What’s Going On With Bally Sports?
Issue #100 🎉🎊🍾
LEAD STORY
What’s Going On With Bally Sports?
On Monday, Bally Sports will launch its streaming service Bally Sports Plus in every market. This should be a momentous occasion for everyone at Bally Sports and its parent company Sinclair Broadcast Group.
But that isn’t the case as Diamond Sports Group, which oversees Bally Sports, is hemorrhaging a lot of cash and could be possibly looking to sell the RSNs.
It’s been reported that the potential buyer could be from a combined effort from the MLB, NBA, and NHL, who are looking to ensure that their games remain available for viewers without any disruption as Diamond could be hurtling towards a possible bankruptcy filing.
The plan would be for Diamond to offload the RSNs to its creditors, and then the creditors would sell to the pro leagues. Diamond would get as much as $3 billion in cash if they went with this route.
If this transaction occurs, it would be the third move for the RSNs since 2019.
The 19 RSNs were originally part of the Fox Sports family, and they were one of the darlings of the Rupert Murdoch empire as they were making a lot of money from cable carriage fees.
Those were the good old days, but the cable industry started to suffer from widescale subscriber erosion as consumers balked at the rising prices and sought alternatives. The RSNs began to look unattractive.
Fox then sold the RSNs to ESPN, who then sold them to Sinclair.
Sinclair thought its purses would be fattened with the acquisition, but some cable companies were looking for a way to stem the flow of cord-cutters and decided to move the RSNs to a more expensive tier.
Then when Dish Network renewed its carriage deal with Sinclair, it refused to include the RSNs.
These moves slashed the availability of the RSNs and decreased the amount of money Diamond could make from carriage fees, and what was initially a promising proposition now became toxic.
Should Sinclair/Diamond get rid of the RSNs, they will be left with Yes Network and the Marquee Sports Network.
As for the folks at Bally Sports, despite the happy occasion of launching its streaming service, uncertainty remains about their future, which will be the only thing they will be focused on.
(New York Post, The Streamable, NextTV)
A Note of Thanks
This marks the 100th issue of the Coverage Notes newsletter. Getting to this point hasn’t been easy, but I am grateful. To the day ones and the newest subscribers, I appreciate your loyalty and continued readership. Consistency is the key, and we aim to get to the next 100 plus more issues. 🙏🏽 🙏🏽
RECAP - CNN EDITION
CNN To Relaunch Reliable Sources Newsletter On Monday
A new, more concise Reliable Sources newsletter is set to reappear this Monday, led by CNN’s senior media reporter Oliver Darcy. The newsletter, which had temporarily halted publishing after the departure of its creator Brian Stelter, will hit inboxes with a new look and format, and according to Darcy, it will “continue to tackle issues relating to newsrooms, partisan media, social media, podcasts, and streaming services.” According to CNN, the newsletter will also trim its publishing schedule from six times a week to four to afford Darcy with time to work on original reporting. (The Hollywood Reporter)
CNN Temporarily Retools Its Evening And Primetime Lineup
With the midterm elections less than 50 days away, CNN is temporarily shaking its primetime schedule. Jake Tapper moves from the late afternoon spot and takes over the 9 pm slot, which has remained unfilled since Chris Cuomo’s departure. This move is seen as a tryout for Tapper — will he be comfortable in that time slot, and will viewers follow him there? Also on the move is Don Lemon, who is moving to mornings. In his place will be Alisyn Camerota and Laura Coates, who will share responsibilities from 10 pm to 12 am ET. John Berman and Briana Keilar will move from New Day to the 4 pm ET slot, while the Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer will re-inherit the hour it lost to Tapper and be on from 5 pm - 7 pm ET. These moves take effect on October 10. (Los Angeles Times & CNN Pressroom)
More Departures Hit CNN
