The Streaming Insider (7/23/2020): Your Favorite Sports Team May Now Be Streamable / Plex Adds Free Live TV

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MLB, NHL, & NBA Teams Come to Local Streaming For The First Time
Yesterday, we wrote about how complicated it could be to stream your favorite teams as sports return to action.
Due to new deals with AT&T TV NOW, some MLB, NBA, and NHL teams that were never available to stream in your local market, you now can.
AT&T TV NOW has added the following RSNs:
- NESN (Red Sox & Bruins)
- AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Astros & Rockets)
- AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh (Pirates & Penguins)
- AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Jazz, Rockies, & Golden Knights)
- MASN (National & Orioles)
- ROOT Sports Northwest (Mariners).
The latter four channels have never been available as part of a YouTube TV ($65).
To get the channels viewers will need either AT&T TV NOW Max ($80) or AT&T TV Choice ($65 + Fees). Those on the legacy “Go Big” and “Gotta Have It” plans will also get the channels.
Straight-to-VOD Movie Release Saga Continues
Debate over studios’ ability to release movies straight to paid video-on-demand services has dominated the streaming landscape since Universal scored a hit by releasing “Trolls World Tour” on FandangoNOW in March.
Infamously, in the wake of that trial run, NBC Universal CEO Jeff Shell said that more digital-only releases were “inevitable,” sparking AMC to say it would no longer show the industry leader’s films at its brick-and-mortar locations.
The theater industry, however, has been waiting on the forthcoming Christopher Nolan film “Tenet” from Warner Bros. to hit the ground running as parts of the U.S. reopen amid the pandemic. The film’s theatrical release has now been delayed three times, with the latest time temporarily taking it off the release calendar entirely.
Warners Bros. is going to continue to hold the film for theaters, AT&T CEO John Stankey said Thursday.
During the company’s Q2 2020 earnings call Thursday morning Stankey made it clear that while WarnerMedia has had to make adjustments due to the pandemic, throwing away the old theatrical release model isn’t the way to go.
“There’s just some content that is going to be more enjoyable and better to see in theaters than in the living room,” Stankey said. “Do I think that there could be some things that we did, chartered and built for theatrical releases that maybe migrate into an SVOD construct? Sure. Is it going to happen on a movie like ‘Tenet’ or something like ‘Wonder Woman?’ I’d be very surprised if that’d be the case. I can assure you on ‘Tenet’ that’s not going to be the case.”
More Streaming News to Binge…
- Plex Incorporates Live TV With Addition of 80-Plus Free Linear Channels to Platform
- Philo Becomes First Live TV Streaming Service to Carry ‘TV One’
- AT&T Loses Almost 1 Million Video Subscribers, Including 68,000 on AT&T TV NOW
- HBO Max Adds 4.1 Million Subscribers in First Month After Launch
- Pluto TV to Be Made Available on Some Verizon Devices