You had to expect this though. The second Apple TV's & Roku devices came out I knew it was a matter of time. But now everything is so parceled I wouldn't be shocked if it all comes back around to "one distributor". You'll probably wind up with YoutubeTV that comes with Netflix, Paramount + & Peacock subscriptions or something like that down the road.
From day one, I have NEVER thought the business model of a hundred different streaming services was sustainable. In a market where there seems to be FEWER consumers, splintering what's left a hundred different ways just defies solid business logic, For better or worse, we ended up with a handful of mega cable TV systems for the same reason. It stands to reason the same thing will eventually happen to the streamers. Not to mention, just as I predicted, the cost advantage of streaming is starting to go away somewhat. Content creators and content providers are NOT going to give away or low ball their product forever. If cable gives you say, 200 channels for $200, streaming services aren't going to keep giving you 50 for $10 forever.
The negotiations definitely did not end up in a good time for the sports rights market but I don’t think any other major sport has seen viewership decreases like NASCAR has since the last deal was signed in summer 2013. The NBA and MLB to some degree, but not like NASCAR.
Well, I always thought most of those deals didn't make a lick of sense either, and at some point the buzzards were going to come home to roost. ESPN is being gutted like a yard sale, and we've lost a whole sports network in NBCSN. You really have to wonder if FS2 and a few of the others really have much of a future. The idea of paying vastly more for rights to a sport than the ad revenue was worth just to pump up the image of your network as a whole was always very questionable to me. It might help when you are building a new network, but does ANYBODY really care what network owns the right to NASCAR? Does it REALLY entice people to watch the OTHER shows on that network? It certainly doesn't for me... I turn on the TV during the pace laps, and depending on who won and what happened, I turn it off during the post race interviews. Much of the time I am watching it on a 1-4 hour delay on the DVR and buzzing through all the commercials too. Doesn't do much for their business model.
I don't think a LOT of people thought streaming was going to end up being like cable and at some point probably just as expensive, at least by all the talk I've heard the last however many years. I heard a lot of comments from people that thought they had discovered the key to Fort Knox and were going to have a gazillion channels and pay next to nothing for it. Eventually, it will all get conglomerated, and the ONLY DIFFERENCE between streaming and cable will be the delivery method. I also think you will begin to see far less high cost original programming on streaming too, not just cable networks.
Outside of NASCAR, I have yet to watch anything on Fox since I gave up on football; other than that, ... Malcolm in the Middle? Outside of racing and golf, I haven't looked at NBC since ... Frazier? Friends? CBS is doing well if I even remember SRX; other than The Masters, they've been dead to me since Big Bang Theory. USA is in even worse shape with me, though; their ads are for content I actively avoid.
"Going down" was a legitimate concern people had when the ratings cratered after Chase Elliott's injury.
I don't know. There could be content I would enjoy, but the networks aren't making me aware of it via my NASCAR viewing. College football, rasslin, and Chuckie; sorry, those aren't my cups of Pennzoil. When you've hawked the same stuff for 16 weeks, maybe push some of the other programming?
They’ll still wind up with an increase, just not a huge one. Sports are the only thing keeping traditional linear TV packages a must-have for most people. Scripted programming on OTA networks/cable channels has mostly gone to ****. So networks bid up pretty much any sports rights they can get their hands on. Despite all of the challenges NASCAR has faced the past decade or so, it’s still a reliable and consistent property that’s mostly stabilized the past five or so seasons.
They have smart finance folks, they would’ve modeled anywhere from a 25% decrease to a 40% increase several years ago, before any of the negotiations would’ve started.
My biggest question is, will the Truck Series be a part of any deal? That Xfinity Series CW thing was a game changer.
www.sportsbusinessjournal.com
I could see WBD putting a race on BR Sports on Max too.Don’t know if you all saw this, but just went from a Summer Series to “Summer into Fall Series”. If this deal is split, the more things change the more they stay the same. We’d potentially have races on Fox, FS1, NBC, USA Network, Amazon, TBS and TNT which would remind me of ESPN, TNT, TBS,CBS, TNN days
SBJ Media: NASCAR sweetens midseason package
Don’t know if you all saw this, but just went from a Summer Series to “Summer into Fall Series”. If this deal is split, the more things change the more they stay the same. We’d potentially have races on Fox, FS1, NBC, USA Network, Amazon, TBS and TNT which would remind me of ESPN, TNT, TBS,CBS, TNN days
SBJ Media: NASCAR sweetens midseason package
I still see a lot of value and potential with Amazon but have no interest in Turner if it’s predicated upon being primarily through the Max sports add-on.Don’t know if you all saw this, but just went from a Summer Series to “Summer into Fall Series”. If this deal is split, the more things change the more they stay the same. We’d potentially have races on Fox, FS1, NBC, USA Network, Amazon, TBS and TNT which would remind me of ESPN, TNT, TBS,CBS, TNN days
SBJ Media: NASCAR sweetens midseason package
Call it what you want, but if you are trying to grow the audience, this is NOT the way to do it. One of the given excuses for the original TV deal was to put an end to this nonsense. Of course we know NASCAR would put the entire schedule on a local high school public access channel if the check was big enough.
This isn’t entirely true.
