Welcome to the latest installment of Dan Rayburn's Streaming Insights & Intelligence, a weekly insights column on StreamTV Insider where the industry analyst puts facts and figures to the news you need to know about. Join the discussion on LinkedIn and check back each week as he unpacks key industry happenings.
For the week of August 28, 2024, Rayburn is tracking key news updates from YouTube, Disney, DirecTV, Amazon and more.
- The wait is over. YouTube announced that starting with week one, NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers can customize their multiview options and build any available combination of two, three, or four NFL Sunday Ticket games on TVs, mobile devices, and tablets for YouTube TV members. Local game broadcasts, available to subscribers with local channels through YouTube TV, will be limited to fewer combinations and will still have to pick from "prebuilt combinations." See YouTube's blog post for more details on the options for standalone subscribers versus those who subscribe via YouTube TV.
- The judge who granted Fubo’s request for a preliminary injunction barring Venu Sports from launching ordered a pretrial conference in New York to be held on September 12. In addition to considering Disney, FOX, and WBD's ongoing move to dismiss the lawsuit, the court will address the possibility of a jury trial starting in February 2025 in relation to the antitrust case.
- According to Bloomberg, Disney and DirecTV are negotiating to extend their carriage agreement. If a deal cannot be struck, channels like ABC and ESPN may go dark as early as September 1. Disney is reportedly willing to enable smaller packages and negotiate lower minimum subscriber guarantees, with DirecTV proposing the opportunity to sell smaller channel packages based on specific genres.
- Disney's TV Everywhere apps are TV No More. On September 23, Disney will close all its TV Everywhere apps, including DisneyNOW, Freeform, FXNOW, ABC, and National Geographic. A notice has been added to each app’s login page and app stores. TV Everywhere access will still be available via the browser. This is similar to what Paramount did earlier in the year when it began to shut down its apps for mobile and tablets, including those for Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., and other platforms.
- Sports Business Journal reports that Amazon no longer plans to invest $115 million into Diamond’s Bally Sports. This doesn't come as much of a surprise since the deal was announced before Amazon signed its direct deal with the NBA and worked with Rogers Communications to license NHL games in Canada.
Diamond Sports Group has disclosed that it has agreed to honor its legacy TV agreements with most of its NBA and NHL partners. The company has finalized deals to continue televising games for 22 NBA and NHL teams in their local markets. The deals require the approval of the U.S. Bankruptcy Judge overseeing the case. Per terms of the agreement, Diamond’s NBA partners have consented to a 30%-40% reduction of their extant rights fees. The NHL team's reduction in rights fees is said to be closer to 20%.
- The NBA asked New York’s Supreme Court to dismiss Warner Bros. Discovery’s matching rights lawsuit against the league, claiming that WBD rewrote lengthy portions of Amazon’s $1.93B annual bid and, in essence, submitted a counteroffer rather than a match. In its filings, the NBA said it intended to move for dismissal at an October 4 hearing in New York City. WBD said they will "file our opposition in the coming weeks.”
- Beginning on October 1, Twitch plans to raise the cost of new Tier 1 and gift subscriptions on the mobile app in more than 40 countries. After Twitch increased prices by $1 in the US in July, the cost of a Tier 1 sub will increase by $2 to $7.99 in the US. Subscriptions at Tiers 2 and 3 will continue to be the same price.
- Paramount will no longer merge Channel 5’s broadcaster VOD service in the UK, My5, with FAST platform Pluto TV, as was due to take place this fall. Instead, My5 will relaunch next year under the unified parent brand of 5 across linear, streaming and digital platforms.
- DoorDash announced a partnership with Max to introduce the first-ever streaming benefit for DashPass members. Max With Ads is now included with a DashPass Annual U.S. Plan membership at no additional cost.
Dan Rayburn is an analyst in the streaming media industry, with regular TV appearances on CNBC, Bloomberg TV, and Schwab Network amongst others. He is conference Chairman for the NAB Show Streaming Summit in Las Vegas each year, and his streamingmediablog.com website is one of the most widely read sites for broadcasters, content owners, OTT providers, Wall Street money managers, and industry executives. He also has a podcast at danrayburnpodcast.com. He can be reached at [email protected]
Dan Rayburn’s Streaming Insights & Intelligence is an opinion column. It does not necessarily represent the opinions of StreamTV Insider.