MLB strikes deal with Apple and NBC Sports
Apple reached an agreement with Major League Baseball to begin airing weekly Friday Night Baseball double headers on Apple TV+. Good timing as the lockout by owners’ negotiating a new labor deal with the players association finally ended after 99 days. The schedule will start on April 7 when the regular season begins. Apple’s games will be surrounded by a pre-game and post-game show, and they will also be streaming MLB Big Inning, a live show featuring highlights and look-ins every weeknight during the season.
Following Apple’s announcement, Comcast’s NBC Sports has also struck a deal with MLB to televise games; mostly on its Peacock streaming service. The $30-million deal covers the Monday and Wednesday night games that ESPN aired under its previous deal with MLB.
The NPD Take:
- Both Apple and Peacock are vying for sports fans wallets with Peacock just having streamed the Olympics and the Super Bowl and Apple in talks with the NFL About Sunday Ticket and taking a stake in NFL Media.
- Sports, as with cable, is starting to become the reason for subscribing to (and not cancelling) streaming services.
NBCU switches from Hulu to Peacock
A programming agreement that gives Hulu access to shows from Comcast’s NBCUniversal has ended. Popular shows such as This Is Us, The Voice and Saturday Night Live will be available on Peacock instead of appearing on Hulu the day after they air on NBC. NBCU is planning to double its spending on programming for Peacock to $3 billion from $1.5 billion. Hulu has increased investing in original content, including titles like Only Murders in the Building, Dopesick, Reservation Dogs, How I Met Your Father, and the Academy Award-nominated Summer of Soul.
The NPD Take:
- It was only a matter of time before NBC moved it’s programing from Disney controlled Hulu to company owned Peacock.
- As with everyone else, originals and exclusives have increased in value. That is, because most have opted to distribute, not license their own programming.