MediaBiz

Analyze This: This morning’s Weekend Media Blast from Bernstein Research’s Craig Moffett et al is titled Sports Tears. Here’s the gist (and everyone in our eco-system should pay attention to this): “The ridiculous escalation in sports rights is getting to be an old story. But lately it has gone to unimagined proportions. Unchecked, it threatens to blow the entire media model apart. The prices paid to the teams get passed along to cable and satellite companies as affiliate fees, and are in turn passed along to consumers in take-it-or-leave-it packages regardless of whether customers are or aren’t sports fans. As we have long noted in this space, the biggest threat to the existing media ecosystem is affordability, and it is sports, above all else, that is driving the affordability crisis. Live sports programming currently accounts for about 20% of all viewing hours, according to a recent report from Nielsen. But by our estimates, sports programming accounts for about half of all programming costs. And an even larger percentage of programming cost growth.” --- Sony says it has a business plan and will talk about it on the 12th with CEO Kazuo Hirai. --- Is phone hacking in the “public interest” ... that’s the excuse Sky News (but they only did it, they say, “twice”) used as it joined the News Corp. hacking scandals today; BSkyB shares dropped almost 3%.

Retrans: So Tribune/DIRECTV got done ... here's what ACA's Matt Polka had to say about that: "ACA has maintained all along that the fact that retransmission consent deals eventually get done does not mean the market is working. ACA is certain that millions of DirecTV customers callously blacked out by Tribune Broadcasting since April 1 are now painfully aware that the current retrans regime is broken and no longer serves the public interest. To prevent further blackouts and collusive behavior by TV stations fixated on gouging consumers, ACA believes the Federal Communications Commission should complete action on the pending notice of proposed rulemaking and that House and Senate committees should start hearings for the purpose of designing a new retransmission consent system that treats consumers more fairly." Not to mention their constituents.

In the Courts: Some things won’t die ... the US 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has revived Viacom’s copyright suit against Google’s YouTube. --- Reuters reports Philip Falcone “is seriously considering” filing for voluntary bankruptcy for beleaguered LightSquared. Story here.

OTT: Those boxes (Apple TV, Google TV, Boxee and Roku) stealing cord-cutters (so they say) were reviewed in the NYT’s Gadgetwise here. Pretty much mixed (like lots of “new” products) but Google TV lags badly.

Programming: Reuters reports TWC is mulling dropping Current TV ... low ratings in contract clauses might trigger it. --- The Brokaw Files, produced by NBC’s Peacock Productions and featuring Tom Brokaw, will come to the Discovery’s Military Channel soon.

Tech: All-IP is really, really coming (someday as we’ve reported for what seems like years) ... Light Reading Cable’s Jeff Baumgartner says Comcast’s first all IP box will be called the X3.

More news in your inbox tomorrow morning in The Morning BRIDGE. The Evening BRIDGE will return Monday (the markets are closed for Good Friday tomorrow).•