How have changes in audience television viewing habits, particularly the shift to on-demand streaming options, impacted live sports broadcasts? What are some of the ways sports broadcasting outlets are adapting to keep audiences engaged? Offer specific examples to support your points. Limit: 13 responses
Danielle Zerbo
ReplyDeleteThe shift to on-demand streaming options has severely impacted live sports broadcasts. For decades, companies with the rights to a particular game could broadcast with little pressure, because they knew if fans wanted to watch the game, they had to do it on their channel. However, with the traction streaming has gained, that pressure has mounted for television companies. The NFL has found themselves giving the rights to broadcast to both streaming and cable services. Hans Schroeder, the EVP and COO of NFL Media, has said, “it’s not an either-or approach for us”, and that their goal is to reach, “fans through new screens and new opportunities” (Weprin). That is a reality and new competition that cable companies are going to have to face going into the future. Conversely, some executives are not concerned. Michael Mulvihill, a FOX Sports EVP, states that, “’94% of NFL game inventory in the new deals stays on linear TV’” (Weprin). Mulvihill and his team stand strong in the sense that they believe the traction streaming services have gained will not hurt them tremendously. However, there is no denying the amount of popularity that streaming services continue to generate.
As streaming live sports continues to gain popularity, networks have been forced to adapt and find other ways to keep audiences engaged. They have been trying to make their own broadcast unique enough that customers continue to pay for cable. One example of a company trying to expand upon their broadcast is what ESPN is doing with Manningcast. The Manningcast is an unconventional broadcast for Monday Night Football hosted by Peyton and Eli Manning. The brothers talk football, interview guests, and banter back and forth in a unique spin on a broadcast. It is extremely informal, which has seemed to be what many fans appreciate. Burke Magnus, ESPN’s president of programming and original content, explains that the casualness of the broadcast is, “part of the secret sauce”, and that, “if [fans] want the high-end platinum production experience, you can go over to ESPN” (Steinberg). Magnus is clear in that, Manningcast is only helping the viewership of ESPN. According to Steinberg, “The Mannings have captured, on average, 13% of the total audience for ESPN’s ‘Monday Night Football’”, meaning that the level of informality is something that appeals to viewers. In fact, it may be the difference between a viewer switching from cable or continuing to pay for ESPN’s services. Steinberg explains that that fact is too early to confirm, but the ManningCast is certainly a step in the right direction.
Another alternate measure that cable companies are taking to retain viewers is taking place in the form of a partnership between the NFL and Nickelodeon. The NFL has been clear in their pursuit to acquire new fans at the earliest age possible, and Nickelodeon has a plethora of young fans. Therefore, in a time where younger generations are turning to Netflix and Hulu for entertainment, NFL and Nick struck a deal in hopes of keeping viewership up for both companies. The Nickelodeon game features an abundant amount of slime, a unique broadcasting team, and a special halftime show that is geared completely towards children. The alternate broadcast has proven to be a huge success for both sides, which was the goal. According to CBS Sports, “It was Nick’s most-watched program in almost four years and helped Nickelodeon become Twitter’s No. 1 trending topic in the U.S.” (AlBaroudi). The unlikely partnership was a success for both sides. The alternate broadcast is one that should continue for years to come, thus proving the benefits of alternate broadcasts for sports.
DeleteWorks Cited
AlBaroudi , Wajih. “NFL Wild Card Game on Nickelodeon Set to Return a after Slime-Filled, Emmy-Winning Debut Last Season.” CBSSports, CBS, 13 Jan. 2022, https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-wild-card-game-on-nickelodeon-set-to-return-a-after-slime-filled-emmy-winning-debut-last-season/.
Steinberg, Brian. “Inside the Manningcast: How ESPN and Two Football Brothers Are Transforming Sports TV.” Variety, Variety, 10 Feb. 2022, https://variety.com/2022/sports/features/espn-manningcast-superbowl-sports-tv-ratings-1235175580/#recipient_hashed=62dfc0b27ad1de67d64a0c44fb55f17fe8a7cd610e9d3f50edf2cced899812f7.
Weprin, Alex. “With $100B NFL Deal, TV Networks Keep One Foot in the Bundle and Another in Streaming.” The Hollywood Reporter, PMC, 19 Mar. 2021, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/nfl-tv-streaming-analysis-4153564/.
