Path: ...!eternal-september.org!feeder3.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Adam H. Kerman" Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv Subject: Further demise of NBC's regional sports network business Date: Sun, 5 May 2024 20:25:20 -0000 (UTC) Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Lines: 31 Message-ID: Injection-Date: Sun, 05 May 2024 22:25:21 +0200 (CEST) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="3ddef9db0e7e5846c62a1b885eabafdc"; logging-data="2164670"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX19Gq7CUZqdpwMnVXSSsMuC82nstVfxx084=" Cancel-Lock: sha1:qvv9DE2O56sI6esI+HQ/mnMzWM4= X-Newsreader: trn 4.0-test77 (Sep 1, 2010) Bytes: 2551 NBC has been in the regional sport network business for over a decade. It helps that it's a sister company of Comcast, a huge cable distributor. In non-Comcast areas, broadcast licensees have huge negotiating power with cable due to must carry/reciprical compensation that allows them to include all their nonbroadcast satellite channels in packages cable companies buy but really don't want all the channels of. Chicago Cubs had already formed Marquee. NBC Sports Chicago has a contract with the White Sox, Bulls, and Blackhawks. The cable distribution contract actually predates Comcast's acquisition of NBC but it got assigned to NBC Sports following the acquisition. The contract expires in October and will not be renewed. These deals are set up as a partnership and the teams themselves are partners. Reinsdorf owns the Sox and Bulls; Wirtz owns the Blackhawks. The Bulls and Blackhawks jointly own United Center. Reinsdorf purchased majority control Stadium multiplatform caster a year ago. He started it with Sinclair in 2017, but Sinclair never ended up with the WGN broadcast license as Reinsdorf must have been counting on. The Atlantic broke the story that the new regional sport network will NOT be stadium but Standard Media Group. Now, they do own a few broadcast licenses but not in Chicago so I don't understand how this gives them any clout with cable distributors. I've complained about this before. Comcast insulates itself from what it pays sports teams with the Regional Sport surcharge on every television package except limited basic. The fee gets adjusted from time to time based on what their rights cost. No, the fee is not refunded in years in which various teams are embarassingly awful.