DIRECTV unlikely to keep NFL Sunday Ticket

[Juan]

I just went to ESPN’s site, looked at the schedule for ESPN+ and Monday Night Football is listed to be on plus.

I am surprised, thought it would be about 3 years before ESPN started merging content with plus, things are really happening fast with sports on streaming services.

Thanks Juan for posting that link, I had no idea MNF would be on ESPN+ this season.

I believe, after Football Season is done, it is time to get rid of Live TV, next year with Big Ten on streaming services and OTA ( I know, not every Mich game), NFLST, MNF and TNF on streaming, MLB I already get with the Extra Innings package and the NHL on ESPN+, I am about all set.

All other programming from Broadcast/Cable Channels are already on streaming services, just no need for Paid Live TV anymore.

They just raised the price of the Disney bundle about $3 a month
Enjoy

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/08/11/disney-plus-increase-price-subscribers/

 

[Bruce]

They just raised the price of the Disney bundle about $3 a month
Enjoy

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/08/11/disney-plus-increase-price-subscribers/

Nope, that article is about Disney+ going up.

The Bundle I have is the same price and will remain the same price-

Existing Disney bundle subscribers for Disney+ (no ads), Hulu (with ads) and ESPN+ will see a slight increase from $13.99 a month to $14.99 a month, but the bundle of Disney+ without ads, Hulu without ads and ESPN+ will remain the same price at $19.99 a month.

And I pay for it with Hulu Gift Cards I get with my Credit Card Points, so free.

Love how people bring up the price increases for streaming to put it down, but yet ignore the increases Traditional Providers have every year, even in today’s world with decreased content on Broadcast/Cable Channels.

Price Hikes For Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ Unveiled

Disney exec Kareem Daniel says "we will be providing greater consumer choice" as the company plans an ad-tier of Disney+ to launch in December at $7.99 while the ad-free version increases to $10.99.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

 

[Bruce]

BTN and FS1 are still cable only so probably too soon to go OTA/streaming just yet unless you are willing to miss a few Michigan football games a year that might be on one or the other

According to all the articles on the new deal ( to start next year), FS1 does not air any games, same for all the Cable Networks owned by CBS and Comcast/Universal.

BTN is the only cable channel to air games, based on what I read again, not the top tier games, so I can give up a few Michigan games.

Also, just a matter of time before BTN goes streaming, like everyone else.

let alone basketball which will continue to have more games on one of those channels than anywhere else.

Hate watching Basketball, so not a issue.

 

[Jimbo]

According to all the articles on the new deal ( to start next year), FS1 does not air any games, same for all the Cable Networks owned by CBS and Comcast/Universal.

BTN is the only cable channel to air games, based on what I read again, not the top tier games, so I can give up a few Michigan games.

Also, just a matter of time before BTN goes streaming, like everyone else.

Hate watching Basketball, so not a issue.

Looks like BTN is part of the Fox Sports App ...

HOW TO LIVE STREAM BIG TEN NETWORK - Big Ten Network

btn.com

 

[Bruce]

Looks like BTN is part of the Fox Sports App ...

HOW TO LIVE STREAM BIG TEN NETWORK - Big Ten Network

btn.com

I know it used to be a standalone TV Everywhere app ( now all under Fox Sports), I watched at work a few years ago, but my guess, much like how ESPN is putting content from the cable channel onto ESPN+, so to regain per sub fees from cord cutters, Fox/BTN will do the same.

They kind of are already doing it with BTN+ ( just needs all content from BTN), make it a flat fee of $5.99-7.99 a month, which is a lot more then the per sub fees.

 

[SamCdbs]

Fox is not “leaving money on the table” relative to not having its own streamer. Fox is making a different bet on the future of TV than the other three OTA networks.

The other three have all started steamers to provide (in addition to other, mostly melodramatic, content,) access to their linear OTA and “cable” networks’ programming, including sports. All lose money.

Fox is simply maintaining its commitment to its existing linear distribution model. This is, IMHO, very smart on its part. IF (the biggest word in the English language) the death of OTA and linear “cable” channels ever actually happens, then Fox can launch a streaming service then, having not lost all the $$ the other three are in this era. IF not, then it bet correctly all along. Either way, Fox wins.

 

[Bruce]

Fox is not “leaving money on the table” relative to not having its own streamer. Fox is making a different bet on the future of TV than the other three OTA networks.

The other three have all started steamers to provide (in addition to other, mostly melodramatic, content,) access to their linear OTA and “cable” networks’ programming, including sports. All lose money.

