Matt also spoke about it on the KCRW show/pod The Business.
/Doug east...@mcd.on.ca On Fri, May 24, 2024, 16:52 PGage <pga...@gmail.com> 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.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>* > 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. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkYLLJfC8UJdyfQNmQb8cDEYaExOVKz2413V%3D162McdOH0g%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkYLLJfC8UJdyfQNmQb8cDEYaExOVKz2413V%3D162McdOH0g%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAK5Q1BrxwgcKvWUez24EqYy_AryGJXrqLUmbKSPppgo2OXpAoQ%40mail.gmail.com.
