Author Topic: MASN seppuku - cuts staff, coverage, but frees Gary Thorne  (Read 4743 times)

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Offline DCFan

  • Posts: 16722
  • What are you dense?
Kolko could return to the in game reporting.

I went back and reread the original announcement. While all the o's folk were poop-canned it said the Nats haven't decided what they're going to do yet. Translation - the Lerners are still deciding whether they want to pay the full cost of this or not.


Offline DCFan

  • Posts: 16722
  • What are you dense?
I guess Kolko and Bo are gone.

https://twitter.com/dougherty_jesse/status/1353795549552660482

And they won't be the only ones. Look at the number on the o's side of this that were let go.


Offline HalfSmokes

  • Posts: 21606
It's possible, and would be a cool thing to do.   I don't know they could make enough money to pay for the production of the games though.   Gopros, iPhones and SLRs can make do for a budget production I guess!

a couple of camera men and Carlie and Dave simulcast would be enough for me

Offline mach1ne

  • Posts: 1206
They left Virginia off the Press Release..Hrmmm

Offline imref

  • Posts: 42504
  • Re-contending in 202...5?
I guess Kolko and Bo are gone.

https://twitter.com/dougherty_jesse/status/1353795549552660482

That really sucks. I'd like to make a joke about Ray Knight showing up MASN offices next week to rectify the situation, but I'm saddened for both Kolko and Bo, especially Kolko given how long he's been a part of this club.  I hope the team finds a position for him.

Offline imref

  • Posts: 42504
  • Re-contending in 202...5?
JCA, it might make sense to spin off a new MASN thread.

I guess this is one way to finally put the negotiations to rest - kill the network.

Offline nfotiu

  • Posts: 5041
That really sucks. I'd like to make a joke about Ray Knight showing up MASN offices next week to rectify the situation, but I'm saddened for both Kolko and Bo, especially Kolko given how long he's been a part of this club.  I hope the team finds a position for him.
Yeah, I agree.   I keep remembering their crazy celebration in the wild card game.  Also this is Kolko's career, and he's not just an ex-athlete/coach who's made some good money already.

Online varoadking

  • Posts: 29488
  • King of Goodness
Yeah, I agree.   I keep remembering their crazy celebration in the wild card game.  Also this is Kolko's career, and he's not just an ex-athlete/coach who's made some good money already.

His buddy Jayson Werth ought to hire him as his life coach...

Offline imref

  • Posts: 42504
  • Re-contending in 202...5?
Quote
Byron Kerr
@ByronKerr
·
51m
Friday Jan. 22 was my last day writing for MASN. Thank you to all for reading my work the last 12 years. Thank you to #Nats for being so gracious with their time. I loved unearthing the intricacies of baseball and it’s personalities. I am looking forward to the next adventure!

:(

Rough day in Natsland.

It does look like Zuckerman survived the cuts.

Offline nfotiu

  • Posts: 5041
:(

Rough day in Natsland.

It does look like Zuckerman survived the cuts.

It all sucks.  MASN's revenue is all about carriage fees, so whether people watch much or not is all irrelevant to them

It hurts the Nats though to lose all these personalities who are marketing the game for them and keeping fans interested.

I think if the Sinclair networks go under, then that may force MLB to do something to step in and fix the situation across the league.

Offline RobDibblesGhost

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And they won't be the only ones. Look at the number on the o's side of this that were let go.

Byron Kerr is gone too. Damn.

Online Natsinpwc

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:(

Rough day in Natsland.

It does look like Zuckerman survived the cuts.
Well cause he runs Facebook.

Offline HalfSmokes

  • Posts: 21606
It all sucks.  MASN's revenue is all about carriage fees, so whether people watch much or not is all irrelevant to them

It hurts the Nats though to lose all these personalities who are marketing the game for them and keeping fans interested.

I think if the Sinclair networks go under, then that may force MLB to do something to step in and fix the situation across the league.

