Three of the major rights holders in American sports — Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery — announced a massive streaming partnership on Tuesday. It’s a platform where viewers can access sports content from any of the ESPN, Fox and WBD/Turner linear properties and, well, choose what they want to watch.
You know, almost like cable! That’s because it’s exactly like cable.
Via CNBC:
Consumers would be able to subscribe directly via a new app. Subscribers would also have the ability to bundle the product with the companies’ streaming platforms Disney+, Hulu and Max.
The product will be a skinnier bundle of linear networks than a standard cable offering, specifically tailored for sports fans. It will consist of all the broadcast and cable networks owned by Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery that carry sports, along with ESPN+.
So, basically viewers can pay for a subscription to this bundle and access the live sports that the companies are broadcasting. When streaming services started, it seemed inevitable that someone would eventually just make cable all over again and try to present it as something different. That’s what Disney, Fox and WBD appear to be doing here — but for sports only. On top of that, NBC Universal and CBS/Paramount were not included in this partnership of competing media giants.
Still, the entire recreation of “Cable, but for Sports!” had fans making plenty of jokes about the idea. We’ll have to see how this entire venture unfolds and how it impacts the bidding for media rights in the future.
This was how Twitter reacted
Soon we’ll have one giant television distribution package where every content company combines and has their own channel of sorts. Then, users can flip through and watch what they want. We’ll call it “cable” https://t.co/tmXvA9igVX
— NBA University (@NBA_University) February 6, 2024
get in everyone we’re doing a cable sports https://t.co/qKWw9vEZpY
— Brian Floyd (@BrianMFloyd) February 6, 2024
smells like cable! https://t.co/an3b6ER9gp
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) February 6, 2024
Wow if anyone could have seen the return of cable coming https://t.co/6iZ3vxGZ4u
— Connor Happer (@ConnorHapper) February 6, 2024
Look they reinvented cable. https://t.co/NPBTpnajhC pic.twitter.com/fr1GPT48G0
— 🫧 🫧Amy Lou Who 🫧 🫧 (@superwhomom) February 6, 2024
If only someone had thought of combining all the channels before … https://t.co/M8k5cEwuHB
— Zack Pierce (@ZPathletic) February 6, 2024
I think this is just cable but will somehow be more expensive https://t.co/an5Tl6EYE4
— Amanda Godsey (@AmandaFGodsey) February 6, 2024
Isn't this basically just cable? https://t.co/bIYbyrzn1U
— Lindsay Jones (@bylindsayhjones) February 6, 2024
I bet they'll come with a name like
Collaborative Alliance for Broadcasting & Live Entertainment
C.A.B.L.E is gonna be awesome! https://t.co/kz0yufhcd3
— kwade (@KwadeSays) February 6, 2024
