• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

One of the Biggest Cable Companies Says Cable TV Isn’t Working / Can ESPN Survive?

Charter customers lose out on some major sporting events and other programming, but hey, they DO get 15 bucks back!

Charter Offers $15 Credit Amid Ongoing Disney Dispute​

www.kiplinger.com

Charter and Disney Settle Dispute, Restore Most Channels

Under Disney-Charter deal, most of Disney's networks and channels will be restored to Spectrum's video customers.
www.kiplinger.com www.kiplinger.com
Cable and satellite operator Charter Communications is reportedly offering a $15 credit to customers who request it while The Walt Disney Company is urging pay TV users to switch to its Hulu Live service, as the companies continue a battle over distribution fees.
Click to expand...
According to several media reports, Spectrum is “quietly offering” the $15 credit to customers who request it in an attempt to placate angry viewers and keep them from switching services.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Simplifying this, Charter is saying that Disney has moved most of its high quality programming off of Disney Channel to Disney+ and off of ABC and FX to Hulu," LightShed Partners said in an analysts note. "In turn, if Charter subscribers are going to pay upwards of $20/sub/month for Disney, linear networks such as Disney Channel, ABC and FX, they should get Disney's ad-supported streaming offerings at no extra cost."

www.cbsnews.com

Disney temporarily lowers price of Disney+ subscription to $1.99

The lowered price comes as Disney is in the middle of a carrier fee dispute with Spectrum's parent company Charter.
www.cbsnews.com www.cbsnews.com
 

Hochul demands Spectrum issue refunds for Disney channels customers aren’t getting​

www.syracuse.com

Hochul demands Spectrum issue refunds for Disney channels customers aren’t getting

Dispute between the cable company and Disney is keeping Spectrum customers from watching ESPN, other channels.
www.syracuse.com www.syracuse.com
Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday called on Spectrum to issue refunds to customers who are not receiving ESPN and other channels during the cable company’s dispute with Disney.
Hochul said she has directed the Department of Public Service to ensure Spectrum delivers refunds to New York consumers who have experienced disrupted service amid the ongoing cable dispute between Spectrum’s owner, Charter Communications, and The Walt Disney Co.
Nearly 15 million cable viewers nationwide – including more than 1.5 million in New York – lost access to ESPN, ACC Network, FX, the Disney Channel, Disney-owned ABC affiliates, among other channels, on Aug. 31 when Disney pulled them from Spectrum’s cable TV systems in a dispute over renewal of the companies’ distribution deal.
Click to expand...
 
Well, at least Spectrum is issuing some refunds. DirecTV never did for all the months in 2018-19 that our local FOX station was yanked. If they want to play a pi$$ing match with owners or networks, they should give $10-20 back to the customer. In this age of inflation...why not?
 
crainbebo said:
Well, at least Spectrum is issuing some refunds. DirecTV never did for all the months in 2018-19 that our local FOX station was yanked. If they want to play a pi$$ing match with owners or networks, they should give $10-20 back to the customer. In this age of inflation...why not?
Click to expand...
Might as well, Spectrum is a cable company. ESPN/ABC is part of the Disney Corporation. Few customers love their cable company. You certainly can't say that about Disney!
 
CTListener said:
Might as well, Spectrum is a cable company. ESPN/ABC is part of the Disney Corporation. Few customers love their cable company. You certainly can't say that about Disney!
Click to expand...
I "like" Disney even less than my cable provider; they force my cable system to charge me about $400 a year for ESPN, with no choice of disabling it. I have never used ESPN, never will.

The forced charges for sports channels are what will make me finally cancel cable altogether this year.
 
crainbebo said:
Well, at least Spectrum is issuing some refunds. DirecTV never did for all the months in 2018-19 that our local FOX station was yanked. If they want to play a pi$$ing match with owners or networks, they should give $10-20 back to the customer. In this age of inflation...why not?
Click to expand...
And that should be on a per month basis until the dispute is settled not just once.
 
PTBoardOp94 said:
It appears ESPN will not be restored on Charter/Spectrum systems in time for Monday Night Football's season debut. But Charter has a trump card outside the ABC O&O markets: MNF is being aired on ABC because of the writer's strike.

Click to expand...
Not necessarily. When Disney and YouTube TV had their spat in 2021, not only were the Disney-owned networks and stations blacked out, but so were ABC affiliates nationwide. This was regardless of station ownership or non-network programming (including local news and syndicated shows) they also aired, because they aired Disney content over their transmitters. Don't rule out that happening this time.
 