Fox is simply maintaining its commitment to its existing linear distribution model. This is, IMHO, very smart on its part. IF (the biggest word in the English language) the death of OTA and linear “cable” channels ever actually happens, then Fox can launch a streaming service then, having not lost all the $$ the other three are in this era. IF not, then it bet correctly all along. Either way, Fox wins.

No comment from you about ESPN+ having Monday Night Football?

Remember this-

Except they aren't. The most major sports, including channels like ESPN and FS1, remain ONLY on linear TV. No amount of wishing oh wishing they would sell you these channels will change that. Linear TV remains the standard for people not trying to save a few pennies. For a few streaming is a way to do that (for most it is, like HBO and its ilk from which is sprang) is just a supplement. All it will ever be.

 

[Ramy]

Does anyone know if Sunday Ticket will be free again this year for Directv subscribers?

 

[Juan]

Does anyone know if Sunday Ticket will be free again this year for Directv subscribers?

Some are reporting it is..call and ask

 

[meStevo]

Does anyone know if Sunday Ticket will be free again this year for Directv subscribers?

Was given to me for the first time in a number of years.

Unrelated, the latest of countless reminders of why the NFL is getting these big contracts.

NFL: Lions-Steelers gives CBS best preseason rating since 2013 - Sports Illustrated

CBS drew its best rating for an NFL preseason game since 2013.

www.si.com

Two weeks ago, I told you that on a Saturday night, an NFL preseason game between the Seahawks and Steelers on the NFL Network had more viewers than a Yankees–Red Sox on Fox in the same time slot. And this is despite the NFL Network being in 40 million fewer homes than Fox.​

​

The Steelers are a major preseason draw—their game against the Lions on CBS this past Sunday drew nearly six million viewers. It was the most-watched preseason game so far and the most-watched NFL preseason game on CBS since 2013.​

View: https://twitter.com/CBSSportsGang/status/1564618648429395974

Some context on Lions-Steelers drawing 5.8 million viewers on a summer Sunday afternoon for a game that doesn’t count:​

​

The MLB All-Star Game drew 7.5 million viewers.​

​

Fox’s Field of Dreams game drew 3.1 million viewers.​

​

Saturday’s Nebraska-Northwestern game on Fox drew 4.4 million viewers.​

​

More context on how absurd the Lions-Steeles rating is via Sportico’s Anthony Crupi: The game outdrew Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals.​

 

[Yespage]

There must be a lot of typos in there, as I was assured the NFL was dead a few years ago. Personally, I'm not certain I'd ever care to watch pre-season football. But millions are watching these games for whatever reason.

 

[NashGuy]

From Juan’s link it says something different for Fox vs the rest-

CBS will maintain rights for AFC coverage -- which dates back to 1998 -- of Sunday afternoon games and will simulcast on Paramount+, its flagship streaming service.

ESPN will continue to be the home of Monday Night Football, while ESPN+ subscribers can stream one International Series contest on an exclusive national basis each season. ESPN can also simulcast all ABC and ESPN games on ESPN+.

FOX will also maintain its NFC package of Sunday afternoon games, which started back in 1994, though it has expanded digital rights to including its AVOD streaming platform, Tubi, to deliver NFL content on digital platforms.

NBC will continue to air Sunday Night Football and will simulcast games on Peacock, the NBCUniversal streaming service. Peacock will also air an exclusive feed of a select amount of games over the span of the agreement.

For CBS, NBC and ESPN it says games for all 3, but for Fox it says content which might be only clips or condensed recaps as Nashguy wrote.

Right, but I wouldn't put too much trust in the imprecise wording used in that story with regard to the exact nature of Fox's digital rights for the NFL games they have. As I said before, Fox paid right about the same amount for their NFL contract as did CBS. Hard to believe that CBS is getting full direct-to-consumer live streaming rights to their Sunday games to put in Paramount+ but Fox's contract only gives them rights to do on-demand highlight clips afterwards on the free Tubi service. I suspect that the story you quoted reference "NFL content" on Tubi because that's all Fox themselves publicly mentioned with regard to their streaming plans at the time. I'd be very surprised if Fox doesn't have the same rights that CBS does, allowing them to include their live Sunday games in an SVOD if they launched one.

 

[Bruce]

There must be a lot of typos in there, as I was assured the NFL was dead a few years ago. Personally, I'm not certain I'd ever care to watch pre-season football. But millions are watching these games for whatever reason.

The only pre-season game I watched this year was the first Amazon Prime game and I was amazed at the quality of it, but people watch because it is the NFL.

