To a (much much less extent)- Google did the same with exiting FiberTV a few years ago. It was a great product but they saw the writing on the wall and got out, opting to push everyone to YouTubeTV
Wow. Charter is threatening to go as far as exiting TV. We've hit the tipping point.
Another negative outlook for ESPN. Looks like Apple will wait to go bargain hunting.
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ESPN’s ‘melting iceberg’ is yet another challenge for Disney, analyst says
ESPN's prospects "could materially worsen" if Charter opts against contract renewal, a KeyBanc analyst said.www.marketwatch.com
Here's another great layout of the (inevitably dismal) future of ESPN. Their "let's force people who don't want our product to pay for it anyway" grift is on its last legs.
The Rise & Fall of ESPN's Leverage
Or we could not talk about it? Cause, we only care about ESPN'S demise?Fox is in the same boat as ESPN...so, let's also talk about the demise of Fox sports and the Big Ten's contract.
Fox Remains Committed to Cable-TV Bundle
Fox Corp. said it "remains bullish on the value of the traditional pay-television bundle" for its sports and entertainment content, despite "continued subscriber losses due to cord-cutting and an industrywide shift to streaming." The cable-television paywall "drives value of Fox Sports and will for...
Fox remains committed to pay-TV bundle for sports
The cable-television paywall "drives value of Fox Sports and will for a long time to come," Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch said on today's earnings call.www.sportsbusinessjournal.com
Fox is in the same boat as ESPN...so, let's also talk about the demise of Fox sports and the Big Ten's contract.
Fox Remains Committed to Cable-TV Bundle
Fox Corp. said it "remains bullish on the value of the traditional pay-television bundle" for its sports and entertainment content, despite "continued subscriber losses due to cord-cutting and an industrywide shift to streaming." The cable-television paywall "drives value of Fox Sports and will for...
Fox remains committed to pay-TV bundle for sports
The cable-television paywall "drives value of Fox Sports and will for a long time to come," Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch said on today's earnings call.www.sportsbusinessjournal.com
Or we could not talk about it? Cause, we only care about ESPN'S demise?
Just spitballing here and no where near as knowledgeable as many here are (or pretend to be) but will the vicious cycle with college conference payment demands/increases and the sports broadcasters willingness to accommodate those conference realignment money demands going to hurt ESPN now that the distributors of content are putting the brakes on Disney?
It seems those long term contracts with conferences were predicated on the ability for Disney to keep upping their demands. Is it possible that ESPN will not be able to fulfill their obligations causing them to declare bankruptcy or try to get those contracts renegotiated to avoid bankruptcy? If so what will be the future for conference realignment?
Could there be a similar fallout with the conference networks which would add to a reduction of profits to ESPN and FOX as well as to those conferences?Fox will eventually be going DTC through the BTN, among other platforms. I assume the next Big East deal will also start to have some DTC aspects to it.
Fox and ESPN think (or hope) that YouTubeTV, Hulu Live, FUBO and others will replace the cable bundle. For some, sure, but I expect a lot of people to go direct to the Paramounts and Peacocks. Even some of the bundlers, like Sling, don't include Fox and ESPN in their base package.
Fox and ESPN could enforce the bundling when there was only one video pipe into homes, but with streaming, there are going to be ways for people that do not want to pay for Fox and ESPN to not pay for Fox and ESPN. And when that happens, and it appears to be happening soon, the game is up.
Think about this. ESPN is going to pay the ACC another $70 million +/- for SMU, Cal, and Stanford. These schools are not additive, with the possible exception of adding to the cable bundled ACC Network in the short run. ESPN has enough inventory already from SEC/ACC/Big 12/AAC. This is a terrible business deal for ESPN.ESPN is going to have to renegotiate the back end of their current linear deals with the conferences, and basically anyone else. Those deals are going to be break-the-bank bad for ESPN about 5 years from now unless they can convert the payments to the conferences to a variable basis.
I do think there will be a lot of money in streaming for college sports, but it won't be in fixed price, linear TV contracts.
ESPN is going to have to renegotiate the back end of their current linear deals with the conferences, and basically anyone else. Those deals are going to be break-the-bank bad for ESPN about 5 years from now unless they can convert the payments to the conferences to a variable basis.
Fox will eventually be going DTC through the BTN, among other platforms. I assume the next Big East deal will also start to have some DTC aspects to it.
Fox and ESPN think (or hope) that YouTubeTV, Hulu Live, FUBO and others will replace the cable bundle. For some, sure, but I expect a lot of people to go direct to the Paramounts and Peacocks. Even some of the bundlers, like Sling, don't include Fox and ESPN in their base package.
Fox and ESPN could enforce the bundling when there was only one video pipe into homes, but with streaming, there are going to be ways for people that do not want to pay for Fox and ESPN to not pay for Fox and ESPN. And when that happens, and it appears to be happening soon, the game is up.
1. Fox is not going OTT, especially not using the Big Ten. Tubi will be a side player, but FOX is very much not interested in the OTT side of things.
2. Peacock or Paramount are in desperate need of a buyer to consolidate with. Neither will make it on their own. I say this as a subscriber and big fan of the content on both. They won’t make it alone. Their ceiling is probably 20-25m subs and that won’t come close to paying off the investment required.
3. Nelson continues to fundamentally not understand this business at all, but I admire the conviction with which he makes his completely insane claims. Especially the one about ESPN needing to re-negotiate the back end of these deals. That 10000% will not occur.
4. If ESPN is in trouble then everyone else is in more trouble. It is against UConn and the Big East’s interests for them to be in trouble because it would remove a bidder.
17 years pretty boy. And you overstated your understanding by 5%.I understand 5% of this business. You have worked in it for what, a decade? And you still spewed this nonsense? Oof
17 years pretty boy. And you overstated your understanding by 5%.
Good summary here from Andrew Marchand.
Charter has already agreed to pay Disney more money for ESPN. That is not in dispute.
The dispute is Charter wants subscribers to have access to Disney+ and ESPN+. I agree with them on that point!
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Aaron Rodgers’ Jets debut could help force end to Charter-ESPN battle
If the Spectrum versus ESPN battle is the Super Bowl of cable rights disputes, then Aaron Rodgers may be the one who settles it.nypost.com
Did you think that a New York Post sports media reporter who thinks Spectrum is mad because ESPN will be going DTC is an authoritative source on the changing media landscape?
If you are going to call out a poster, especially on a topic where you should be an expert, you have to occasionally be right. Let us know when that happens.
You may be right about Peacock because Peacock is so late to the game, although its library is really valuable, which gives them the ability to screw up a few times. Paramount is probably going to make it. Its library is gold.