COMMENTARY

Cable TV Networks Adding Sports to Avoid the Inevitable?

• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, March 11, 2024

Legacy TV cable entertainment networks take note: Finding a way to add more sports into your programming may improve your moneymaking advertising business --  in the near term.

And for the long term? You know the score.

Warner Bros. Discovery's TruTv -- a mostly unscripted and comedy TV program content network -- will now regularly air nightly sports programming, including NBA, Major League Baseball, and NHL games.

TruTV's sister networks TNT and TBS -- two networks that regularly air those sports contests, as well as scripted entertainment programming --will begin sharing some of that sports programming.

TruTV will get a combination of exclusive, simulcast, and "alternative" broadcasts of these professional sports leagues. 

The "alternative" broadcast riffs on what ESPN/ABC’s “Monday Night Football” does with former NFL quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning; a kind of lighthearted living-room type setting where the Mannings and invited guests respond to the action on the field. Other networks have done similar efforts.

TruTV's sports programming effort starts Monday, March 11.

In addition, TruTV will get postseason men’s college basketball games -- the high-profile “March Madness” three-week event that WBD networks share with CBS.

Mid-size cable TV networks face increasing challenges as they struggle with financial revenue declines resulting from lower carriage fees and advertising sales due to non-stop cord-cutting by subscribers, which has seen on average 8% to 10% declines for the last several years.

Sports on linear TV, for many, is looked to as the business’ savior. This comes either as a supplement to scripted entertainment programming on linear cable TV networks or channels that exclusively air only sports content

Seems that TruTV is taking a hint from what happened to NBCUniversal's USA Network over the past three years. 

USA Network now airs PGA Golf, NBA basketball from NBC Sports regional sports networks (from places including Boston, San Francisco, and Chicago).  

Premier League European football, Nascar, Tour de France cycling, IndyCar, SuperMotocross, and Olympics.

For USA Network, much of this came from the demise of NBCSN (NBC Sports Network). NBCUniversal closed down NBCSN at the end of 2021. Some of this move was also to boost the new streaming platform, Peacock.

NBCSN did not have access to higher-viewed, more expensive sports content from the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL that continues to be aired on rival cable TV networks, ESPN and Fox Sports 1.

NBCU also closed The Olympic Channel the year after sunsetting NBCSN.

WBD's move with TruTV seems like a consolidation strategy for big broadcast and cable TV groups.  

The question is whether these moves are enough to give non-sports, scripted and/or non-scripted entertainment cable TV networks new life for the foreseeable future.

Other media futurists see this only as a band aid. That live sports action (and or related entertainment) will continue to move to non-linear digital/streaming platforms. 

In the long term, only the biggest of the biggest sports TV franchises -- especially postseason action -- will remain.

The game is on.