Dish/ESPN To Team Up To Finally Unleash Streaming Sports Without Cable
from the touchdown dept
For years, I've begged and pleaded with the powers that be for major American sports to be untethered from cable television and released into the world of real internet streaming options. Then the dominoes finally, albeit extremely slowly, began to drop. Even as some leagues wasted opportunities to expand streaming, like the NHL, other leagues are slowly beginning to let the door creak open. The most recent example was the NBA negotiating their broadcast contracts such that internet streaming was expanded considerably. While the expansion was real, the overall penetration in terms of the gross number of games that would be streamed is still limited. The other notable aspect of the NBA deal was that the streaming expansion was clearly being forced upon broadcasters by the NBA as part of the negotiations, rather than broadcasters themselves embracing streaming.
It looks like the times are a-changing a bit faster than even I would have thought. For what I believe is the first time, major cable sports is coming to internet-only subscribers in a partnership between ESPN and Dish.
Lots of people say they want to ditch cable TV for the Web, but can’t because they want to watch sports — specifically the stuff on ESPN, which has a hammerlock on much of the sports world. Now they will finally get a chance: Dish’s new Web-TV service, which the company is formally announcing today, lets you stream ESPN, over the Web, for $20 a month.A couple of things that you'll hear from the detractors are obvious. First, twenty bucks a month for 11 cable channels added to your ISP bill doesn't sound like the greatest deal money-wise. Add to that that this deal has been done with Dish and not a company like Comcast, AT&T, or the like and it's easy to see this move as ESPN dipping its toe in the streaming waters to see if there be sharks down there. Let me respond to both of those points: neither matters even a little bit.
Dish’s “Sling TV”* offering, which the company says will launch “soon,” also comes with 10 other non-ESPN channels, including the Food Network, CNN and the Travel Channel, and the ability to add more networks for additional fees.
This is all about trending and the trends are clearly in favor of expanded streaming by all parties that desire to stay in business. If the price point is too high for the number of channels received, it will come down to meet demand, because the demand is the driving force. If this is a Dish-only deal today, it won't be the moment ESPN recognizes the value in offering it in the future. The company will either insist other carriers offer something similar or they'll simply open up their web product directly, which I think would be the better choice for them anyway, because this is ESPN we're talking about and having them stream matters.
Getting ESPN in the streaming game means the modern concept of cable television subscriptions has had its coffin built and is awaiting the final nails. When it comes to reasons for not cutting the cord, professional sports ranks number one, and ESPN is number one in cable pro sports. Re/code is exactly on point as to how far ahead of the game this puts things.
That wasn’t supposed to happen for years, but here we are. It’s not the end of pay TV — the networks that are doing this believe they can sell this stuff on the Web without compromising their existing businesses — but it certainly could be the beginning of the end. At the very least, it’s going to be hard to roll this back.It's the opening of a floodgate and the waters are saturated with soon-to-be cord cutters. One wonders if Netflix's Reed Hastings had some idea that this was coming when he predicted the death of broadcast TV in 2030, because this sets that outcome in motion as well.
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Filed Under: cord cutting, sling tv, sports, streaming
Companies: dish, espn
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Cable and pay tv has gotten too big for it's britches. Much of that is because of broadcasters/producers like ESPN continually jacking the price. This will delay ESPN from having to face the same fate as the cable companies for a few more years before the continual jacking of prices hits them too.
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No NFL games
The service won't allow you to watch live NFL games on a phone because the NFL has an exclusive agreement with Verizon to be the sole provider of life NFL games on smartphones. This service also doesn't offer local broadcast stations. NBC, CBS and FOX have the rights to the vast majority of live NFL games. If you have a TV with an antenna that's great (or Aereo, RIP) but you can't watch those networks on your phone with this service.
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Re: No NFL games
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Dish Sling TV shortsighted
But I would like SYFY, Discovery, BBC, Hallmark and the Anime Network. I'll wager there are at the least a few hundreds of thousands of other Geeks who are of a similar mind. Dish keeps forgetting that most adult geeks have disposable income, usually equal to, but often greater than, the jocks.
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This is exciting, maybe we'll see the cords completely cut before 2030 after all!
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oh, hell yes...
NOW ?
we are gone, baby, gone...
discussed this with her, and between OTA, Amazon crap, and sling, we are cutting the cord for good...
waiting until our new house is built to finalize the switchover, but you can color us gone, baby, gone...
i'm to the point i'd just as soon throw the teevee out the window, but i only have 50% of the vote...
(okay, realistically, less than 50%...)
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Re: oh, hell yes...
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Re: oh, hell yes...
HBO is still an issue in our house...
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Re: Re: oh, hell yes...
wasn't it here i saw the announcement that hbo go was going to allow non-cable subscribers to sign up separately ? ? ?
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Re: Re: Re: oh, hell yes...
Yes, but I haven't heard what it will include or how much it will cost.
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But wait
"What happens if people really sign up for this in big numbers? After all, the four programmers Dish has signed on for this package — Disney, Turner, Scripps and A&E — are all full-fledged members of the TV Industrial Complex and have made a very good living in the old paradigm, where people pay a bunch of money for a bunch of networks, whether or not they watch them. Wouldn’t the success of Sling TV threaten their existing business? Dish, for its part, insists that it plans to sign up “millions” of people for the new service. But sources say ESPN has a clause that gives it the ability to get out of Sling TV if the service signs up a certain number of subscribers, precisely for that reason; I’m assuming the other programmers have one as well."
So there may be a getout if it's too popular because that risks 'upsetting' the TV IC. I'd want to know about that before signing up (and we are a household who have managed somehow to live without a paid TV package for a decade). Though since I understand it's 20/mo with no contract I suppose the max someone would be out if a favorite vanished would be 20. But, but.. We still need to know more.
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My hope is that this service will come with few, if any, strings attached. (I can dream, can't I?)
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Sling
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XBMC anyone?
It has a bit of a learning curve, but check it out. You won't regret it.
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Sling TV (right now) is great for basketball fans.
If you're a hockey fan, forget it. There's no way Dish and Comcast come to terms here, especially if Charlie Ergen gets on Capitol Hill and starts screaming about data caps being uncompetitive.
Here's a guide to help you figure out if Sling TV is right for you:
http://www.whatyoupayforsports.com/2015/01/is-sling-tv-right-for-you-a-guide-for-potential-cord- cutters/
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Re: Sling TV (right now) is great for basketball fans.
in this case, just about every point was 'yes, you do want to tell your crap cable/satellite greedtards to go piss up a rope...'
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Sports streaming HD for free
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