Just two business days after a federal judge slapped a shocking preliminary injunction on the Venu Sports joint venture, questioning the basic ethics of traditional pay TV program licensing practices in the process, DirecTV's top programming executive, Rob Thun, has proposed some new rules for how deals are structured.
In a memo sent to Next TV and other media outlets, headlined "Looking Toward a Brighter TV Future," Thun proposed that content owners create more flexible, "genre-based" packages -- such as bundles themed around sports and news -- that better appeal to consumers.
He suggested that the major media conglomerates work with operators to create options for consumers with price points closer to direct-to-consumer streaming options.
Thun also asked content companies to help DirecTV create "aggregated experiences" for consumers, combining live-linear and on-demand programming, rather than "numerous disjointed entry points while managing multiple individual subscriptions to those products."
Of course, this isn't the first time that Thun -- or other program executives for rival pay TV companies -- has proposed this kind of stuff. It's just that now, thanks to the massive miscalculation that is Venu Sports, the pay TV guys have the momentum.
With DirecTV's deal with Disney up in September, and negotiations with the other Venu principals, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery, set to occur in the next 12 months, Thun is level-setting expectations, striking while three of the biggest program network suppliers are on their heels.
Certainly, in terms of leverage, Disney, Fox and WBD set themselves back mightily with Venu, a service that packaged the major linear sports channels from each conglomerate, but seemed not have intended to play by any of the rules long governing the principals' struggling pay TV partners.
Venu's backers, after all, didn't require their JV to bundle minor entertainment channels. Or force minimum penetration levels of channels down its throat.
Keenly aware of the disparity, virtual pay TV operator Fubo took the trio to court over antitrust concerns right after it was announced in February -- a move backed by DirecTV. As executives for the trio of media companies were gradually deposed, more and more issues arose that concerned the court.
"They got caught with their hands in the cookie jar in a big way," Thun told Next TV. "The judge saw all the evidence, and it didn't really create a good picture for the venue partners."
In fact, in granting Fubo a preliminary injunction against the JV on Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Margaret Garnett suggested that the way media companies like Disney, Fox and WBD bundle their channels is "bad for consumers."
For his part, Thun said the internal disclosures in court of how Venu intended to do business "left a bad taste" his mouth.
However, he said he's been pleased to see that Disney, Fox and WBD see an opportunity in a new kind of pay TV business that offers consumers far more choice.
"The one thing we agree in is there is an ocean of opportunity," he said,
