Paramount is not planning to spin off its cable networks; Versant wants to continue working with Peacock; and SportsBubble is suing ESPN and The Walt Disney Company. Plus news on ESPN programming, Fox Sports, Netflix and Monumental Sports Network.
Paramount not planning spin-off of cable networks
The new Paramount Skydance company is not planning on spinning off its cable networks, multiple executives said Wednesday, deviating from an industry trend that has seen NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery announce spinoffs earlier in the year. “[O]ur intention is to keep the company together and invest through that lens long term,” CEO David Ellison said, responding to a question about BET.
“We’re thinking about the cable networks not as declining linear assets that we need to spin off or deal with somehow,” president Jeff Shell said. “We’re thinking of them as brands that we have to redefine.”
To that end, TV chairman George Cheeks conceded that cable is “a super challenging business” but added that the networks serve as a home to several “iconic franchises” which the company considers valuable. “We’re all seeing the pay cable business shift over to streaming, so there will be a lot of conversations about what iconic franchises we want to continue, maybe shift to streaming, etc.,” Cheeks explained. “We’re [six] days in, but I do feel like there’s a lot to preserve there.”
Paramount Skydance owns several cable channels including MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, BET, TV Land and — relevant to this website — CBS Sports Network.
Hong: Versant wants to continue working and partnering with NBCUniversal, Peacock
Versant — the spinoff company consisting of NBCUniversal cable networks — hopes to continue partnering with its soon-to-be-former parent company on sports rights, but also plans to seek partnerships with other companies, president of sports Matt Hong said in a CNBC interview. “I think one of the unique things about being separate public companies here soon is we’ll be able to potentially partner with Peacock, but we’ll also be able to partner with other third-party streamers,” Hong said. “[I]n situations where a set of rights may or may not work for Peacock but we want them at Versant, we’ll have the freedom to partner with some streamers that previously we didn’t necessarily have the freedom to partner with.”
NBCUniversal and Versant just this week partnered on a media rights deal with the USGA, marking the first rights deal the company has struck as an independent entity. The new deal sets aside several hours of USGA programming for USA Network and Golf Channel, with NBC and Peacock retaining exclusive broadcast TV and streaming rights.
“We still believe very much in the strength and the reach of the linear networks that we have for the sports division, but also for, obviously, for all of Versant inclusive of CNBC,” Hong said. “We’re also not blind to the reality of the way in which sports fans consume media, so even though this deal is principally or exclusively linear, we will also have streams that you’re able to see on GolfChannel.com starting early next year, and then probably more to talk about vis-à-vis streaming in the next couple years.”
SportsBubble suing ESPN, Disney, related to sports search product
The company SportsBubble is suing ESPN and Disney alleging misuse of its confidential trade secrets to develop and launch ESPN’s “Where to Watch” feature, which launched last year. Lydia Murphy-Stephans, a former ABC Sports programming executive who founded SportsBubble amid fragmentation in the sports media business, is seeking a jury trial and compensatory damages it anticipates to be at least $200 million. ESPN declined to comment.
Murphy-Stephans alleges that ESPN “feigned interest in a partnership with SportsBubble” and also signed a nondisclosure agreement under which it learned “confidential trade and business secrets of the company.” She says that the company used that information to create a copycat of her WatchSports software following months of negotiations that were described as “fruitless.”
“When I introduced SportsBubble to Bob Iger and ESPN executives years ago, they claimed to be excited about working with us and partnering on our flagship product, WatchSports,” Murphy-Stephans said in a statement. “But, while under NDA to evaluate WatchSports for a business partnership, they publicly announced a copycat product as if we magically didn’t exist. We firmly believe the ‘Where To Watch’ programming guide on the ESPN platforms is the same product SportsBubble presented to ESPN, and that they copied it, and put their own name on it.”
Following the public announcement by ESPN, Murphy-Stephans alleges that a lead investor prospect for SportsBubble pulled out of a planned investment on the grounds that a copycat product had diminished its value, and that league partnerships fell through for similar reasons.
Plus: ESPN, Fox Sports, Netflix, Monumental Sports Network
- In an interview with Bloomberg News, Mike Foss, senior vice president, sports studio and entertainment at ESPN, said that the company is thinking about offerings that can remain “for the long haul” in the 5 p.m. EST timeslot. ESPN has been airing an edition of “SportsCenter” during the daypart since the final episode of “Around the Horn” aired this past May.
- Fox Sports is not willing to sublicense Big Ten or Big 12 games to ESPN for a potential college football “RedZone,” according to a report from Amanda Christovich and Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports. Furthermore, it was reported that Fox would require a significant ownership stake in the venture in order to be willing to participate.
- Netflix has sold out its in-game advertising inventory for its broadcasts of NFL Christmas Day games. The streaming company, which has more than 300 million subscribers, has also closed sponsorship deals with partners such as Google, Accenture, FanDuel and Verizon.
- Monumental Sports Network is moving to the Xfinity Ultimate TV tier beginning on September 15. While the regional sports network, which televises Wizards, Capitals and Mystics games, had previously been on the Popular TV tier, customers are receiving a free preview through September 30.