As the Chris Licht era at CNN continues to settle in, the network is still experiencing turnover from in front of and behind the camera. Innovation and space correspondent Rachel Crane is the latest on-air personality to leave the network. On the back end of things, CNN Digital executive Courtney Chapman Coupe left the network for a position at LinkedIn. The media beat, which is being retooled and now being led by Oliver Darcy, saw the exits of its managing editor Alex Koppelman and senior editor An Phung, while Rishi Iyengar, who covered the technology beat for CNN Business, moved to the Foreign Policy. (Rachel Crane/Twitter, TVNewser, Poynter, Talking Biz News)
QUICK RECAP
Trace Gallagher named Fox News @ Night anchor. (TVNewser)
David Goldman named executive editor of CNN Business, and Matt Wells named executive editor of EMEA at CNN Digital. (TVNewser and Matt Wells/Twitter)
John B. Perez joins Telemundo as SVP of news production. (TVNewser)
Former NFL wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders joins NFL Network. (NFL Network/Twitter)
Dana Griffin and Melissa Parra join NBC News as Sacramento and Washington, D.C.-based correspondents. (TVNewser)
Field Yates signs a new multi-year contract extension with ESPN. (ESPN Press Room)
Charlie Collier joins Roku from Fox Corp. (Adweek)
Several editors were promoted at ABC News Digital. (TVNewser)
Izzy Povich was named SVP of programming at CNN. (Brian Steinberg/Twitter)
CNN adds to its talent recruitment and development executive team. (TVNewser)
Ken Barker resigns as Netflix’s chief accounting officer. (Deadline)
Kathryn Meyers, a producer for CNBC’s Mad Money, is departing the network. (Talking Biz News)
Queen Elizabeth’s Funeral: 11.4 million US viewers watched it. (The Wall Street Journal$$$)
Queen Elizabeth’s Funeral: It was watched by 37.5 million viewers in the UK. (Deadline)
Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin earns the Freedom of the Media gold medal for public service. (TVNewser)
CNN is still committed to standing up for democracy, says Jake Tapper. (Vanity Fair)
Netflix’s use of data is powerful, says a former employee. (The Streamable)
What it took for Chris Wallace’s new HBO Max/CNN show to debut this weekend. (Deadline)
Netflix reduces payments for comedy specials. (The Wall Street Journal$$$)
Apple Music gets the Super Bowl Halftime Show; could NFL Sunday Ticket be next? (The Streamable)
CNN is airing a documentary about the Murdochs. (New York Times)
Alison Roman’s (More Than) A Cooking Show is set to premiere on CNN in the fall. (CNN Press Room)
Amazon Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football debut was a ratings success; what does that mean for sports streaming’s future? (The Streamable)
CNN en Español’s signal was taken off the air in Nicaragua. (CNN)
Fox News’ Gutfled! is late night’s most-watched show. (Forbes)
Media buyers have many questions about Netflix’s upcoming ad tier. (Adweek)
CNN’s Christians Amanpour declines to wear headscarf for an interview with the Iranian president in New York City. (TVNewser)
Marcellus Wiley talks about his new FS1 show and his co-workers. (Awful Announcing)
Analyst predicts Netflix will still be on top in 2027. (The Streamable)
NBC Sports and Bet MGM are launching a betting partnership during the NFL season. (NBC Sports Group Press Box)
How Tamron Hall went from NBC News to her own TV show. (Forbes)
ABC News’ mobile app gets a redesign. (ABC News Public Relations)
NFL fans are not happy with ESPN/ABC’s Monday Night Football overlap coverage. (Sports Illustrated)
Roseanne Barr comedy special to air on Fox Nation. (Variety)
What does CNN/Warner Bros. Discovery have planned for its new am show? (Variety)
CBS Sports has the largest NFL week two audience. (Sports Media Watch)
CBS News’ Jamie Yuccas to also anchor local news for KCAL in Los Angeles. (Broadcasting+Cable)
Does Comcast have plans for a Warner Bros. Discovery takeover? (The Streamable)
ESPN’s Rebeca Landa becomes the first woman to call a nationally televised NFL game on Spanish-language TV in the US (ESPN PR/Twitter)
ABC News’ Good Morning America anchors talk about their successful year. (TVNewser)
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A MarkHenry Media LLC publication - Issue #100 - 2022