We are a society built off of the media and adapting with the times as technology advances. Watching sports on cable live used to be the most common and easy way to watch. As time has gone by, more streaming services have made deals with sports and have brought the games to their sites. Many people have gotten rid of cable completely because of how easy and accessible these streaming services truly are. With sports coming to streaming services, all people may be at the point to completely give up cable for good since sports are the only thing keeping some people with cable in their homes. In The Power of Sports written by Michael Serazio, he explains how there is a vast change in the typical media landscape and times are changing, “Although digital platforms represent a serious threat to the hegemony of TV-driven distribution, it is not yet a mortal threat;... but until that’s resolved, the old order is deeply unnerved,” (Serazio, 69). Linear television faces some threats when it comes to sports broadcasting but adapting to the new media landscape will give it the chance to still be important and useful.
ReplyDeleteThe 2022 Olympics have seen a great decrease in views over the past couple of weeks. The problem surrounding this extreme drop in views has been because of the switch from linear TV to streaming services. However, the Olympics are almost making up for their decrease in views with the views they are receiving on digital platforms such as TikTok. In an article from the Washington Post titled NBC’s Olympics Ratings are Terrible. That Doesn’t Mean the Games are Dying written by Paul Farhi explains how, “While news coverage has focused on the distressed television ratings, NBC has quietly built a broad Olympics following online by spreading clips, interviews and highlights across TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other digital platforms. The Olympics has also helped boost its Peacock streaming service, which now has 9 million paid accounts,” (Farhi). Even though the Olympics do not have as many views on actual television as they have had in past years, the entire viewership from all of the streaming services and platforms, may still give them an overall huge number of viewing potentially breaking their past record. The Olympics are being hugely affected by the decrease in linear television but are doing a good job at shifting into the new media landscape.
Brianna Gonsalves
DeleteMany streaming services are fighting to change the way in which sports are streamed. Apple has more recently brought their streaming service Apple TV into the competition with other, more popular streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu. Apple TV has not yet made its mark and is definitely struggling behind the other streaming services. In an article titled Apple Reportedly Prepared to Spend Billions on Live Sports from Front Office Sports written by Owen Poindexter, it explains how Apple is ready to bring sports to their streaming service, Apple TV, “Last week, the New York Post reported that Apple is in serious talks to secure a weekday game package from Major League Baseball,” (Poindexter). Apple TV is also trying to get deals with the NFL for their Sunday Ticket and the Premier League also made a deal with Apple TVs original show Ted Lasso. Apple has been in an investment battle with companies like Netflix and Disney and knows that to start bringing sports into their realm it will put them neck and neck with their competitors. This will get Apple TV a lot of customers especially since their prices are only $4.99 a month as of right now.
Works Cited
Farhi, Paul. “NBC's Olympics Ratings Are Terrible. That Doesn't Mean the Games Are Dying.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 9 Feb. 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2022/02/09/nbc-olympics-ratings/.
Poindexter, Written by Owen, et al. “Apple Ready to Spend on Live Sports.” Front Office Sports, 17 Jan. 2022, https://frontofficesports.com/newsletter/apple-ready-to-spend-on-live-sports/.
Serazio, Michael. The Power of Sports: Media and Spectacle in American Culture. New York University Press, 2019.
Brandon Krikorian
ReplyDeleteProfessor Burns
21 February 2022
Weekly Blog #4
Over the last handful of years, there has been a huge switch in the broadcasting of sports games. Ever since television was invented, it was a live broadcast on one of the main networks at the time which were ABC, CBS, and NBC. Over time, new networks have developed and gained more power in the sports world. These networks are ones such as FOX and ESPN. Not only have there been new networks, but we are in an age where streaming has taken over compared to cable television. There are dozens of streaming services that allow the audience to watch select movies and tv shows, but some of those services are also streaming sports. To combat that, the major cable networks have also developed their own streaming services. These services include ESPN+ and Peacock, which is NBC’s streaming service. With all of these new streaming services and new ways to watch games unlike the past when everything was on cable, networks have had to come up with different ways to keep fans engaged on their network and jump ship to another one. A good and new example of networks trying something out of the box is what Turner Sports did with Draymond Green. Draymond Green is a three-time NBA champion and current player for the Golden State Warriors, who inked a multi-year deal with the network. The article talks about the specifics of his deal, “to contribute to TNT’s Inside the NBA studio show, schedule permitting, and other properties across Turner Sports, including Bleacher Report” (Porter). He has worked for TNT in the past, but it was only as a fill in and when his season was over or if he was injured for an extended amount of time. This new contract means that he will work during his season and will provide fans at home with analysis straight from a current player on a consistent basis.
