Dan Patrick earlier this week asked Charles Barkley about the possibility of the TNT studio crew (or at least Chuck and Shaq) forming an LLC, I guess, and offering their collective services to another network if WBD loses out... Chuck noted that Ernie Johnson might be under a personal deal that would prevent all four of them (Kenny Smith) from going, but appeared open to the deal... I'm waiting on Shaq to weigh in on this, either that or tell DP to shut up in classic fashion... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IwWcZqn5K8 (link) B
On Friday, May 24, 2024 at 4:52:36 PM UTC-4 PGage wrote: > From Puck News, a good summary of current status of NBA rights, and what > appears to be another fumble by Zaz. TNT still has a chance to match one of > these deals, but as explained, not clear how they could, and Zaz may be > taking humiliating route of positioning himself for a nuisance relief > settlement. > > My only quibble with the summary is Puck may be underestimating the > significance of the multiple Emmy winning TNT NBA studio show. If I were > Adam Silver I would be looking into some kind of creative deal where WBD > licenses “Inside the NBA” to like Amazon. > > *===============* > > *Matt Belloni…* > > *“ NBA air ball*: Man, is *Adam Silver* *annoyed* with *David Zaslav* and > the Warner Bros. Discovery team, per two sources familiar with his > thinking. At this point, the NBA commissioner is basically Ferris Bueller > after the credits roll: *Go home, David… it’s over*. As my colleague *John > Ourand*reported, the league has selected its preferred broadcast > partners, and they’re *not* Warner Discovery/Turner. Disney/ESPN gets the > A package for $2.8 billion a year, Comcast/NBC swipes the B package for > about $2.5 billion—a big increase from the $1.2 billion that Turner is > paying, and for far *fewer* games—and Amazon Prime Video lands a new C > package for just under $2 billion. That’s about $7 billion a year for the > NBA, *waaay* up from $2.6 billion in the current deals, and it allows the > league to escape the cable TV quicksand for more broadcast, with the > favorable demos of streaming and the financial heft of Amazon. Not bad. > > But Zaslav won’t let it go, today floating in a CNBC *story > <https://email.puck.news/e/c/eyJlbWFpbF9pZCI6ImRnVDJ4Z1lEQU9lN0FlYTdBUUdQcU04MXlSQnVScFRZUm4zNFJQRT0iLCJocmVmIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuY25iYy5jb20vMjAyNC8wNS8yMy93YXJuZXItYnJvcy1kaXNjb3ZlcnktY29uc2lkZXJzLW1hdGNoaW5nLW5iYS1wYWNrYWdlLXNsYXRlZC1mb3ItYW1hem9uLmh0bWw_dXRtX2NhbXBhaWduPVdoYXQrSSUyN20rSGVhcmluZystK1NVQlNDUklCRVJTKyUyODUlMkYyMyUyRjI0JTI5XHUwMDI2dXRtX2NvbnRlbnQ9V2hhdCtJJTI3bStIZWFyaW5nKy0rU1VCU0NSSUJFUlMrJTI4NSUyRjYlMkYyNCUyOVx1MDAyNnV0bV9tZWRpdW09ZW1haWxfYWN0aW9uXHUwMDI2dXRtX3NvdXJjZT1jdXN0b21lci5pb1x1MDAyNnV0bV90ZXJtPWY2YzYwNjAwZTZiYjAxZTdiYjAxIiwiaW50ZXJuYWwiOiJmNmM2MDYwMGU2YmIwMWU3YmIwMSIsImxpbmtfaWQiOjg5NDU2Mn0/5742a4957745f0d23ea47ff1a71117a17b1d4235e5cba11e67fbc9a8a2a7bab1>*that > > WBD might try to match not the package he’s losing but *Amazon’s*—a > position previewed on Sunday by my partner *Bill Cohan*. Once the three > deals are presented to Warner Discovery (the NBA still needs clarity on > All-Star Weekend and a couple international and local issues, I’m told), > Zaz & Co. will have five days to match—but it’s unclear what that even > means. The packages awarded and the platforms offered look *very* different > from the current deals—and the “matching rights” language is old and > doesn’t contemplate the disparity of assets. > > What’s clear is the NBA no longer *wants* Turner. Comcast’s *Brian > Roberts* is reportedly offering the prime real estate of two primetime > games a week on NBC, which WBD can’t “match” because it doesn’t have a > broadcast network. Nor can Zaslav likely “match” Amazon’s offer because he > would never put all the games exclusively on his streamer, even if he could > scrounge together the huge fee for a small selection of games. Zaz wants to > upsell Max subscribers to watch some games, limiting their reach. Why would > the NBA want that? > > Silver has been irked