USA TODAY's Mike Snider notes as cord cutting becomes "more popular, a counterintuitive trend is emerging: higher streaming TV prices and bundling, this time among Internet streaming services." Within the past month, "several of the major internet TV services -- Sling TV, DirecTV Now, and PlayStation Vue -- have announced price increases." Providers said that the main reason for the price increase is due to the "cost of live programming including sports and news" (USA TODAY, 7/12).
NEED MORE TIME: THE ATHLETIC's Richard Deitsch wrote it is still "very early" in ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro’s tenure to "make any kind of large pronouncements." He has "recalibrated his company’s relationship with the NFL which was not in a good place" under former President John Skipper. Pitaro was also a "key player in ESPN’s acquisition of the UFC." Now he is going to "focus heavily on ESPN+." Pitaro has been "smart to take things slow with ESPN staffers given the shock of Skipper’s abrupt resignation." Deitsch: "I wasn’t sure ESPN would re-up Monday Night Football when its NFL deal is up a couple of years from now, but under Pitaro I think ESPN is in long-term on the NFL" (THEATHLETIC.com, 7/11).
HUSH HUSH LAUNCH: VIDEO INK's Matt Lopez noted Courtyard by Marriott and Whistle Sports "quietly launched a new Facebook Watch series the other week." The 12-episode series, which is titled “Courtyard: Unstoppable,” takes viewers "behind the scenes of the world of professional football." The first episode, which launched June 26, featured Revolution Sports Management President & CEO Damarius Bilbo, who "represents some of the top NFL talent following his own NFL career" (THEVIDEOINK.com, 7/9).
