More regional sports networks troubles

There have been news reports that Bally Sports will be declaring bankruptcy soon, and those regional sports networks will be shuttered. If this happens, that will impact lots of sports fans.

Of course, the fact that there aren't enough customers for the Bally regional sports networks (RSNs) means that not enough people will care to prevent it from happening.

Now, there is word that AT&T SportsNet RSNs will be closing down, according to the Wall Street Journal:

In a letter sent Friday from the unit's president Patrick Crumb -- a copy of which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal -- teams were warned that "the business will not have sufficient cash to pay the upcoming rights fees," people familiar with the letter said. The teams were also told that Warner Bros. Discovery "will not fund our shortfalls," they said.

The letter proposes that AT&T SportsNet transfer ownership of the networks and programming rights to the teams for no purchase price consideration beyond a release by the teams of any future claims against the networks.

Bankruptcy is also on the table, the letter said. ...

The affected teams include the National Basketball Association's Houston Rockets and Utah Jazz; Major League Baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Astros and Colorado Rockies; and the National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Penguins, the people familiar with the matter said.

The NBA, MLB and NHL are also being informed by Warner Bros. Discovery of the situation, the people said.

This is bad news. Or maybe it's good news. NBC has been having trouble with Peacock recently, mostly because other services have more in-demand content. However, NBC has been moving a lot of sports programming to Peacock. Ryan Downey, The Streaming Advisor, suggests this is the way for Peacock to grab viewers:

With Peacock growing but still needing to add content that will give it an edge or at least seriously differentiate it in the market it may be able to make sense of purchasing the sports networks and integrating them into the fold. They feel like they would fit in with the $9.99 tier. Does Comcast have the money and the know-how to make it all work? The company already pulled its own sports network NBC Sports Network into the app. With the combined coverage area of NBC Sports and Bally Sports footprint Peacock could begin to put together something of a national footprint across NBA, NHL, and NBA markets.

How will all this shake out? I suspect Mr. Downey is right, and that Peacock could take advantage of the Bally Sports bankruptcy (should it happen) and now the AT&T SportsNet shutdown (should it happen).

How will this impact everyone? My Streaming Life may be impacted in a positive way if baseball allows live in-market games via the RSNs, or on Peacock. Otherwise, I really don't care that much about the RSNs. I'm like most people, it seems. However, I do want the RSNs to survive. Or better put, the content on RSNs to be available to consumers via streaming in some way.

Are you paying for subscriptions you aren't using?

One of the great things about streaming is the amount of content that you can access. A lot of the content is free, though ad-supported, and can offer much to watch at an excellent price (free is excellent).

The downside of free, ad-supported television (FAST) services is that not everything is available free. A lot of free content is excellent, but some content is only available via a paid subscription service.

Many people think that they must subscribe to a lot of services. And, I suppose that some must. But I don't have to, and it's likely you don't either. Or, if you do, you may not need as many as you actually have.

A recent study by C+R Research indicates that many people subscribe to services they don't even use:

On average, $86 per month was the initial amount consumers estimated they spent on subscription services. 

But upon closer look at their itemized expenses, the average monthly spend for consumers was more than 2.5 times the amount they thought at $219 – a whopping $133 higher than their original estimate. Almost one-third (30%) of the people underestimated by $100 to $199 and nearly a quarter each underestimated by less than $25, $25-$99, and $200 or more. 

That shows how easy it is to run up your bill a lot higher than you realize. The study also indicates that Gen Z streamers are far more likely to forget about the subscriptions than Baby Boomers. That's because we Baby Boomers are much more aware of spending and where our money goes. Kids could learn from us.

Spending less money than necessary on streaming (or anything really) means more money for things you'll actually use and enjoy. It's possible to save a lot of money in your Streaming Life, and save it for other things.

Why a box instead of a stick?

I'm a fan of streaming boxes, but not so much streaming sticks.

The fact is, most of the drawbacks of a stick don't really apply to me, and I could just as easily use a stick rather than a box.

