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Watch sports on DVR - stick it to the man!


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2014 Sep 24, 5:14am   2,407 views  9 comments

by dublin hillz   ➕follow (1)   💰tip   ignore  

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2012/0409/baseball-valuations-12-mccourt-multibillion-dollar-deals-new-moneyball.html

For that you can thank a little device known as the DVR. In an age when fewer people watch television, and fewer still actually sit through the commercials, sports programming is the last bastion of appointment TV: It demands to be watched live. Some 42% of U.S. households now have a DVR, up from 29% three years ago–not coincidentally, Nielsen reports that ad spending on sports jumped 33% over that same period, to almost $11 billion annually.

“We believe there is no content more valuable in media today than live sports, and it’s a case we make with our ­distributors every day,” says Jeff Krolik, executive vice ­president at Fox Sports Networks. This phenomenon is upending the entire sports world. It raised the stakes of last year’s acrimonious NBA labor showdown, and it’s driving the crazy realignment in college conferences.

But no sport has been more affected than Major League Baseball. The NFL, with its national contracts and once-a-week drama, was long seen as the gold standard of TV sports rights. But baseball’s tribal fans and long season–162 games, plus spring training–singlehandedly provide enough worthy programming to anchor a local sports cable network. With local cable accounting for 40% of all media revenue, up from 26% a decade ago, that’s a gold mine. Forget Billy Beane’s penny-pinching Moneyball strategies (last decade’s ticket to profitability) or shiny new stadiums full of luxury boxes (the essential way to unlock value during the 1990s). Local television has become a financial game-changer that dwarfs all others.

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1   MisdemeanorRebel   2014 Sep 24, 5:19am  

The solution to the advertising problem is more embedded advertisements.

"Hi, this is Marty Markowitz coming to you live from Corrections Corporation Stadium, brought to you by Geico. The Modesto Mondocondos are taking the field against Missoula Mulletheads. Did you know you can save 15% on your car insurance in less than 15 minutes? Juan Chin-Goldstein on the mound, at first base in front of the Sony billboard you can see Billy Bob Vijaynagar, short stop Mobutu Hernandez crouching like the Exxon Tiger, running smooth and easy..."

2   EBGuy   2014 Sep 24, 7:33am  

The article you posted is over two years old. Time Warner paid an exorbitant amount for the rights to broadcast Dodgers games and license the broadcast to others. They are being handed their head because the other cable, satellite and broadband players refuse pay the ransom. This is the sound of the SEIC (sports industrial complex) hitting the metaphorical wall of what consumers are willing to pay.
Time Warner Cable lowered its revenue projections for 2014 on Thursday because of its inability to distribute SportsNet LA, the new TV home of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers-owned channel is managed by Time Warner Cable, which has been unable to sell it to other area distributors including DirecTV.

3   Tenpoundbass   2014 Sep 24, 7:44am  

Sports is the only thing really holding back the cable death knell.
When I tell people I've cut the cord, it's the Sports fans that say that they would have the hardest time cutting the cord.

I bet a site that could stream any sporting event in the world, would probably be a company that could outgrow Apple or Google. So that day will probably never come.

4   🎂 Heraclitusstudent   2014 Sep 24, 8:15am  

I think if people were smart enough to avoid watching ads, they wouldn't be interested in sports either.

5   dublin hillz   2014 Sep 24, 8:27am  

CaptainShuddup says

Sports is the only thing really holding back the cable death knell

Possibly, what's most surprising though is the belief amongst the fans that sports must be watched "live" to get authentic experience. That however is largely psychological because it is easy in 90% of instances to avoid spoiler alerts with certain adjustments. With some sports, it's easy to cut out about 1.25 hrs of time dedicated to commercials.

The only major pro sport which is still anchored to tv is NFL. I believe other sports can be watched on line via internet subscirptions to the leagues.

6   EBGuy   2014 Sep 24, 9:15am  

dublin hillz said: I believe other sports can be watched on line via internet subscirptions to the leagues.
MLB.TV streams all games for around $110. But wait, they blackout the local regional games, and any game that is broadcast nationally. Trying to have your cake and it it too (more revenue. more. More. MORE!). It does work for you though, if you live outside the regional market of your favorite team.

7   Shaman   2014 Sep 24, 11:44am  

People watch commercials when they watch sports because the commercials are far more entertaining, and the sports give them a chance to mosey to the fridge for more beer.

8   Ceffer   2014 Sep 24, 12:58pm  

thunderlips11 says

"Hi, this is Marty Markowitz coming to you live from Corrections Corporation Stadium, brought to you by Geico. The Modesto Mondocondos are taking the field against Missoula Mulletheads. Did you know you can save 15% on your car insurance in less than 15 minutes? Juan Chin-Goldstein on the mound, at first base in front of the Sony billboard you can see Billy Bob Vijaynagar, short stop Mobutu Hernandez crouching like the Exxon Tiger, running smooth and easy..."

So, who won?

9   dublin hillz   2014 Sep 25, 3:19am  

Quigley says

People watch commercials when they watch sports because the commercials are far more entertaining, and the sports give them a chance to mosey to the fridge for more beer.

Commercials for the most part are boring and a time waster. Watching a game on DVR remedies that.

Regarding a fridge beer run, with a DVR, you make the run whenever you want...

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