Spectrum and ESPN fail to agree

[ThatGuy]

Ok, once and for all, what's the move to watch the game tonite?

Not even kidding (for once). Am I going with FUBO? Youtubetv? Illegal stream? Try to do a little get in/get out action?

Help the get-bak guy, folx.

I agree with the recs for Youtube TV. They annoy me sometimes in that they're becoming more like cable very day (from price hikes to adding channels I don't want)...but overall, the service is definitely worth it.

I have their unlimited DVR set to record all Tech & Nebraska sports, as well as all CFB games (and a lot of History channel stuff and Ninja Warrior for the wife and kids). Works out pretty well for me.

They still have the occasional contract dispute with Disney and others, but nothing is immune to that at this point. And you can always cancel and move to another service if need be, as there are no contracts.

 

[FlatsLander]

I agree with the recs for Youtube TV. They annoy me sometimes in that they're becoming more like cable very day (from price hikes to adding channels I don't want)...but overall, the service is definitely worth it.

I have their unlimited DVR set to record all Tech & Nebraska sports, as well as all CFB games (and a lot of History channel stuff and Ninja Warrior for the wife and kids). Works out pretty well for me.

They still have the occasional contract dispute with Disney and others, but nothing is immune to that at this point. And you can always cancel and move to another service if need be, as there are no contracts.

You can literally search any show, movie, sporting event, and mark it for automatic recording if it's not already available on VOD (no extra charge)

 

[RamblinRed]

The Rise and Fall of ESPN’s Leverage

Charting ESPN’s rise, including how it build leverage over the cable TV providers, and its ongoing decline, caused by the Internet.

stratechery.com

SBJ Media: Why this weekend is so important to Disney, Charter

www.sportsbusinessjournal.com

Sounds like Charter is not in any hurry to resolve this yet. They are realizing that their profit margins are so thin in Cable TV that they are willing to help customers move to FUBO or YouTube TV for their sports fix and focus more on their broadband business.

 

[ThatGuy]

The Rise and Fall of ESPN’s Leverage

Charting ESPN’s rise, including how it build leverage over the cable TV providers, and its ongoing decline, caused by the Internet.

stratechery.com

SBJ Media: Why this weekend is so important to Disney, Charter

www.sportsbusinessjournal.com

Sounds like Charter is not in any hurry to resolve this yet. They are realizing that their profit margins are so thin in Cable TV that they are willing to help customers move to FUBO or YouTube TV for their sports fix and focus more on their broadband business.

I just read the Stratechery article, and was coming in to post that. A lot of heady business logic, but the folks on this board should be able to enjoy following it.

I think the last bit is the bit that I keep coming back to in the conference realignment thread. Sports leagues were able to keep bilking ESPN with higher and higher pricetags on their media rights, because ESPN could continue to turn around and bilk the cable companies. It was a horn of plenty filled with cash for ESPN and the sports rights holders. But now that horn of plenty seems to have dried up. What many (including the Pac-12 school presidents) didn't/don't see is that the sports broadcast rights rates don't keep going up just because they keep going up. There's a supply and demand differential at work here, and at a certain tipping point either demand doesn't keep up with the supply and prices stabilize, or outside forces quit acting on the whole arrangement (i.e., the cable companies stop paying ESPN).

Now, everyone still has TV (or something like it) - for now. People will continue to leave cable and move to YoutubeTV, Fubo, Hulu, etc. But the big Q is will people move on from packaged services to a la carte deals, where they can have access to entire catalogs of content, a la Disney+?

No one knows. But the cable spigot has dried up, and that's bad news for ESPN as well as FOX, NBC, etc.

So where does that leave us? In the current interim, uncertain period, I can't imagine any conference or independent team getting substantial increases on what they're currently getting. Heck, I would expect to see decreases, at this rate. The Pac-12 content wasn't NOT valuable. It just wasn't as valuable as what was paid to the Big10 and SEC.

Neither, I think, are the Big10 and the SEC.

 

[cpf2001]

The one other really interesting thing to me not covered in that (great!) article is the rise of Twitch and video game streaming and the like.

I think Disney blacking out ESPN on spectrum runs a big risk with younger demographics of them finding something else to watch and some fraction of them never coming back at the same fan level. They might just go watch some teams play League on Twitch or whatever is the current version of that and get hooked on that.

 

[g0lftime]

The one other really interesting thing to me not covered in that (great!) article is the rise of Twitch and video game streaming and the like.

I think Disney blacking out ESPN on spectrum runs a big risk with younger demographics of them finding something else to watch and some fraction of them never coming back at the same fan level. They might just go watch some teams play League on Twitch or whatever is the current version of that and get hooked on that.

I read a pretty good article that said spectrum had agreed with the new increase but insisted that DISNEY+, ESPN+ would be included in that price. That is the impasse.

 

[L41k18]

The "younger demographic" does not have cable & is unaffected by the Spectrum/Espn dispute.

The one other really interesting thing to me not covered in that (great!) article is the rise of Twitch and video game streaming and the like.

