Bell Media exploring sale of TSN

[ColinM]

Cable is surviving because of old people who don't like change (same as newspapers), plus because of live programming like sports and news. As streaming starts to swallow more and more news and sports it will be the final end of cable.

I'm curious if streaming will dominate news before it dominates sports? Some news channels already stream their live content for free (Al-Jeezera) and on some days it's easier to watch the best CNN content on youtube rather than a conventional tv network.

 

[JianYang]

Ya that’s why I’m saying a couple of decades away, for solely current streaming of NHL,
Streaming still lacks the quality and reliability of cable.
NHL is not giving purely streaming exclusive rights, that would be a HUGE mistake on their part at this juncture in time.

This the same league that went with the outdoor life network coming out of a year long lockout.

 

[jetsmooseice]

I'm curious if streaming will dominate news before it dominates sports? Some news channels already stream their live content for free (Al-Jeezera) and on some days it's easier to watch the best CNN content on youtube rather than a conventional tv network.

I think we're already there.

Just off the top of my head, you can use YouTube alone for 24 hour live feeds of Al Jazeera, DW, France 24 (all of which have fairly extensive international reporting), NBC/ABC/CBS News (which are also good but kind of info-tainment heavy), as well as many other lesser news channels.

Then you have FAST platforms like Pluto, tubi, etc. that have numerous news services too. I use Global News on Pluto in the morning while I'm getting ready for work. I think they also have Euronews, Bloomberg, I think there are also some CNN and CBC variants as well.

And then of course CNN, which isn't free, does post a lot of its actual reporting on Youtube, as do most networks. We're at the point where you can probably get all the streaming news you could ever want for free online. Sports are nowhere near that point, it's mainly highlights and commentary. There isn't a ton of free live sports online, at least legitimately.

 

[varsaku]

I think we're already there.

Just off the top of my head, you can use YouTube alone for 24 hour live feeds of Al Jazeera, DW, France 24 (all of which have fairly extensive international reporting), NBC/ABC/CBS News (which are also good but kind of info-tainment heavy), as well as many other lesser news channels.

Then you have FAST platforms like Pluto, tubi, etc. that have numerous news services too. I use Global News on Pluto in the morning while I'm getting ready for work. I think they also have Euronews, Bloomberg, I think there are also some CNN and CBC variants as well.

And then of course CNN, which isn't free, does post a lot of its actual reporting on Youtube, as do most networks. We're at the point where you can probably get all the streaming news you could ever want for free online. Sports are nowhere near that point, it's mainly highlights and commentary. There isn't a ton of free live sports online, at least legitimately.

I am surprised Netflix & Amazon haven't started their own streaming news channels to draw viewers/subscribers. Seems like a clear next step to pull viewers off cable to their services.

 

[jetsmooseice]

I am surprised Netflix & Amazon haven't started their own streaming news channels to draw viewers/subscribers. Seems like a clear next step to pull viewers off cable to their services.

Maybe someday, but the cost would be quite immense and there are already a lot of potential candidates to partner with.

For instance, Amazon Prime Video does offer CityNews and Global News as live stream channels in Canada. I'm not aware that Netflix has any news, but I'd be surprised if they weren't working on something.

 

[Yukon Joe]

News is rather expensive. You have to have actual reporters all over the place, plus it expires almost immediately - nobody goes back to watch last week's news.

Netflix of course only exists to sell subscriptions. Amazon is even weirder - only existing to drive subscriptions to it's shopping service, Prime. You can sort of imagine why neither service would be interested in news.

Disney - now they do have a news division in ABC. So it's not impossible to imagine ABC News going on DIsney+. Now mind you this is a Canadian perspective - I think Hulu (owned by Disney) does have several news channels on it. But that seems to me to be more of a legacy issue, rather than the wave of the future.

 

[DuklaNation]

I'd question whether the internet backbone can support everyone switching to streaming over internet connections. Its being built up over time with better options but hard to say if all areas are viable. Where I am, there are several times during the day where connectivity tanks for few minutes at a time. I haven't switched to IPTV/streaming for that reason. I'm testing out recently implemented 5G service currently but it often has similar issues.