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If Amazon wants to be the dominant player in the streaming business, they MUST add quality sports entertainment to the mix. They are not churning out enough hits to keep people engaged. What keeps them strong is the ability to lean on their shopping base, a built in viewership that is likely not to disappear soon. But they need more diverse content - diverse in the purest sense, as Amazon members come in all shapes, sizes, ages, and backgrounds.

I thought Disney would have passed them by now, but they keep shooting themselves in the foot. Hulu seems to be going nowhere fast. However HBO is growing, and quite frankly Apple may have the best original programming of them all - great quality, only lacking quantity. Somebody will overtake Netflix eventually. My guess will be Amazon with an even more diverse offering including sports - maybe PAC12 and/or another conference. That includes both live and replay - like ESPN+.

There is probably a very good chance we will see some consolidation in this business, because there are a lot of streaming services, and not all of them are going to make it on their own.

Why is this important? If the PAC12 does have interest from a streaming service, surely the numbers are better than the traditional ESPN offer. That means expansion to 12 is more likely, and the desire to expand reach (new markets like Dallas/Texas), makes SMU very attractive.

I just wish they would speed up the process. We need some good news!

Speaking of Apple, don't forget about them in all of this. They purchased the MLS package, and are going to charge extra for it, but I believe their plan is actually to add more sports content and charge for a sports package instead of just charging for MLS.

Yep, Apple has the cash, and like everyone else is eager to start making money online.

My guess would be that Amazon's customer base matches better with the online college football fan. Apple likely does better with the college and recent college grad crowd. Purely speculation of course.

I have both and scroll through their library, honestly wondering how they survive. I have Amazon because most of my purchases come through them. And I have built a small digital library with them as a result of their streaming service.

With Apple, there are a few shows that I truly enjoy exclusively on their stream. Once I complete a new season, it goes dark for a few months until something else is added. The same thing happens with Amazon, but there I have my library, and they are ahead of Apple in productions - not always good, but more choices. And Apple is about to raise their price again - its still low, but its the principle. Do I pay for something I rarely watch?

This time last year I think I had subscribed to just about every streaming service, or at least tested them all. It adds up quickly, especially when you realize how little time you actually give each network. Some were just to see SMU play on certain networks I did not have. And others to see a show or movie that interested me. Those add up quickly, and soon you are paying more than the cable you cut to save money!

I absolutely hate ESPN+ but have to get it to watch some SMU games. I dropped traditional TV programming (Youtube TV) since I so rarely watched shows live. And of course you can't even watch replays from the ESPN networks on PLUS. What a joke. Let me just buy ESPN for football and basketball season, and I would be happy! Maybe even just SMU games, or their conference? Thank God for the folks who upload highlights on YouTube!

SMU_Alum11 wrote:Amazon will pay more than the Big 12 but not anywhere close. I would assume 35 million a school which is still a slightly over the big 12. They might bump it up more if they get the ACC alliance thing signed to do 2 crossover games so they can get their east coast coverage they so desire. Maybe that gets them to around 45 million.

I feel less confident about our chance each week. I don't think anyone is moving in front of us but the reporting has died out a lot more. With the vote delay and such, they might just just add SDSU and make the alliance and be done with it.

Wilner - as of yesterday - still has us in the lead pack with SDSU

https://www.ksl.com/article/50521861/ho ... the-pac-12

I wonder how this all changes with the rumors that Apple is going to buy Disney ?Apple buying Disney gives them ESPN and hopefully puts Amazon on notice.

Rla1022 wrote:I wonder how this all changes with the rumors that Apple is going to buy Disney ?Apple buying Disney gives them ESPN and hopefully puts Amazon on notice.

Apple buying Disney has been a rumor for a very long time. I doubt it will ever happen.


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dickey1331 wrote:

Rla1022 wrote:I wonder how this all changes with the rumors that Apple is going to buy Disney ?Apple buying Disney gives them ESPN and hopefully puts Amazon on notice.

Apple buying Disney has been a rumor for a very long time. I doubt it will ever happen.


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100%

Outside of ESPN, Disney is hemorhaging. ABC TV ratings are low compared to CBS and NBC. Disney has made too many woke movies that have fizzled at the box office. They messed up Star Wars, Superheros, and children's programming. They just fired their CEO. They may be for sale, I don't know. But they need to really get back to basics. Abandoning their roots, like Coca-cola tried once and Schlitz tried, never works.

Interesting, the PAC has 4 of the top ten Offensive Scoring teams whose Defense Scoring rank at 62nd thru 90th. We are #10 Offensively and #121 Defensively. We'll fit right in if we get an invite!

