Posted May 18, 20232 yr Moderator As the streaming wars continue to heat up with various platforms jostling for position, ESPN is preparing a move that could significantly bolster its direct-to-consumer (DTC) offering, according to the Wall Street Journal. The WSJ reports that ESPN is “laying the groundwork” to sell its channel directly to cord-cutters as a subscription-streaming service in the coming years. ESPN plans to go streaming-only as uncertainty surrounds cable TV WWW.ON3.COM .
May 18, 20232 yr Moderator On 5/18/2023 at 6:05 PM, NJDuck said: As the streaming wars continue to heat up with various platforms jostling for position, ESPN is preparing a move that could significantly bolster its direct-to-consumer (DTC) offering, according to the Wall Street Journal. The WSJ reports that ESPN is “laying the groundwork” to sell its channel directly to cord-cutters as a subscription-streaming service in the coming years. ESPN plans to go streaming-only as uncertainty surrounds cable TV WWW.ON3.COM . 'In the coming years?' No doubt. But no way will the SEC today allow its 1st and 2nd tier inventory to be streamed and not shown on linear TV.
May 18, 20232 yr Administrator Smart move, and could help Oregon fans globally if we are with them? Mr. FishDuck
May 19, 20232 yr Moderator Charles in the case of ESPN I think it is a smart move but also a move born out of necessity that would not happen without cord-cutting. If ESPN would agree to own and operate the Pac-12 Network and use it as a platform for streaming on ESPN 3 this would be fine but I prefer the reach of Amazon and/or Apple over that of ESPN. Regardless, great post by NJDuck and a great comment by you. Streaming is coming, and not too long from now linear broadcasts of sporting events will likely become obsolete.
May 19, 20232 yr Not a big fan of Apple Tv to small of a subscriber base, Amazon has the subscribers but there will be growing pains. ESPN currently has it all, put that together with all the other sports content they have and a subscription is a no brainier for any sports fan. ESPN could cut out the middle man and keep allot more advertising revenue or use it to lock up more media rights. Smart move on their part. Personal I think the schools need to cut out their middle man, the conferences. How much money did the PAC 12 waste under Larry that could have gone to the schools? I think eventually this will happen at the big schools, they're not going to want to continue to give a big chunk of their media money to the Vanderbilt and Rutgers of the world. If Oregon made a deal with ESPN for say $2 a view Oregon would have ended up with 57.2 million last year, not bad. Now consider that viewership would be higher due to world wide reach, no blackouts and on demand. The ceiling is much higher than anything the PAC will ever bring to the Ducks. This is more inline with how internet marketing model works. Fishduck gets paid by the view not the potential viewership of some arbitrary media market. It's all about the money this will happen eventually.
May 19, 20232 yr I’m surprised they would drop cable tv cold turkey. This will cause them to lose viewers from the casual fan - the fan who watches a big game now and then, but would never actively seek out a paid subscription for the content. The reason why big games have big ratings is due to the number of casual fans watching. Even when the day comes that everything is online, we are not all purchasing the streaming services offered by everyone. At least with cable, it’s all bundled together for one monthly price. Losing that will mean the end of casual fan viewership.
May 19, 20232 yr On 5/19/2023 at 8:03 AM, Rufus said: Even when the day comes that everything is online, we are not all purchasing the streaming services offered by everyone. At least with cable, it’s all bundled together for one monthly price. Losing that will mean the end of casual fan viewership. I would not be surprised if someone like Amazon puts together an online bundle at some point in the future. Currently you can get MGM, Showtime, and AMC subscription thru Prime and they are integrated into the Prime interface. The executives at ESPN and Fox won't leave money on the table. We might see a payper view model for big games or they could give them away for free because the ad revenue would be so much greater on championship or playoff games.
May 19, 20232 yr Moderator On 5/18/2023 at 11:46 PM, Dave23 said: Not a big fan of Apple Tv to small of a subscriber base, Amazon has the subscribers but there will be growing pains. ESPN currently has it all, put that together with all the other sports content they have and a subscription is a no brainier for any sports fan. ESPN could cut out the middle man and keep allot more advertising revenue or use it to lock up more media rights. Smart move on their part. Personal I think the schools need to cut out their middle man, the conferences. How much money did the PAC 12 waste under Larry that could have gone to the schools? I think eventually this will happen at the big schools, they're not going to want to continue to give a big chunk of their media money to the Vanderbilt and Rutgers of the world. If Oregon made a deal with ESPN for say $2 a view Oregon would have ended up with 57.2 million last year, not bad. Now consider that viewership would be higher due to world wide reach, no blackouts and on demand. The ceiling is much higher than anything the PAC will ever bring to the Ducks. This is more inline with how internet marketing model works. Fishduck gets paid by the view not the potential viewership of some arbitrary media market. It's all about the money this will happen eventually. Dave, more like middlemen. Then, add in the ubiquitous consultants. Rob Mullens makes close to $1M a year. Check out his organization chart. It's as bloated as the before takes of folks who went on a miracle diet. And George Kliavkoff found the need to hire an assistant commissioner who has since resigned. What in the heck do these conference commissioners do all day long? How about rotating the conference ADs in the role of a commissioner with their voting on 3rd party matters directed by the collective group of ADs and the presidents? As it stands today, any major decision already requires board (presidents') approval. Give a stipend to the AD serving at any given time, cut way back on support staff, and save millions of dollars.
