Just when you thought it couldn't get worse, Fox, ESPN, and WB are launching a joint venture sports streaming service

[45catfan]

4 minutes ago, PanthersATL said:

Blame the channels, not the providers.

theres a terrific history of ESPN book that explains the origin of the channel (in this case, ESPN) holding their content hostage for a higher royalty rate per subscriber from the cable company

the cable companies want to keep their rates low, but are forced to pass along the carriage fees requested from the channels to the consumers. It’s a system that’s worked for decades until the fees became so large that consumers became fed up

Yes, then cord cutting became popular.  Let the customer pick which services they want and more importantly, don't need.

[Lame Duck]

Yep, I’m cancelling my cable.  I only had it cause of sports.

[4Corners]

There are credible rumors that Warner Bros is  going to buy Paramount/CBS. 

[jayboogieman]

39 minutes ago, PanthersATL said:

(Also posted in Nerdvana)

it’s not an exclusive service. If you have access to ESPN or the other sports channels via other subscriptions, then you won’t need this one.

but if you’re looking for sports (like March Madness) and have cut the cord, this is another way to watch TNT/TBS games .

interesting that NBC and CBS didn’t participate.

Didn't see your post in Nerdvana. Sorry.

This screams early Hulu to me and that didn't work out too well once the partner companies got too selfish. I see this going the same way, especially with the NFL involved.

[jayboogieman]

18 minutes ago, 4Corners said:

There are credible rumors that Warner Bros is  going to buy Paramount/CBS. 

Not just a rumor. There's actually news reports about it. I read that the executives for both companies met during December to discuss merger options. All these mergers are terrible for consumers, so the government will most likely allow it.

[Tbe]

1 hour ago, jayboogieman said:

Not just a rumor. There's actually news reports about it. I read that the executives for both companies met during December to discuss merger options. All these mergers are terrible for consumers, so the government will most likely allow it.

Linear TV is dead. Mergers like this are typically the last gasps of dying industries as they fight to stay alive.

I don’t know if you have kids, but very very few under 18 have ever watched ‘network’ tv outside of sports.

Pro and college sports will eventually go direct with their own streaming platforms.

[jasonluckydog]

Streaming services will all merge and basically we will be paying the cable bill again. Pay for TV with commercials. History repeats itself

[csx]

Cable was better than this streaming BS

[PanthersATL]

2 hours ago, jayboogieman said:

Not just a rumor. There's actually news reports about it. I read that the executives for both companies met during December to discuss merger options. All these mergers are terrible for consumers, so the government will most likely allow it.

Byron Allen is making a bid. Warner has too much debt already to be a viable suitor, so while it could happen, Warner is not a financially reasonable choice here

[PanthersATL]

17 minutes ago, csx said:

Cable was better than this streaming BS

Truthfully, it’s turning out that way.

while streaming has offered massive accessibility and convenience, cable just “worked” and was simple/straightforward

[PanthersATL]

40 minutes ago, jasonluckydog said:

Pay for TV with commercials. History repeats itself

Commercials or commercials+subscription. Netflix is the only streamer making money, and their most popular plan is the ad tier.

someone has to pay the people running the cameras, manning the equipment, reporting and reading the news and weather.  Write the funny comedies, etc.

money to pay for all that has to come from *somewhere*.  If not commercials or high fees, then where?

[PanthersATL]

1 hour ago, Tbe said:

Pro and college sports will eventually go direct with their own streaming platforms.

They’d rather license it out to others who have the tech infrastructure to handle it. They’ll stick with generating the content, let professionals (whatever that platform ends up being) handle the distribution 

MLB tried their own platform. It ended up being bought by Disney as the initial core of Disney Streaming and the start of ESPN+ etc https://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/09/how-disney-mlb-advanced-media-deal-sets-them-up-for-the-future.html

[PanthersATL]

2 hours ago, jayboogieman said:

Didn't see your post in Nerdvana. Sorry.

This screams early Hulu to me and that didn't work out too well once the partner companies got too selfish. I see this going the same way, especially with the NFL involved.

There’s no exclusivity, so the NFL ends up,getting a wider audience (hopefully) utilizing their current contracts. None of the sports being shown are intended to be exclusive to this platform but will still be available via their original partners.

its like competing radio stations all being avail on TuneIn, iHeart, their own apps, Audacy…  the stations get wider reach for the same product.

[PanthersATL]

3 hours ago, chknwing said:

for only $199 per month

Price hasn’t been announced yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised for it to be at least $30/month minimum. 

Analysts say a direct to consumer ESPN product would likely be in the $20-30/month range anyway. DTC needs to be priced higher than what ESPN was getting paid by the cable companies to make up for the user shift and added associated costs from one distribution channel to their own