Personally, I cannot remember this happening before in any sport so it is a huge milestone as networks usually wait until that player is retired before making a commitment to them. Speaking about having players who are retired doing broadcast work, ESPN got Peyton Manning and Eli Manning to do an alternate broadcast of Monday Night Football for 10 weeks this past season. ESPN has been trying to get Peyton to do their normal broadcast even since he retired, but it definitely worked out with him doing the alternate broadcast. The concept is just the two of them watching the game but talking about it as if it was two regular guys watching the game on their couch. They also have a couple of guests every show and it takes over social media every time they do a broadcast. One stat that proves that point is how many viewers they attract, “The Mannings have captured, on average, 13% of the total audience for ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” during the regular season” (Steinberg). To be able to capture that much of the audience is outstanding and proves how valuable superstar names can be with the right idea. If they had to commentate the game normally, it would not be this popular but since they have the freedom to do what they want, it could not have worked better. Sticking with having an alternate broadcast, ESPN also hosts Sunday Night Baseball, and they are introducing a similar broadcast to it also. For this new broadcast, they will have Alex Rodriguez, who had worked on the normal broadcast for SNB for the last few seasons, and Michael Kay, who is the voice for the New York Yankees (Evans). Despite Kay being a traditional commentator, he also hosts his own radio show every single day where he is much more open and free. The plan is to have both of them be open and be similar to what the Manning’s do. They will do this broadcast about 10-12 times a year and are hoping for similar success to what they did on Monday Night Football.
DeleteEvans, Jace. “Report: Alex Rodriguez, Michael Kay to Host Alternate 'Sunday Night Baseball' Broadcast for ESPN.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 7 Jan. 2022, www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2022/01/06/alex-rodriguez-michael-kay-alternate-sunday-night-baseball
Porter, Rick. “NBA Star Draymond Green Inks Turner Sports Deal.” The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Jan. 2022, www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/draymond-green-nba-turner-sports-deal-1235082712/.
Steinberg, Brian. “Inside the Manningcast: How ESPN and Two Football Brothers Are Transforming Sports TV.” Variety, Variety, 10 Feb. 2022, variety.com/2022/sports/features/espn-manningcast-superbowl-sports-tv-ratings-1235175580/#recipient_hashed=62dfc0b27ad1de67d64a0c44fb55f17fe8a7cd610e9d3f50edf2cced899812f7.
Ethan Carrión
ReplyDeleteSports have been a lucrative market for as long as they have existed. Wherever there are sports, there are people willing to pay for jerseys, signed merch, and most importantly, access to watch the game. For years, TV broadcasters had all the rights to broadcasting sports, and most people assumed it would stay that way. Looking at the landscape now however, it seems that streaming services are looking to gain control of the sports broadcasting market. The first streaming service that most people associate with live sports is Hulu. This is mostly thanks to the aggressive advertising campaign that Hulu ran when they first introduced live sports. Hulu’s commercials advertising live sports where videos of athletes repeatedly saying that “Hulu has live sports” while flaunting the cash they were paid for the advertisement. Hulu wanted as many people to know they were joining the market for live sports as they could. Hulu also has the added benefit of being owned Disney who also owns ESPN, allowing for a much easier transition into broadcasting live sports. This also gave Hulu the leg up they had been wanting on Netflix for years since, according to Hulu’s official website, Hulu began streaming live sports in 2017, much quicker than any other streaming service. (Hulu.com).
Though Hulu was the first, they are not the only streaming service that has looked into streaming live sports. Apple has put a significant amount of money into gaining the rights to begin streaming sprots. According to an article by Front Office Sports, Apple struck a deal with the English Premier League to allow their show “Ted Lasso” to use content from the league freely. Apple is also reportedly in talks to secure a weekday game package from the MLB. The last major deal Apple is hoping to make is with “NFL Sunday Ticket” which could reportedly earn them up to $2.5 billion per season in broadcasting rights. (frontofficesports.com) With Apple getting in contact with such an array of sports leagues, it appears that Apple is looking to cement themselves in sports broadcasting as soon as they can as well.
Peacock is another streaming service that is looking to change the landscape of the sports broadcasting market. As mentioned in Serazio’s “The Power of Sports”, sports is often seen as the “last bastion of live viewing”. (Serazio 67) Most other live events are scripted in some way, live shows and concerts have a planned course of action, but nobody knows what will happen for certain in a live sporting event. Peacock, however, looks to be headed in the direction of changing this. With their streaming of the Olympics, Peacock has put every event available on-demand. This has benefitted both Peacock and its viewers as it allows viewers to watch events, they may have missed due to work or the time difference. For Peacock, it allows them to get more views on the Olympics since anyone can watch the event of their choice whenever they see fit. I am curious to see how this playback feature on the Olympics will evolve into other sports.
