LEAD STORY
EPL Remains At NBC Sports
The bidding process was certainly intense, but as the saying goes, “east or west, home is best,” and that’s what happened with the English Premier League, EPL, which decided to remain within the familiar confines of the NBC Sports family for another six years.
The sports network will reportedly be paying $2.7 billion for the duration of this new contract, which begins in August 2022. It will have the rights to air all 380 games per season, including Spanish language coverage. NBC Sports is currently paying $1.1 billion for its current deal, which runs through the season's end.
NBC Sports went all-in on making sure that it retained the EPL, which it has been airing since 2013, as it faced stiff competition from the likes of ESPN, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, and WarnerMedia.
The length of the regular season lasting from August to May and the matches airing primarily in the morning daypart of the weekend with minimal completion made it a much sought-after property this go around.
NBC Sports let go of the NHL so that it could make sure it had the money to go after this deal.
With NBCN being shut down at the end of the year, matches will primarily be airing on NBC, USA, and the Peacock streaming service. Peacock will significantly benefit from this new agreement as it now has a steady stream of live programming that will make it attractive for subscribers.
By NBC Sports retaining the EPL, it now becomes the largest U.S. deal for a European soccer league. The previous record was held by ESPN, which paid $1.4 billion for an eight-year run.
(Premier League, Front Office Sports, Eben Novy-Williams/Twitter)
QUICK RECAP
NBC News Is Remaking The Today Show For The Streaming Era
NBC News is looking to turn its Today Show franchise into a content and even more of a money-making machine. To do this, the network is asking its hosts and producers to do even more on the digital front, which has led to them producing, every week, around 200 on-air segments, 35 streaming shows, 200 digital videos, 23 podcast episodes, and 10 TikToks. With the traditional morning, news shows losing viewers NBC News wants to zero in on where the audience is heading — online. By targeting streaming audiences that tune in to programming on-demand, NBC News hopes that the Today Show transforms into a lifestyle media juggernaut. (Variety)
Netflix Rolls Out New Streaming Metrics
This past Tuesday, Netflix unveiled a new website that showcased the performance of its content. This is big because how the streamer used to measure viewership for its programming has been heavily scrutinized and criticized. The website, http://top10.netflix.com/, will show Netflix’s top 10 movies and TV series by hours viewed. Readers to the website will also be able to see how many weeks that content has been in the top 10. Netflix says that the accounting firm EY will review its metrics, which they hope will provide another layer of credibility. (Axios)
What’s FuboTV’s Strategy To Become A Dominant Streaming Service
FuboTV CEO David Gandler wants the streaming service to be the premier place for live sports. The problem with this plan is that the marquee sports that he needs are being held by other properties. It doesn’t have any content from the RSN’s or major sports networks that showcase NBA, MLB, and NHL content but, it does have a lot of soccer content from the major soccer league, which makes it a go-to service for those fans. One way for it to become a top-tier sports streaming service is to go after the NFL Sunday Ticket, but it doesn’t have the money to go after it. What it’s banking on are the features it provides within its product, such as various camera views for sporting events, perpetual DVR, predictive games, fan view as well as getting into sportsbooks. FuboTV wants to make its features the key selling point until it’s able to acquire additional sports programming. (The Streamable)
QUICK RECAP
Natalie Morales finally says goodbye to NBC News. (TVNewser)
How the TV networks covered the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict. (NewscastStudio)
The evolution of HBO is courtesy of its sports programming. (The Ringer)
Ben Mayer named senior broadcast producer of NBC News’ Nightly News. (TVNewser)
Disney Plus and ESPN Plus have been added to Hulu + Live TV. (The Streamable)
CNN’s signal is blocked in China due to coverage of tennis star Peng Shuai. (Will Ripley/Twitter)
NBC News Now has a new on-air graphics look. (NewscastStudio)
Liberty Media chairman and Discovery board member john Malone wants to return CNN to its original journalistic roots. (Mediaite)
Hallie Jackson’s show finally debuts in NBC News Now. (NewscastStudio)
MSNBC shows off its refurbished New York studio. (TVNewser)
Tax lawsuits against streaming services continue. (The Streamable)
Black News Channel wants to fill the niche news void. (Los Angeles Times)
Geoff Bennett moves from NBC News to PBS’s Newshour as Chief Washington Correspondent. (PBS News Hour Press Release)
Judge Andrew Napolitano resurfaces at Newsmax. (The Daily Beast)
Paramount Plus gets 1 million subscribers in one week. (The Streamable)
Disney is eyeing the sports betting money. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Former New York Times executive Mark Thompson says U.S. TV news networks are in deep, long-term trouble if they don’t change. (Deadline)
Amazon wants Troy Aikman for Thursday Night Football. (ProFootball Talk)
How will the standoff between Bally Sports and pay-TV providers end? (The Streamable)
NBC Sports readies itself for the Winter Olympics with a flashy promo. (NewscastStudio)
Netflix grows its UK studio. (The Guardian)
Katy Tur returns to MSNBC after maternity leave. (TVNewser)
Who has the right live sports streaming strategy? (Sports Business Journal)
Disney Plus launches in Hong Kong. (The Streamable)
Marsha Cooke moves from Vice to ESPN as vice president of ESPN Films. (Variety)
NBC News promotes Today Show PR head Megan Stackhouse to Senior Vice President. (Joe Flint/Twitter)
Newsmax wants to become more like Fox News. (The Daily Beast)
Regional sports networks are losing value as more cable providers opt out of paying them. (CNBC)
An inside look at what makes Netflix run so smoothly. (The Verge)
What is to be learned, again, from another failed mega-merger, this time AT&T and WarnerMedia. (MediaPost)
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A MarkHenry Media LLC publication - Issue #69 - 2021