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A new streaming giant that will combine the sports assets of Fox, Disneys ESPN and Warner Bros Discovery is poised to reshuffle the TV industry and experts say the big loser will likely be the cable business.

The yet-to-be named standalone service, slated to launch this fall, will account for roughly 55% of the sports rights in the US, according to a Citigroup analyst.

It wont stream NBC’s Sunday Night Football or NFL games airing on CBS, which this year will broadcast the Super Bowl.

Nevertheless, experts say the new app will likely get the ball rolling on reshaping the pay-TV landscape as streaming giants like Amazon, Apple and Netflix continue to hike up the already staggering price for sports rights.

The newly announced joint-venture is going to send shockwaves through the entire media world, said LightShed Partners analyst Rich Greenfield. Is this opening a Pandoras Box?

Crucially, the new venture is focused squarely on sports the main reason that most cable-TV subscribers are still hanging on.

It combines the might of the three media titans that broadcast the NFC Championship Game, the College Football Playoff and other top-tier bowl games, the NBA Finals, the World Series and the Stanley Cup Finals.

That poses a major threat to Comcast, owner of NBCUniversal, as well as CBS owner Paramount Global. 

Greenfield said that networks not included in what he dubbed the Winners Bundle are scrambling.

Whether you are Paramount, Comcast, NFL Network, AMC Networks, A&E Networks or station groups with large numbers of NBC or CBS stations, the successful launch of Winners Bundle is your worst nightmare, he said. 

Nevertheless, its doubtful whether the new package spells doom for cable.

While it will be available to ESPN+, Hulu and Max subscribers, giving cord-cutters access to a massive amount of sports content at a price point somewhere north of $40 a month, it will still fall short of the full breadth of sports coverage available on cable.

NBC and CBS own the rights to several top-rated events.

Aside from “Sunday Night Football,” the Peacock Network is home to Notre Dame football, and the Summer and Winter Olympics, while CBS televises the NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament (it shares rights with WBD), the AFC Championship Game and The Masters golf tournament.

“I don’t think it’s going to be the final nail in the coffin of pay television,” said Robert Thompson, the trustee professor of television, radio and film at the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

“If you start adding it up and you like sports, you’ll pay at least $40 for the service but you’re still going to want to watch the NFL games that are not on the platform,” he added. “You’re going to want them one way or another.”

Indeed, Fox Chief Executive Lachlan Murdoch emphasized the venture isnt meant to cannibalize pay TV, but instead attract new streaming subscribers to the fold who have been underserved. 

Seizing on that point, Murdoch estimated there are more than 60 million homes in the US of cord-nevers and cord-cutters mostly younger viewers  that the new app could attract.

“There is no product serving the sports fans that are not within the cable TV bundle,” Murdoch told analysts during Foxs earnings call Wednesday. 

Still, the Winners Bundle could exacerbate the trend of ditching cable for cheaper options.

Morgan Stanley analyst Benjamin Swineburne noted that cord-cutting is slowly killing the profitability of cable, with pay TV households down 25% since 2018. 

Perhaps the biggest benefit from launching the service is that it may give the media companies some leverage over cable distributors and their rising carriage fees.

Last August, Charter Communications blacked out ESPN and ABC hours before kickoff of the Jets-Bills game on Monday Night Football in a dispute over carriage fees with Disney.

The impasse lasted more than a week until Disney agreed to offer Disney+ and ESPN+ streaming services to Charters subscribers in exchange for the cable operator paying a higher carriage fee for Disneys other channels. 

Thompson said the new service could just be the first step toward other unlikely marriages.

“We are going to see some interesting bundling and pairing up,” Thompson said. “Its like this whole entertainment industry is playing musical chairs and the music is very much playing.”

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Norman Tebbit: Former Tory minister who served in Margaret Thatcher’s government dies aged 94

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Norman Tebbit: Former Tory minister who served in Margaret Thatcher's government dies aged 94

Norman Tebbit, the former Tory minister who served in Margaret Thatcher’s government, has died at the age of 94.

Lord Tebbit died “peacefully at home” late on Monday night, his son William confirmed.

One of Mrs Thatcher’s most loyal cabinet ministers, he was a leading political voice throughout the turbulent 1980s.

He held the posts of employment secretary, trade secretary, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Conservative party chairman before resigning as an MP in 1992 after his wife was left disabled by the Provisional IRA’s bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton.

He considered standing for the Conservative leadership after Mrs Thatcher’s resignation in 1990, but was committed to taking care of his wife.

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and party chairman Norman Tebbit.
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Margaret Thatcher and Norman Tebbit in 1987 after her election victory. Pic: PA

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch called him an “icon” in British politics and was “one of the leading exponents of the philosophy we now know as Thatcherism”.

“But to many of us it was the stoicism and courage he showed in the face of terrorism, which inspired us as he rebuilt his political career after suffering terrible injuries in the Brighton bomb, and cared selflessly for his wife Margaret, who was gravely disabled in the bombing,” she wrote on X.

“He never buckled under pressure and he never compromised. Our nation has lost one of its very best today and I speak for all the Conservative family and beyond in recognising Lord Tebbit’s enormous intellect and profound sense of duty to his country.

“May he rest in peace.”

Lord Tebbit and his wife Margaret stand outside the Grand Hotel in Brighton.
Pic: PA
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Lord Tebbit and his wife Margaret stand outside the Grand Hotel in Brighton. Pic: PA

Tory grandee David Davis told Sky News Lord Tebbit was a “great working class Tory, always ready to challenge establishment conventional wisdom for the bogus nonsense it often was”.