DeleteSerazio, Michael. The Power of Sports: Media and Spectacle in American Culture. New York University Press, 2019.
“Hulu with Live TV: More than Just Live TV.” Hulu, 2022, www.hulu.com/live-tv.
Poindexter, Written by Owen, et al. “Apple Ready to Spend on Live Sports.” Front Office Sports, 17 Jan. 2022, frontofficesports.com/newsletter/apple-ready-to-spend-on-live-sports/.
Alex Donald
ReplyDeleteThe increase of viewership on demand streaming options on sports has dramatically impacted live sports and there are a lot of pros and cons of on demand sports. For example, a few pros of on demand sports is by buying subscription packages like NBA League Pass, ESPN+, Hulu, Peacock, Paramount, HBO MAX, and so on instead of just flipping through channel numbers since some games are in regional TV instead of national TV or in other words if you live in NYC or Brooklyn you can watch both the New York Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets in both regional TV like MSG or YES and national TV while the other teams you can only watch on national TV if you don’t have NBA League Pass. There are also a few cons of on demand sport but the biggest is spending money since some subscriptions are expensive and have to be paid by at least every month. People also started buying the Disney Bundle which consists Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu since Disney has partnered with ESPN to also expand on demand sports broadcasting. “Disney’s big dilemma for ESPN is whether and when to fully embrace a future without cable. Broadcast and cable networks still make billions of dollars per year from the traditional TV model. ESPN is a huge beneficiary, because media companies earn monthly subscriber fees from pay-TV providers regardless of how many people watch their programming. Niche channels make just a few cents a month per subscriber, while sports networks charge several dollars.Disney makes more money from cable subscribers than any other company, and that’s solely because of ESPN. ESPN and sister network ESPN2 charge nearly $10 per month combined, according to research firm Kagan, a unit of S&P Global Market Intelligence.” (Sherman 2021). There are also rumors that Netflix might also stream live sports as well since it has documentaries of sports. “Netflix and Box to Box Films, the production company behind ‘Formula 1: Drive to Survive,’ and Vox Media Studios are working on a program that will be a behind-the-scenes look at the PGA Tour and feature a number of high profile golfers.” (Owusu 2022). Amazon Prime has also started streaming live sports. “Amazon Prime currently broadcasts NFL Thursday Night Football, WNBA games, and certain Yankees games in the New York market.”(Owusu 2022). Also unlike other streaming services, “Live sports are some of the only traditional broadcast programs that still command large audiences and the advertising dollars that come with it. However, since Netflix doesn't rely on advertising dollars, its revenue comes from its 214 million paid subscribers, the company has not jumped into live sports.” (Owusu 2022). In other words, since Netflix doesn’t stream live sports yet, it usually gets its money from the people that subscribe to it while other streaming services that do stream live sports get their revenue from commercials and ads.
While live sports streaming still continues to gain popularity, some athletes and former athletes have also created their own TV shows or podcasts. For example, LeBron James’ “The Shop: Uninterrupted” and Peyton and Eli Manning’s “Manningcast”. Shows like these are to boost up more fans in the sports world in an alternate way and not just to talk about only sports. In other words “To be sure, it’s not clear yet whether such concepts — some executives call them ‘alternacasts’ or ‘megacasts’ — are luring thousands of new viewers or just keeping fans engaged and tuning in longer through sampling. ‘Some of it is incremental, and some of it is bouncing back and forth,’ acknowledges Magnus, noting that ESPN researchers continue to analyze this season’s audience data. But executives believe the new formats serve as ‘an audience expansion tool, without question, for us and the leagues who are in the business of growing more fans.” (Steinberg 2022). They sometimes talk about other stuff related to sports like justice, and sometimes politics. For example, the sports world was talking a lot about the Black Lives Matter movement during the George Floyd Protests.