PTBoardOp94 said:
It appears ESPN will not be restored on Charter/Spectrum systems in time for Monday Night Football's season debut. But Charter has a trump card outside the ABC O&O markets: MNF is being aired on ABC because of the writer's strike.

Click to expand...
yep, if it's not in a O&O market for ABC like LA or New York, then you will still see Monday's game, especially in Dallas where WFAA (owned by TEGNA) is still on Charter Spectrum's lineup
 
From the article:
If ESPN can’t get carriage on Charter, “they will ultimately go bankrupt,” Greenfield said. “ESPN has fixed contracts with sports leagues going out a decade or more. If their revenues and advertising collapse, they don’t have a business.”
Click to expand...
If ESPN (and the other networks) don't have a business, neither does the Sports Mafia (Read: MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA, etc). Both pro and college sports have been sucking off the cable/satellite teat for 40 years, and that must end.

It's long past time for player salaries to be cut 75-90%, which would still allow the best players to be quite wealthy ($5-10M/yr instead of $50M), and the minimum salaries would still be high enough to allow the kids coming up to be well off. It would be a major court battle -- possibly ending up at SCOTUS -- and there might even be strikes/lockouts for one or more seasons, but it MUST be done for the system to survive at all.
 
KeithE4 said:
From the article:

If ESPN (and the other networks) don't have a business, neither does the Sports Mafia (Read: MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA, etc). Both pro and college sports have been sucking off the cable/satellite teat for 40 years, and that must end.

It's long past time for player salaries to be cut 75-90%, which would still allow the best players to be quite wealthy ($5-10M/yr instead of $50M), and the minimum salaries would still be high enough to allow the kids coming up to be well off. It would be a major court battle -- possibly ending up at SCOTUS -- and there might even be strikes/lockouts for one or more seasons, but it MUST be done for the system to survive at all.
Click to expand...
That being said, there is no way that the networks will be able to get out of their current contracts short of filing bankruptcy. But they can, and must, make it clear that once the current deals are done, the next contract will be a fraction of the current ones.

Would Big Tech (Amazon, Apple) step in and overspend? Only to the detriment of their shareholders, which of course will (I hope) never be allowed to happen. I would think that people with that kind of money to invest aren't stupid, and wouldn't authorize their Boards to do so. The sports gravy train is thisclose to being derailed.
 
TheBigA said:
In a word: Yes. These are trillion dollar companies. Their stockholders don't care. They're all swimming in money.

They will overspend and put sports behind paywalls.
Click to expand...
Short term (5-10 years max), maybe. Long term, no way. It'll be deja vu Big Cable all over again. This business model is just not sustainable over the long term.

And it has to start with the leagues slashing these overblown salaries, both professional players and college coaches. No way should the highest-paid public official in any state be the football or basketball (men's or women's program) coach.
 
TheBigA said:
Never gonna happen. There's always someone with deep pockets.
Click to expand...
There's a reason these guys have deep pockets. They're not fool enough to invest in something that won't make them money. The Sports Gravy Train is close to derailing. Very close. Name one individual investor, even at the Multi-billionaire level that's willing to invest in, for example, the NFL, should the need arise.
 
KeithE4 said:
Name one individual investor, even at the Multi-billionaire level that's willing to invest in, for example, the NFL, should the need arise.
Click to expand...

You make this too easy. Ever hear of Josh Harris? He founded Apollo Management. He now owns the Washington Commanders.

www.espn.com

Group led by Josh Harris finalizes deal to buy Commanders

A group led by Josh Harris has finalized a deal to buy the Commanders from Dan and Tanya Snyder for what sources told ESPN is a record $6.05 billion. It is subject to NFL approval.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

Larry said:
Isn’t this the status quo? Most local team games (except NFL) have long left broadcast tv and are only available via regional sports networks on cable or some other paid subscription
Click to expand...

When the AFC and NFC merged, there was an act of congress to keep the nfl on broadcast tv.


The Act granted a limited antitrust exemption to professional sports leagues. Individual teams within a league could now pool and sell their rights to televise their games and rights to league games as a whole could now be offered to the networks. Congress effectively reversed Judge Grim's 1961 judgment. TheNFL's reliance on the Sports Broadcasting Act has allowed it to create and develop its present state of television coverage.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom