Regional Sports Networks Going Bankrupt

Ha, that’s exactly how Midwest Sports Channel was for Twins games back in the late ‘80s, early ‘90s. Fond memories…

 

It's not the same anymore by a long shot, but Bally Sports Southwest's progenitor, HSE, was a mainstay on the family TV through the 1980s. Not only did it help me become a fan of the Dallas pro teams, it was also my first exposure to English soccer.

 

https://www.nexttv.com/news/nbas-ne...lt-bally-sports-for-a-local-broadcast-tv-deal

 

One of the things I've wondered about with the death of RSNs is what happens to people outside of teams' metro areas. The Pelicans have a vague plan to offer an over-the-air subchannel through Gray to Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, but for now, somebody in Baton Rouge, Hattiesburg, or Lafayette who wants to watch the game is pretty well out of luck.

 

When television stations were forced to move to digital signals in 2009 they received additional channels. For example KFLY in Lafayette has four digital channels that include the CW, the Ion and the LAFF channels. I would guess that Pelican games will appear on the secondary channels of televisions stations such as KFLY. Since the channels are digital I would guess that they will appear on a streaming service, a television station and/or the internet in the Layfette market.

The economic question is if the Pelicans will be able to generate subscriber fees from these outlets or will have to rely on just ad revenue. Diamond sports received about 85% of their revenue from subscriptions. In today's fragmented advertising market it is really hard to generate much ad revenue for anything other than the top-rated programs.

 

Comcast/Xfinity reached a deal, but you have to subscribe to the "Ultimate" tier to get the two Bally channels.

 

Do cable packages carry the sub-channels? YouTube TV doesn't and I watch the stupid Samsung channels more than I do OTA.

 

My system carries two or three sub channels from each of the traditional broadcast stations in my area. It depends on your cable provider.

 

Same here with Cox. We get multiple sub channels on our system. Can't keep track of them.

 

Ol' Follywill will have to go begging. Bally drops Mavs and Pels.

Bally broadcaster Diamond Sports Group drops Dallas Mavericks

 

I believe the Pistons and Red Wings signed new one-year deals at a deep discount. The Wings reportedly are losing about 20 percent from the previous contract.

Teams and leagues are going to have to get creative because RSN's golden goose appears to be on life support, if not already being given last rites.