DeleteWork Cited
Sherman, Alex. “Disney’s shift to streaming puts ESPN in awkward position of clinging to the past”. CNBC. Oct 10, 2021. Visited Feb 22, 2022. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/10/disney-shift-to-streaming-puts-espn-in-position-of-clinging-to-past.html
Owusu, Tony. “Netflix Makes Another Move Into Sports”. The Street. Jan 13, 2022. Visited Feb 22, 2022. Retrieved from https://www.thestreet.com/investing/netflix-expands-sports-offerings
Steinberg, Brian. “Inside the ManningCast: How ESPN and Two Football Brothers Are Transforming Sports TV”. Variety. Feb 10, 2022. Visited Feb 22, 2022. Retrieved from https://variety.com/2022/sports/features/espn-manningcast-superbowl-sports-tv-ratings-1235175580/#recipient_hashed=62dfc0b27ad1de67d64a0c44fb55f17fe8a7cd610e9d3f50edf2cced899812f7
Joey O’Donoghue:
ReplyDeleteThe change in audience television viewing habits has certainly had a relatively negative impact on live sports broadcasting, but broadcasting outlets have made the necessary adaptations and are not going anywhere. According to a Washington Post article by Paul Farhi, “The TV ratings for the Winter Olympics in Beijing aren’t just bad — they’re historically terrible. That’s certainly not what NBC had in mind when it paid a few billion dollars” (Farhi, 2022). The television viewership for the Olympics was evidently much worse than expected, but Farhi goes on to note how the popularity of the Olympics may have increased despite this statistic. The reason for this was the shift to on-demand streaming options (in this case the Olympics could be streamed and replayed on NBC’s streaming service peacock), and this alternative is contributing to a decline in live television viewership.
Despite the statistics presented above, live sports and live television broadcasts are not going anywhere. Sports has a unique and uncanny feature to captivate an audience to focus on the present moment. When watching intense moments in live sports, there is no mention of the past, the future, solely the current/present moment allowing fans to be glued to their television screen and focusing on “the now”. This feature will allow television broadcasts to continue to flourish, and organizations are utilizing this knowledge and making the necessary adaptations to continue to promote live sports and keep their audiences engaged. According to Michael Serazio in The Power of Sports, “The NFL, knowing this quality is ‘television catnip’, pushed its college draft to prime-time hours and CBS now similarly hypes and packages its ‘Selection Sunday’ suspense at the start of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament” (Serazio, p.101, 2019). Evidently, organizations and broadcasting outlets know the importance and intrigue of live moments. So the NFL and CBS are taking advantage of this to compete with on-demand streaming and keep their audiences engaged by providing advertising for the live suspense of upcoming events, and moving them to prime-time so that people can guarantee they have the time to sit down and watch the events live. It is truly genius, and it’s allowing live sports broadcasting to thrive by marketing its rare and unique ability to capture the present, suspenseful moments and allow millions of people to genuinely exist in the present. And, the ratings display the fact that live sports on linear TV are here to stay. According to an article by Bill Harvey, “‘The importance of sports to linear TV has never been more prevalent than in 2021,’ notes media consultant Brad Adgate. ‘Of the 50 top-rated primetime telecasts of the year, 43 of them were sporting events’" (Harvey, 2022). Clearly, live sports are still drawing immense amounts of viewership and intrigue. And, they are able to do so due to the beauty of sports being live, and the adaptations broadcasting outlets have made, including utilizing “prime-time” and marketing live suspense, to adjust to the increasing popularity of on-demand streaming options.
References
Farhi, P. (2022, February 9). NBC's Olympics ratings are terrible. that doesn't mean the games are dying. The Washington Post. Retrieved February 22, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2022/02/09/nbc-olympics-ratings/
Harvey, B. (2022, January 13). The future of linear television depends on sports. MediaVillage. Retrieved February 22, 2022, from https://www.mediavillage.com/article/the-future-of-linear-television-depends-on-sports/
Serazio, M. (2019). The power of sports: Media and spectacle in American culture. New York University Press.
Mikala Morris
ReplyDeleteWhen looking at the shift to on demand streaming options it is easy to notice that it has impacted live sports broadcasts. In the past many organizations and companies went unabated when it came to streaming a live game because they were able to obtain all its rights. However, with media becoming more modernized it has allowed numerous outlets to have the opportunity to strike deals and be allowed to televise games. Though some may see this as a threat to live sports there are many that believe that future for live sports will be just fine. In an article discussing the NFL and live streaming games Weprin found a reporter who stated, “In the very long-term, we continue to see technology as expanding the pie not shrinking it” (2022). This logic stems from the fact that although there may be different alternatives for watching or when to watch a game, executives are still not worried because within our society sports is a very big deal cherished by many. However, one thing that is looked as more important is getting to experience the game in real time, no matter what provider it is on. Media Hans Schroeder exclaimed that, “I think for us we look at it very much as how do we add distribution in a way that’s complementary and that is reaching fans through new screens and new opportunities and is growing the opportunities they have to engage with our game” (2022). Though some may look at this as the end of an era, others look at is as an inventive may to reach new fans.
However, the NFL may be secure in terms of viewership an reaching their audience the same cannot be said for every other sport. The Olympics is something that can unify countries because it is a chance to show pride for one’s country and typically this alone brings in views and an audience because individual’s wanting to support their country. Although this year for the winter Olympics in Beijing has been a different story.