May 19, 20232 yr Moderator On 5/18/2023 at 11:46 PM, Dave23 said: Not a big fan of Apple Tv to small of a subscriber base, Amazon has the subscribers but there will be growing pains. ESPN currently has it all, put that together with all the other sports content they have and a subscription is a no brainier for any sports fan. ESPN could cut out the middle man and keep allot more advertising revenue or use it to lock up more media rights. Smart move on their part. Personal I think the schools need to cut out their middle man, the conferences. How much money did the PAC 12 waste under Larry that could have gone to the schools? I think eventually this will happen at the big schools, they're not going to want to continue to give a big chunk of their media money to the Vanderbilt and Rutgers of the world. If Oregon made a deal with ESPN for say $2 a view Oregon would have ended up with 57.2 million last year, not bad. Now consider that viewership would be higher due to world wide reach, no blackouts and on demand. The ceiling is much higher than anything the PAC will ever bring to the Ducks. This is more inline with how internet marketing model works. Fishduck gets paid by the view not the potential viewership of some arbitrary media market. It's all about the money this will happen eventually. Dave, Apple is sitting on more cash than Amazon and Google combined. Apple does not have the TV presence of Amazon's Paramount but Apple has a huge number of worldwide business affiliations with households. No tech company today has its own broadcast facilities. The Pac-12 network's facilities would be perfect for broadcasting Pac-10 sports. The quantity of subscribers to the network stinks but the quality of the broadcasts for the most part was fine.
May 21, 20232 yr On 5/19/2023 at 10:01 AM, Jon Joseph said: Dave, Apple is sitting on more cash than Amazon and Google combined This is true but Amazon has the cloud infrastructure in place to handle as much streaming demand as the world can throw at it. I think either of these companies are in a place where the cash is not super relevant but it's still going to have to make good business sense. The one thing ESPN has that no one else has is talented sports announcers, camera operators, sports media market experience and integration with sporting news and statistics. The PAC 12 networks, unfortunately, doesn't even come close. I do agree that the best use is for them to transition to and or be bought out by one of the streamers.
May 21, 20232 yr Moderator On 5/20/2023 at 10:43 PM, Dave23 said: This is true but Amazon has the cloud infrastructure in place to handle as much streaming demand as the world can throw at it. I think either of these companies are in a place where the cash is not super relevant but it's still going to have to make good business sense. The one thing ESPN has that no one else has is talented sports announcers, camera operators, sports media market experience and integration with sporting news and statistics. The PAC 12 networks, unfortunately, doesn't even come close. I do agree that the best use is for them to transition to and or be bought out by one of the streamers. On 5/20/2023 at 10:43 PM, Dave23 said: This is true but Amazon has the cloud infrastructure in place to handle as much streaming demand as the world can throw at it. I think either of these companies are in a place where the cash is not super relevant but it's still going to have to make good business sense. The one thing ESPN has that no one else has is talented sports announcers, camera operators, sports media market experience and integration with sporting news and statistics. The PAC 12 networks, unfortunately, doesn't even come close. I do agree that the best use is for them to transition to and or be bought out by one of the streamers.
May 21, 20232 yr Author Moderator Hotline mailbag: ESPN's move to streaming (what it means for the Pac-12), the wait for SDSU By Jon Wilner What are the media rights implications for the Pac-12 (and college sports) resulting from ESPN selling its main channel directly to consumers as a standalone streaming service? — @MattZemek For those who missed it, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that ESPN will indeed become a direct-to-consumer offering. Yes, the main network is being turned into a streaming platform, just like Apple and Amazon, Peacock and Paramount … and ESPN+. When the transition happens — it's undoubtedly years away — all the college football content owned and licensed by ESPN will be available on streaming. Which would seem to undercut the narrative that the Pac-12 is doomed if the next media rights deal includes a streaming component. Which is what the Hotline has been arguing all along: The Pac-12 is not doomed if the media rights deal includes a package of games on streaming. It's only doomed if the media deal doesn't include games on ESPN. There are two reasons the conference must have a contractual agreement with ESPN: — Because of the reach provided by the pay-cable ecosystem (although that would be rendered moot if the flagship ESPN network becomes a streaming platform). — Because a contract with ESPN would force the network's highly influential studio shows to talk about Pac-12 games, interview Pac-12 players and coaches and show Pac-12 highlights. That's the real value in a partnership with ESPN: the brand-building component. Hotline mailbag: ESPN's move to streaming (what it means for the Pac-12), the wait for SDSU WWW.KSL.COM Once ESPN becomes direct-to-consumer, streaming will be mainstream.
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