Regional sports channels removed
- Thread starter RONZ
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Yep. Also looks like Dish gave up on advertising for Multi-Sport, since they removed that ad from the Game Finder app, as I reported earlier in the Game Finder thread.
I had read that a long term deal was reached with Comcast on 7/21.
You are correct - part of that deal is what brought Marquee Sports Network to Chicago residents.
Hey, RONZ! We are continuously evaluating the programming we carry on our service to ensure our customers are getting the best value for the content they receive.
We don't know if FOX Regional Sports Channels will return, however, we remain open to a fair agreement with Sinclair, the owner of these channels, to carry their programming for our customers.
-Jessica M.
Hello the only concern from my side is in my local DMA there are 5 over the air broadcast stations NBC and ABC are both owned by Sinclair. If Sinclair was to try to force a deal that included the regional sports channels the situation could get ugly. Being 70 miles from most of the stations, over the air reception is very marginal at best
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True, but the rates are still determined by whether or not the subscriber is in-market. So, each subscriber would only pay the expensive rate for 1 or 2 in their package. The rate for out-of-market carriage in the Multi-Sport Pack is pennies per channel by comparison, since most of the live sports content is blacked out for the rest of the country. The bulk of the rapid price increase for Multi-Sport came when NFL RedZone was added, not because of huge price increases to the out-of-market rates for RSN's. Now, with no RedZone, and very few RSN's, there should at least be a significant decrease to the price of Multi-Sport, or else that package should just simply no longer be offered at all. On the other hand, it might be nice if even this stripped-down version of Multi-Sport finally became available to those of us with lower packages, such as Welcome Pack, for the few sports channels that are left in it.
Not in every case...altitude was carried nationwide
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Jessica ( no disrespect) but that was said when they first took the RSN's off in the first place.
Yesterday Sinclair had their earnings call, and in the call it was mentioned that all their large and small providers have contracts that last at least 2 years. They were able to come to an agreement with every provider on pricing, tiering, and other elements, except for one. Specifically calls out Dish as the one that did not accept the deal and all the other providers understand the value of what they are providing. Kind of interesting that Dish finally removed the RSN's slates the day of Sinclairs earnings call where the CEO called out Dish.
Sinclair Q2 Earning Transcript
Sinclair Q2 Earning Transcript
Today Dish released their 2nd quarter earnings, and Charlie was in the earnings call. Someone asked about if prices for packages would be decreasing because a lot of companies are now selling their content through their streaming services and it wasn't exclusive to linear tv. Charlie said he hopes to see prices decrease.
He then talked about cash flow and said that Dish is in a great cash flow position because of some strategic decision on what content would be delivered. Content value is based off of the data they have on hours of programming watched compared to the price. He straight out said that one of Dish's strategic decisions that helped cash flow is to no longer offering regional sports networks. He talked about the amount of hours regional sports were watched compared to the price being asked and the math didn't make sense to keep them. He then said Dish is in a better position dropping the RSN's because the amount of people who have left due to dropped RSN's is small compared to the amount they are saving from paying a company for them.
The last thing he said in this part of the earnings call is that some other channels are getting close to the RSN discussion of value - the price they have to pay the provider compared to how hours the customers are watching them. He didn't say what channels, but he said similar strategic decisions will need to be made.
He then talked about cash flow and said that Dish is in a great cash flow position because of some strategic decision on what content would be delivered. Content value is based off of the data they have on hours of programming watched compared to the price. He straight out said that one of Dish's strategic decisions that helped cash flow is to no longer offering regional sports networks. He talked about the amount of hours regional sports were watched compared to the price being asked and the math didn't make sense to keep them. He then said Dish is in a better position dropping the RSN's because the amount of people who have left due to dropped RSN's is small compared to the amount they are saving from paying a company for them.
The last thing he said in this part of the earnings call is that some other channels are getting close to the RSN discussion of value - the price they have to pay the provider compared to how hours the customers are watching them. He didn't say what channels, but he said similar strategic decisions will need to be made.
It's just frustrating. In our town, we shop at three grocery chains because each has items we like that the other two don't. DirecTV and Dish are the same in that regard (at least for me), but the difference is that I can't afford to have both or have one a certain day and the other a certain day. I've been switching from one to the other every two years when the contract runs out in order to save for the first year of the contract. I know that if they merged the price would go up. But I wonder if it's possible that a merged service would have the aspects I like about both?
I have found it easier to just quit watching what they don't carry. 
Be careful what you wish for, because it could just as easily become the worst of both worlds.
It's the same with Sam's Club and Costco; we were actually discussing this at dinner last night. That we have to pay for 2 memberships just because Costco carries stuff we like that Sam's doesn't and vice versa. One idea floated was that this is by design...
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