(01-22-2023 11:47 PM)AllTideUp Wrote:  

(01-22-2023 11:03 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  LIV Golf is effectively giving away its product right now because anyone with a relationship with the PGA (which primarily consists of CBS and NBC/Golf Channel along with ESPN for the PGA Championship) wasn’t going to touch them.

I don’t see the CW/Nexstar going after anything other than minor or very inexpensive sports rights. As other posters have mentioned, they are in heavy cost cutting mode (even more compared to the rest of the industry) and just trying to wring out whatever cash is available from these legacy linear TV channels.

Cheap sports, yes, but LIV is relatively high profile given the controversy. It could draw some decent viewership on a network that doesn't have to fight for carriage. It's a pretty smart play especially given the price tag.

I'm not suggesting they'll go after anything major anytime soon, but it's an interesting option for any college conference looking for OTA opportunities. Unlike the other broadcast networks, The CW will have plenty of slots.

Also, I think you're underestimating the power of OTA a little bit. It will never be what it was in the old days when you basically had 3 TV stations, but streaming options are a mixed bag...especially when it comes to sports. People thought cable would effectively kill off traditional OTA television. Here we are a few decades later and cable is dying while traditional OTA is still strong. I don't really see anything that suggests they won't be viable in the marketplace going forward even if linear cable is on the way out.

As long as Nexstar finds a way to monetize online content then they'll be in a pretty good spot. Actually, I've wondered for a long time why CBS(I've recently realized it was co-owned by Warner Bros) or some other company hadn't taken advantage of what The CW could be.

They were. It's just that "what the CW could be" was "an incubator for shows that can then be sold to Netflix and internationally for a profit." The Netflix deal is over, and CBS Paramount Global and Warner Bros Discovery HBO Max Turner want the shows for their own streaming services--or not.

Nexstar was able to buy the CW (75% ownership) for $0 and an agreement to fund the continuing losses. Which makes sense for them because they own a ton of the CW's stations, and those stations gotta have SOMETHING to put on the air.

Could that "something" be low-level college football on fall Saturdays? Why not? ESPN sells games to CBS-SN, why not to the CW?

I also wonder if local pro sports start moving back to OTA on the MyNetwork TV and CW affiliates. If the leagues buy the wreckage of Diamond Sports out of bankruptcy, split the games between local TV and league-owned streaming services.