Michigan Radio & TV Buzzboard

I didn't realize Sinclair own Bally.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nhl/ba ... bef2572581

Taco wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 25, 2023 11:13 pm

I didn't realize Sinclair own Bally.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nhl/ba ... bef2572581

This is pretty big news, but not completely unexpected. Sinclair bit off more than it could chew.

Diamond Sports Group, dba Bally Sports, gets $14 a month from most Xfinity customers yet still is facing bankruptcy. That's how poorly run that company is. I think the investment banking firm(s) who underwrote the capital structure at the outset did a shitty job, too.

I think the upcoming bankruptcy will do little more than facilitate a transfer of ownership to bondholders, thus wiping out Sinclair's stake. I suspect nearly all broadcasting contracts with teams will stay in place unfettered. The company could use BK to reject any number of those contracts (or use such ability as a threat to renegotiate terms), but I don't think it will do so. That would open a Pandora's box.

Fox got out of this business for a reason. Recall they initially sold to Disney (parent to ESPN), who then divested the RSNs due to anti-trust concerns. Gen Z spends less time with televised sports than older generations.

MWmetalhead wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 28, 2023 6:28 am

Gen Z spends less time with televised sports than older generations.

And those that do aren't subscribing to old school cable TV packages. Bally wasn't willing to budge on price for the OTT providers and lost carriage there, relegating themselves to the bloated, failing cable TV model.

I don't know their business model and have never seen a balance sheet. But I've never understood how a regional sports network could make money with the glut of on-air personalities they employ for their pre- and post- game shows. Unless it's NY, LA, and maybe Chicago. The only time I ever see those programs is when I'm out in public and they are on an establishment's TV. With no volume. Seems like a colossal waste of money.

Truthfully, I've never understood a business model where the only relevant programming (live game coverage) runs for only 3 or 4 hours with 20-21 hours each day that amounts to little more than a fancy test pattern.

$9.6 billion was paid by Sinclair to Disney for this cluster----, and nearly all of that price tag was financed with debt.

Bear in mind the legacy Fox RSNs are not seen in New York, Boston, Chicago, Philly, or San Francisco, five of the biggest sports markets in the country. Other companies run the RSNs in those markets. Nor are they seen in Seattle or Houston.

NFL teams show their preseason games on broadcast TV, many marquee NBA matchups can be found on ESPN or TNT in the same markets where Bally airs those contests, and most major collegiate conferences air all of their men's basketball and football contests on national TV or on conference-branded cable networks.

Imagine paying $9.6 billion and thinking people were going to subscribe to cable to watch the shitty Tigers and Wings teams of the past few years.

CurlyHoward wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 29, 2023 9:14 am

Imagine paying $9.6 billion and thinking people were going to subscribe to cable to watch the shitty Tigers and Wings teams of the past few years.

Thank you! Maybe if any of the teams were worth a shit, they'd have half a chance. Maybe.

Strange timing, as Fubo TV is adding the Bally Sports networks some time in February. I recently got an email message from Fubo that their monthly rate is going up by almost $20. Not sure if that is true for all subscribers, but I live in an area with 3 available Bally Sports Networks: Detroit, Great Lakes and Ohio, so maybe they were going to charge for each of them. Either way, that was enough for me to cancel my Fubo subscription.

Since the Red Wings are decent, I just started paying $21 a month for the app right before the All Star break, couldn't have time it worse! I probably will cancel it in April. I think the production is good but the app for me is glitchy where at least once I will lose video and retain audio causing me to restart it.

ESPN+ is SO much better so I hope they will ultimately sell it to them for another subscription price bump. Then again, Diamond apparently would have been able to go for years with the status quo if they did not have the debt, So I assume $21 a month next winter is in my future. The bondholders in the long run will take a major loss as the sell the equity unless young people get more interested in watching sports.

80sTalkRadioFan wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 29, 2023 11:38 pm

Strange timing, as Fubo TV is adding the Bally Sports networks some time in February. I recently got an email message from Fubo that their monthly rate is going up by almost $20. Not sure if that is true for all subscribers, but I live in an area with 3 available Bally Sports Networks: Detroit, Great Lakes and Ohio, so maybe they were going to charge for each of them. Either way, that was enough for me to cancel my Fubo subscription.

Price-gouging northwest Ohioans for Bally Sports Ohio, what a fucking joke. There is NOTHING of interest around here on that channel besides the Cavs, who are probably still the #2 NBA team in Toledo after the Pistons such as it were. Certainly nobody this far north cares about the Reds.

I haven't paid to watch any sports for 5 years. I have been streaming for 12 years, and with no options (until very recently) most streamers use rouge VPN services to get content. That's how the Napster generation watches sports. I read that one such operation had over 10,000 streamers for just one game.

I'd probably pay a subscription, but it better be easy and work on my devices.

CurlyHoward wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 02, 2023 9:18 am

80sTalkRadioFan wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 29, 2023 11:38 pm

Strange timing, as Fubo TV is adding the Bally Sports networks some time in February. I recently got an email message from Fubo that their monthly rate is going up by almost $20. Not sure if that is true for all subscribers, but I live in an area with 3 available Bally Sports Networks: Detroit, Great Lakes and Ohio, so maybe they were going to charge for each of them. Either way, that was enough for me to cancel my Fubo subscription.

Price-gouging northwest Ohioans for Bally Sports Ohio, what a fucking joke. There is NOTHING of interest around here on that channel besides the Cavs, who are probably still the #2 NBA team in Toledo after the Pistons such as it were. Certainly nobody this far north cares about the Reds.

Bally's Ohio also carries the Blue Jackets, and Great Lakes has the Guardians.

radioandtventhusiast wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 03, 2023 2:44 pm

CurlyHoward wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 02, 2023 9:18 am

80sTalkRadioFan wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 29, 2023 11:38 pm

Strange timing, as Fubo TV is adding the Bally Sports networks some time in February. I recently got an email message from Fubo that their monthly rate is going up by almost $20. Not sure if that is true for all subscribers, but I live in an area with 3 available Bally Sports Networks: Detroit, Great Lakes and Ohio, so maybe they were going to charge for each of them. Either way, that was enough for me to cancel my Fubo subscription.

Price-gouging northwest Ohioans for Bally Sports Ohio, what a fucking joke. There is NOTHING of interest around here on that channel besides the Cavs, who are probably still the #2 NBA team in Toledo after the Pistons such as it were. Certainly nobody this far north cares about the Reds.

Bally's Ohio also carries the Blue Jackets, and Great Lakes has the Guardians.

Oh, well the Blue Jackets are DEFINITELY worth paying for

LOL...At least not this year. Can't watch the Blue Jackets in Toledo/Lucas county Ohio anyway, due to NHL's territorial restrictions, Blue Jackets games are blacked out, except when they play the Red Wings.