Just thinking here, by this time next season, every NFL Game will be available streaming, some games exclusive, who would of thought we would be here just a couple years ago.

 

[Bruce]

I'd be very surprised if Fox doesn't have the same rights that CBS does, allowing them to include their live Sunday games in an SVOD if they launched one.

I would be also, but there have been plenty of contracts in the media world where someone did not think of something in regards to future plans, like rights to music in TV Shows, where they had to redo or omit because they did not have the rights for syndication or DVDs, WKRP and Miami Vice are two examples.

 

[NashGuy]

Fox is not “leaving money on the table” relative to not having its own streamer. Fox is making a different bet on the future of TV than the other three OTA networks.

The other three have all started steamers to provide (in addition to other, mostly melodramatic, content,) access to their linear OTA and “cable” networks’ programming, including sports. All lose money.

Fox is simply maintaining its commitment to its existing linear distribution model. This is, IMHO, very smart on its part. IF (the biggest word in the English language) the death of OTA and linear “cable” channels ever actually happens, then Fox can launch a streaming service then, having not lost all the $$ the other three are in this era. IF not, then it bet correctly all along. Either way, Fox wins.

Nah. Fox is a little company now without its own studio and major content library. When Murdoch sold all those assets to Disney, the ship sailed on Fox launching a major SVOD to compete with the big boys, so that's not a bet they could really place even if they wanted to.

What they're doing instead is focusing on the only stuff folks still get cable TV for, live sports and news/politics, milking the cable bundle for all they can get out of as it slowly dies, while betting on free ad-supported streaming via Tubi as their next-gen play. And they're still making a little incremental money from SVOD by continuing to license their Fox entertainment shows for next-day streaming on Disney's Hulu.

I give it another couple years but at some point, they'll determine (just as Disney will with ESPN) that there's more money to be made by taking all their content directly to consumers via streaming than trying to prop up the dying cable bundle. That's when they'll begin including a live stream of Fox News inside the Fox Nation app. And they'll exercise whatever live streaming sports rights they have by selling those to consumers too, either through their own app (e.g. a paid section within Tubi) or by sub-licensing those rights to others (e.g. Amazon, Apple, ESPN).

Likewise, Disney has repeatedly stated that eventually they will bring all of ESPN directly to consumers via streaming, no cable bundle needed. IMO, ESPN is a much bigger factor than Fox in terms of being the little Dutch boy plugging his finger in the hole in the cable TV dam to keep it from bursting. When they take ESPN direct-to-consumer, it'll be an inflection point. To misquote Louis XV, "Après ça, le déluge." My best guess for when that happens? 2024.

 

[NashGuy]

I would be also, but there have been plenty of contracts in the media world where someone did not think of something in regards to future plans, like rights to music in TV Shows, where they had to redo or omit because they did not have the rights for syndication or DVDs, WKRP and Miami Vice are two examples.

C'mon, Fox's lawyers would have to be functional imbeciles to overlook such an obvious contractual point in such a major long-term deal in 2022.

 

[SamCdbs]

No comment from you about ESPN+ having Monday Night Football?

You mean SOME of it, right?

Not every game, like linear ESPN, right.

Life remains too short to try to save four cents.

ESPN remains linear only. And will for many decades to come.

As predicted.

 

[Juan]

There must be a lot of typos in there, as I was assured the NFL was dead a few years ago. Personally, I'm not certain I'd ever care to watch pre-season football. But millions are watching these games for whatever reason.

If they are moving monday night football to exclusive streaming...that means no bars...RIP NFL..but they aren't..

 

[Bruce]

C'mon, Fox's lawyers would have to be functional imbeciles to overlook such an obvious contractual point in such a major long-term deal in 2022.

Again, I agree with you, but it can take one functional imbecile to mess up.

WKRP is a perfect example, while no one could of thought of DVDs back then, syndication of TV shows started in the 50’s, but someone did not think of getting the music rights for future airings, so a lot of it was replaced by, basically, Cover Bands.

 

[Bruce]

If they are moving monday night football to exclusive streaming...that means no bars...RIP NFL..but they aren't..

It will still be on ESPN, so that means DirecTV and, I believe, Joe Hand Productions.

We are now in a transition period, before just on Traditional Providers, now on both, some exclusive to streaming ( this year’s game in England will only be on ESPN+).

By the end of the current contracts, it should be only streaming unless Traditional Proviers can figure out how to stop 2 million ( and increasing) a quarter from leaving and start.gaining new subscribers.