Still in the game: TNT matches Amazon’s $1.8 billion NBA offer
Warner Bros. Discovery is trying to make a fourth-quarter comeback. The company announced it matched Amazon’s $1.8 billion-per-year bid to continue carrying NBA games on TNT after the 2024-2025 season.
On July 16, the NBA’s board of governors approved an 11-year, $76 billion TV deal that included Disney, NBC and Amazon. The deal begins with the 2025-2026 season and would mark the league’s push toward streaming options.
“[Streaming] allows for tremendous additional functionality while watching games,” Commissioner Adam Silver said in June ahead of game one of the NBA Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics. “Personalization, customization of games, multiple feeds, multiple dialects, multiple languages, different camera angles; it really gives the fan enormous additional choice that you don’t have through traditional television.”
During negotiations, the price tag seemed to keep getting bigger with the expanded media landscape due to streaming and a limited number of available partners.
“It just shows how valuable prime real estate is in the sports world, and especially when you had two companies, Amazon Prime and NBC on the outside, wanting to get in,” former Fox Sports President Bob Thompson told Straight Arrow News in June when the $76 billion number was just a rumor. “And then you combine that with the fact that ESPN obviously wanted to maintain their position, maintain the finals for ABC [and] have enough content for their purported direct-to-consumer offering of ESPN.”
Stipulations from the previous media rights deal allows Warner Bros. and TNT Sports five days to submit a matching offer after being provided the details of the new contract. TNT Sports announced they did so on Monday, July 22.
“We have reviewed the offers and matched one of them,” TNT Sports said in a statement. “This will allow fans to keep enjoying our unparalleled coverage, including the best live game productions in the industry and our iconic studio shows and talent, while building on our proven 40-year commitment for many more years.”
The “iconic” studio show has been a major part of discussions around the future of NBA broadcasts. “Inside the NBA” has been a staple for basketball fans for years. Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neil, Kenny “the Jet” Smith and anchor Ernie Johnson became must-see TV.
Silver spoke about the importance of “Inside the NBA” and the possibility of TNT losing the NBA during that June press conference.
“It has been difficult,” Silver said. “That show, in particular, is special. And I have a close relationship with everyone who’s on that show from the time they played in the league, and Ernie [Johnson] and I have been friends forever.”
Questions about the show’s future prompted sports media to wonder whether another network would pick up the “Inside the NBA” crew. But Barkley made a surprise announcement following game four of the NBA Finals.
🚨 Charles Barkley: "I ain't going nowhere other than TNT. But, I have made the decision the myself- no matter what happens, next year is going to be my last year on television… I'm not going to another network… Next year, I'm going to just retire after 25 years." 🚨 pic.twitter.com/E966rKo7X4
“I’ve talked to all the other networks but I ain’t going nowhere other than TNT,” the Hall of Famer said during a post-game broadcast. “But I have made the decision myself, no matter what happens, next year is going to be my last year on television.”
Warner Bros.’ decision to challenge Amazon’s bid leaves NBC on solid ground, solidifying the return of NBA on NBC for the first time in more than 20 years. And the famous theme song could make a comeback as well.
Biden fields questions on ability, foreign affairs while misspeaking at times
For almost an hour President Joe Biden takes questions from the media about his policies, his candidacy and his health. And Prince Harry addresses the controversy surrounding his selection as an award recipient at the ESPYs. These stories and more highlight The Morning Rundown for Friday, July 12, 2024.
Biden fields questions on ability, foreign affairs while misspeaking at times
The eyes of the world were on President Joe Biden on Thursday night, July 11, as he delivered an hour-long press conference to close out the NATO summit in Washington, D.C. It was his first press conference since his poor performance at the June 27 debate, which has led to growing concern in the Democratic Party about his candidacy.
The president fielded questions from reporters, but it was a gaffe he made earlier in the day at the summit that was already on people’s minds. He misspoke while introducing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“Now I want to hand it over to the president of Ukraine who has as much courage as he has determination, ladies and gentlemen, President Putin,” Biden said, before quickly catching himself. “President Putin? He’s going to beat President Putin. President Zelenskyy. I’m so focused on beating Putin, we’ve got to worry about it. Anyway, Mr. President.”
Then came the evening press conference — President Biden’s first in eight months. He made it clear he plans on staying in the race to face former President Donald Trump in November, despite the calls from some Democratic lawmakers to step aside.
“I think I’m the most qualified person to run for president,” President Biden vowed. “I beat him once and I’ll beat him again.”
However, just minutes into the Q&A portion, Biden slipped when asked about Vice President Kamala Harris’ ability to beat Trump if she were at the top of the ticket.
“Look, I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president, did I think she was not qualified to be president, so let’s start there,” he said.
And when answering a question about the U.S.’ military assistance for Ukraine, Biden made another error before correcting himself.
“I’m following the advice of my Commander in Chief — my, the Chief of Staff of the military, as well as the Secretary of Defense and our intelligence people,” he said.
Still, Biden spent most of his time in front of the press corps displaying his understanding of foreign affairs, giving detailed responses to questions on Russia, China and the Middle East.
“We have to make clear China has to understand that if they are supplying Russia with information and capacity along with working with North Korea and others to help Russia and armament, that they’re not going to benefit economically as a consequence of that by getting the kind of investment they’re looking for,” Biden said.
He also touched on the ongoing war in Gaza.
“I know Israel well and I support Israel,” he said. “But this war cabinet is one of the most conservative war cabinets in the history of Israel and there’s no ultimate answer other than a two-state solution here.”
Ultimately, the questions came back to Biden’s well-being. The president was asked if he’d be willing to take another neurological exam.