I think Disney blacking out ESPN on spectrum runs a big risk with younger demographics of them finding something else to watch and some fraction of them never coming back at the same fan level. They might just go watch some teams play League on Twitch or whatever is the current version of that and get hooked on that.

 

[Papa Foxtrot]

The "younger demographic" does not have cable & is unaffected by the Spectrum/Espn dispute.

I'm not sure the age demographic holds water any more. I have quite a few friends my age(>65) that have cut the cord for cost savings and because of the dearth of entertainment.

ETA - Both of my daughters(mid-30s) have cable-like packages. One youtubetv and the other DTV streaming.

 

[Papa Foxtrot]

What many (including the Pac-12 school presidents) didn't/don't see is that the sports broadcast rights rates don't keep going up just because they keep going up. There's a supply and demand differential at work here, and at a certain tipping point either demand doesn't keep up with the supply and prices stabilize, or outside forces quit acting on the whole arrangement (i.e., the cable companies stop paying ESPN).

Don't disagree, but there's also the black swan of cord cutting and the old "slowly at first, then all at once" nature of paradigm shifts. It was easy to see coming if you looked for it, but the money was good and nobody wanted to see it. They were all sure the rights value would continue to increase forever - normalcy bias....

 

[33jacket]

Lol. It was this time last year when Dish had an issue with the ACCN. I subscribed to the Disney+ package (that included Hulu and ESPN+) trying to get the game – none had it. I ended up watching the game on my daughter’s YouTube TV subscription. Fast forward 12 months and I have cut the cord and use YouTube TV to consume TV content. I wonder what percentage of people cut the cord based on these types of impasses.

Alot. But streaming services are not immune either. Fubo carries bally but not tnt or tbs.

Youtube carries tnt and tbs but not bally

Both carry all the espn networks

Fubo gets the braves. Winner for me

Youtube has sunday ticket; and tnt tbs for basketball. But no bally.

No perfect solution even for cord cutters.

 

[GTRambler]

I agree with 33. I had YouTube TV until they dropped Bally last year, so I switched back to cable (Spectrum) just to watch the Braves. Watching the Braves on Spectrum cable costs me a good bit more, but it is well worth it for me.

 

[Enuratique]

I realize this may not work for everybody, but because I don’t live in the Braves media market, I watch Braves all the time using an MLB.TV subscription I bought from someone who got it for free being a T-Mobile subscriber for like $2.

There’s a whole grey market for MLB.TV subscriptions as a result.

I believe though I’m not 100% sure Braves are still blacked out in the ATL region. Perhaps playing games with VPNs can help there.

 

[UgaBlows]

Eventually, inevitably- Hulu, youtubetv, etc will be just as expensive as the cable or satellite tv packages we all cut the cord from, and the cable company will raise the price of internet to make up for lost revenue, it’s all a circle-jerk and the consumers are not the ones getting pulled off

 

[UgaBlows]

Now, everyone still has TV (or something like it) - for now. People will continue to leave cable and move to YoutubeTV, Fubo, Hulu, etc.

Espn continues to get theirs this way you know? Unless all the streaming services eventually kick espn to the curb and force them to do stand-alone streaming

 

[Richard7125]

Eventually, inevitably- Hulu, youtubetv, etc will be just as expensive as the cable or satellite tv packages we all cut the cord from, and the cable company will raise the price of internet to make up for lost revenue, it’s all a circle-jerk and the consumers are not the ones getting pulled off

Maybe, maybe not. There’s a lot more competition due to Streaming services. 10 year ago, you only had 1 or 2 choices for cable and 1 or 2 choices for satellite - customers were captive to price increases. Today, there are many streaming services and they are not geographically bound. This will help keep prices somewhat in check. I'm not saying prices won't go up, but there are many more choices if they do.

 

[L41k18]

Why are some Tech fans hoping Espn fails? If they do, we & the ACC are screwed.

 

[Papa Foxtrot]

Why are some Tech fans hoping Espn fails?

Are you trolling? I don't read every thread, but I haven't seen that sentiment here. I think ESPN and their parent company are in a tough spot with no real vision on what needs to change...

 

[Jerry the Jacket]

Streaming is already the same price as basic cable. Disney sees ESPN transitioning from a profit center to a huge loss for them due to long term financial agreements ESPN holds with various sports entities including college football conferences. Disney has to either dump ESPN or find a partner that will help them financially through a protracted transition to a way to retain their long term financial commitments. I think there is a fairly high probability that ESPN will default on their commitments, be forced to renegotiate their commitments or be forced into bankruptcy.

 

[travgt01]

Why are some Tech fans hoping Espn fails? If they do, we & the ACC are screwed.

Or maybe we are rescued.

 

[RamblinRed]

Or maybe we are rescued.

If ESPN where to get to a place where it had to try to renegotiate contracts keep in mind that would also mean they would have to renegotiate SEC as well and it is likely similar issues would plague Fox, so B1G and B12 would likely not be looking at increases to their contracts.