“He was one of Thatcher’s bravest and strongest lieutenants, and a great friend,” Sir David said.

“He had to deal with the agony that the IRA visited on him and his wife, and he did so with characteristic unflinching courage. He was a great man.”

Reform leader Nigel Farage said Lord Tebbit “gave me a lot of help in my early days as an MEP”.

He was “a great man. RIP,” he added.

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher with Employment Secretary Norman Tebbit.
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Lord Tebbit as employment secretary in 1983 with Mrs Thatcher. Pic: PA

Born to working-class parents in north London, he was made a life peer in 1992, where he sat until he retired in 2022.

Lord Tebbit was trade secretary when he was injured in the Provisional IRA’s bombing in Brighton during the Conservative Party conference in 1984.

Five people died in the attack and Lord Tebbit’s wife, Margaret, was left paralysed from the neck down. She died in 2020 at the age of 86.

Before entering politics, his first job, aged 16, was at the Financial Times where he had his first experience of trade unions and vowed to “break the power of the closed shop”.

He then trained as a pilot with the RAF – at one point narrowly escaping from the burning cockpit of a Meteor 8 jet – before becoming the MP for Epping in 1970 then for Chingford in 1974.

Norman Tebbit during the debate on the second reading of the European Communities (Amendment) Bill, in the House of Lords.
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Lord Tebbit during an EU debate in the House of Lords in 1997. Pic: PA

As a cabinet minister, he was responsible for legislation that weakened the powers of the trade unions and the closed shop, making him the political embodiment of the Thatcherite ideology that was in full swing.

His tough approach was put to the test when riots erupted in Brixton, south London, against the backdrop of high rates of unemployment and mistrust between the black community and the police.

He was frequently misquoted as having told the unemployed to “get on your bike”, and was often referred to as “Onyerbike” for some time afterwards.

What he actually said was he grew up in the ’30s with an unemployed father who did not riot, “he got on his bike and looked for work, and he kept looking till he found it”.

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‘Oui’ or ‘non’ for Starmer’s migration deal?

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'Oui' or 'non' for Starmer's migration deal?

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The first European state visit since Brexit starts today as President Emmanuel Macron arrives at Windsor Castle.

On this episode, Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy look at what’s on the agenda beyond the pomp and ceremony. Will the government get its “one in, one out” migration deal over the line?

Plus, which one of our presenters needs to make a confession about the 2008 French state visit?

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Benjamin Netanyahu nominates Donald Trump for Nobel Peace Prize – as Gaza ceasefire talks continue

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Benjamin Netanyahu nominates Donald Trump for Nobel Peace Prize - as Gaza ceasefire talks continue

Israel’s prime minister has nominated Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Benjamin Netanyahu made the announcement at a White House dinner, handing over the letter for the US president to read.

“Coming from you in particular, this is very meaningful,” Mr Trump said.

The Israeli leader said Mr Trump was “forging peace as we speak, and one country and one region after the other”.

Organisers award the prize to the person who does the most for “fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses”.

Benjamin Netanyahu showed President Trump the Nobel nomination letter. Pic: AP
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Benjamin Netanyahu handed Donald Trump the Nobel nomination letter. Pic: AP

Mr Trump took credit for stopping Iran and Israel‘s “12-day war” last month, announcing it with fanfare on Truth Social, and the ceasefire has so far held.

The president has claimed US strikes obliterated Iran’s purported nuclear weapons programme – and that the country now wants to restart negotiations.

“We have scheduled Iran talks, and they want to,” Mr Trump told reporters on Monday. “They want to talk.”

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Iran hasn’t confirmed the move, but its president told US broadcaster Tucker Carlson he believes his country can resolve differences with the US through dialogue.

Masoud Pezeshkian also said Iran would be willing to resume cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.

However, he said full access to nuclear sites wasn’t yet possible as US strikes had damaged them so badly.

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Netanyahu arrives in US for ceasefire talks

Away from Iran, fighting continues in Gaza and Ukraine.

Mr Trump famously boasted before his second stint in the White House that he could end the Ukraine war in 24 hours.

The reality has been very different – with Ukraine saying last week that Russia unleashed the heaviest aerial attack of the war so far.

Critics have also claimed Vladimir Putin is “playing” his US counterpart and that he has no intention of agreeing a ceasefire.

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Russia bombards Ukraine with drones and missiles

However, Mr Trump could try to take credit for progress in Gaza if – as he’s suggested – an agreement on a 60-day ceasefire is done this week.

Indirect negotiations with Hamas are taking place that could lead to the release of some of the remaining 50 Israeli hostages and a surge in aid to Gaza.

The White House said Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is travelling to Qatar this week to try to seal the agreement.

Read more:
Israeli soldier describes arbitrary killing of civilians in Gaza

IDF troops ‘psychologically broken’ after Gaza – UN expert

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‘Some Israeli commanders can decide to do war crimes’

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Whether a temporary pause could open a path to a lasting peace remains uncertain, with the two sides’ criteria for peace still far apart.

Mr Netanyahu has said Hamas must surrender, disarm and leave Gaza – something it refuses to do.

He also told reporters on Monday that the US and Israel were working with other countries who would give Palestinians “a better future” – and indicated those in Gaza could move elsewhere.

“If people want to stay, they can stay, but if they want to leave, they should be able to leave,” he added.

“We’ve had great cooperation from… surrounding countries, great cooperation from every single one of them. So something good will happen,” Mr Trump said.

The president was widely criticised earlier this year when he suggested resettling Gaza’s population to countries such as Jordan and Egypt and turning it into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.

Human rights groups said the plan amounted to ethnic cleansing and most Gazans said they would never consider leaving.

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