Paid Subscriber Bonus: Sports Melt the Cable TV Bundle
Paid Subscriber Bonus: Sports Melt the Cable TV Bundle
How WBD's new MAX Bleacher Report sports tier affects ESPN, CHARTER, COMCAST and more, punching another big hole in "The Bundle"
Oct 2023: The Cable TV Bundle’s Month of Transformation
You know the thing where people say change is really only evident in hindsight? Yeah not this week.
WBD made its MAX Bleacher Report Sports tier official, pricing it at $10 a month on top of any MAX subscription ($10 ad-supported, $16 ad-free or $20 bougie tier).
MAX Bleacher Report (aka the “B/R Sports Add-On” #catchy) will launch on Thu Oct 5, and it’s free to MAX subs for essentially 5 months 🤯… with the paywall going up March 1 - quite a taste.
TIMING:
Oct 7 is when the MLB Playoffs begin.
Followed by the NHL on Oct 10.
And NBA on Oct 24 (shows like Inside the NBA are also included, plus other live B/R programming).
This free period will also include the NBA All-Star Game, the brand new NBA Cup games (split with ESPN), and the NHL Winter Classic.
Note: AEW Wrestling is not listed as being included in this B/R Add-On.
Mar 1 💰 is a couple of weeks before March Madness… with NBA & NHL playoffs looming in April (incl the NHL Stanley Cup). Also, MLB on TBS returns in April.
ERGO: If you have a digital antenna for CBS - You can now pay $10 and watch all of March Madness.
Note: The Final Four and Championship games are all on TBS this year btw 👀.
THE ESPN FACTOR
While ESPN pulled MNF back on ABC this week… and had its feet dragged into a DIS+ deal with CHARTER - WBD is once again leading the way here in the industry in structural change.