The bundle of cables has long been a staple of American life, but it’s starting to show its age. One of the main reasons people still subscribe to cable is for live sports, but that’s starting to change.
Warner Bros. Discovery recently announced that it would make its live sports offerings available on the Max app, initially for free and then for an additional $9.99 per month. This follows similar moves by Amazon, which has the rights to “Thursday Night Football” in addition to the new Black Friday game, and Apple, which has the rights to Major League Soccer and some Friday night games from MLB.
For years, live sports and news have been the cornerstone of the unchanging cable package. Yes, subscribers can include seemingly limitless libraries of movies and TV shows on streamers, but for live dating viewing events, a cable package has been a requirement. This advantage, however, quickly evaporates.
Live news has never been the big draw, but it has been an attraction, which is also no longer exclusive to linear television. Max will launch a live news channel next week, with the birth of CNN Max, the first cable news network to offer a 24-hour live news service. And the major broadcast news networks (NBC News, ABC News and CBS News) all operate streaming options for those who want to download their apps.
With live news and sports now making their way to streaming, piece by piece, the Jenga puzzle of the cable bundle has begun to unravel. The last major block keeping the wobbly tower upright is undoubtedly ESPN, which is working on its own direct-to-consumer platform that will carry its flagship channel. Once ESPN is available directly to consumers, the decades-old grip of the traditional cable package will fade considerably.
Analysts are divided on the impact of these changes. Some believe that the fractured content in the media landscape will make it harder for consumers to find what they want to watch. Others believe it will ultimately lead to a better consumer experience, with people able to choose the channels they want to watch without having to pay for a bundle of channels they don’t want. Only time will tell how the cable bundle will ultimately evolve, but it’s clear that its days of dominance are numbered.
This article is sourced from and written by AI.
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