October Broadcast Directors Community Zoom Call Summary

October 20, 2020

Social Media and FAANG are impacting how rights holders use their content, which in turn influences Broadcasters. This discussion was around how to work with this trend, and also highlights the recent explosion in the US sport betting market now that regulations have been relaxed.

Attendees:

CBS

DAZN

Turner Studios

The competition with FAANG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google)

  • When using any of the FAANG platforms, be aware of who has access to the data. Who actually gets the brand visibility, the right holder, or the social media platform?
  • FAANG is here to stay they are serious players that are connected directly with the new generations of content users. Now is the time to embrace them and learn – but ensure you do not lose brand presence and data, it is too valuable. They have access that no other brands have
  • If broadcasters do not work effectively with leagues and how they work with FAANG, as another broadcaster will be behind who will. The rights might not make sense on their own, but they offer access to a larger bundle and everyone is keen to grab the space and potentially create a loss leader changing the way people value of what they pay for rights

The future is highlights

  • There is an emergence of short-form content as the way fans consume, such as Red Zone has become the way many people watch NFL.
  • Because of this trend, leagues are going to have to be more careful on how they package and sell their highlights and understand the value with the current consumers who have less disposable time or have shorter attention spaces.

Covid-19 impact on ratings

  • Ratings have generally increased over the year as COVID restrictions have given people an opportunity to fill this newfound space and a lot of them have filled it with sport
  • The current way of calculating ratings is archaic and unpredictable with some sports ratings are down – which is likely due to the excessive amounts of top level content vying for attention, such as the NFL who are putting out a lot of content with low viewership.

Betting coming into the framework of US Sports

  • There is the feeling the dam is going to break. It is inevitable and betting will enter sport in a huge rush – For stadiums betting is probably going to be what changes everything for attending live events
  • There are sports that did not want to consider aligning with betting that are now changing their minds. Or they are realising that they must change their minds In a few years everybody will embrace it…
  •  The idea will be to create an experience at live events that involves betting and is better than anything you can have at home, which will help to attract fans back to stadiums.
  • The question is how does a stadium catch up and create a better experience than the one you can have at home.