StreamTime Sports

For the latest episode of StreamTime, SportsPro chief executive Nick Meacham welcomes on Kevin Jones, chief executive of Blue Wire Podcasts, to dive into the business of the sports podcast. Before that, in part one, Meacham and SportsPro senior content manager Chris Stone discuss the strategy behind Overtime’s new OT7 football league; why are Warners Bros Discovery selling PGA Tour rights to Sky Sports; the thinking behind LIV Golf’s broadcast model; DAZN’s new pricing structure and why TikTok is launching paid content. In part two, Jones, who oversees an operation managing more than 250 sports podcasts, provides a 101 on the business.  The conversation spans how Blue Wire supports its talent with the production and commercialisation of their audiences, what brands are spending money on and why athletes are so fond of the medium.

SportsPro’s media and technology editor Steve McCaskill returns to the StreamTime Podcast with chief executive Nick Meacham and senior content manager Chris Stone. The trio discuss what BT and Warner Bros Discovery’s joint venture means for the UK sports rights market, how the pair will work together in the short and long term, and whether the combined effort poses a threat to Sky. Then, Meacham sits down with Arielle Chambers, the founder of HighlightHER, Bleacher Report’s multi-channel media brand shining a light on female athletes and teams. In what is the latest instalment of the StreamTime Podcast’s Gen Z series, Chambers discusses how HighlightHER has built an audience around women’s sport, collaborating with Bleacher Report, and creating content that younger fans want to see.

The guest on this week’s StreamTime Podcast is Russell Wolff, the executive vice president and general manager of sports streaming subscription service ESPN+. First, SportsPro chief executive Nick Meacham and senior content manager Chris Stone pick out some of the more interesting stories from recent weeks. They cover Google’s reported interest in the Indian Premier League (IPL) rights, as well as the moves being made in Germany by S-Nation, the new streaming platform launched by former German Football League (DFL) chief executive Christian Seifert. Then, Wolff joins Meacham to discuss the role of ESPN+ in the wider ESPN business and how the Disney-owned company is preparing to go all-in on direct to consumer. Plus, Wolff draws on his experience heading up ESPN’s international business to discuss the broadcaster’s strategy overseas, while there’s also time to cover how Disney decides what content to put on what platforms, how betting will be integrated into ESPN+, and the role of advertising on the service.

SportsPro chief executive Nick Meacham and senior content manager Chris Stone also discuss BT’s joint venture with Warner Bros Discovery and react to the Fifa-EA Sports fallout.

SportsPro chief executive Nick Meacham sits down with Mahi de Silva, the chief executive of short-form video platform Triller, for the latest episode of the StreamTime Podcast. In part one, Meacham and SportsPro senior content manager Chris Stone discuss TikTok’s increasingly important role in sport, Viaplay’s recent acquisition of national team soccer rights in the UK and growing sports media revenues in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. Then, Meacham asks De Silva why Triller decided to go public, how Triller Fight Club came to be and why the company is betting on combat sports to reach younger audiences. The wide-ranging conversation also covers Triller’s future plans following its recent acquisitions of the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship and Fite TV.

SportsPro chief executive Nick Meacham and senior content manager Chris Stone return to look back on SportsPro Live 2022. After two action-packed days at London’s Kia Oval, Meacham shares his takeaways from the first in-person edition of the flagship conference since 2019. He outlines what the main digital priorities and challenges are for sports leagues and teams, including gathering audience data and developing owned and operated platforms, as well as where Web 3.0 fits within the industry. The pair also discuss the German Football League’s (DFL) non-fungible token (NFT) strategy, how sports properties like Volleyball World, the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Juventus are approaching going direct to consumer, and the impact of fan channels like AFTV.   

The second instalment of the StreamTime Podcast’s Gen Z series sees host Nick Meacham sit down with Jayne Peressini, vice president of growth at NBA Top Shot creator Dapper Labs.  First, Meacham and SportsPro senior content manager Chris Stone discuss what the Netflix subscriber decline could mean for sport, as well as Endeavor Streaming’s new one-stop shop for content creators and Warner Bros Discovery’s decision to shut down the CNN+ service. Then, Peressini gives Meacham the rundown on the various pillars of Dapper Labs’ business and explains how the blockchain technologies firm is working with sports properties to develop non-fungible token (NFT) offerings that provide real value to fans.  In a wide-ranging conversation covering how sports can better engage with Gen Z consumers, Peressini also highlights some of the user consumption trends around NFTs and live action.  

Jon Miller, president of programming at NBC Sports, joins StreamTime Podcast host Nick Meacham to discuss one of the most extensive rights portfolios in all of sports broadcasting. In part one of the show, Meacham and SportsPro senior content manager Chris Stone reflect on the launch of Fifa+, the new direct-to-consumer streaming platform announced last week by soccer’s global governing body. Then, Meacham gets an inside view on NBC’s sports rights strategy from Miller, who joined the network in 1988 and has been instrumental in helping the company secure coverage of some of the world’s top sports properties.   Now serving one of the longest tenures in NBC Sports history, Miller explains how the broadcaster measures value from its coverage of events like the Olympic Games and premium properties such as the National Football League (NFL), Nascar and the Premier League. The wide-ranging conversation also covers Peacock’s ground-breaking deal to carry the WWE Network and what that means for sports and broadcasters moving forward, as well as the halo effect premium sports rights can have on other content.

This week’s StreamTime Podcast features the first instalment of a new series about engaging with Generation Z.  In part one of the show, SportsPro chief executive Nick Meacham and senior content manager Chris Stone review some of the top stories from the past week, including the launch of LaLiga Pass in Southeast Asia, the fragmentation of Major League Baseball’s (MLB) live rights, and the increasingly saturated world of sports documentaries. Then, Nick is joined by Buzzer chief executive Bo Han and TJ Adeshola, the head of global content partnerships at Twitter, for a conversation covering how sport can address its ageing audience problem.  The trio identify the consumption problem that needs solving, discuss what sports properties are currently doing wrong, and talk through how the existing subscription model can be improved to cater for younger audiences.  

For this week’s StreamTime Podcast, SportsPro chief executive Nick Meacham dials in with Jonathan Licht, the managing director of UK pay-TV broadcaster Sky Sports. Up front, senior content manager Chris Stone returns to review other developments in the streaming space, including Viaplay’s UK entry, Ampere Analysis’ latest research on European sports rights spending, and record viewing figures in the Uefa Women’s Champions League. Then Licht, who joined Sky in 1998 before moving to Sky Sports in 2005, lifts the lid on the broadcaster’s multi-billion dollar partnership with the Premier League and how the company was able to build its business around English soccer’s top flight. The pair also talk about the impact of Sky’s decision in 2017 to shift from numbered to sports-specific channels, the challenge of new competition entering the UK market, and sports going direct-to-consumer.