“Every single day I’m surrounded by good docs, if they think there’s a problem, I promise you or even if they don’t think it’s a problem, they think I should have a neurological exam again I’ll do it but no one’s suggesting that to me now,” he responded.
When asked by a reporter if he’d step aside if data showed Vice President Harris would be in a better position to win the election in November, Biden remained defiant.
“No, unless they came back and said there’s no way you can win,” he said. “Me. No one’s saying that. No poll says that.”
Former President Donald Trump seized the moment during Thursday’s press conference, commenting on Biden’s missteps on his Truth Social app, highlighting any mistakes the president made. When asked about that, Biden replied, “Listen to him.”
Crooked Joe begins his “Big Boy” Press Conference with, "I wouldn't have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president, though I think she was not qualified to be president." Great job, Joe!
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) July 12, 2024
More Democratic lawmakers call on Biden to drop out of race
While President Biden may have hoped his press conference Thursday night would calm fears of his abilities among his party, three more Democratic lawmakers are now calling for him to drop out of the race. They join 13 other House members and one Senate Democrat.
Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut said in a statement that he believes Biden is “a remarkable leader” but needs to “step away from his presidential campaign.”
Rep. Scott Peters of California said he’s asking the president to withdraw, adding the stakes are high and the Democrats are on a losing course.
And Rep. Eric Sorensen of Illinois said he hopes the president will step aside for a candidate “who will communicate a positive vision for every person in this country.”
Meanwhile, CBS News reports dozens of Democratic lawmakers are expected to issue statements calling for Biden to leave the race within the next 48 hours.
Trump asks judge to toss criminal conviction over SCOTUS immunity ruling
Former President Trump is seeking to have his recent criminal conviction in New York thrown out based on the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity. Trump’s lawyers argue some of the evidence and testimony used in the criminal trial should not have been allowed because they were related to official acts Trump made while president, which the Supreme Court ruled are protected from prosecution.
Already the Supreme Court’s decision has delayed sentencing in that case. Originally set for Thursday, July 11, it’s now been pushed back to Sept. 18 to give the judge time to consider how the ruling impacts the outcome of the trial.
We were all taught in grade school that there are no kings here in America, but what the MAGA Justices have done is placed a crown on Donald Trump's head.
I am working in the Senate on legislation to clarify that Trump's election-subversion acts do not count as official acts.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Democrats are considering a bill that would classify some of Trump’s actions that have landed him in legal troubles as “unofficial acts” so he could still be prosecuted.
Record-setting heat wave scorches western U.S., dozens dead
A week-long heat wave has left nearly 30 people dead and incinerated multiple temperature records in the west. Forecasters say it will continue to bring dangerously high temperatures through Saturday, July 13, before moving to the central and eastern U.S. by Sunday, July 14.
Millions of people across multiple states are under heat advisories. The situation is especially bad in Texas, where thousands of people are still without power after Hurricane Beryl tore through Monday, July 8, killing at least ten people.
More than 1 million power customers in southeast Texas — mainly between Galveston and north of Houston — are still without power. Officials say half a million Houston-area homes and businesses may not have their power restored until July 22.
NRG Arena is being converted into a 250-bed post-hospital recovery site so discharged patients don’t go to homes without power. This is intended to alleviate the backup of patients at Houston’s hospitals. #KHOU11pic.twitter.com/zmPQowa9nO
The outages have crippled infrastructure across the region, including hospitals and water treatment plants, leaving many without clean drinking water.
Dollar General to pay $12M safety violations settlement
Dollar General has agreed to pay a $12 million fine and improve working conditions at thousands of its stores across the country. The company reached a settlement with OSHA to resolve alleged violations, including unsafe storage, blocked emergency exits and fire extinguishers, and inaccessible electrical panels.
Under the agreement, if inspectors find similar problems in the future, Dollar General could be fined up to $100,000 a day if they’re not resolved within 48 hours.
The terms of the deal also require Dollar General to significantly reduce inventory and improve stocking to prevent hazards and hire more safety managers, as well as create a health and safety committee with employee participation.
Prince Harry accepts Pat Tillman Award for Service at 2024 ESPYs
The best in the world of sports were honored Thursday night at ESPN’s annual award show — the ESPYs. But going into the event, there was some controversy over ESPN’s choice to receive the Pat Tillman Award for Service.
Prince Harry is the recipient of the Pat Tillman Award for Service.
The Duke of Sussex founded The Invictus Games, an international platform that supports wounded, injured, and sick servicemen and women who are navigating both physical and invisible injuries. pic.twitter.com/M3F3Rmft4j
Prince Harry was selected for his role in starting the Invictus Games for wounded military personnel and veterans.
In the days leading up to the ceremony. the mother of Pat Tillman — the former NFL player turned U.S. soldier who was killed in Afghanistan in 2004 — criticized ESPN’s selection, saying there were recipients far more fitting. Harry took a moment to respond to the controversy while delivering his acceptance speech.
“I’d like to begin by expressing my deepest gratitude to everyone at the Pat Tillman Foundation, led by Marie Tillman Shenton, who I’m so honored is here tonight,” he said. “I’d also like to acknowledge the Tillman family, especially Mrs. Mary Tillman, Pat’s mother. Her advocacy for Pat’s legacy is deeply personal and one that I respect. The bond between a mother and son is eternal and transcends even the greatest losses.”
During his speech, Prince Harry said he is just a voice for the Invictus Games Foundation and the thousands of veterans and service members who have taken part in the games over the past 10 years, adding the award belongs to them.
