Diamond Sports Group's Bankruptcy Proceedings Worries NBA and NHL Teams
Issue #135 — NBA and NHL teams are about to embark on a new season, but for fans used to watching them on Bally Sports RSNs, the bankruptcy proceeding of its parent company is creating angst.
Diamond Sports Group's Bankruptcy Proceedings Worries NBA and NHL Teams
With the start of the regular season for the NBA and NHL leagues inching closer, that should be good news for sports fans who have been missing basketball and hockey action during the summer months.
These fans want to catch the action on TV either sitting comfortably on the couch or at their favorite sports bar, but for those within the Bally Sports viewing regions, the uncertainty regarding its parent company’s Diamond Sports Group ongoing bankruptcy is causing some good reason for worry.
For fans of the Arizona sports teams, this worry has been a reality as a recent judge’s ruling has allowed Diamond Sports Group to walk away from its deal to broadcast the Phoenix Coyotes games on Bally Sports Arizona. Meanwhile, the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury had already walked away from their deals earlier in the year with BSA as a result of DSG heading into bankruptcy.
So, where will fans go to catch their favorite teams? Fans of the Suns and Mercury will be able to watch these teams via free over-the-air television as the two teams struck a deal with Gray Television back in April to broadcast the games on the local channels owned by the station group within that region. In preparation for the upcoming season and this new deal, the Suns and Mercury are offering Arizona residents free antennas so that they can watch the games on their local stations.
This free antenna deal is courtesy of a partnership with Channel Master, an Arizona-based company. Fans outside the viewing regions will also be able to access the games courtesy of the Kiswe streaming service, owned by the Suns.
Meanwhile, the Coyotes’ season is set to begin this week, and they managed to secure a new media rights agreement with E.W. Scripps Company, which is similar to the deal struck by the Suns and Mercury whereby they will air the local games for free, on over-the-air networks.
The chaos and uncertainty being experienced by these Arizona teams could theoretically play out in other regions where Bally Sports owns the media rights to broadcast NBA and NHL games.
DSG is looking for the bankruptcy court to grant it the right to cut the rights fees it owes these teams, and that loss of money and fan access is not sitting right for them, who have now reached a sticky situation as the regular seasons for the two leagues are set to begin.
The inability of fans to access the games or the chaos resulting from the dropping of games and being made available via alternative outlets at the last second, be it local TV channels or streaming, is not something the NBA and NHL want to be confronted with at the start of the season.
The slow court process has undoubtedly contributed to this dilemma between the leagues and DSG. Still, this situation has been largely brought on by the effects of cord-cutting, which continues to wreak havoc on the pay-TV industry.
(Front Office Sports, CNBC, Awful Announcing)
RECAP
DirecTV Is Not Happy With What WBD Did With CNN Max
Well, that did not take long. Soon after the launch of the CNN Max hub on the Max streaming service, DirecTV sent a letter to Warner Bros. Discovery executives citing their displeasures with the programming included within the service. In that letter, DirecTV said that the programming on the new streaming channel risks violating the contract between their businesses. CNN Max is embedded with programming heavily borrowed from CNN’s U.S. and international linear channels. The typical CNN Max weekday schedule only contains four hours of original news content. Marquee programming like CNN This Morning, Amanpour, The Lead with Jake Tapper, Anderson Cooper 360, and The Source with Kaitlan Collins are available to CNN Max subscribers. DirecTV is not happy with these inclusions as they pay a lot of money to distribute CNN, and with much of the news network’s content now available on WBD’s direct-to-consumer service pay TV, distributors are left without exclusive content to themselves. WBD officials, for their part, are saying the company “maintains strong and meaningful relationships with our affiliate partners,” adding, “Our partners are aware of and understand our rationale with Max, which is to reach new audiences.” (TVNewser, New York Times)
Netflix To Raise Price On Its Ad-Free Service
Business as usual is set to return to Hollywood with the writers back to work after their five-month strike, with a resolution on the horizon for the actors who have been striking since July. Netflix is preparing for the return of normalcy with a price increase for its ad-free service, in which customers are billed $15.49 for two streams and $19.99 for four streams. The streamer will raise the price in several different markets, with the U.S. market expected to see an increase first. No price points or exact timetable has been given for when these increases will go into effect, but it has been reported that this will not happen for “a few months.” Netflix is joining its fellow streaming competitors in raising the price of its no-ad service in an attempt to force more subscriber sign-ups for their ad-tier services, which are now generating higher average revenue per user for the streamers. Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery both, in recent months, announced price increases for their no-ad services. (The Wall Street Journal, ARS Technica)
Netflix Replaces Its Ads Chief