EastStang wrote:Outside of ESPN, Disney is hemorhaging. ABC TV ratings are low compared to CBS and NBC. Disney has made too many woke movies that have fizzled at the box office. They messed up Star Wars, Superheros, and children's programming. They just fired their CEO. They may be for sale, I don't know. But they need to really get back to basics. Abandoning their roots, like Coca-cola tried once and Schlitz tried, never works.

I 100% agree with everything here but the only thing I could see Disney doing is divesting ABC with ESPN as a supplement and then Dinsey focuses on movies and parks. I doubt they give up ESPN unless they got it at a really good price.

EastStang wrote:Outside of ESPN, Disney is hemorhaging. ABC TV ratings are low compared to CBS and NBC. Disney has made too many woke movies that have fizzled at the box office. They messed up Star Wars, Superheros, and children's programming. They just fired their CEO. They may be for sale, I don't know. But they need to really get back to basics. Abandoning their roots, like Coca-cola tried once and Schlitz tried, never works.

While Disney has been a stock nightmare, there is a good bit more to the story. COVID played havoc with both park attendance and new product commercially that came out of Disney Studios. Virtually everything locked up and locked down. Disney parks also chose to mandate mask wear throughout the pandemic, and that hurt attendance and image.

Accordingly, projects that were in the pipeline were not finished, and quicker, newer writers and projects were pushed forward. As a result, agendas were pushed as well and not vetted for the company good as a whole. Top leadership were also on board with this strategy.

The "new" CEO is the previous one...really the last that had a decent profit line. The days of Eisner are now gone for DIS, but it is still worth something for market breadth alone...thus Amazon's interest.

Does this impact SMU's chances to move to the PAC 12 ? I think market share in Dallas and ratings on TV matter more than DIS's financial health and the possible buyout by Amazon.

EastStang wrote:Outside of ESPN, Disney is hemorhaging. ABC TV ratings are low compared to CBS and NBC. Disney has made too many woke movies that have fizzled at the box office. They messed up Star Wars, Superheros, and children's programming. They just fired their CEO. They may be for sale, I don't know. But they need to really get back to basics. Abandoning their roots, like Coca-cola tried once and Schlitz tried, never works.

Lol...lol...too many woke movies...lol...Disney is hemorrhaging...lol...that aside, guess you don't understand Disney as a Corporate entity. Yes, the Disney streaming services have lost money, but that isn't far off from most streaming services. Revenue streams are still under Flux, same as Netflix or Apple. Meanwhile the Parks have increased revenue by roughly $3b. Disney isn't hurting.
Welcome to Hollywood financial games...

well travelled pony wrote:

EastStang wrote:Outside of ESPN, Disney is hemorhaging. ABC TV ratings are low compared to CBS and NBC. Disney has made too many woke movies that have fizzled at the box office. They messed up Star Wars, Superheros, and children's programming. They just fired their CEO. They may be for sale, I don't know. But they need to really get back to basics. Abandoning their roots, like Coca-cola tried once and Schlitz tried, never works.

Lol...lol...too many woke movies...lol...Disney is hemorrhaging...lol...that aside, guess you don't understand Disney as a Corporate entity. Yes, the Disney streaming services have lost money, but that isn't far off from most streaming services. Revenue streams are still under Flux, same as Netflix or Apple. Meanwhile the Parks have increased revenue by roughly $3b. Disney isn't hurting.
Welcome to Hollywood financial games...

“Too many woke movies” lol Somebody has been watching a wee bit too much Fox News

DallasMustang11 wrote:

well travelled pony wrote:

EastStang wrote:Outside of ESPN, Disney is hemorhaging. ABC TV ratings are low compared to CBS and NBC. Disney has made too many woke movies that have fizzled at the box office. They messed up Star Wars, Superheros, and children's programming. They just fired their CEO. They may be for sale, I don't know. But they need to really get back to basics. Abandoning their roots, like Coca-cola tried once and Schlitz tried, never works.

Lol...lol...too many woke movies...lol...Disney is hemorrhaging...lol...that aside, guess you don't understand Disney as a Corporate entity. Yes, the Disney streaming services have lost money, but that isn't far off from most streaming services. Revenue streams are still under Flux, same as Netflix or Apple. Meanwhile the Parks have increased revenue by roughly $3b. Disney isn't hurting.
Welcome to Hollywood financial games...

“Too many woke movies” lol Somebody has been watching a wee bit too much Fox News

This^

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