wow

(04-26-2021 11:32 AM)stever20 Wrote:  hearing Turner/CBS might be also in the running for the 2nd ESPN piece. NBC has pulled out.

Imagine a Turner Inside the NHL show. Who plays Barkley?

Patrick Roy, if you can get him.

More signs pointing toward Turner:

Quote:Sports Media Watch
@paulsen_smw

Turner getting the NHL seems like a done deal. Ourand, Elliotte Friedman saying it fairly definitively. Bob McKenzie hedged a little, but also saying it is "likely."

None of the three said CBS/Turner -- just Turner. Though SBJ (written by Ourand/Mark Burns) said CBS/Turner.

10:04 AM · Apr 26, 2021 · Twitter Web App

Quote:Turner Sports is the surprise winner of the National Hockey League's second television package.

The two sides have agreed on a seven-year contract that includes three Stanley Cup Finals, two people familiar with the deal told The Associated Press. The people spoke on condition of anonymity Monday because the contract had not been finalized.

Turner Sports and the NHL had no immediate comment on the deal, which was first reported by Sports Business Journal.

The agreement with Turner will give the NHL two network partners in the United States for the first time since 1998-99. The league reached agreement with Walt Disney Corp. last month that includes four Stanley Cup Finals, 25 regular-season games on ESPN and ABC, the NHL All-Star game and comprehensive streaming rights.

The NHL received $350 million in broadcast revenue from NBC ($250 million) and Disney Streaming Services ($100 million for digital rights) this season. The upcoming deals will average $635 million per year ($410 million from Disney and $225 million from Turner).

https://lasvegassun.com/news/2021/apr/26...nd-nhl-pa/

(04-27-2021 10:10 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

I wondered if HBO Max might be involved. To my knowledge, that is the first sporting content on that service.

Interesting set of circumstances. NBC is left with the EPL, which is becoming a decently valued product in the US, and a smattering of other rights. Sunday Night Football and Notre Dame are the highlights.

Starting to wonder if they might go after a major college league at this stage. It's getting a little light over there on the content side.

(04-28-2021 12:37 AM)AllTideUp Wrote:  

(04-27-2021 10:10 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

I wondered if HBO Max might be involved. To my knowledge, that is the first sporting content on that service.

Interesting set of circumstances. NBC is left with the EPL, which is becoming a decently valued product in the US, and a smattering of other rights. Sunday Night Football and Notre Dame are the highlights.

Starting to wonder if they might go after a major college league at this stage. It's getting a little light over there on the content side.

NBC no longer has a sports channel and has no place to put the inventory of a college conference or a major US pro league. They are going to use Premier League to drive subscriptions to Peacock. The only other sports events they have that require channels other than the broadcast network are Olympics, and they'll use their non-sports channels to take up inventory there.

Damn. I was hoping for NBC. I feel like they've been decent for the League.

Plus now the NHL is going to have to fight for games w/ the NBA for both............I have a feeling the NHL will get shafted to streaming platforms.

And I hate how they're splitting the rights.

Now I got to decide on the best package for me......

How many regular season games will be on TNT/TBS & ESPN/ESPN2/ABC/etc? Not streaming, & not playoffs, but regular season games? And one of the bidders airs one conference's playoffs, the other bidder airs the other conference's, & then Finals rotate, correct?

Are there any rumors of ESPN+ ever being bundled in w/ Disney+?

I'd have liked NBCSN to become a prime ESPN competitor. I liked it when they had MLS, tho MLS arguably has a better deal now then what they did w/ NBC. Plus NBCSN could have had a few college football/basketball/hockey/baseball conference deals, say a P5 & a couple G5 or even FCS. And then the Premier League too.

(04-28-2021 01:09 AM)Wedge Wrote:  

(04-28-2021 12:37 AM)AllTideUp Wrote:  

(04-27-2021 10:10 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

I wondered if HBO Max might be involved. To my knowledge, that is the first sporting content on that service.

Interesting set of circumstances. NBC is left with the EPL, which is becoming a decently valued product in the US, and a smattering of other rights. Sunday Night Football and Notre Dame are the highlights.

Starting to wonder if they might go after a major college league at this stage. It's getting a little light over there on the content side.

NBC no longer has a sports channel and has no place to put the inventory of a college conference or a major US pro league. They are going to use Premier League to drive subscriptions to Peacock. The only other sports events they have that require channels other than the broadcast network are Olympics, and they'll use their non-sports channels to take up inventory there.

I wouldn't completely agree with that. They have one of the few broadcast networks and a ton of cable channels. I don't think they got rid of NBCSN because it wasn't successful, it was just more efficient. A lot of their sports content will be moving to USA although I agree they want to pump up Peacock.