In the article NBC’s Olympics Ratings Are Terrible. That Doesn’t Mean the Games Are Dying it stated, “The TV ratings for the Winter Olympics in Beijing aren’t just bad — they’re historically terrible” (Farhi, 2022). One of the events in the olympics that typically draw in many people to watch the event is the opening ceremony, though with this year's winter olympics being labeled as historically bad its not a surprise that this event didn’t have much of an impact either. Farhi stated, “Friday’s Opening Ceremonies set the bleak tone, attracting 15.7 million viewers. That was the lowest figure ever and a decline of 44 percent from the kickoff of the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea. An average of 12.7 million people each day tuned in during the first four days of TV coverage, down nearly 50 percent from 2018” (2022). With these numbers it would look like the Olympics are becoming irrelevant to the younger generation, but when taking a deeper look there is still hope. Other streaming services such as youtube and Tik Tok have helped tremendously with views and generating an audience. This is the result of NBC advertising clips of the Olympics on other social media platforms, and with todays generation being predominantly online, this served to be a brilliant idea. Infact after looking at all the data Farhi exclaimed,“Considering that Olympic videos on YouTube and TikTok are going to rack up hundreds of millions of views, I wouldn’t be surprised if these Olympic Games end up being one of the most-viewed video events in U.S. history,” he said. Combined with widespread interest in China, Socolow added, the Games in Beijing could become the most-viewed video program in world history (2022).
ReplyDeleteAnother way sports broadcasting outlets are adapting is by making the experience when watching a game more personalized. In the article Time to Change the Channel: Gen Z is driving Big Changes in Sports Broadcasting mentioned, “ Nearly 50% of Gen-Z sports fans would prefer to view an individualized highlight reel of a game, to take just one statistic. If traditional broadcasters want to win over younger viewers, they need to start offering more personalized experiences”(2021). The article discussed ways of doing this, specifically they mentioned VR and AR technologies. Both techniques would increase the feeling of personal experience expediently because it gives a sense of being at a live game in person compared to watching it on a screen. With each generation changing in regards to how they use the media, sports broadcasting must be innovative as well.
ReplyDeleteFarhi, P. (2022, February 9). NBC's Olympics ratings are terrible. that doesn't mean the games are dying. The Washington Post. Retrieved February 22, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2022/02/09/nbc-olympics-ratings/
Time to change the channel: Gen Z is driving big changes in sports broadcasting. Knit. (2021, August 6). Retrieved February 22, 2022, from https://goknit.com/time-to-change-the-channel-gen-z-is-driving-big-changes-in-sports-broadcasting/
Weprin, Alex. “With $100B NFL Deal, TV Networks Keep One Foot in the Bundle and Another in Streaming.” The Hollywood Reporter, PMC, 19 Mar. 2021, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/nfl-tv-streaming-analysis-4153564/.
Dalton Rice
ReplyDeleteLive sports have been maybe the only event that has not taken a hit after cable TV has become less relevant. Many of the popular platforms like Hulu and Peacock have been able to acquire the rights to live sports to be able to sell that as a part of their streaming packages, which has helped a large demographic of customers to their respective services. Hulu and Peacock are not quite on the level of Netflix, but there is one thing that they have an upper hand on and that is live sports and other live programming. Netflix has yet to dip their corporate toes in the water of live sports, but they have made up for it with plenty of sports-centric content like Home Team, Untold: Malice at the Palace and Moneyball being just a few titles recently added to the platform. It seems unlikely that we ever see a live sports option on Netflix (Owusu), but upcoming documentaries seem to be taking a promising turn towards more original, non-fiction sports content making its way over.
Being the lovechild of NBC, Peacock looks to be a place for every time of binge watcher whether you are a Saturday Night Live superfan, The Office addict or occasional Olympic supporter. However, the numbers have just not panned out as Netflix still reigns supreme in the streaming world even after losing Friends and The Office.
It seemed unlikely that any streaming service would be able to break open the industry with their “exclusive” broadcasts on streaming services until Amazon finally landed one of the biggest TV deals in recent memory. With Thursday Night Football now becoming exclusive to Amazon’s “NFL on Prime Video” deal, there is a chance that platforms like Hulu, Peacock and ESPN+ will finally gain the success that was sought after when the platforms were announced. At the same time where they may be a light at the end of the tunnel for these platforms, the NFL’s brand new TV deal that is raking in over $100 billion over the next decade or so (Weprin) does not provide exclusive rights for NFL games. Cable providers will still be allowed to show every game in the regular season with stations splitting playoff coverage, meaning that there may not be a large enough incentive for potential customers to cut the cord and switch to online-only services like Hulu.
