuff I want to watch

 

I’m guessing this is somehow their way of not competing with one another when contracts come up. If they dump their content into one streaming platform, and share the revenue, then nobody has to fight over future contracts since it’ll all be on the same platform (I don’t know how they will share the revenue, but they benefit from sports organizations that they don’t have contracts with).

Edited February 7 by atomheartbevo

[gofuckyourself 8243]

So for $59.95 or so, I can almost watch the sports I want to watch...

And in a couple years when CBS, NBC, Prime join up we'll need to come up with a name for this innovative new bundling of all the sports channels a consumer may want ...

I suggest "InsulaWire TV", short for "Insulated Wire Television", at least until someone comes up with something catchier.

 

[RPM 26321]

2 minutes ago, gofuckyourself said:

at least until someone comes up with something catchier.

IWT

[gofuckyourself 8243]

Maybe.

Or perhaps Cablè, as in "Ka-blay"

Adds a little European elegance to it.

[MNLonghornFUKM 8817]

I miss the $35/mo PSVue cord cutting days

[HornOnTheBayou 8930]

8 hours ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

I assume the bottom line is this will cost me more to watch stuff I want to watch

 

[Chopper 17235]

With 1/3 ownership each for disney, fox and wbd it'll be interesting to see how the inventory for the new service is created and proportioned. Also espn is going to avoid competing with their own forthcoming "premium service" so this may end up being a bit of a fizzle for college football viewing purposes. I'm skeptical this will be more desirable than a 4-month yttv subscription or similar for cfb.

 

 

 

[Skipper 6135]

So what does this do to the YTTV's of the world.   I'm assuming they (the new streaming service whatever it will be called) are probably going the Bally's (attempted) model (i.e., no longer negotiate in good faith when contract is up for renewal so eventually you have to subscribe in order to watch sports) except I would also assume they aren't completely incompetent and will wait until their platform is actually operational before taking that step.   But if any renewals are up before they are operational it could get messy as the existing streaming services well aware they are losing content in the near term will likely try to max profits while they can.

Edited February 7 by Skipper

[HornOnTheBayou 8930]

6 minutes ago, Chopper said:

With 1/3 ownership each for disney, fox and wbd it'll be interesting to see how the inventory for the new service is created and proportioned. Also espn is going to avoid competing with their own forthcoming "premium service" so this may end up being a bit of a fizzle for college football viewing purposes. I'm skeptical this will be more desirable than a 4-month yttv subscription or similar for cfb.

 

 

 

That's what I've been thinking. If this new bundle is just what comes with ESPN+, then I'm not interested. If it has everything that airs on the ESPN channels, FS1, FS2, TBS, and TNT then I'll sign up and cancel YTTV. Live sports is the only thing I watch on there anyway.

[Slacks 6821]

And I still won't be able to watch the Rockets and Astros. 

Shit's rigged. 

[billfromlaketravis 11485]

5 minutes ago, Skipper said:

So what does this do to the YTTV's of the world.   I'm assuming they (the new streaming service whatever it will be called) are probably going the Bally's (attempted) model (i.e., no longer negotiate in good faith when contract is up for renewal so eventually you have to subscribe in order to watch sports) except I would also assume they aren't completely incompetent and will wait until their platform is actually operational before taking that step.   But if any renewals are up before they are operational it could get messy as the existing streaming services well aware they are losing content in the near term will likely try to max profits while they can.

Yeah, it feels like ESPN’s contribution is going to look similar ESPN+, and maybe FOX kicks in FS1. I’d imagine Discovery will probably have to put their full inventory into it. Discovery was never going to make much money on B/R Sports, so I’m sure they’ll happy to do it. 
 

Could be a nice option for hoops heads and people that still play fantasy baseball. 

[DaysOff 7951]

All this shit was free when I was a kid. No wonder you avocado toast millennials can't buy a home.

[Herpa Derpa 6126]

2 hours ago, DaysOff said:

All this shit was free when I was a kid. No wonder you avocado toast millennials can't buy a home.

Nothing is free. You were just too dumb and young to know who was paying your freight.

And Millennials could buy homes if the Boomer fucks would get in the assisted living hellscapes where they belong and free up some inventory. 

[rage-a-holic 4401]

25 minutes ago, Herpa Derpa said:

Nothing is free. You were just too dumb and young to know who was paying your freight.

And Millennials could buy homes if the Boomer fucks would get in the assisted living hellscapes where they belong and free up some inventory. 

There's plenty of inventory...in places that aren't cool or super trendy. Millennials don't want to live there. Boo hoo.

When I was looking to buy a house 22 years ago, I wanted to live in Tarrytown. Couldn't afford it. So I looked South at Circle C. The only units in Circle C I could afford were small,  on the CC border and had bizarre floor plans/yards that nobody wanted. So I bought a house in a quiet South neighborhood that doesn't have a cool name or location.