If you asked me, I'd usually suggest a box, because if something does go wrong, it's easier to restart a box that is frozen than it is to restart a stick that is frozen. But that doesn't really happen so much anymore. At least, not on the good sticks.

Recently, someone asked Tablo about the differences between the Amazon Fire TV Cube and the Fire TV Stick. And I really liked the answer Tablo gave:

Since it's difficult to pack the features and performance of a box-style model into the smaller footprint of a stick, you can almost always assume that boxes will be better overall. However, they also come with a higher cost. That's why it's important to review and compare the features and specs of each device to decide which will be best for your needs.

If you don't plan to use the Ethernet connection or the advanced voice control features of the Cube, you may find the 4K MAX Stick offers enough performance to power your next binge-watching session. However, it is best to avoid the very low-end stick models as the feature sets, memory, and Wi-Fi connectivity of higher-end models are worth spending a bit extra for.

I whole heartily agree with picking the Fire TV Stick 4K Max over the cheaper sticks. I really do not like the cheaper devices. A close friend had a Fire TV Stick Lite that a family member had installed. I replaced it with one of my Fire TV Stick 4K Max devices. She was happier with it, so I consider that a win.

If you are looking at purchasing a streaming device, if wires are a problem, get a good quality stick, whether Fire TV Stick 4K Max, or Roku Streaming 4K or 4K+. Stay away from the cheap sticks. They will frustrate you in your Streaming Life.

Comcast updating their Flex box interfaces

I've given Comcast credit for developing a streaming device that works a lot like their cable box. The idea is that it will help users transition from cable to streaming, and stay in the Xfinity world as they do that.

It's good marketing, and anything that makes the transition easier is a good thing for the customer.

The problem is that the interface isn't very good. Sure, for cable, it's okay, but it really doesn't work well for streaming.

Comcast is doing something about that, according to Cord Cutters News:

"Our products are in tens of millions of customers' homes and will soon be enjoyed around the world and in every major U.S. city through our recently announced joint venture with Charter," Comcast said in a letter to shareholders. "We are just beginning to realize the full potential of our proprietary global technology platform, and later this year we’ll launch a new user interface for Sky Glass, X1, Flex, Xumo, and our international partners."

This new user interface is part of a bigger push for Comcast to take on Roku, Fire TV, and Apple TV. Later this year, Comcast will launch a streaming player called Xumo Play, a rebranded version of the Flex player. This new streaming player from Comcast will be sold at Walmart and will target new cord cutters which are used to the X1 interface and want to cut the cord.

If they do it right, then that will be a huge benefit to those making the transition from cable to streaming. Anything that helps someone ease into their Streaming Life is a good thing. Even if it's from Comcast.

Amazon Fire TV explands support for hearing aids

I don't wear a hearing aid, but I suspect I will need to do that one day. Not many in my family wear them. In fact, I'm trying to think of anyone in my family who does. We've been lucky, it seems.

However, I do have some friends with hearing issues, and one close friend in particular who may need to get a hearing aid soon.

When I saw a couple of articles this week about Amazon Fire TV devices expanding hearing aid support, they had my attention. According to one article, they are using the open-source Audio Streaming for Hearing Aids (ASHA) protocol. That means it isn't limited to any particular brand's proprietary code.

Cochlear has configured direct streaming from Fire TV to the Cochlear Nucleus 8, Nucleus 7, Nucleus Kanso 2, and Baha 6 Max sound processors. With ASHA, sound processors connect directly with the Fire TV device, so customers can enjoy audio from their favorite streaming apps, use Alexa, listen to music, hear navigational sounds, and more.

ASHA-enabled Fire TV devices include: Fire TV Omni QLED Series, Fire TV Omni Series, Fire TV 4-Series, Fire TV Cube (3rd Gen), and Fire TV Cube (2nd Gen).

This is welcome news, I'm sure, to many who suffer from hearing loss and use hearing aids. I trust this will make for a more enjoyable Streaming Life for them.