This is about controlling content. These RSN's have a lot of it. Sure they can send and the networks and send teir 3 games there but I expect them to mostly fold up once the content rights are secured under the ESPN umbrella.
YES...the most watched RSN, has been almost a ESPN property anyway...since YES, under contract, shows ACC football and basketball and ACC olympic sports and BE basketball.
As we move closer to "personalized" viewing (picking a smaller selection of channels and maybe ala carte)....the regional networks may come more into play....
Buying Hulu (majority share) and earlier, Bam-Tech, signals Disney/ESPN's moving, albeit at a measured pace, towards streamed content...
In the spring, ESPN rolls out a stand alone streaming service ESPN Plus.
When Disney cancelled their relationship with Netflix in order to create their own streaming (& on demand) content distribution, it pretty much signaled that Disney was set to maximize their vast content via internet access as well as the traditional cable/sat signal delivery.
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As one investment advisor recently put it....
"One of the key drivers behind the long-term sustainability and profit-generation ability of a business like Disney is the company’s unique portfolio of intellectual property. With a host of trademarks and brands which continue to have long-term appeal, the options available for DIS in terms of how it chooses to bring its content to market is one of the key factors investors should consider when pricing DIS stock."