by Zaslav since his “We don’t have to have the NBA” > comments back in 2022, a clear misstep. During the exclusive negotiation > window, Disney’s *Bob Iger*and *Jimmy Pitaro* locked in a handshake deal > while Zaz and his sports guy, *Luis Silberwasser*, whined about the cost, > according to two sources familiar with the negotiation. Bloomberg *reported > <https://email.puck.news/e/c/eyJlbWFpbF9pZCI6ImRnVDJ4Z1lEQU9lN0FlYTdBUUdQcU04MXlSQnVScFRZUm4zNFJQRT0iLCJocmVmIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmxvb21iZXJnLmNvbS9uZXdzL25ld3NsZXR0ZXJzLzIwMjQtMDUtMjQvYS0yMDAtbWlsbGlvbi1kaWZmZXJlbmNlLW1heS1jb3N0LWRhdmlkLXphc2xhdi10aGUtbmJhP2NtcGlkPXNjcmVlbnRpbWVcdTAwMjZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPWVtYWlsXHUwMDI2dXRtX3NvdXJjZT1uZXdzbGV0dGVyXHUwMDI2dXRtX3Rlcm09MjQwNTI0XHUwMDI2dXRtX2NhbXBhaWduPXNjcmVlbnRpbWVcdTAwMjZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249V2hhdCtJJTI3bStIZWFyaW5nKy0rU1VCU0NSSUJFUlMrJTI4NSUyRjIzJTJGMjQlMjlcdTAwMjZ1dG1fY29udGVudD1XaGF0K0klMjdtK0hlYXJpbmcrLStTVUJTQ1JJQkVSUyslMjg1JTJGNiUyRjI0JTI5XHUwMDI2dXRtX21lZGl1bT1lbWFpbF9hY3Rpb25cdTAwMjZ1dG1fc291cmNlPWN1c3RvbWVyLmlvXHUwMDI2dXRtX3Rlcm09ZjZjNjA2MDBlNmJiMDFlN2JiMDEiLCJpbnRlcm5hbCI6ImY2YzYwNjAwZTZiYjAxZTdiYjAxIiwibGlua19pZCI6ODk0NTYzfQ/396d807cd325a20056f05340a98c4d2da1fb1d37c497c4e864aa449fc274f17e>* > the > disparity was just $200 million, a number that Warner Discovery > shareholders might soon put on placards if they start picketing on Olive > Avenue for Zaslav’s removal. Having bungled the negotiations, Zaz now wants > to prevent the NBA from getting into business with Amazon? And if Silver > says no, Warners might sue? That would be one of the all-time loser moves. > (And remember, this is a company that threw finished movies in the garbage > to write them off.) > > CNBC even noted that WBD might try to use the uncertainty over matching > rights to extract a settlement to go away. I haven’t confirmed that, but if > true, it suggests that Zaslav sees the writing on the wall and is looking > for backup plans. This week’s sublicense of a few College Football Playoff > games from ESPN suggests the same. It’s never a good sign when your marquee > broadcaster, in this case *Charles Barkley*, compares your company to > *Boone’s > Farm > <https://email.puck.news/e/c/eyJlbWFpbF9pZCI6ImRnVDJ4Z1lEQU9lN0FlYTdBUUdQcU04MXlSQnVScFRZUm4zNFJQRT0iLCJocmVmIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuY25iYy5jb20vMjAyNC8wNS8yMy93YXJuZXItYnJvcy1kaXNjb3ZlcnktY29uc2lkZXJzLW1hdGNoaW5nLW5iYS1wYWNrYWdlLXNsYXRlZC1mb3ItYW1hem9uLmh0bWw_dXRtX2NhbXBhaWduPVdoYXQrSSUyN20rSGVhcmluZystK1NVQlNDUklCRVJTKyUyODUlMkYyMyUyRjI0JTI5XHUwMDI2dXRtX2NvbnRlbnQ9V2hhdCtJJTI3bStIZWFyaW5nKy0rU1VCU0NSSUJFUlMrJTI4NSUyRjYlMkYyNCUyOVx1MDAyNnV0bV9tZWRpdW09ZW1haWxfYWN0aW9uXHUwMDI2dXRtX3NvdXJjZT1jdXN0b21lci5pb1x1MDAyNnV0bV90ZXJtPWY2YzYwNjAwZTZiYjAxZTdiYjAxIiwiaW50ZXJuYWwiOiJmNmM2MDYwMGU2YmIwMWU3YmIwMSIsImxpbmtfaWQiOjg5NDU2Mn0/5742a4957745f0d23ea47ff1a71117a17b1d4235e5cba11e67fbc9a8a2a7bab1>* > . > > Zaslav and Silberwasser could still match one of these deals, or they > could somehow finagle a tiny fourth package to keep *some* NBA. But why > would Silver allow that to happen? He’s got great deals at the finish line > that will grow the game and serve his owners, his players, and his fans. > It’s not like Zaslav is bringing him a platform or an audience he can’t get > elsewhere. *Inside the NBA* can be reconstituted. And will Warner > Discovery exist in 18 months? Just yesterday, former WarnerMedia C.E.O. > *Jason > Kilar* predicted that it won’t. > > Faced with these grim options, the right move here for Zaslav is to wish > the NBA well, walk away, scream fiscal prudence, pray the shareholders > understand, and invest some of those billions elsewhere in sports to keep > the cable channels at least semi-viable. UFC, more baseball, whatever. The > fact is, when the NBA decided it didn’t want Turner, the relationship was > over. Zaz should admit it and move on” > > Sent from Gmail Mobile > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. 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