Sinclair's RSN Unit Hires Hulu Marketing Exec To Lead New D2C Division
- by Wayne Friedman , May 23, 2022
Sinclair Broadcast Group’s struggling Diamond
Sports Group -- its regional sports network (RSN) unit -- has hired Michael Schneider, a senior Hulu marketing executive, to be the chief operating officer and general manager of Bally Sports+, its
new direct-to-consumer (D2C) sports division.
Schneider will have oversight over the Bally Sports-branded D2C sports business content, which will come from 19 Bally Sports-branded RSNs.
Schneider had been vice president of brand and content marketing at Hulu.
He headed up Hulu’s subscription video on-demand and its live TV business -- Hulu + Live TV -- as well as leading audience development, live and licensed content marketing, social media, and sports marketing.
Before Hulu, Schneider worked on Sony’s PlayStation Vue, in customer marketing and strategy part of its launch team.
Diamond Sports Group has been working to renew some traditional linear TV carriage deals -- as well as problems signing deals with new virtual pay TV providers.
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Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, and others have eschewed distribution deals with the Bally-branded RSNs.
Traditional and virtual pay TV provider executives have been concerned over decreasing profitability when it comes to carrying RSNs on their platforms.
Last month, the second-biggest traditional cable system group -- Charter Communications -- re-upped its overall deal with Sinclair.
This included a retransmission deal with its TV stations as well as a carriage deal with the Sinclair-owned Tennis Channel, the company’s 19 Bally Sports RSN brands, Marquee Sports Network and the YES Network.