Only a few seasons ago, a game changing step was made by the NFL and an unlikely partner, Nickelodeon, to hopefully grow the game of football and make the broadcasts a little more exciting. New broadcasters and sideline reporters were thrown in front of the camera, fan votes allowed for internet trolls to pick losing quarterbacks to win the not so prestigious NVP award and kickers sent the pigskin flying through the uprights, right into Patrick Star’s CGI face on the netting. Yes, some of the content was a bit cringeworthy, but it has been fun and immersive for young fans.
For us grownups that are stuck watching NBC and ABC, the broadcasts have admittedly gotten stale over the past few years and even with the addition of post-career football genius Tony Romo, my least favorite quarterback of all time, there seems to be a lot missing from NFL broadcasts. In my mind, services like Red Zone will take over the NFL broadcasting scene as its no-commerical, fast paced and witty style is ideal for viewers of all ages.
Works Cited
Owusu, Tony. “Netflix Makes Another Move into Sports.” TheStreet, TheStreet, 13 Jan. 2022, https://www.thestreet.com/investing/netflix-expands-sports-offerings.
Tallerico, Brian. “The 40 Best TV Shows on Peacock.” Vulture, Vulture, 28 July 2021, https://www.vulture.com/article/best-tv-shows-peacock.html.
Weprin, Alex. “With $100B NFL Deal, TV Networks Keep One Foot in the Bundle and Another in Streaming.” The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Mar. 2021, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/nfl-tv-streaming-analysis-4153564/.
Rita Sherban
ReplyDeleteIt’s clear the sports media rights are the most profitable especially when it comes to linear television. However, as the shift to streaming progresses, like Amazon’s acquisition of Thursday Night Football and exclusive games only on ESPN+ it’s imperative that media companies continue to adapt to the new wave of television. While media outlets need to adjust their content to align with user habits, conversely user habits can dictate television. American viewership of the Olympics is critical to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), so much so that, “…the IOC over the years has moved various Olympic finals to odd hours the in the host country so that NBC can broadcast the event live in prime time in the United States” (Farhi 2022). However, prime time may not mean as much in the era of streaming. Now that NBCU is posting clips of events on YouTube and TikTok, this allows viewers to re-watch specific moments or routines whenever they desire instead of whole events (Farhi 2022). Meanwhile other media companies like Netflix are directing their attention to sports in other ways.
As much as live sports events like football and baseball are unscripted reality television, fans are also attracted to human interest stories. Netflix’s docuseries, Formula 1: Drive to Survive was an almost instant hit amongst subscribers, launching itself up to Netflix’s Top 10 list upon its release and helped to attract viewership to Formula 1 for the following racing season. Netflix is set to release the fourth season on March 11, 2022 and has also expressed interest in pursuing golf. “Netflix and Box to Box films…and Vox Media Studios are working on a program that will be a behind the-scenes look at the PGA Tour…” (Owusu 2022). Personally, I don’t find golf interesting, but I also did not find motor sport racing interest either, until I watched Formula 1: Drive to Survive and immediately converted to an F1 fan. If Netflix can recreate what they did with Formula 1, there is no doubt that there will be an influx of viewership for the PGA tour. Streaming services are leaning on their content to bolster their sports audience. While Apple has expressed interest in NFL and possibly acquiring NFL Sunday Ticket the company has also turned to soccer as a way to not only promote their own series, but also spark audience interests. The soccer league, Premier League has, “struck a licensing deal with Apple TV+’s hit comedy “Ted Lasso” that allows the show to use the league’s footage, logos, club kits, and trophy” (Poindexter 2022). With this partnership, casual watchers of the series may find themselves drifting towards Premier League broadcasts, it’s also great advertising for the soccer league, especially because it’s not a 30 second time slot, but incorporated into a series.
Sherban (cont.)
ReplyDeleteOver the next couple years, it will be critical for media outlets to continuous shell out sports content, which does not necessarily post game analysis, but rather content consumers can watch whenever, like highlight reels. Even without live games, sports fans still crave content (Cox Media 2020). Broadcasters need to stay up to date on the opinions of fans and entertain the masses will simultaneously giving viewers something worth watching.