President Biden to hold press conference as George Clooney, Sen. Welch call for a change
President Joe Biden is set to hold a press conference as George Clooney joins the calls for him to step aside. And the NBA scores big with its latest TV rights deal. These stories and more highlight The Morning Rundown for Thursday, July 11, 2024.
Biden to hold press conference as Clooney, Welch call for a change
President Joe Biden will hold his first solo press conference of the year Thursday, July 11. It’s also the first since his rocky performance in the June 27 presidential debate, as calls for him to step aside as the Democratic nominee continue to grow.
On Wednesday, July 10, it was Hollywood actor and longtime Democratic donor George Clooney calling for Biden to withdraw from the race. This happened just weeks after Clooney hosted a fundraiser for Biden’s campaign that brought in more than $30 million.
In an op-ed piece for The New York Times, Clooney wrote that the Biden he saw at the fundraiser was not the Biden of 2010 or 2020, saying, “He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.”
“As Democrats, we collectively hold our breath or turn down the volume whenever we see the president, whom we respect, walk off Air Force One or walk back to a mic to answer an unscripted question,” Clooney wrote. “Is it fair to point these things out? It has to be. This is about age. Nothing more. But also, nothing that can be reversed. We are not going to win in November with this president.”
Clooney joined a chorus of Democrats who have recently spoken up for Biden to drop out, including nine House members. And on Wednesday, Peter Welch of Vermont became the first Democratic senator to join the call.
Welch wrote in an op-ed in The Washington Post that Biden should step down for “the good of the country.”
“We need him to put us first, as he has done before. I urge him to do it now,” Welch said.
On Thursday afternoon, Democratic senators will meet with senior advisers from the Biden campaign as they look to express their concerns following the debate. Then the president’s press conference — dubbed by Bloomberg News and cited by the White House as a “big boy press conference” — will take place at 5:30 p.m. ET as the three-day NATO summit winds down in Washington.
NATO calls China “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war in Ukraine
In recent months, the U.S. and European leaders have accused China of bolstering Russia’s defense sector with supplies critical to rebuilding the Russian military. Beijing has denied the accusations.
“China provides dual use equipment, microelectronics, a lot of other tools which are enabling Russia to build the missiles, to build the bombs, to build the aircrafts, to build the weapons they’re using to attack Ukraine,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday, July 11, the second day of the NATO summit in Washington, D.C. “And the fact that this is now clearly stated, agreed by all NATO allies, is an important message to China. And then, of course, we also then state that it cannot continue like this.”
The NATO nations also affirmed the importance of their Indo-Pacific partners, which are not members of the alliance, with leaders from Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia joining the summit.
NATO and the Indo-Pacific partners said they plan to launch four joint projects including supporting Ukraine, bolstering cooperation on cyber defense, countering disinformation and working on artificial intelligence.
China is accusing NATO of overreaching and inciting confrontation in the Indo-Pacific region.
U.S. to resume shipping 500-pound bombs to Israel
The United States is resuming shipping 500-pound bombs to Israel after pausing the shipment of nearly 2,000 of them in mid-May. However, U.S. officials said they’ll continue to hold back on a delivery of much larger 2,000-pound bombs over concerns they could be used in densely populated areas of Gaza.
The U.S. is specifically concerned the large bombs would be used in Israel’s ground invasion of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have taken refuge since the war with Hamas began.
U.S. officials said the smaller 500-pound bombs had been put together in a shipment with the larger bombs, which is why they were delayed. They have since been separated and can now be sent to Israel.
AOC files impeachment articles against Supreme Court justices Thomas, Alito
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has introduced articles of impeachment against conservative Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas. Ocasio-Cortez is accusing them of what she calls “unchecked corruption” for refusing to recuse themselves from certain cases, like the recent decision to grant former President Donald Trump immunity and improperly failing to disclose gifts from wealthy donors.
However, it’s unlikely the justices will be impeached. A majority vote of 218 is required for the House to adopt the articles. Currently in the House, Republicans hold 219 seats and Democrats hold 213.
Reports: NBA finalizes 11-year $76B deal with NBC, Amazon, Disney
TNT Sports, which has been airing the NBA since the 1980s, will have a five-day window to match one of the deals once the league shares the finished contracts.
The agreement, which breaks NBA records for length and value, would take effect for the 2025-2026 season.
‘Inside Out 2’ becomes Pixar’s highest-grossing movie of all time
There’s a whole lot of joy over at Pixar studios; its latest movie has made box office history. “Inside Out 2” is officially Pixar’s highest-grossing movie of all time.
So far, the film about a teenager’s emotions has earned $1.25 billion worldwide, passing “Incredibles 2,” which made $1.24 billion in its run. “Inside Out 2” now ranks as the fourth-highest grossing animated movie of all time.
The top spot currently belongs to Disney’s 2019 film “Frozen 2” which grossed $1.45 billion globally during its release.
Money Madness: 5 ways Caitlin Clark fever is paying off
Women’s March Madness is full of stars this year but one stands out above the rest. Iowa standout Caitlin Clark is the must-see attraction, pulling more eyeballs than last year’s NBA Finals average viewership, the World Series, and nearly every college football game. The sports world is in the Caitlin Clark business and it’s paying off.
“Iowa was a great team but Caitlin Clark is the reason we tuned in,” NBA superstar LeBron James said.
As Iowa gets ready to take on UConn and Paige Bueckers in the Final Four, here are five ways people are cashing in on Caitlin Clark.
Caitlin Clark herself
College basketball’s all-time leading scorer has scored about $3.2 million in NIL deals this year, according to On3. Her deals rank fourth behind sports royalty offspring Bronny James, Shedeur Sanders and social media sensation Livvy Dunne. Clark’s lucrative deals include Nike, Gatorade and State Farm.
