Sports On Pay-TV Are Stuck In “Outdated” Model, Charter Concedes In Unveiling New Two-Tier Structure For Spectrum; Non-Fans To Get Cheaper Package
10.07.2023 - 22:09
/ deadline.com
Charter Communications, the No. 2 cable TV provider in the U.S., has unveiled a significant revamp of its Spectrum pay-TV subscription offerings.
The new scheme, which will roll out this fall, overhauls the long-problematic situation for regional sports networks, like the company’s own Spectrum SportsNet and SportsNet LA, which air Lakers basketball and Dodgers baseball, respectively. As the cost of sports rights has risen, pay-TV subscriber rates have fallen, damaging the traditional model of tacking on the price of RSNs to subscribers’ bills. Blackouts and outages have been the result as carriage disputes have broken out, with SportsNet LA going dark for more than six years on DirecTV until a resolution in 2020. (The two companies disclosed a carriage renewal as part of today’s broader announcement, with a press release calling the carriage pact “consistent with this evolutionary new model.”)
In the new structure, Spectrum TV Select will relaunch as two new services in parts of Charter’s footprint: Spectrum Select Plus, which will include RSNs and other sports programming, and Spectrum Select Signature. The company describes the latter as “an alternative service that will exclude certain sports programming and provide the non-sports fan a reduced rate option.”
For years, subscribers to the traditional bundle have griped about rising bills due to the higher cost of sports, saying they were being forced to pay even if they didn’t watch sports. Industrywide, perhaps not coincidentally, cord-cutting has reached record levels over the past few years, particularly as the number of top-shelf paid streaming outlets has increased, raising questions about where pay-TV levels will ultimately settle. Many industry and Wall
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