MASN and NBC Regional Sports Networks removed from DISH TV, SLING TV
- Thread starter Scott Greczkowski
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I’m done with dish once our current contract is up. I like watching the Cardinals and the Royals during baseball season. They are our home teams so extra innings is out of the question. We all end up paying for channels we don’t watch so no one will do per channel pricing.
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The reference is out of date, but the lesson is still there.
"Why are sports so important to cable TV? Because a customer cannot go to Blockbuser and rent tonight's game."
In a sports content free environment, assuming a customer lives where a good OTA signal exists (and thus not only the networks, but the "diginets" whose constant rerun programming mirrors what is on most commercial non-sports channels) , and where they can get reasonable internet and thus free packages like STIRR, Pluto, Crackle, XUMO, and Tubi; why would someone pay for DISH. Or, put more broadly, assuming the above, why would someone pay for DISH over some combination of Apple TV, Prime, Netflix, Peacock, HBO Max, etc, etc ?
The answer is becoming very hard to answer.
"Why are sports so important to cable TV? Because a customer cannot go to Blockbuser and rent tonight's game."
In a sports content free environment, assuming a customer lives where a good OTA signal exists (and thus not only the networks, but the "diginets" whose constant rerun programming mirrors what is on most commercial non-sports channels) , and where they can get reasonable internet and thus free packages like STIRR, Pluto, Crackle, XUMO, and Tubi; why would someone pay for DISH. Or, put more broadly, assuming the above, why would someone pay for DISH over some combination of Apple TV, Prime, Netflix, Peacock, HBO Max, etc, etc ?
The answer is becoming very hard to answer.
BAMTech is the streaming platform that Disney bought for Plus.
Disney Streaming - Wikipedia
I logged on to my Dish Account and attempted to leave them feedback because it says they want to hear from us. Guess what link doesn't work? The "Leave feedback" link. No email, no physical mail address either.
So when can I expect a credit on my bill for the channels that I did watch and now they took away? Out of Amreicas top 250 (or whatever it's called) less than ten channels were ever watched, now it's worse.
This is like going to the grocery strore and after paying your bill the bagger takes out several items from your bag and restocks them for your protection but without a credit!
So when can I expect a credit on my bill for the channels that I did watch and now they took away? Out of Amreicas top 250 (or whatever it's called) less than ten channels were ever watched, now it's worse.
This is like going to the grocery strore and after paying your bill the bagger takes out several items from your bag and restocks them for your protection but without a credit!
Good question!
The only time anyone watches ESPN, is when they have a game that has one of your favorite teams.
Other than that, I would speculate that ESPN, gets watched less than the regional sports networks.
The only place ESPN is watched is in your local sports bar.
I would gladly like to see Dish drop ESPN, if it meant a reduction on my bill.
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The difference with that is Dish allows customers to remove the locals. I am not paying the $12 for the locals. I am guessing locals cost more than $12 (at least some of the locals) and the rest is absorbed somewhere, but there is the option for me to remove it. If the RSN's allowed them to be removed they would still be on Dish.
Remember the early days when ESPN carried NHL Arm Wrestling?I really like the Ax Throwing and Corn Holing Championships.
I remember when ESPN first started and they had every odd ball sport they could show.
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I say all this talk of DISH not dropping prices isn't really correct or there is another way to look at it.
They have already proven they do care about costs. Dropping RSN's I'm sure was not a decision taken lightly but DISH knew the day was coming . They don't cave to locals costs. And then there is the Current Customer incentives.
It isn't literally a price drop but accomplishes the same, I have not had a price increase in 4 years for the Top 200, and now have another 2 to go with no increase. I can not get those channels, with only a $10 DVR fee and no charge for three receivers anywhere for what I am paying. The cost Spectrum keeps sending me is more and that's their special offer.
Further you are comparing a very different situation to most all others. I don't think DISH can tell Disney to take their channels and go home, the person that posted DISH would lose too many customers is probably correct. And DISH has no control over Disney insisting all their channels come as a package. And on top of that this isn't locals or RSN's we are talking about. It's Cable Disney channels and the major National Sports channels.
They probably won't as Ergen has stated MANY, MANY times that ESPN has a larger audience and has produces MANY live events all year 'round. While he has stated the ESPN is expensive, he sees some value in a channel like that that has broad appeal with all sorts of different sports featured, even stuff like XGames, etc, it is a variety of sports channel with sufficient highly rated sports events to make some economic sense.
Ergen's complaint for at least over a decade now has been with RSN's and those exclusive boutique sports channels that feature only ONE or TWO local teams that are also very expensive and produce programming outside the live games that appeal to virtually no one. The RSN's have far fewer viewership and LIMITED appeal for the high rates they can demand--and virtually ALL subscribers pay for that channels even if they don't watch them. Rupert Murdoch SOLD those RSN's because he saw the writing on the wall, while still keeping the FS1 and FS2 channels attempt the ESPN model.
The reason RSN's--and even ESPN--will never go A la carte is because they could NEVER get the funds necessary to pay for all the costs that go into the big and smaller sports rights and production. The ONLY way TV MVPD sports services can afford to buy and produce/televise, and make some money is to charge virtually every single subscriber on any MVPD service, and that means the (vast) majority of MVPD subscribers who NEVER watch any of the sports channels. And it is not jsut the additional FEES chareged to all MVPD's subscribers, but it also gurantees tha largest potential audience (touting access/availability to a larger number of viewers/eyballs) when counting all the subscribers who NEVER watch the channels. So, the loss of Ad revenue has to be calcuated along with loss of per subscriber fees to those who never watch the RSN to begin with.
I say GREAT! As I had stated in another thread, my sports overload brother no longer depends upon RSN's as part of his Dish services because he has moved on to League Apps and other on-line methods to get his local and national sports fix.
And this brings to the final point: Dish and other MVPD's are being asked to pay some of the most expensive programming fees like those charged by RSN's of all channels for content that is NO LONGER EXCLUSIVE Live broadcasts. Now, the value to an MVPD like Dish for such RSN's has been greatly eroded because the very same content (games and events) being available on other platforms, especially on-line--LIVE. This is a trend for all TV content, but ESPECIALLY troublesome for sports LIVE content that only has great value while it is LIVE (remember ESPN Classic? What a rousing success that channel was). People may be willing to wait some weeks, months or longer for the Discover+ content to appear on their MVPD as NEW programming, but that model aint gonna cut if for SPORTS.
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Quite a few - including me. But clearly not enough of people like me to change their opinions on this subject.