Ice Cube also confirmed on social media that his up-and-coming BIG3 league extended a $5 million offer to Caitlin Clark, which would allow her to also play in the WNBA.
Gamblers are setting records with Caitlin Clark. FanDuel says the Elite Eight LSU-Iowa game was the biggest betting event of all time for women’s sports.
The Angel Reese-Clark rematch drew in 28% more money than their title game last year, where Reese came out victorious. This time, Clark dropped 41 points, drained nine three-pointers, and moves on to take on another college basketball star in the Final Four, UConn’s Bueckers.
Attendance records
The icon-heavy women’s tournament is setting records for fans in stands. The sellout crowds shattered records for the third consecutive season. Nearly 300,000 fans watched the first- and second-round games alone, a 26% increase over the previous year’s peak.
Fans in Iowa City topped all other hosting sites and the Caitlin effect doesn’t stop in college. The WNBA’s Indiana Fever is seeing a spike in ticket sales. The team has the No. 1 overall pick this year with Caitlin Clark headed to the league.
Getty Images
Ticket prices
It’s getting pricey to see these female superstars on the court. Their popularity is pushing resale ticket prices through the roof. The average cost to get into the women’s Final Four is $2,323, while the men’s tournament is taking in less than half at $1,001, according to Logitix.
Call it “Clarkonomics.”
TV ratings
Iowa’s Elite Eight victory over LSU shattered TV viewing records. With 12.3 million viewers tuning in, it wasn’t just the most-watched women’s college basketball game in history, but one of the most-viewed games in any sport other than the NFL this past year.
The Reese-Clark showdown topped the 11.8 million people who tuned in to watch USC great Cheryl Miller take on now-LSU coach Kim Mulkey in the 1983 championship.
ESPN has been getting a steal of a deal airing the women’s tournament. They recently signed an 8-year extension worth $65 million a year, which Sportico said is 12 times the current deal’s average annual rate. The higher rate won’t take effect until next season when Clark will be in the WNBA. Meanwhile, CBS and Turner pay around $1 billion per year to collectively air the men’s tournament.
The ‘little guy’ may have the biggest say in Disney’s $70 million proxy fight
The fierce boardroom battle over Disney’s direction heads to a vote during the week of March 31. It is expected to be the most expensive proxy fight in history, with all sides dropping a collective $70 million to influence shareholder votes.
Disney is doing the bulk of the spending to push for its chosen board of directors at an estimated $40 million, while Peltz’s Trian Partners expects to drop $25 million to Blackwells Capital’s $6 million. The latter two are separately challenging the company line.
Peltz is no stranger to forcing expensive fights over board seats. He holds the current record for the most expensive proxy fight with Procter & Gamble in 2017. That fight cost $60 million and is one of the closest proxy battles in corporate history. After a near-tie and multiple recounts, Peltz reportedly lost the vote but P&G conceded in giving him a seat on the board anyway.
Now setting his sights on Disney for a second time – he first angled for a board seat one year ago before dropping the fight – Peltz and Trian Partners argue, “Disney has lost its way over the past decade. Shareholders have suffered greatly, losing tens of billions of dollars in value.”
“We’re here to make that stock go up for the right reasons,” Peltz said in a video aimed at Disney shareholders. “We’re here to get this company back to earning money, generating cash flow, fixing the streaming business. Here’s a company that has disappointed and underperformed the S&P for one year, three years, five years, 10 years, forever. That’s how long they’ve been disappointing shareholders.”
Over the past five years, the S&P 500 index is up more than 81% while Disney is up 5.65% as of Monday morning, April 1.
One of Peltz’s biggest gripes is continued losses in Disney’s streaming business. In a 133-page white paper, he suggests, among other things, combining Hulu with Disney+.
Despite the underperforming stock track record over the past several years, Disney argues that under returning CEO Bob Iger, the company is in the middle of righting the ship.
In 2024, Disney’s stock has far outpaced the S&P 500 benchmark, rising 34% compared to S&P’s 10%. The company is also going after Peltz’s track record in a series of attacks meant to sway shareholders.
“Nelson Peltz has a long history of attacking companies to the ultimate detriment of shareholder value. His quest also seems more about vanity than a belief in Disney,” Disney said in a video to shareholders.
Part of what is making this fight over board seats so expensive, possibly record-setting, is that around 40% of Disney’s shareholders are regular people, not big funds. The New York Times said for the average public company, individuals usually own around 15%.
It’s costly to reach a large number of small investors. In this proxy fight, it could be Average Jane and Joe who tip the scales at Wednesday’s annual shareholders meeting. At stake are the futures of Disney+, Hulu, ESPN, ABC, movie studios like Marvel, and of course, the happiest places on Earth.
FuboTV sues Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery over sports streaming service
The streaming wars appear ready to enter the courtroom, as sports streaming platform FuboTV is suing Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery over their recently announced sports streaming service. FuboTV filed an antitrust lawsuit on Tuesday, Feb. 20, alleging the joint venture “will destroy competition and inflate prices for consumers.”
“Each of these companies has consistently engaged in anticompetitive practices that aim to monopolize the market, stifle any form of competition, create higher pricing for subscribers and cheat consumers from deserved choice,” David Gandler, co-founder and CEO of FuboTV, said in a statement.
FuboTV alleges the defendants’ new joint venture is their latest move to eliminate competition and monopolize the sports streaming market.
“The launch of this new streaming sports service is a significant moment for Disney and ESPN, a major win for sports fans, and an important step forward for the media business,” Bob Iger, Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company said. “This means the full suite of ESPN channels will be available to consumers alongside the sports programming of other industry leaders as part of a differentiated sports-centric service.”
