Warner Bros. Discovery Snares U.S. Rights to French Open (EXCLUSIVE)
Warner Bros. Discovery has snared U.S. rights to the French Open, adding a new sport to its media portfolio
And with that, all four of the Grand Slam tennis tournaments have been moved off broadcast TV in the U.S.
Not exactly, I know ABC has recently shown highlights from the Australian Open, same for Wimbledon as well as some live coverage, & will this Fall air the Men's Final of the U.S. Open.And with that, all four of the Grand Slam tennis tournaments have been moved off broadcast TV in the U.S.
This continues the trend of valuable content moving from "free" to "pay" services.
People have clamored for unbundling for years. They finally got what they asked for, and now this is what it looks like.
How do you expect the winning network to pay for expensive rights contracts?This continues the trend of valuable content moving from "free" to "pay" services.
People have clamored for unbundling for years. They finally got what they asked for, and now this is what it looks like.
When you had bundled cable/satellite packages, it was baked into the price. You got a big lineup of channels. Some were interesting to you while others were not, but you paid for all of it. For example, broadcast TV stations are losing retrans consent revenue as people cut the cord in favor of streaming options that don't include local channels. That's part of why you see the migration of better content to paid services.How do you expect the winning network to pay for expensive rights contracts?
A good example is Yankee baseball. You need at least 4 services (YES, Prime, Apple TV, FOX/ESPN) to watch all of their games.
So far, it's added NASCAR and the French Open for 2025, while retaining MLB, NHL and the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Without either the NFL or NBA, it's still very much a runner-up in the sports network rankings.TNT Sports is ;loading up after losing the rights to the nba
Guess what though, cable/satellites are losing subscribers at alarming (for them) rates: https://www.lightreading.com/video-streaming/us-pay-tv-subscriber-base-eroding-at-record-paceWhen you had bundled cable/satellite packages, it was baked into the price. You got a big lineup of channels. Some were interesting to you while others were not, but you paid for all of it. For example, broadcast TV stations are losing retrans consent revenue as people cut the cord in favor of streaming options that don't include local channels. That's part of why you see the migration of better content to paid services.
So how is that different than when you also got Scientology, QVC, HSN, and My Pillow channels as part of your cable package too?Now you get to pick and choose. However, I find it odd when people complain that their bill is now higher because they need to subscribe to several services to get the same content they got with their big cable package. A good example is Yankee baseball. You need at least 4 services (YES, Prime, Apple TV, FOX/ESPN) to watch all of their games.
Not for local games they are blacked out.Or you can buy the MLB single team plan. Some of that is included.
They never really had much coverage. Mostly tape delay and a few hours live on weekends.NBC said 'au revoir' to the French Open today. Hosts Noah Eagle & Mary Carillo did the honors. John McEnroe will likely appear on TNT next year when they take up the coverage. Carillo's connection to the French Open was shown with video of her & McEnroe winning mixed doubles in 1977.