from Brian Steinberg of Variety,
It’s a game-changer.
Fox Corp., Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney are set to launch a new streaming joint venture that will make all of their sports programming available under a single broadband roof, a move that will put content from ESPN, TNT and Fox Sports on a new standalone app and, in the process, likely shake up the world of TV sports.
The three media giants are slated to launch the new service in the fall. Subscribers would get access to linear sports networks including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, ABC, Fox, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, truTV and ESPN+, as well as hundreds of hours from the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL and many top college divisions. Pricing will be announced at a later date, but the companies will likely look for an monthly subscription that is more than a consumer would pay for a standalone regional sports network, which costs $20 to $30 per month, and less than a larger digital programming package such as Hulu Live or YouTubeTV, which cost around $75 to $80 per month, according to a person familiar with current discussions.
The new joint venture, currently unnamed, is seen as a way for Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery to gain back some of the lucrative affiliate fees they have lost as their cable subscribers have cut the cord ad moved to streaming outlets as their primary source of video entertainment. The new venture would pay its three corporate parents for licensing rights, essentially creating a new distribution partner.
Oh good, another streaming service to pay for.
I am guessing they will find a way to block games from the current way to watch, at least gradually, to try to move people to this new service. I do have a hard time imagining they'll all agree on how this is going to work though, and could see it stalling out.
If it covers ALL NHL games on ESPN, TNT and Fox Sports, that goes a long way towards covering all NHL games for hockey fans.
The problem is going to be that the cost is going to cover other sports, which I could care less about. I seriously doubt they can pull that off for less than $30/month.
I'm not a fan of hulu, but that's our best option for NHL games. I'm not very techy but their service sucks balls, while Netflix and Amazon are perfect, o I'm assuming the issue is not local internet. Some nights the games are so blurry I can't even make out the numbers on the sweaters.
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