House Republicans fail to impeach Mayorkas, pass Israel funding bill: The Morning Rundown, Feb. 7, 2024
House Republicans fail to impeach the Homeland Security secretary and pass an Israel aid bill. And voters in Nevada send a message as a winner of the state’s GOP primary is declared. These stories and more highlight The Morning Rundown for Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024.
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House GOP fails to impeach Mayorkas, pass Israel funding bill
It was a busy night on Capitol Hill Tuesday, Feb. 6, and a rough one for House Republicans as two of their efforts failed to pass a full House vote, impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and a standalone Israel aid bill.
Democrats hope a bipartisan package in the Senate, including funding for Israel, Ukraine, and border security, will gain traction. However, its outlook is bleak, with Republicans challenging it in both chambers.
House Republicans also failed in their effort to impeach DHS Secretary Mayorkas over his handling of the border crisis, with four Republicans voting no, siding with Democrats that Mayorkas’ conduct does not constitute an impeachable offense.
A spokesperson for the DHS called the impeachment “baseless” and said it “should have never moved forward.” Despite the loss, GOP leaders say they plan to bring up the impeachment vote again soon.
Nikki Haley loses to ‘none of these candidates’ in Nevada primary
Former President Donald Trump did not compete in the primary, opting to participate in Thursday’s, Feb. 8, caucuses, which will award Nevada’s delegates to the winner. Haley becomes the first candidate for either the GOP or Democratic party to lose to the “none of these candidates” option since it was introduced in Nevada in 1975. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden easily won the state’s Democratic primary.
Mother of school shooter found guilty of involuntary manslaughter
Crumbley was convicted on four counts, one for each of the students who were killed during the mass shooting at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021. Her son, Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 years old at the time, was sentenced to life in prison last year after pleading guilty to 24 charges, including first-degree murder.
The Associated Press reporting that prosecutors are asking for consecutive sentences on the four counts which means Crumbley is facing up to 60 years in prison. Crumbley’s sentencing is scheduled for April.
NTSB: Alaska Airlines flight was missing bolts before panel flew off
The panel that flew off an Alaska Airlines plane midflight in January 2024 was missing four bolts needed to keep it in place, according to a new report by the NTSB. Investigators said the panel, known as a door plug, likely left a Boeing factory without the bolts in place. The incident resulted in the FAA grounding all Boeing 737 Max 9 airplanes.
A Boeing spokesperson said the company will review the findings and continue to work with investigators. The report came out on the same day the FAA’s top official, Michael Whitaker, testified before House lawmakers. He said the current inspection system is not working and the FAA will take appropriate actions to keep flying safe for all passengers.
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson to interview Putin
The New York Times reported that the Kremlin has yet to confirm the interview is happening. Still, Russian state-run media has reported every move of Carlson’s trip to Moscow, only increasing anticipation of the potential interview. Carlson said that the interview will be aired unedited on his website and on “X.” Carlsom added that he also requested to interview Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
ESPN, Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery to launch sports streaming service
Most sports are a team effort; now, that same group mentality goes for streaming sports as three of the biggest broadcasters are banding together to form a new streaming service. Disney’s ESPN, the Fox Corporation, and Warner Bros. Discovery announced they will launch a new service in the fall to showcase their sports assets.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this report stated that the Oxford High School shooting occurred on Nov. 30, 2022 The shooting occurred on Nov. 30, 2021 and SAN has updated this report. SAN regrets the error.
$2 billion for CFP playoff TV rights? Expectations may need to be ‘tempered’
This year’s college football championship game between Michigan and Washington will mark the final time fans see just four teams in the college football playoff (CFP). Starting next season, the CFP expands to a 12-team format with 11 tournament-style games.
ESPN pays about $470 million annually to broadcast the current three playoff games: two semifinal games and the championship game. So how much money will 11 games command? Television networks are preparing competitive bids to get their shot at the playoff package when ESPN’s contract is up in 2026.
To get into the bidding war, Straight Arrow News spoke with Bob Thompson, former president of Fox Sports Network and co-founder of the Big Ten Network.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Simone Del Rosario: We’ve seen quotes out there in the past citing north of $2 billion for [annual broadcast rights]. Where do you think that’s going to go? Do you still think that’s feasible?
Bob Thompson: Well, I was one of those exuberant quoters of $2+ billion. You know, that was a couple of years ago, or at least a year and a half ago, and a lot has changed in the traditional media business since then.
If you look at some of the deals that have been done lately and how some of the traditional broadcast linear networks are going through a little bit of retrenchment and really counting their pennies, I think that the exuberance that was once out there for this deal is probably going to need to be tempered somewhat.
Bob Thompson: Well, the way they divvy up the money at this point, it’s amongst the A4 conferences, previously was A5. I’m not sure how they’re going to deal with the Pac-12 yet. And then the G5 conferences receive a smaller share as well.
Then those schools that participate in the playoffs receive an additional share on top of that. Each conference is different in how they split the money up. Some do it equally. Some give an incentive bonus to schools that make it to the playoffs. So each is different, but basically, it is returned for the most part to the schools.
Simone Del Rosario: Rumor has it Fox is making a big push for this, if not all, at least big parts of the CFP. What do you know about that?
Bob Thompson: Well, I don’t know anything in particular. I know how the people at Fox think though, having spent a number of years there. And they didn’t get into the college football business to not participate in the playoffs.
It would be highly unusual, in my experience, that they would not bid – and probably bid pretty aggressively – because they’ve got a pretty good entrenchment with the Big Ten and the Big 12. They have the Big Ten Network that they operate. It’s a game they want to play in.