(04-30-2021 10:58 PM)AllTideUp Wrote:  

(04-28-2021 01:09 AM)Wedge Wrote:  

(04-28-2021 12:37 AM)AllTideUp Wrote:  

(04-27-2021 10:10 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

I wondered if HBO Max might be involved. To my knowledge, that is the first sporting content on that service.

Interesting set of circumstances. NBC is left with the EPL, which is becoming a decently valued product in the US, and a smattering of other rights. Sunday Night Football and Notre Dame are the highlights.

Starting to wonder if they might go after a major college league at this stage. It's getting a little light over there on the content side.

NBC no longer has a sports channel and has no place to put the inventory of a college conference or a major US pro league. They are going to use Premier League to drive subscriptions to Peacock. The only other sports events they have that require channels other than the broadcast network are Olympics, and they'll use their non-sports channels to take up inventory there.

I wouldn't completely agree with that. They have one of the few broadcast networks and a ton of cable channels. I don't think they got rid of NBCSN because it wasn't successful, it was just more efficient. A lot of their sports content will be moving to USA although I agree they want to pump up Peacock.

I'm skeptical that NBC/Comcast will put any top-shelf sports content on USA Network. The only things they publicly announced that are going to USA are NHL (which is going elsewhere after this season) and auto racing. I'm sure they'll put second-tier Olympic events on USA as well, because they've done that with past Olympics.

Two other reasons to be skeptical about sports on USA: 1) NBC/Comcast has been consistently cheap about spending on any sports other than NFL and Olympics, and 2) They need to put sports content (and other original content) on Peacock if they hope to get subscribers for anything but commercial-free reruns of Friends and The Office.

I am worried how TNT/TBS does this with their NBA coverage because they do regular season and playoff NBA, and the NHL lines up at about the same time.... doesn't sound like a good idea to bump down the playoffs to the RSNs for each team.

I would think Turner will likely use TNT for the NBA, and either TBS or TruTV for the NHL.

A few years ago the NBA basically quit competing with itself during the playoffs by usually lmiting weeknight games to 2 each during the playoffs. The downside is that it prolongs the first two rounds. I would expect the NHL to adopt a similar strategy. ESPN (or ABC) will pick up some weekend day games, the weekend night games can go to either ESPN/ABC or Turner.

It wouldn't surprise me if NBC shutters the Golf Channel within 18 months. The early round coverage can go to Peacock, or USA if it's a major. Peacock would also be home for the smaller tours currently on Golf Channel. The golf "lifestyle" programming would likely just be shifted to the NBC RSNs, and could be licensed to non-NBC RSNs (Bally, Root, etc.).

Fox might be able to pick up more MLB games, which will help them keep FS1 viable.

(05-01-2021 06:41 PM)chargeradio Wrote:  I would think Turner will likely use TNT for the NBA, and either TBS or TruTV for the NHL.

A few years ago the NBA basically quit competing with itself during the playoffs by usually lmiting weeknight games to 2 each during the playoffs. The downside is that it prolongs the first two rounds. I would expect the NHL to adopt a similar strategy. ESPN (or ABC) will pick up some weekend day games, the weekend night games can go to either ESPN/ABC or Turner.

It wouldn't surprise me if NBC shutters the Golf Channel within 18 months. The early round coverage can go to Peacock, or USA if it's a major. Peacock would also be home for the smaller tours currently on Golf Channel. The golf "lifestyle" programming would likely just be shifted to the NBC RSNs, and could be licensed to non-NBC RSNs (Bally, Root, etc.).

Fox might be able to pick up more MLB games, which will help them keep FS1 viable.

What NBC RSNs? They only had NBC and NBCSN and just about all NHL broadcasts amongst those two were national.

(05-02-2021 10:49 AM)PirateTreasureNC Wrote:  

(05-01-2021 06:41 PM)chargeradio Wrote:  I would think Turner will likely use TNT for the NBA, and either TBS or TruTV for the NHL.

A few years ago the NBA basically quit competing with itself during the playoffs by usually lmiting weeknight games to 2 each during the playoffs. The downside is that it prolongs the first two rounds. I would expect the NHL to adopt a similar strategy. ESPN (or ABC) will pick up some weekend day games, the weekend night games can go to either ESPN/ABC or Turner.

It wouldn't surprise me if NBC shutters the Golf Channel within 18 months. The early round coverage can go to Peacock, or USA if it's a major. Peacock would also be home for the smaller tours currently on Golf Channel. The golf "lifestyle" programming would likely just be shifted to the NBC RSNs, and could be licensed to non-NBC RSNs (Bally, Root, etc.).

Fox might be able to pick up more MLB games, which will help them keep FS1 viable.

What NBC RSNs? They only had NBC and NBCSN and just about all NHL broadcasts amongst those two were national.

