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YouTube TV to drop Fox regional sports channels following Sinclair dispute
If you subscribe to YouTube TV to get live sports without a pricey cable or league package, you might be in for a disappointment. YouTube TV is dropping Fox Regional Sports Networks (including the New York City-oriented YES Network) on February 29th after it was "unable to reach an agreement" with Sinclair to continue carrying the channels. While the company didn't say just what the points of contention were when asked by Engadget, it pointed to its attempt to balance the climbing costs of sports broadcasting with its desire to deliver a good value to subscribers. You can read its full on-the-record statement below.
How to stream college sports without losing your mind
Thanks to all the services that let you stream live TV, it's easy to watch sports without a commitment to cable. The channel lineups vary, and some are more limited than others. What's more, the television rights for college sports, especially football, are tied to the conference, so you'll need to find out which channels have the deal covering your favorite schools. From there, it's a matter of making sure the service you choose has all the channels you need so you don't miss a game. Lucky for you, we can help.
Roku has 29.1 million active users (and no profit)
Roku is finding that there are benefits to being the neutral player in the bloodthirsty wars for our hearts, wallets and streaming service subscriptions. The company's most recent financial figures show that it's possible to get ahead even when you're not backed by a big tech player like Amazon, Apple or Google. In the most recent quarter, Roku devices were used on an average of 3.5 hours a day, making it one of the most used devices in your home.
Viacom is working on a low-cost, sports-free TV package
The cable industry continues to struggle mightily against being neutered by a generation of cord cutters. In that effort, Viacom CEO Bob Bakish announced on Monday that his company is working to develop a low-cost "entertainment pack" for its customers that forgoes high-fee sports and broadcast stations.
Editorial: Cutting the cable cord is a young trend going in the right direction
This week I bought a Roku. Late to the party? Yes, but not as late as you might suppose. Roku has sold about 2.5 million streaming media boxes since the product launched in 2008. Approximately 1.5 million of those units moved in 2011, indicating an acceleration of demand. Coincidentally, those numbers roughly represent the cord-cutting movement: Reportedly, 2.65 million cable subscribers ditched their service between 2008 and 2011, with about 1.5 million of those defections happening in 2011. While cable cord-cutting is a trend, the movement is occurring in the context of customer inertia. About 100 million customers subscribe to cable, satellite, and other pay-TV providers (e.g. AT&T's U-Verse). The problematic value proposition of cutting the cord will probably keep massive inaction in place for the short term, but cannot, I believe, withstand long-term marketplace demands.