And the one thing that they always like is to have not just the regular season, but you want a tournament as well. And now that they’re going to actually have one, I fully expect Fox to be in. I don’t know that it would be for all of it.
My guess is that the package is split with a rotating champ game and rotating semifinal games. That would probably be the only way that you could get two people in. Nobody wants just the first round and nobody wants the first round and just the second round. If you’re going to pay what they’re going to have to pay, you want a shot at the champ game and the semifinals as well, which are going to be the highest-rated games.
Simone Del Rosario: So you’re seeing something along the lines of what we have in the Super Bowl, where it rotates amongst different networks every year.
Bob Thompson: It’s a very traditional NFL-style model. NFL has a couple more games, I believe, because of the wildcard situation, but with the 11 games over some period of three to four weeks, it will look very much like the NFL. And that’s why I expect there to be at least two, if not more, players.
Simone Del Rosario: ESPN and NCAA just announced a deal, an 8-year extension worth nearly a billion dollars, for 40 championships. Of course, we’re not talking about FBS football, but we are talking about a bunch of other sports. Given the timing of this announcement, do you glean anything from this? Is ESPN going to focus on these investments and maybe not make as big of a push for CFP?
Bob Thompson: You know, ESPN has had this package for years and the extension announced today is a continuation of that. There was an additional, I think, nine championship events. And they also committed to put some of those events on ABC, the women’s gymnastics and women’s volleyball, which had never been on ABC before.
I think ESPN has an insatiable appetite for content. A lot of this content will likely air on ESPN plus their streaming service. So I think it’s just a continuation for them.
I think it was a nice increase for the NCAA in terms of the dollars. But again, it was coming off a deal that was 10 or 12 years old as well. So it’s kind of hard to gauge just how much of an increase that was. I mean, we know absolute dollar value how much of an increase it was, but you have to look at it over the period of 10 to 12 years.
Simone Del Rosario: With the college football playoff expanding to those 12 teams while we’re still under the ESPN reign of the CFP, does ESPN have those three games that they’ve historically had to this point and the others are up for grabs for the rest of the playoff? We know ESPN’s paying about $470 million a year to broadcast these games.
Bob Thompson: Yeah, they have really a number of deals. They have the semis and the championship game deal. Then they have the deal with the group of six New Year’s Day bowl games. All totaled, that deal averaged about $680 [million], I believe, a year.
So given that fact that there’s two years to go on the current agreement, I would assume that ESPN has the first right on the four new games that are going to occur in 2024 and 2025. If ESPN comes in with an acceptable offer for those games, it could be game set match, and we’ll just talk about this all again in another year when they’re talking about an extension for the CFP going forward beyond 2025.
My expectation is that for the CFP to maximize what they’re going to want in terms of the four new games this year, they’re going to have to do an extension of the current deal. And again, ESPN is in the driver seat because they are the incumbent.
But that doesn’t mean that it won’t go to bid and other people won’t have an opportunity to bid on it. If you look at how ESPN has been operating lately, it would not surprise me if they were fine not owning all of it.
You know, you can’t own everything and the days of exclusivity have come to an end. You look at the new NASCAR deal, you’ve got four different outlets in there with Amazon Prime, WBD Sports, NBC, Fox, and then you’ve even got the CW out there with the Xfinity Series.
So the days of owning 100% of things have come to a screeching halt and many packages are shared and I expect the CFP package to be shared as well.
This is Part 2 of Straight Arrow News’ CFP series. Catch the series kickoff in Part 1.
CFP expansion means more games and money. Will players get a cut?
The proposed college football playoff (CFP) expansion format is likely heading back to the drawing board before it even begins. With the effective destruction of the Pac-12, CFP told Straight Arrow News that conversations about reworking conference champion playoff bids will pick up this offseason, ahead of 2024-2025 play.
The 12-team playoff format currently states that the highest-ranking six conference champions get into the playoffs. If that format had taken place this year without the Pac-12, that would put 23rd-ranked Liberty and 24th-ranked SMU in the top 6.
It’s just one wrinkle left to iron out before the much-anticipated playoff tournament. Playoff games for the upcoming season will stretch to Jan. 20, 2025, nearly three weeks longer than traditional bowl play. The added playoff games could command a multi-billion-dollar annual sports broadcast contract. How will players be protected for extra play and will the additional money make it into their pockets?
Straight Arrow News interviewed Bob Thompson, the former president of the Fox Sports Network and co-founder of the Big Ten Network. This interview has been edited for clarity.
Simone Del Rosario: This push for a college football playoff has gone on for a very long time. What made now the right time for a 12-team playoff? Why was this decision reached in this decade?
Bob Thompson: There’s the never ending chase for revenue and that’s really what it comes down to. When Fox had the BCS, we were really hoping that we would get to a tournament and there was no indication that there was going to be an expansion beyond the four teams. At that time, there wasn’t even really a play in game.
So ESPN was able to put that together. And I think the CFP – the board of managers, which is basically the presidents and commissioners of the major 10 conferences – all felt that to have more opportunity for schools to advance and play for a championship was a smart idea.
And it took a lot longer than a lot of us hoped it would, but at least they’re finally there and it clearly looks like next year is going to be interesting.
I went back and looked at what the matchups might have been if we had a 12-team this year. And there were some great games. I mean, you’re going to get some blowouts in those early rounds. Don’t get me wrong, that’s just the way it’s going to be. But there were some very interesting first-round matchups, which would have led to some very interesting second-round matchups as well.