They have a handful of RSNs around the country, but not nearly as large a network as Bally(formerly FOX) has.

(05-01-2021 12:26 AM)Wedge Wrote:  

(04-30-2021 10:58 PM)AllTideUp Wrote:  

(04-28-2021 01:09 AM)Wedge Wrote:  

(04-28-2021 12:37 AM)AllTideUp Wrote:  

(04-27-2021 10:10 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

I wondered if HBO Max might be involved. To my knowledge, that is the first sporting content on that service.

Interesting set of circumstances. NBC is left with the EPL, which is becoming a decently valued product in the US, and a smattering of other rights. Sunday Night Football and Notre Dame are the highlights.

Starting to wonder if they might go after a major college league at this stage. It's getting a little light over there on the content side.

NBC no longer has a sports channel and has no place to put the inventory of a college conference or a major US pro league. They are going to use Premier League to drive subscriptions to Peacock. The only other sports events they have that require channels other than the broadcast network are Olympics, and they'll use their non-sports channels to take up inventory there.

I wouldn't completely agree with that. They have one of the few broadcast networks and a ton of cable channels. I don't think they got rid of NBCSN because it wasn't successful, it was just more efficient. A lot of their sports content will be moving to USA although I agree they want to pump up Peacock.

I'm skeptical that NBC/Comcast will put any top-shelf sports content on USA Network. The only things they publicly announced that are going to USA are NHL (which is going elsewhere after this season) and auto racing. I'm sure they'll put second-tier Olympic events on USA as well, because they've done that with past Olympics.

Two other reasons to be skeptical about sports on USA: 1) NBC/Comcast has been consistently cheap about spending on any sports other than NFL and Olympics, and 2) They need to put sports content (and other original content) on Peacock if they hope to get subscribers for anything but commercial-free reruns of Friends and The Office.

My guess would be USA would be more valuable if they shifted some decent sports content there. TNT has become the most valuable cable network(last time I checked anyway) outside of ESPN and the like in part because of their sports coverage.

That's not to say Comcast/NBC isn't cheap, I agree with that, but it's an opportunity for a quality general content network and there really aren't a lot of good ones. NBCSN was a decent venture, but they never purchased enough quality sports content to really make it stand out.

Peacock will get a lot of sports going forward, but I suspect USA will get some good events as well. For one thing, there are so many EPL games every week. No reason you can't put the best game on NBC, a quality game on USA, and the rest on Peacock. They couldn't do that with another soccer league as there would be too few quality brands to go around, but the number of well supported EPL teams makes that doable.

I also wouldn't rule out the MLS coming back to NBC. They seem to have designs on combining their rights package rather than allowing local packages to emerge. MLS could benefit from even the slightest association with the EPL. NBC, USA, and Peacock could promote English soccer in the morning and American soccer in the afternoon/evening. I know the MLS isn't true top shelf content, but it's something NBC can have in the Summer that won't compete with their NFL investment.

ESPN and FOX have been good homes for MLS, but they've farmed out too many games to local networks and independent deals. I know you can get everything on ESPN+ basically, but it could be marketed better as one package.

MLS is hurt by the EPL, fans who watch EPL aren't gonna watch MLS. Best try to distance from them as far as possible & try to attract fans who don't care about soccer overseas. I liked MLS's deal w/ NBCSN, but the ESPN (& especially FOX deal) is a lot better.

Since Turner is going to merge with Discovery the NHL may have had some luck on the timing of the deal.

(05-01-2021 06:41 PM)chargeradio Wrote:  I would think Turner will likely use TNT for the NBA, and either TBS or TruTV for the NHL.

Agreed. The NBA playoff audiences are far larger than NHL playoff audiences. Given that, and even accounting for the fact that the NHL audiences are bound to be a bit larger on Turner and ESPN than they are on USA or NBCSN, NBA games will stay on TNT and ESPN, and if there's ever a conflict with NBA and NHL playoffs, the Disney NHL games will go to ESPN2 and the Turner NHL games will go to either TBS or TruTV as you suggest.

Example from this week:

Quote:John Ourand
@Ourand_SBJ

TV Sports on Thursday
Bucks-Nets on ESPN: 4.445 million viewers
US Open Golf on NBC: 2.365 million
Olympic Trials on NBC: 1.991 million
US Open on Golf: 1.239 million
Lightning-Islanders on USA: 1.238 million
Netherlands-Austria on ESPN: 888.000
Denmark-Belgium on ESPN: 854,000

3:46 PM · Jun 18, 2021 · Twitter Web App

Personally, I don't care how they deal with my cable/DirecTV payment. It is also not the team or league's requirement to bring ratings. It's the job of the networks which pay for the programming to give themselves better ratings. It is not the NHL's job to drive additional ratings, it is the channel's job to do such growth.