StreamTime Sports

The global motorsport series has been as effective as anyone in the sports industry with its media product over the last few years. In this in-depth interview F1's director of media rights, Ian Holmes, explains why.

This week’s two-part episode of the StreamTime Podcast starts with hosts Nick Meacham and Chris Stone rounding up some of the major recent developments in the sports media industry. The pair offer their thoughts on Formula One’s long-term, multi-territory media rights extension with pay-TV broadcasting giant Sky, World Rugby’s acquisition of the RugbyPass digital media platform, and reports suggesting that LIV Golf has been offering to pay broadcasters to air its events. Then, in part two, SportsPro technology editor Steve McCaskill is joined by Tom Janicot, managing director of video assistant referee (VAR) specialist Vieww and director of video solutions at Sportec Solutions, a technology joint venture between Deltatre and the German Football League (DFL).  In a wide-ranging conversation, they discuss how innovations being pioneered in German soccer’s top-flight Bundesliga could be applied elsewhere in the sporting world – driving performance and fan engagement.

John-Paul McKerlie, vice president of sales and marketing at TOD, tells Nick Meacham and Chris Stone about the launch of BeIN Media Group's new streaming service and the role of sport on the platform.

This special edition of the StreamTime Podcast celebrates its 50th episode. Hosts Nick Meacham and Chris Stone reflect on some of their favourite conversations, review previous predictions to see what they got right and what they got wrong, and consider what's in store for the sports streaming industry.

This week’s two-part StreamTime Podcast also sees Nick Meacham and Chris Stone reflect on Amazon’s opening TNF broadcasts before Peacock’s chief commercial officer outlines the role of sport on the platform.

Harish Sarma, TikTok’s global head of content business development, hops on this week’s StreamTime Podcast to outline the video-sharing platform’s sports strategy.

This week's StreamTim Podcast explores the specialist ecosystem of US college athletics and regional sports networks (RSNs). SportsPro chief executive Nick Meacham and community lead Chris Stone are joined by William Mao, senior vice president of global media rights at Octagon, to discuss the niche, yet big money, world of US college sports. At a time when conferences are realigning, the College Football Playoff (CFP) is becoming a major force and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is diminishing in power, the podcast takes a deep dive into the where student athletics fits in  the US broadcast space.  Mao also helps to try to find an answer for the question of how college sports broadcast deals compare to soccer across Europe and what the future looks like for RSNs in the US. 

SportsPro chief executive Nick Meacham and community lead Chris Stone return to look back on another week of sports media news in what is a two-part episode of the StreamTime Podcast. After Wrexham’s celebrity co-owner Ryan Reynolds called on the National League to allow its clubs to stream their matches, the pair discuss the merits of the Hollywood actor’s argument and explore what the next steps might be. In addition, they react to reports that Disney is considering making its Disney+ streaming service part of a wider membership offering, ask whether celebrity boxing is a sustainable model for DAZN, and take a closer look at FanDuel’s decision to launch its own linear and over-the-top (OTT) platforms. There’s also time to discuss FloSports’ rugby strategy after it secured a landmark deal in the US. In part two, technology editor Steve McCaskill speaks with Jan Umansky, chief executive of video solutions firm VideoFlow, about the potential of Web 3.0 as part of a wider content strategy, as well as how the blockchain can offer secure authenticated access to video.

SportsPro chief executive Nick Meacham and community lead Chris Stone sit down with Kenny Gersh, Major League Baseball’s (MLB) executive vice president of business development, to mark the 20th anniversary of the MLB.TV streaming platform. Two decades after MLB became the first professional sports league to live stream a regular season game, Gersh discusses how the organisation went on to build BAMTech Media, a robust streaming technology business that was eventually acquired by Disney in 2017. Gersh also outlines MLB’s media rights distribution strategy today, how it differs from other sports, and its decision to put some live games on Apple+. There’s also time to look to the future, with Gersh explaining how streaming helps MLB reach younger audiences, the role of Web 3.0, and the league’s international growth strategy.

SportsPro chief executive Nick Meacham and community lead Chris Stone return for another roundup of the week’s major sports media news. After DAZN once again encountered streaming issues on the opening day of the Serie A season, the pair consider whether the platform’s latest struggles could have bigger implications for its partnership with Italian soccer’s top flight. They also react to the Big Ten Conference’s huge new media rights deals, which will reportedly see Fox, CBS and NBC pay the college sports organisation a whopping US$7 billion between 2023 and 2030. There’s also time to look at a series of soccer developments in recent days, starting with reports that Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs could be allowed to sell games on a pay-per-view basis under a domestic broadcast extension with Sky. In addition, Meacham and Stone cover Uefa’s new Champions League deal in the US, Inter Milan’s decision to launch on Recast and more free soccer content coming to the UK.