Simone Del Rosario: I agree with you, a lot of good games to be had. We’re asking college athletes to play practically an additional three weeks. Does the NIL play into this at all – because now college athletes are getting paid and being treated a little bit more like professional athletes – to be able to make that ask? I know part of the reason not to [extend] would have been to protect those athletes, protect their safety.
Bob Thompson: Yes, I mean, certainly that’s a concern. And I think that the conferences have begun to address the injury issues, the mental health issues, that the students have to go through in adding a couple of games.
It’s going to be an additional ask of the student-athletes. But to a man and to a woman, for those who compete in collegiate athletics, they want to play the best and they want to play for the top level. And so I think that this is a situation where it can be good for all involved.
Simone Del Rosario: We’re looking at potentially a couple of billion dollars per year to broadcast these games. Should we see players compensated for agreeing to participate in these playoff games? No one likes to see the bowl games where none of the starters are playing.
Bob Thompson: Yeah, that’s certainly an issue with the bowl games going forward. I mean, I think everybody probably recognizes that there’s going to be some level of compensation for the student athletes going forward. There’s a variety of NIL cases currently in process or soon to be in process. And at some point, they’ll get it all figured out.
I certainly think that these games and bowl games – the CFP games and bowl games as well – will follow under that somehow. I think the non-CFP bowls are already trying to figure out how they can remain relevant and that’s important that they do remain relevant. And I think they’ve come to a bit of a realization that they’re going to have to look at some form of compensation model as well. What exactly that is and how it’s divvied up is to be determined.
The other thing I think that probably needs to be given more consideration is some form of insurance policy or something that gives the participants some peace of mind that they’re not going to potentially ruin income-producing opportunities down the road to play a single game.
Simone Del Rosario: You brought up something I really wanted to ask you, which was, how much do you think this is going to hurt those non-playoff bowls? Is the FBS landscape changing in the next few years?
Bob Thompson: No, I don’t think so. I think there’s going to have to be some changes to them. And I can’t sit here right now and tell you what those should be, but they can still remain relevant.
I think to a lot of these communities that put on these bowl games, it’s a year-long love effort amongst those communities to put those games on. I mean, I’ve been around enough of these bowl games over the years to see that literally the passion that the people who put those games on and the associations that put those kinds of games on, it’s from their heart and they love doing it. And I can’t imagine that it’s going to quit just because we’ve made the tournament 12 teams instead of four teams.
Simone Del Rosario: CFP has some decisions to make and some conversations to be had with what’s happening with the conferences right now. How do you think that the conference realignment is going to change the playoff structure that’s been proposed up to this point?
Bob Thompson: Well, I think you’ll probably end up at a five-seven scenario where the A5 conferences, which will probably become A4 conferences, will get an automatic bid and then one of the G5s will have an auto bid. The rest will go to the highest-rated, non-conference champions playing in the subdivision that the bowl games all fold into.
So I don’t see a huge difference. Right now, it’s six-six they were talking about, but when the Pac-12 imploded, it quickly went to a five-seven. And I think the G5 guys were hoping they could maybe hang on for another one, but it’s not probably going to happen. So I would expect it’s a five-seven.
Simone Del Rosario: Do you think there’s too much emphasis being placed on conference championships? I mean, we all watched Georgia play. I think a lot of us would have loved to see that caliber of football in the finals.
Bob Thompson: Yes, I think the conference championship games, first of all, they’re revenue producers and everybody’s under a television agreement for a number of years that has a conference championship game included in it. So they’re going to be around at least for the foreseeable future.
I think you could get a situation now where the way the tournament sets up, you could have somebody play each other three times, once in the regular season, once in the conference champ game, and then once in the tournament as well.
I don’t know that that’s what anybody necessarily wants, but if it happens, it happens. I think having three Georgia-Alabama games or three Washington-Oregon games, everybody’s been very happy with, or three Ohio State-Michigan games because they’re great games. And that’s what it’s all about, trying to create the best matchups that are going to draw the most viewers for the TV networks. That way they’ll continue to pay.
Simone Del Rosario: Bob Thompson, thank you so much for your thoughts.
Cable TV’s survival chances as streaming gobbles up live sports
Since people first started cutting the cable cord more than a decade ago, broadcast and cable networks have clung to two facets of live television for dear life: News and sports.
In 2023, every major news agency has an online presence. CNN just announced a streamed version of the network live on Max. And in more bad news for linear TV, sports are now all over these streaming platforms.
DirecTV lost NFL Sunday Ticket to YouTube, Paramount+ carries local CBS NFL games, and Amazon Prime has “Thursday Night Football.” And all of that is just for the NFL, the most profitable league in the United States.
Max started streaming live sports just in time for MLB playoffs, and now the NBA has a big decision to make: Cable or streaming? The broadcast rights expire after next year’s season.
Are streaming services about to achieve the big payday that’s so far largely eluded them? Is it the end of linear TV? Michael Pachter joins Straight Arrow News to discuss. Pachter covers Netflix, FuboTV and Amazon as the managing director of equity research with Wedbush Securities.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: Broadcast contracts come up every decade or so. Do you think NBA to Netflix is a real possibility?
A: I don’t. I don’t think Netflix will ever dedicate enough cash to win those rights. I think, unfortunately, all the leagues are looking for maximum dollars. And I think they’re far less interested in reaching the maximum audience.
Netflix will just never pay as much as linear broadcast. There’s a possibility somebody like Max, like Warner Brothers Discovery, would pay that much. But I don’t see Netflix competing at all.
Q: The NBA may want to divvy up broadcast rights amongst a few bidders. Do you think that’s an area where streamers are going to be able to compete?
A: Able to, sure. Disney can do whatever it wants, and Warner Brothers Discovery, who’s debt laden, already has NBA rights, so they certainly can change how those rights are broadcast.