If the Sinclair rights hit the open market, it could get ugly fast unless teams attach digital rights too

Offline imref

  • Posts: 42504
  • Re-contending in 202...5?
Tracy Tran seems to think that Angelos is intent on destroying MASN

https://twitter.com/tracytran/status/1353853007721615365?s=21

Offline imref

  • Posts: 42504
  • Re-contending in 202...5?
Nats statement:

Quote
"MASN has notified us that they are parting ways with Dan Kolko, Bo Porter and Alex Chappell. In addition, MASN has cut Nats Xtra to just 15 minutes pre- and post-game. To say that we are incredibly disappointed and upset by MASN’s decisions would be a gross understatement ..."

"To be clear - these decisions were made by MASN and against our wishes. As we have expressed to both MASN and Major League Baseball, we are very concerned about the negative impact these decisions could have on our fans ..."
 
" ... especially now when content shared via broadcast and digital channels is vital for them to stay connected with our team. We want to thank Dan, Bo and Alex for their professionalism and for being good stewards of our team’s story over the years ..."

"They are part of the Washington Nationals family and we wish them all the best.”

Offline HondoKillebrew

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This is sickening. 

Online Natsinpwc

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Offline nfotiu

  • Posts: 5041
If the Sinclair rights hit the open market, it could get ugly fast unless teams attach digital rights too
That could be the disruptor that sorts everything out.   Get the local TV bids out to Peacock/Amazon/HBOMax/EPSN+/Paramount to overpay to build up their subscription base and make a splash.   It wouldn't be as lucrative as the Sinclair deals they lost, but some could come close and it's all they can get at that point.

I wouldn't be surprised if some teams are left without televised regular season games in the next couple years.   That would have been unthinkable a couple years ago.

Offline HalfSmokes

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The Marlins are still without a deal and Sinclair is the only RSN in southern Florida - it will be interesting to see if they decide to put the screws to the fish in negotiations

Online Natsinpwc

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The Marlins are still without a deal and Sinclair is the only RSN in southern Florida - it will be interesting to see if they decide to put the screws to the fish in negotiations
Fox Sports South did the Marlins games last year and we got them in Orlando. The Fox Sports South station is still on. Are they not doing the games? 

https://www.foxsports.com/florida/story/fox-sports-florida-miami-marlins-2020-broadcast-schedule-071720%3famp=true



Offline nfotiu

  • Posts: 5041
Sinclair owns fox sports now

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/barry-jackson/article244315877.html
Thanks.  I didn't know they didn't have a deal this year.  That article makes me want to barf... Did Derek Jeter write it??

Quote
Marlins ratings increased in several demographic groups last season. Among viewers 18-to-34, the Marlins topped all Sinclair RSN teams in year-over-year viewership growth at plus 1197 percent, from 2019 to 2020. Among viewers 65 or older, Marlins ratings jumped 32 percent in 2020, the biggest increase in the majors. But a source said the ratings will have little or no impact on negotiations.

lol...The hard numbers are "The league’s lowest viewership average was for the Miami Marlins, who despite a 2% increase saw an average of only 21,082 per game. They were followed by the Baltimore Orioles (36,701 per game, down 12% from 2019) and the Oakland A’s (up 108%, but just to 44,257 per game)."

https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2020/10/04/mlb-sees-local-tv-and-streaming-viewership-up-over-4-for-2020/?sh=16deb0193dac

They average 21,000 viewers per game.  Here's another sentence from the article:
Quote
The Marlins’ $20 million annual rights fee in their previous deal was the lowest in baseball. Whether the Marlins can snag triple that — or close to it — is questionable in this economy.

They were averaging $1000/viewer on their old deal, and they wonder if they can get $3000/viewer on the new deal.   

Luckily, Sinclair is in no place to take on new deals anything close to that.   What leverage do they have to ensure carriage based on carrying the Marlins or not?   Is Directv or Comcast going to care that they will lose maybe 3-4000 customers?

The time of 10 million people paying $3/month for Marlins games so 20,000 can watch is over.   Their deal is realistically worth about $150/viewer per season.  So 3 million minus production expenses and Cable company take is what they'll get if they want their games on TV.