Paying Fans Being Sent Up Stream

Like always, this is perhaps the greatest week of viewing and listening for fans of multiple sports with so many choices and so little time. NBCSN was blessed with a pair of Game 7 thrillers in its Stanley Cup coverage, including the double overtime Carolina vs. Washington battle.

Thursday (4/25) featured the extensive NFL Draft coverage, with ABC-TV providing a mostly separate feed from the more "serious" ESPN coverage while NFL Network did its version. Early ratings, available at press time, showed the ABC-TV version with slightly improved ratings over Fox Network's coverage of last year's first round in prime time.

Over at TNT, they had the coincidence of NBA legend Kevin McHale on as the analyst for its Game 6 telecast of the Denver vs. San Antonio first round series, during which the news came that McHale's former teammate and NBA legend John Havlicek has passed away at the age of 79. McHale's heartfelt reaction, understandably, took precedence over much of the 3rd quarter of the telecast.

Kudos to MLB Network for switching its scheduled telecast of Friday (4/26) from the originally scheduled Brewers vs. Mets game to the Oakland at Toronto game which marked the debut of Vlad Guerrero Jr. in a Blue Jays uniform.


However, fans are getting more caught up in the growing controversy regarding the availability of the league owned/operated networks. The potential disaster for fans began last week with the announcement that AT&T is dropping NFL Network from DirecTV Now and U-Verse. The silver lining for fans is that we still have more than three months before the regular season begins.

The NFL is fighting back with AT&T by pulling Sunday Ticket from DirecTV Now, although they have not pulled it from DirecTV. However, the NFL is reportedly trying to make its Sunday Ticket available via more sources than "only" DirecTV. Multiple reports claim the NFL is negotiating with Amazon and Disney (ESPN+) to also be able to offer Sunday Ticket.

This is turning into a high stakes game between the NFL and the networks, although the fans will be the ones to get screwed with even higher costs across the board. The hunch from here is that DirecTV Now and U-Verse will get NFL Network back in return for the NFL being able to take away the DirecTV exclusivity on Sunday ticket. It's the NFL putting the squeeze on by costing AT&T subscribers either way. Fans will leave AT&T to get NFL Network elsewhere, or fans will leave DirecTV if they can get a better deal which includes Sunday Ticket.

There is no precedence for this situation because the NFL is the only one of the four major pro leagues that has had an exclusive with one provider for its extended coverage.

However, MLB is involved in the process of the upcoming sale of the Fox Sports Regional networks, continuing to pursue a part ownership interest in them even though it only involves some of the its teams.

Fox Business reports that Sinclair Broadcasting appears to be the bidding leader for the group of regional networks, while the N Y Post reported that Amazon is proposing a partnership with Sinclair. At the same time, MLB is supposedly in discussions to obtain a minority partnership with Sinclair with regard to the potential purchase and ownership.

The Fox RSN's, which include YES Network (NYC), currently air a total of 44 pro sports teams from MLB, NBA, and the NHL. The winning bidder for this deal also receives streaming rights, which is the reason why Amazon is keeping tabs.

What all this really means is that it shows how the NFL and MLB are working in different ways to keep raising our monthly bills. By involving streaming rights, it becomes a factor in terms of also including the cord cutters by increasing streaming fees.


BOSTON: The Nielsen radio ratings for March into early April show the widest margin between the sports radio rivals WBZ-FM and WEEI-FM in several years. WBZ-FM Sports Hub held steady for a third place finish in total audience. WEEI-FM dropped one-half of a ratings point, falling out of the top 10 (#11 overall), and now with only half of the total audience of WBZ-FM.

Typically, WEEI-FM jumps back up during the summer as flagship station of the Red Sox. However, the team's slow start could be a factor for the current ratings period.


SAN DIEGO: More than two weeks later, still no return of XPRS The Mighty 1090 to the airwaves after its sudden shut down reportedly due to non-payment of station lease fees. The sports station had been in place since 2003 and served as the Padres flagship for 12 seasons through 2016.

Still too soon to tell what will become of its local broadcast rights. The station had been airing both San Diego State football and basketball as well as University of San Diego football and basketball (as its live schedule allowed). In addition, the Mighty 1090 was the San Diego station for the Los Angeles Rams, banking on local fans disowning the Chargers when they relocated in L.A.

Some of the on-air hosts, still under contract to the station, continue to air their shows via the station's web site and app.


Finally, CBS Sports Network continues to show its need for programming and is picking up local feeds of up to 40 WNBA games this summer. These telecasts will be scheduled for times which do not conflict with the ESPN/ABC package of games (which they originate) or NBA-TV's package, from which they (also) air the various local telecasts.