I think the sad thing is that they’re going to cut out a chunk of the audience. We have this in Los Angeles, with Spectrum having the rights to Dodgers broadcasts, so fewer people were able to see their home team.
It’s really lame of Warner Brothers Discovery to think that they’re going to shift broadcast rights from linear television to a subscription streaming service, because you’re going to take away from people who would otherwise watch it, the ability to see that stuff, and then impose a fee.
All that does is exacerbate the issue that they already face, which is cord-cutting. Their lifeblood is not streaming; their lifeblood is retransmission fees. So if they suddenly tell me the only reason I have cable is no longer a reason to have cable, they make it very, very easy to cut the cord.
I think they’re going to do it. I think they’re immensely stupid. And I think that they’re going to end up just sealing the fate of cable and driving people to cut the cord.
What is served by making “Thursday Night Football” only available through Amazon Prime? There’s just a giant chunk of households who have cable TV, and certainly have rabbit ears so they could watch a game on ABC or NBC, who either can’t afford Prime or don’t choose to be Prime members.
By definition, it’s probably about 40% of households who lost access to “Thursday Night Football.” That’s just stupid. The more they do that, the NFL is going to hurt itself, because it’s going to have fewer and fewer fans if all of its broadcasts go to streaming. And the NBA is going to hurt itself.
I already have a problem with my streaming services just trying to remember what channel anything I watch is on. I predict that all of this stuff is going to end up being consolidated by cable TV. They’re going to see the light, they’re going to say, “You can’t even get Max unless you have a cable subscription.” That’s a smarter way to run the business.
Disney is not going that way. Disney is trying to split ESPN off as a separate subscription. Really dumb. And again, I think [Bob] Iger probably has 100 IQ points on me. He’s a pretty smart man. Really stupid about streaming.
Q: Do you think local rights are going to be linear TV’s saving grace, in that the cord will never truly be cut off?
A: Linear TV has two things going for it that you really can’t get elsewhere. That’s live sports, any live sports. So long as live sports are available exclusively on linear TV, there’s a reason to subscribe. And the second is live events that we care about: “Academy Awards” or “American Idol” or “The Bachelor.”
Each has a different constituency. I’ve never watched “The Bachelor,” but I used to watch “American Idol,” and I remember back in the day when we all went to the office, I didn’t want anybody to tell me who got booted off the night before, because I had recorded it and I wanted to watch it the next day. That’s how we feel about live sports as well.
Q: Do you think Amazon’s decision to make the “Thursday Night Football” deal will be a financial winner?
A: Oh, absolutely not. Absolute zero. They’re an interesting company, because they only do streaming to reinforce the value of a subscription to something else.
We signed up for Amazon for free shipping, period. And the only person who churns out of Amazon and quits is the person who finds that they didn’t buy enough stuff to justify that $120 a year. So if you go three or four months without ordering something on Amazon, you might say, “This just isn’t worth it.”
But if you watch a TV show every month, just one, or an NFL broadcast, they think that’s enough that you’ll say, “I can’t give this up.” So I think it’s smart for anti-churn. But they can produce a lot of content for the price that they’re paying for “Thursday Night Football.” They can produce literally dozens of television shows if they want. I think they’re trying to make a splash.
Q: To that end, is that why you say you don’t see Netflix ponying up a large amount of money to get into sports, because they could use that money to create so much more content?
A: Yeah, I think Netflix might have been leaning that way at one point. They aired a Chris Rock live special last year. They made a big deal about it, and then you never heard about it again. They never put out any data about how few people actually tuned in by appointment.
Netflix is not by-appointment TV, period. It is catch-up TV. And it’s antithetical to what Netflix is, to its mission, to turn themselves into by-appointment TV. They drop all episodes of every season when the show comes out, and they refuse to move off of that. So why is that important? Because people don’t want to tune in every week to catch the next episode.
Hulu is by-appointment TV, HBO is by-appointment TV, not Netflix. So they’re the last guys in the world that should be doing live broadcasts of anything. And as dumb as I think everybody in streaming is, Netflix guys are the smartest guys in the room. So I think they are smart enough not to overpay for something that won’t resonate with their customers.
Q: NFL’s broadcast agreement doesn’t end until 2033. I’m curious how you see the streaming and linear landscape a decade from now, when those rights are back up.
A: I’m pretty infamous, notorious, for having a sell on Netflix into 2011 and keeping it until 2022. I was convinced that streaming was a race to the bottom, and was convinced that either the broadcast guys would shun Netflix and pull their content, or they would try to compete and pull their content. The latter happened, but it didn’t happen till 2019, and it didn’t become obvious till 2021.
So I’m making the same kind of prediction here about sports. I actually think, in the next 10 years, you’re going to see a reconsolidation of streaming with cable, because I think the constituents that lose, which are anybody who is in broadcast and anybody who creates content for broadcast, are going to figure out that a monthly $100 cable bill plus an add-on $15 for HBO is better than $15 standalone for HBO.
There’s $115 in the ecosystem to pay for content if we keep people subscribing to cable. And even if they replace cable with $40 or $50 or $60 worth of streaming, there’s less money for everybody to get paid.
So I think that the sports leagues are going to figure out that they lose money if that ecosystem shrinks. The money in a consumer’s pocket is not going to the talent that creates the experience. So the NFL is not going to make as much money, and studio actors and writers aren’t going to make as much money.
The ultimate solution is a reconsolidation. We all have a cable system with a Netflix button on our remote. That should be automatic. We should have a Disney+ button. We should have an integrated program guide that helps old people like me figure out what show they were watching and where it is. And we don’t have that right now.
