MLB Network’s Reach Drops 26% on Cord-Cutting, YouTube TV Exit
The erosion of the pay-TV bundle may have hastened ESPN’s plans to shift to a direct-to-consumer model, but Bristol’s subscriber losses aren’t any more onerous than what the rest of the industry is facing. In the past year, no cable outlet has taken a greater hit on the distribution front than MLB Network, which has seen more than a quarter (26%) of its subscriber base evaporate in the wake of its dustup with YouTube TV.
According to Nielsen’s cable coverage estimates for December, MLB Net is now available in 31.2 million U.S. homes, down from 42.3 million in the year-ago period. The loss of some 11.1 million customers coincides with the termination of the network’s carriage agreement with YouTube TV, which per Leichtman Research Group estimates boasts 6.5 million subs, making it the top Internet-based multichannel TV distributor.
More from Sportico.com
YouTube TV and MLB Net parted ways on Jan. 31, after failing to reach an agreement on an extension of their legacy carriage deal. At the time, MLB Network released a statement in which it said YouTube TV had dropped the channel despite the fact that the terms offered had been “consistent with what close to 300 other U.S. providers have agreed to for distribution.” YouTube TV cut ties with MLB Net six weeks after parent company Alphabet inked a seven-year, $14 billion deal to secure the exclusive rights for the NFL Sunday Ticket package.
Fortunately for MLB Net, its ratings declines thus far have not been commensurate with the throttling of its overall reach. During the third quarter, when baseball season is at its peak, the network averaged 140,000 primetime viewers per night, a drop-off of 6% compared to the year-ago 149,000. (While no cable outlet is immune from the ravages of cord-cutting, sports programming holds up better than anything else on the dial; witness the overall increase in NFL and college football ratings in the face of this fall’s 9% drop in U.S. TV usage.)
YouTube TV last spring expressed optimism that MLB Net might eventually find its way back into the distributor’s good graces, but the entire 2023 season came and went without any progress on the reunion front. With an average carriage fee of 38 cents per sub per month, MLB Net is a relative steal; NFL Network charges distributors a monthly fee of $2.17 per head, and it has lost only 281,000 subscribers in the past year. With a base of 52.3 million subs, the NFL’s in-house channel is the biggest league-owned service on the dial, beating out NBA TV’s 37.3 million subs.
As it happens, NBA TV’s sub fee is identical to MLB TV’s rate. The pro hoops channel lost just 3% of its customer base this year, sliding from 38.4 million homes at the start of December 2022 to 37.3 million at the top of this month.
Given the average sub fees and the number of homes reached, MLB Net is on track to generate $142.1 million in annual distribution revenue, while the NBA’s TV home will book some $170.1 million. NFL Net’s inflated rates and greater scope put it in a far richer tax bracket, with carriage fees expected to add up to around $1.36 billion in 2023. Of course, no pay-TV network comes within shouting distance of the ESPN flagship, which will scoop up $7.94 billion in sub fees thanks to its industry-leading monthly rate ($9.72 a throw) and 70.2 million-household reach.
All told, the pay-TV industry lost 4.46 million customers in the course of the last 12 months, falling 6% to 74.5 million households. Despite those declines, MLB’s RSN ratings improved 6% this season.
Best of Sportico.com