Jeremi Gorman is out as Netflix ad chief after being in that position for about a year. Gorman is being replaced by Amy Reinhard, who now assumes the title of president of advertising and is responsible for the streamer-growing ad business. Gorman was an outsider at Netflix, having joined the streamer from Snapchat, where she was their chief business officer, having been in that role since 2018. Reinhard has been with Netflix since 2016, joining the streamer as VP of content acquisition. “I’m excited for this new opportunity and to join the exceptional team during this phase of growth,” Reinhard said. “Together, we will scale our advertising business and connect our incredible shows and movies with audiences and brands around the world.” Meanwhile, Gorman indicates that she will be looking for opportunities that will enable her to build. Gorman’s ouster is surprising, considering that the roll-out of the ad-tier service in 2022 went off without a hitch and is becoming an important revenue earner for the streaming service. Netflix’s ad-tier service now has 5 million subscribers globally, and with the upcoming price hike of its no-ad service mentioned above, expect that number to grow significantly. (Deadline)
QUICK RECAP
Award: ESPN's Jimmy Pitaro receives the Frank Stanton Award. (Broadcasting+Cable)
Design: ABC-owned and operated local stations receive graphic package refresh. (NewscastStudio)
Legal: ESPN's Malika Andrews gets a restraining order against a man accused of stalking her. (Awful Announcing)
Legal: News organizations file a motion for expanded media access during the upcoming Trump trial. (TVNewser)
Out: Former NBC News and CNN anchor Campbell Brown departs from her role of leading media partnerships at Meta. (Axios)
Out: BBC News’ Royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell to retire. (PressGazette)
In: CNN announces promotions in its Washington DC programming unit. (TVNewser)
In: CBS News announces its 2024 campaign journalists. (Paramount Press Express)
In: Adrienne Roark and Jennifer Mitchell get additional responsibilities at CBS News and Stations. (Broadcasting+Cable)
In: Netflix announces a new Chief Product Officer and Chief Technology Officer. (Variety)
In: Sara Girvin is BBC News new Ireland correspondent. (BBC News Press Team/X)
Sports Programming: NFL begins its flex scheduling, moving the Detroit Lions vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers game to 4:25 p.m. on Fox. (NFL Communications)
Sports Programming: Celebrity chef David Chang will do food segments on Amazon Prime Video's Thursday Night Football. (New York Post)
Sports Programming: Peacock to be the exclusive home of 30 Big 10 Men’s Basketball games. (NBC Sports Group Press Box)
Media Business: CNN's new chief, Mark Thompson, to work in the newsroom and not in the office. (CNN)
Media Business: TBS celebrates its 50th anniversary as the MLB post-season begins. (Forbes)
Media Business: Former CNN chief Jeff Zucker announces strategic investment with Front Office Sports. (Axios)
Ratings: ESPN's Monday Night Football gets the best Week 4 audience in 14 years. (ESPN Press Room)
Ratings: Sunday morning’s NFL telecast is the most viewed event on ESPN Plus and the biggest live event on Disney Plus. (ESPN Press Room)
Ratings: NBC Sports’ Sunday Night Football telecast of the Kansas City Chiefs vs. New York Jets was the most-watched Sunday show since Super Bowl LVIII with 27 million viewers. (NBC Sports Group Press Box)
Streaming: Netflix is trotting deeper into fan merchandise and experiences. (The Wall Street Journal)
Streaming: Content is no longer exclusive to a streaming service. (Vox)
Streaming: Hulu's ownership fate will soon be resolved. (Axios $$$)
Streaming: Pixar's Elemental is doing big numbers on Disney Plus. (The New York Times)
Programming: Chris Christie and Ramaswamy withdraw from Fox News debate after GOP threatens debate ban. (Mediaite)
Programming: Fox News’ closed debate between House GOP candidates canceled. (TVNewser)
Programming: Expanded editions of CBS News’ 60 Minutes to air after NFL doubleheader games on CBS. (TVNewser)
Programming: New segments and franchises debut on CBS News Streaming Network. (TVNewser)
Programming: Fox News gets pranked live on-air during breaking news coverage. (TV News Now/X)
Sports Streaming: Season 2 of Amazon Prime Video's Thursday Night Football in the shop to premiere October 12. (Front Office Sports)
Sports Streaming: Max launches its sports tier, the Bleacher Sports sports hub. (Front Office Sports)
Sports Streaming: Streaming companies going after Hispanic views by trying to acquire Spanish-language sports. (CNBC)
Sports Streaming: Amazon and Apple are interested in acquiring media rights for the College Football Playoffs. (Front Office Sports)
Sports Streaming: Disney Plus’ NFL Toy Story broadcast got good reviews. (Awful Announcing)
Sports: NBA media rights are due, and the price will not be cheap. (CNBC)
Sports: NFL pushing sports nets to air free Taylor Swift movie promo. (New York Post)
Sports: ESPN acquires U.S. Media rights for Team Golf League. (ESPN Press Room)
Sports: Former NFL player Tiki Barber wants to be the king of New York sports media. (New York Post)
Sports: ESPN to launch Frozen Frenzy, the NHL version of NFL RedZone. (Front Office Sports)
Sports: No Taylor Swift mention during ESPN's Monday Night Football broadcast. (New York Post)
Sports: Former ESPN analyst and NBA coach Mark Jackson could reappear in the New York Knicks broadcast booth. (Awful Announcing)
Sports: Was there too much Taylor Swift on NBC Sports’ Sunday Night Football telecast? (Sports Illustrated)
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A MarkHenry Media LLC publication - Issue #135 - 2023