Farhi, P. (2022, February 9). NBC's Olympics ratings are terrible. that doesn't mean the games are dying. The Washington Post. Retrieved February 22, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2022/02/09/nbc-olympics-ratings/
Media, C. (n.d.). How to reach a sports audience (even when live events are postponed or cancelled). How to Reach a Sports Audience (Even When Live Events are Postponed or Cancelled). Retrieved February 22, 2022, from https://hub.coxmedia.com/sports-advertising/how-to-reach-a-sports-audience-even-when-live-events-are-postponed-or-cancelled
Owusu, T. (2022, January 13). Netflix makes another move into sports. TheStreet. Retrieved February 22, 2022, from https://www.thestreet.com/investing/netflix-expands-sports-offerings
Poindexter, O., Poindexter, O., Gentrup, A., Byers, J., & Christovich, A. (2022, January 17). Apple ready to spend on live sports. Front Office Sports. Retrieved February 22, 2022, from https://frontofficesports.com/newsletter/apple-ready-to-spend-on-live-sports/
Dylan Sommer Part 1
ReplyDeleteThe shift to on-demand streaming has significantly impacted live sports broadcasts because audiences now have the option to watch sports on the go. People no longer have to stay glued to their television to watch live broadcasts. According to a Hollywood Reporter article, it says that “in the streaming world, everything is flipped. Where networks have enormous reach through broadcast and cable, in streaming, Amazon is king” (Weprin). Amazon has been the benefiter of this new age of sports streaming since it has already millions of subscribers using the service. For example, Amazon has taken the lead of the NFL’s Thursday Night Football. In the past, Thursday Night Football was hard for people to view because the game was held on a weekday compared to a weekend. However, once Amazon started live-streaming the game, the numbers have skyrocketed in the ratings. Amazon came to the understanding of how internet TV is changing society. As a result, it decided to go through the transition of becoming the new medium of live-streaming sports.
Another impact that streaming services have had on sports is access to exclusive sporting events. With cable TV, there are some games that are not aired either because of the market or the location. Nonetheless, this opened the door for streaming services to cover those sports that do not receive much air-time. For instance, with football, basketball, baseball, and hockey dominating cable TV, that leaves soccer out of the equation. In a Bloomberg article, it says that “being easy to stream soccer appears to have helped grow the sport. MLS saw the biggest increase in popularity among sports viewers, going from the 13th most popular league in 2019 to 7th in 2021” (Shaw). Since soccer was introduced to streaming platforms, new audiences have found the sport and have come to enjoy it. Paramount + and ESPN + have been the leaders behind bringing soccer to the public eye. Each service knew that soccer had a wide appeal across countries and took that into account to push soccer onto their services. Overall, the shift to on-demand streaming has benefited both the viewers and streaming services.
Dylan Sommer Part 2
ReplyDeleteSports broadcasting outlets have adapted to this new format by experimenting with their style of broadcasting. For example, last year, ESPN2 held a different format for Monday Night Football. The broadcast was called the Manningcast, and it was hosted by the Manning brothers, Eli and Peyton. In the Manningcast, Eli and Peyton would watch the game from a fan’s perspective and give an analysis of what was going on in the game. In addition, they would welcome celebrities and NFL Stars to watch the game with them and talk about what was going on with their lives. The broadcast was such a success in its first year that ESPN now wants to do it for Sunday Night Baseball. According to Yahoo.com, it says “ESPN has announced it will be pairing former MVP, Alex Rodriguez, with Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay, the name of the new program: “Sunday Night Baseball with Kay-Rod” (Baer). ESPN decided to implement this new presentation of Sunday Night Baseball to keep people engaged in the same way as they did with football. Also, sports broadcasting outlets are keeping fans engaged with fantasy sports. For example, on the bottom bar on CBS broadcasts, there will be a list of the top CBS fantasy performers of the day. This allows fans the chance to look at players’ fantasy points while they are watching the game. Thus, sports outlets are changing their formatting to keep within the times of the present.
Works Cited
Weprin, Alex. “With $100B NFL Deal, TV Networks Keep One Foot in the Bundle and Another in Streaming.” The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Mar. 2021, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/nfl-tv-streaming-analysis-4153564/.
Shaw, Lucas. “How Soccer Became Every Streaming Service’s Favorite Sport.” Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, 12 Dec. 2021, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2021-12-12/mls-playoffs-set-up-the-league-for-a-big-payday-from-streaming-services?utm_medium=email&%3Butm_source=newsletter&%3Butm_term=211219&%3Butm_campaign=screentime.
Baer, Jack. “ESPN to Pair Alex Rodriguez with Michael Kay on Manningcast-Style Sunday Night Baseball Show.” Yahoo! Sports, Yahoo!, 6 Jan. 2022, https://sports.yahoo.com/espn-alex-rodriguez-michael-kay-manningcast-style-sunday-night-baseball-show-044336626.html.