Most of my co-workers bought/built in Buda/Hutto/Bastrop/Liberty Hill. That wasn't their first or second choice either.

[atomheartbevo 89675]

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/06/espn-fox-and-warner-bros-discovery-to-launch-joint-sports-streaming-platform-this-year.html
 

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The platform, which will be owned by a newly formed company with its own leadership team, does not yet have a name or a price. Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery will each own a one-third stake.

Consumers would be able to subscribe directly via a new app. Subscribers would also have the ability to bundle the product with the companies’ streaming platforms Disney+, Hulu and Max.

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The product will be a skinnier bundle of linear networks than a standard cable offering, specifically tailored for sports fans. It will consist of all the broadcast and cable networks owned by Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery that carry sports, along with ESPN+.

From Disney, that includes ESPN and its sister networks, such as ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, as well as the ABC broadcast network. Warner Bros. Discovery’s networks that showcase sports are TNT, TBS and TruTV. Fox will include the Fox broadcast station along with FS1, FS2 and BTN.

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While no price has been determined, a logical starting point could be $45 or $50 per month with introductory pricing lower to entice signups, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the discussions around the service have been private. A second person added that even with promotional pricing, the service will cost more than $30 per month.

The companies’ longer term goal is to make the platform a home base for sports programming. Hypothetically, independent networks such as The Tennis Channel could be added to improve the offering, one of the people said. While Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox each will own one-third of the company, the rights fee revenue sharing will be proportional to what the cable networks charge pay TV providers, a second person said.

 

[UTexasFight 9454]

Yes this will be more expensive than what folks are used to today. It was always going to end this way.

all the other crap in cable packages subsidized the sports fan, so as the “unbundling” happens, the true cost of the sports networks gets exposed.

and streaming has been a loss leader for all of these entities as they tried to acquire market share and they are just now trying to flip the switch on how to become profitable. (Higher subscription fees, ad-supported options, etc)

 

Disney has said for a while they would be rolling out a streaming option for its espn networks. It is interesting they decided they were better off patterning with others rather than offering their assets by itself. 
 

I just don’t see how this doesn’t suppress the rights fees paid to the leagues. The NBA’s is currently in negotiations. Will be interesting to see how that deal ends up looking

 

https://www.wsj.com/business/media/streaming-venture-from-espn-fox-and-warner-blindsides-sports-leagues-e6c1fbcc

Edited February 8 by UTexasFight

[WBT 20579]

58 minutes ago, UTexasFight said:

I just don’t see how this doesn’t suppress the rights fees paid to the leagues.

Yep.  The leagues will attempt to go FYPM but I don't see how there isn't a step back.

[Slacks 6821]

1 hour ago, WBT said:

Yep.  The leagues will attempt to go FYPM but I don't see how there isn't a step back.

Rising tide. 

One Platform cuts costs for the providers. Notice they're in cost cutting mode at the networks.

They're ok with paying the leagues, because without the leagues, there is no content.  The leagues could make their own streaming service, but might as well let the networks do it and incur those costs, while the leagues focus on their core offerings. 

They all win. They know how to measure the value, and will share it accordingly. 

[BamaATL 16593]

So can someone explain to me exactly how this isn't collusion, I mean it's pretty much laid out as exactly that.  How is this not an anti-trust situation?  Are they still planning on broadcasting regular stuff on their current channels and this is just an option, or do they intend to pull everything and put it here (regardless of the initial answer we all know that's where they want to go)?  

Personally, I don't think this is going to work out the way they think, and this will wind up being another example of gross overreach by content services that winds up not  going the way they think it will.  My casual sports viewership is way down over the last few years, and I doubt I'm alone.  Sure there are things I definitely want to see, but at a certain point I'll just go to the bar down the road, get some wings and watch it that way.  The worst long term thing isn't me and my "I'm getting older and get off my lawn sort of moment", but that this will in my opinion lower access of sports programming for young people, thus killing potential future audience.   

This is a shitty idea in my opinion.  

[atomheartbevo 89675]

20 minutes ago, BamaATL said:

So can someone explain to me exactly how this isn't collusion, I mean it's pretty much laid out as exactly that. 

I’m sure they’ll argue that it’s no different than us subscribing to a lone cable TV provider.

[Chopper 17235]

On 2/8/2024 at 11:38 AM, UTexasFight said:

Disney has said for a while they would be rolling out a streaming option for its espn networks. It is interesting they decided they were better off patterning with others rather than offering their assets by itself. 

Supposedly the espn premium product is still to come.

Not cannibalizing their cable viewers is pretty much the needle these 3 companies are going to try to thread. Their primary target is going to be consumers who've already cut the cord. But each company is very reliant on cable so I don't expect anything too groundbreaking from this. Of course they can't help but cannibalize some of their cable viewers but how many will depend on the offering and price.

Cable companies are very pissed that, as currently planned, they're not going to be able to offer this product to their own customers. I believe the announcement caught them off-guard and we'll see how it plays out down the line.