This right here is from Puck News this morning. If anyone knows anything about this, it's them.... not Raj
@Cattle Mutilation I told u it was a false alarm
Even if the move had been telegraphed, executives from many sectors of the business—leagues, media, agencies,
etcetera—reacted with confusion about what this means for TNT Sports, which still has premier rights, including March Madness and both MLB and NHL postseason games. Zaz and Wiedenfels did not offer much guidance on a morning conference call.
Several of my sources suggested that a subsequent sale of the cable business seemed inevitable, especially considering the number of potential suitors in the market—rival media companies, streamers, and a ton of P.E. capital. Versant, the group of
cable channels spun off from Comcast, was mentioned as the most likely buyer, especially considering the company’s C.E.O.,
Mark Lazarus, has said that he’s planning to be in the market for sports rights. (Versant is currently light on sports.)
And yet, GunnarCo needs TNT and its sports portfolio, along with other key assets, like CNN and the Food Network, to drive long-term rights deals with distributors. Another school of thought suggested that Wiedenfels always wanted
to be a C.E.O., and he likes the challenge of trying to turn a group of declining assets into a success. “I have full conviction that we will see very successful networks for many, many years to come,” he said on the conference call. The CFP sublicense deal with ESPN that leaked out over the weekend underscores this point—it’s a legit bargaining chip with cable companies. “We know sports remains a key pillar to support affiliate fee stability in the years ahead,” MoffettNathanson noted in a
report this afternoon. “We expect WBD’s handling of its U.S. sports rights—whether through partnerships, licensing, or renewed distribution deals—to be a focal point in shaping the trajectory of Global Networks.”
Regardless of what eventually happens, league executives say they still view TNT Sports the same way. TBS, TNT, and TruTV face the same problem the rest of the cable business does: Distribution is falling faster than ever. But TNT Sports will continue to have a seat at the table,
as it’s had for decades. In fact, TNT Sports C.E.O.
Luis Silberwasser surprised many in the industry by pivoting after the NBA debacle to gather a smaller, more diffuse, and far more affordable portfolio of niche rights. (Silberwasser is also still in negotiations to pick up rights to one of the UFC’s packages.)
Some league executives praised the quality of TNT Sports’s French Open coverage, which included five sets, a whip-around channel, and an effective social media
plan around Bleacher Report. The NBA auction may have drawn a boundary line between the haves and have-nots of the modern media landscape, but TNT’s response also articulated a new playbook for the subscale players—and it’s one Laz is likely already studying.
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In short, TNT sports isn't going anywhere because whoever retains the rights or buys the channels outright is going to need them. They have too much premier content and the only thing that's even watch on cable anymore is sports. The French Open was up 23% on TNT/max compared to what it was last year before the move.
