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Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish derided the streaming business plan, backed by Disney, Fox Co. and Warner Bros. Discovery, as “only a partial sports offering.”
In his first public comments since the service's announcement, which does not include properties from Paramount or NBCUniversal, Bakish pointed to several gaps in the service.
“There's still a lot we don't know about this service, including pricing, packaging and consumer appetite,” he said during Paramount's fourth-quarter earnings conference. “For the consumer, for the true sports fan, this product only includes a portion of the sports. Half of the NFL is missing, much of the college is missing, and football, golf, etc. are virtually non-existent. At the price point it's at, it's hard to believe it's ideal.”
The companies did not discuss pricing when announcing the news, but Wall Street analysts and industry insiders said the bundle of 14 linear networks could cost $40 to $50 per month or more. states that it will be necessary. Because of existing distribution contracts, this venture cannot reduce the cost of existing MVPDs or streaming his packages. Due to this dilemma, the outlook for the bundle is uncertain, as it targets Codenever and is a considerably more expensive package than a typical subscription product.
Venture partners have provided limited comment on how Paramount and NBCU came together from an outside perspective. Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch said there are no discussions with additional potential partners at this time.
Regarding Paramount's outlook for sports overall, Bakish said, “We see clear value in a unified sports payments strategy, both for CBS and Paramount+.” Of the viewers who come to Paramount+ for sports, “90% of his audience is non-sports,” the executive added. “This is a clear opportunity that we will continue to take advantage of, and we love it. …Big name sports are locked up until the next decade. We love our position in the sports arena. I am.”
Bakish's skepticism about rival sports bundles was the second from the executive suite of the day. During Nexstar Media Group's quarterly earnings call earlier Wednesday, president and chief operating officer Mike Beard said there were “more questions than answers” about the joint venture. One of those questions, he said, concerns whether it will “actually launch,” given the many hurdles (technical, regulatory and legal) that need to be cleared.
