DirecTV and Disney are pointing fingers at each other after rejecting offers to temporarily restore content during their carriage agreement fight. Subscribers have lacked Disney content since Sept. 1 (see 2409090003). Disney rejected a request for a carriage agreement extension that would return all Disney channels to DirecTV customers through Monday, DirecTV said Tuesday. Disney said it "remain[s] at the table negotiating with DirecTV and the restoration of our programming to their subscribers is completely within their control." Disney said DirecTV rejected a three-hour feed of NBC News coverage of Tuesday night's presidential debate. DirecTV said the arrangement would confuse subscribers.
It's clear sports drives the streaming TV market, nScreenMedia's Colin Dixon blogged Sunday. Data indicates YouTube TV's growth is seasonal, swelling during the NFL season, he said. It's "a no-brainer" for NFL fans to cancel YouTube TV at the end of the season, as they can save more than $500 a year that way, he blogged. That almost half of this season's NFL games will be available to stream without a traditional pay-TV channel bundle -- and 20 contests will be exclusively on streaming platforms -- also shows how sports is driving streaming TV, Dixon added.
Petitions to deny Skydance’s proposed $8 billion purchase of Paramount Global and its 28 CBS-owned TV stations are due Oct. 7 in docket 24-275, said an FCC public notice Friday establishing a pleading cycle for filings on the deal. Oppositions to the petitions are due Oct. 27, replies Nov. 1. Announced in July (see 2407080025), the transaction isn’t expected to run into regulatory hurdles. Paramount has said the deal is expected to close by September 2025.
ESPN's direct-to-consumer service will likely cost north of $25/month, in part because of the need to offset cord-cutting, Macquarie's Tim Nollen noted Friday. It's expected to debut in time for the 2025 pro football season and to include ESPN's linear channels and ESPN+ content as well as regional and local sports, he said.
ESPN launched a guide, "Where to Watch," for its app and website that lets sports fans find where they can watch any sport, whether on ESPN platforms, broadcast, cable, regional sports networks or other streaming services, it said this week.
Apple making podcasts accessible via browser might be the start of a strategy to regain market share lost to YouTube, Midia Research blogged Wednesday. Apple lost ground to YouTube as a podcast platform in large part due to Apple not embracing podcasting video options, it said. But Apple faces an uphill slog as YouTube's global monthly user penetration as a source of podcast consumption is more than twice Apple's. Making up that deficit would require that Apple pivot completely to video, algorithmic discovery and being format-agnostic, Midia said. That isn't likely to happen in the foreseeable future, it added.
The consortium led by media executive Edgar Bronfman bidding on a takeover of Paramount Global (see 2408220055) has withdrawn its bid, the media company said Monday night. That ends the "go shop" period laid out in the terms of Skydance Media's bid for the company, Paramount said. During the go shop period, Paramount was free to solicit other bids. Charles Phillips, chair of the Paramount board M&A special committee, said the Skydance bid "delivers immediate value and the potential for continued participation in value creation in a rapidly evolving industry landscape." Paramount said the Skydance transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2025, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. A Skydance/Paramount deal is not expected to face significant FCC or antitrust headwinds (see 2407080025).
Media executive Edgar Bronfman entered a bid for Paramount Global, Paramount said Thursday. Acting on behalf of an investor group, Bronfman has extended the "go shop" period under the transaction agreement Paramount already has with studio Skydance Media (see 2407080025), letting Paramount continue soliciting competing offers. The company said the go shop period now runs to Sept. 5. It said that the board's special committee contacted more than 50 third parties to gauge their interest in making a proposal to buy Paramount. Formerly CEO and chairman of Warner Music, Bronfman is chairman of FuboTV.
ESPN, Fox Sports and Warner Bros. Discovery are appealing the preliminary injunction awarded FuboTV blocking launch of the trio's Venu sports streaming joint venture (see 2408160040, said an appeal notice Tuesday filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (docket 1:24-cv-01363). The JV partners are appealing to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
A reasonable viewer would understand that talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel showed videos of former U.S. Rep. George Santos to comment on the New York Republican's willingness to say absurd things for money, a federal judge said Monday, dismissing Santos' copyright infringement suit against Kimmel, ABC and parent Disney. Santos sued after Kimmel solicited Cameo videos from Santos under a false name and then aired them on his late-night show. Dismissing the suit, U.S. District Court for Southern New York Judge Denise Cote ruled Kimmel's airing of the videos was fair use. In her docket 1:24-cv-01210 order, Cote waved off Santos' argument that Kimmel's use devalued the market for Cameo videos including Santos', saying the complaint doesn't identify any harm to the potential or existing market for the videos the plaintiff created.