YouTube TV has announced it will abandon Sinclair-owned regional sports networks after negotiating an extension for the channels earlier this year. A number of Fox`s regional sports networks (RSNs) will no longer be available to YouTube TV subscribers as of Oct. 1, the company announced. If these streaming services were broadcasting regional sports networks, why did so many of them abandon them? On the one hand, there won`t be much suffering at first. At the time of writing, I left the rebroadcast of «CSI: Miami» on PlutoTV (so sue me) to review the program on the two regional sports channels in Northeast Ohio. Tennis was played on Fox Sports Ohio and a golf show aired on Fox Sportstime Ohio. Even next Saturday, little live college football has been listed and this one – third class. Sinclair and YouTube probably want Fox`s regional sports networks on YouTube TV — that helps justify the $65 monthly fee for YouTube TV subscribers. It`s just a matter of trying to force your hand. Last year, YouTube TV, Hulu with live TV, and even Dish, (at the time) stopped broadcasting Fox Sports` regional networks.
This was due to a disagreement over shipping costs with these distributors. «They are now saying that it is not coming. until at least 2022,» Gurwin said. «One thing that is very interesting in economics is that. There are so many people who subsidize sports fans in their cable package. The Twins had about 100,000 spectators and homes per game last year. There are a million and a half people in the DMA. That is a small percentage.
Even if they went directly to the consumer, it`s not something where you could charge $6.99 like Disney Plus. You would have to charge 100,000 people something like $40 a month. . I think they will use sports betting to try to subsidize these packages. So if they have to charge the consumer $40 a month to break even the fee break-even point, I could imagine a world where they say, «Hey, if you play $100 a month through our service, we`ll give you the RSNs for free.» But obviously, online sports betting is not yet legal in Minnesota. This was the latest blow for cable-cutting sports fans who were subscribed to these services or who previously had Sling TV and/or Fubo, who abandoned RSNs more than a year ago. This reflects the opinion of Twins President Dave St. Peter, who said he was not optimistic about making deals between FSN and Hulu or YouTube TV in the short term. St. Peter said he spent a lot of time on this topic this offseason, having conversations with Sinclair about the importance for fans of being able to access Twins games on television, though the Twins don`t have much influence on how negotiations between Sinclair and the carriers play out.
Those familiar with Sinclair`s tactics probably weren`t surprised that YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV and others abandoned their regional sports networks. Which have now been renamed «Bally Sports» after buying them from Disney – which they bought from Fox in 2019. Sinclair bought 21 local fox sports channels from Disney last August for $9.6 billion. These NSRs are entitled to cover 42 professional sports teams from the NBA, NHL and MLB. YouTube TV will also no longer offer the YES Network, which broadcasts New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets games on television, as Sinclair holds a 20% stake in the channel. Of the 30 MLB teams, 15 broadcast their games on Sinclair`s Fox networks. The dispute reached this stage just one month after MLB`s inaugural day on March 26. Be prepared for YouTube TV to make a main argument: «Hey, we added the NFL Network.» That`s true, but I`m not sure the channel is worth that extra $15 a month, especially since two other sports channels in this area will disappear from their programming.
Earlier this year, Google`s live TV service extended its promotion contract with FOX RSN until the end of the NBA, MLB and NHL seasons. Now that the seasons are over, YouTube TV has stated that the Fox RSN will start on 1. October will no longer be available. Expect the same long negotiations and maybe say some prayers to the gods of sport. The move comes after YouTube and Fox first spoke publicly about the release of YouTube TV`s Fox channels in February, but the two companies agreed to air the rest of the MLB, NBA and NHL seasons through 2020. As the NBA and NHL seasons draw to a close and MLB is set to end towards the end of October, the deal between Fox and YouTube will also be broken. «In recent years, there have been price increases (for streaming services). One of the most important contributions to this has been the regional sports networks,» Gurwin said.
«On average, when you get a cable bill, you see regional sports fees of $15 to $20 that are sort of hidden. One difference with these streaming services is that they have never charged a separate additional fee. It eventually became a pricing situation where Sinclair wanted more and more money every year to renew them, and since these streaming packages cost half the price of cable, they just couldn`t put it on and make it work economically. In early fall, YouTube TV and Hulu removed Sinclair`s regional sports networks — including Fox Sports North — from the list of channels they offer. Sinclair confirmed the news Wednesday with Variety, where they also mentioned hopes of a new deal to bring FOX Regional Sports Networks back to YouTube TV. George M. Thomas is a sports journalist who tries his hand at film and television for the Beacon Journal. You can reach him at gthomas@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @ByGeorgeThomas Sinclair has no further updates on his conversations with YouTube TV and Hulu with live TV customers upset by the loss of regional sports networks. I went into the details of Monday`s Daily Delivery podcast with Jason Gurwin, co-founder of The Streamable – a website that covers everything related to cable cutting and streaming.
He has written extensively in recent months on the topic of regional sports networks such as Fox Sports North and their removal from various streaming services. A standalone streaming service with all regional sports networks would work well if priced correctly. But where Sinclair has already priced most streaming providers, it`s unlikely to be cheap. It will likely be over $10 per month when it finally launches. It seems a lot just to look at your local teams. Sinclair would need to add more content to make it really worth it. «We don`t take this decision lightly. This reflects the rising cost of sports content. You`ll receive an email today if you`re affected by this change,» YouTube TV wrote in an announcement on Twitter.
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