Sinclair’s Sports Channels Prepare Bankruptcy, Putting Team Payments at Risk

[MWmetalhead]

Only 46 percent of U.S. households now subscribe to traditional cable:

https://www.techdirt.com/2023/09/18/a-n ... -cable-tv/

I'm surprised by how low that number is!

Bally's being outrageously slow at rolling out a streaming app is another reason for its financial downfall. (I believe their app didn't launch until late 2022 or early 2023.)

Cable-only isn't a good way to reach audiences anymore. Cable needs to be supplemented with OTA broadcast or streaming.

[Realist]

Would love to know how many of that 54% that DON’T subscribe to cable are like me and are instead customers of DirecTV or Dish Network. I haven’t had cable for 20+ years, as I disconnected it when I was able to get another high speed internet provider, and have DirecTV

[Graham Wellington]

I said Amazon would be no different than Bally Sports — forcing viewers to pay to watch games… As opposed to the leagues negotiating rights with local, free over the air, TV stations which would increase potential viewers at a time when teams are seeing an overall decline in viewing audiences.

The only reason that is happening in the short term is that some teams (Phoenix Suns for example) had to scramble to get their games on TV due to Bally bailing on them. Do you really think for a second that when Amazon or some other large tech company starts throwing money around at the teams ditched by the RSNs, they are going to stick around with whatever pittance the local TV owners are paying?

Most of the channels that are airing these games are subchannels. Other than cheap boomers, most fans aren't going to like watching games in 480i, 4:3 ratio.

[NoozDude]

Most of the channels that are airing these games are subchannels. Other than cheap boomers, most fans aren't going to like watching games in 480i, 4:3 ratio.

Where does NEXTGEN TV (ATSC 3.0) fit into this puzzle.....IF it ever were to become the broadcast and tv manufacture standard.

[sinklair]

Graham: when you’re right, you’re right. Amazon can throw a lot of money at carriage rights. But it’ll probably face the same issue that Bally’s did… they’ll be putting a lot of money up front… in hopes that ad revenue on the back end will cover broadcast rights. But with a smaller audience due to pay walls, it’s much, much harder to raise that revenue. But money up front will likely determine the direction the leagues go.

And it’s a mistake for local affiliates to put these games on subchannels. If you’re going to be in the game of broadcasting MLB, NBA or NHL games, you’ve got to put them on your main channel with the largest audience. That could be hard with network preemption limits, though.

As for ASTC 3.0, Nooze, it’s just pie in the sky. Sinclair and other broadcasters who are behind NextGen have been pushing it for more than a decade with very little to show for it. The new broadcasting standard has promise when it comes to customizable programming and advertising. But the RSN issue is a now issue… and can’t wait for the FCC to back the transition, for local markets to adopt the new standard, and for TV manufacturers to build enough sets with the chips for viewers to be able to access the signals.

[sinklair]

Corporate bully and lover of prostitutes David Smith continues his legal fight with baseball commish Rob Manfred.

http://amp.awfulannouncing.com/mlb/sinc ... uptcy.html

Smith is claiming he never told Manfred that he would milk Diamond/Bally Sports dry in order to get back his investment into the regional sports network.

Now, none of us were in this conversation. However, just look at the facts and you know Smith is lying out of his ample butthole. Diamond is suing Sinclair because it accuses the world’s worst broadcaster of doing exactly what Manfred says Smith threatened. It wont take Perry Mason to solve this case.

I wonder how much Sinclair is paying in investor money for David Smith’s vanity lawsuit. Sometimes it’s just best to take the L and move on…

[AuburnViewer]

Amazon will make a minority investment in Diamond Sports and provide access to their content through Prime Video, allowing customers to access their local team’s content on Prime Video channels.

https://fanrecap.com/article-761499/?e_ ... a49ebd5eb3

[Matt]

Sometimes it’s just best to take the L and move on…

Is this your announcement that you are deleting your account?

[sinklair]

Matt: hell no. You’d miss me too much if I left.

The fact is Sinclair is gone — and has to pay — for its mismanagement of Diamond/Bally’s.

I don’t love that Amazon is taking over Bally’s, but it’s better than it going out of business and leaving viewers with no options to see the Tigers, Red Wings and Pistons.

[sinklair]

Sinclair is literally the only broadcaster that can take a multi-billion dollar investment, milk it dry, send it into bankruptcy, get sued for 1.5 billion, be forced to settle out of court for $495-milion dollars, and try to spin it that they won.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/busin ... 90585/amp/

[MasterB]

Why didn't the Twins try to get a new broadcaster knowing that there deal was up after the 2023 season? I'm sure Fox would've let MyNet TV to air Twins games since My Network TV is aired late at night in The Twin Cities My9+. Why didn't you buy Bally Sports Sinklair I'm sure David Smith would've sold it to you for the low price of $1 LOL .

[sinklair]

With all the free, unsolicited advice I get daily here on the Buzzboard, I’m sure I could run Bally Sports better than David Smith. As could you.