Disney and Charter Communications amid their carriage dispute are “steering consumers to online services where they can replace the lost channels," according to Scott Moritz of BLOOMBERG NEWS. But after a “spurt of growth, they have mostly suffered the same subscriber losses as conventional pay-TV providers.” In the last quarter, only YouTube TV “increased its customers” (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 9/5). TIPPING POINT: Goldman Sachs Managing Director Brett Feldman talked about the ongoing dispute, noting “we’ve hit this tipping point now where the media companies simply can’t raise prices fast enough to offset the loss of pay-TV subscribers. That has emboldened the cable companies to look at this relationship and say, ‘Listen, we can’t absorb these historical price increases. They really make all their money now providing internet service.” Feldman noted it was “refreshing” to hear Iger when talking about ESPN in recent comments to “hear him acknowledge that everything is on the table” when it comes to the sports network and “shows how seriously they’re taking this” (Yahoo Finance, 9/5).

Source: CNN September 06, 2023 15:59 UTC