The iPhone's affect on cable wasn't just in how people consume media, but also where they prioritize spending their cash. It's hard for many people to justify the high cost of cable and the high cost of a phone plan. Something had to give, and for many that appears to be cable. Probably because you can recover what you lost on phone more easily than you can recover what you lose by giving up a phone with TV.
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ESPN loses over 3 million subscribers over the past year
- Thread starter Kinsella
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The iPhone's affect on cable wasn't just in how people consume media, but also where they prioritize spending their cash. It's hard for many people to justify the high cost of cable and the high cost of a phone plan. Something had to give, and for many that appears to be cable. Probably because you can recover what you lost on phone more easily than you can recover what you lose by giving up a phone with TV.
You mean opening their subscription up? They only launched that a few months ago, they were dragging their feet as well. And they tied it to other partners, Apple devices and Sling.
avengers23
Banned
The clear lack of The Hoop Gawd on ESPN is hurting its sustainability.
FriedConsole
Banned
I know a cord cutter that stopped watching sports because he is fighting the good fight against evil cable companies.
Are there lots of cord cutters now or it just seems that way because cord cutters will go out of their way to tell you they are cord cutters and make you listen to their rants about how evil cable companies are? The weird thing is that some of these people still pay the "evil" cable company for Internet. Whatever. I'll enjoy paying $45 a month so I don't have to try to watch some spotty sketchy Russian pirate stream to enjoy the sports I like. Putting cable companies out of business wouldn't be in the top 1000 issues of changes I would like to see in the world.
Sports broadcasts themselves are skyrocketing in viewership for sports (other than Baseball lololol). NBA for example is doing extremely well on TV. This years finals was the highest rated since 1998.
The talking heads ESPN sort of shows are what is falling.
Sports themselves and sports broadcasts for the most part are rising and rising
theSlacker
Member
Hey, I like LeBatard.
ESPN is such a strong brand that it's used to force cable providers to take other ABC properties at a higher price.
It's brand is diminishing due to the specialized network channels/local sports channels.
And the people who want ESPN at 5.99 at a month are daydreaming as the OT clearly states.
Baseball is doing great, it's just a very localized sport, people want to watch their teams and announcers covering it.
It's brand is diminishing due to the specialized network channels/local sports channels.
And the people who want ESPN at 5.99 at a month are daydreaming as the OT clearly states.
Baseball is doing great, it's just a very localized sport, people want to watch their teams and announcers covering it.
TheBaldEmperor
Member
Now that Olbermann is gone I'll probably only watch PTI and Around the Horn here and there. I'm really gonna miss Olbermann. Always looked forward to his opening rants and the Worst Persons in the Sports World.
Locally it is doing great yeah, I mean more on the national level. There really isn't the national interest in following baseball anymore. People follow the playoffs for the NBA and NFL in America even without a home team to root for. They used to in decades past for MLB as well but that really in't the case nearly as much anymore.
Interest in NBA at a national level has been rising however.
Vanillalite
Ask me about the GAF Notebook
The biggest thing is ESPN has always tried to push personalities as brands and faces for the company, but then those people in turn have negotiated more and more of a piece of the pie.
The rub is people don't give a shit. They just want to watch the games and check the highlights. They don't go to watch Sportscenter for the ancors nor do they go to watch talking heads shows for the people.
ESPN seems to be wising up that they were creating an over inflated market relative to the return on the investment.
The two areas that should get core focus and $$$ are having good people doing the live broadcasts and good people doing the actual investigate reporting so they can break stories to drive traffic.
People don't give a fuck enough about Bill Simmons or Colin Cowherd to pay them truckloads of cash. The money just isn't there.
The rub is people don't give a shit. They just want to watch the games and check the highlights. They don't go to watch Sportscenter for the ancors nor do they go to watch talking heads shows for the people.
ESPN seems to be wising up that they were creating an over inflated market relative to the return on the investment.
The two areas that should get core focus and $$$ are having good people doing the live broadcasts and good people doing the actual investigate reporting so they can break stories to drive traffic.
People don't give a fuck enough about Bill Simmons or Colin Cowherd to pay them truckloads of cash. The money just isn't there.
Netherscourge
Banned
I cut the ESPN cord too.
I like my local NFL/MLB/NHL teams and all of those games are on local TV; even the ESPN Monday Night Football games are simulcast on my local TV station.
I have an HD antenna too, so it's not like I need a cable TV subscription for my sports in HD.
Screw ESPN and ALL those channels above the basic cable tiers.
I like my local NFL/MLB/NHL teams and all of those games are on local TV; even the ESPN Monday Night Football games are simulcast on my local TV station.
I have an HD antenna too, so it's not like I need a cable TV subscription for my sports in HD.
Screw ESPN and ALL those channels above the basic cable tiers.
FriedConsole
Banned
I think people care about Bill Simmons but they rather follow him on Twitter than watch him on that awful ESPN NBA halftime show. I hate Bill Simmons but for some reason he has his fans. Yeah I agree nobody cares about these "personalities" and you can plug any talking head in there and the ratings will be the same.
Nemesis121
Member
If i wasn't a huge NFL fan i would have cut the cord long time ago, I don't like their network anymore, they have gone from covering sports to becoming closer to a WWE presentation of sports, and they constantly give blow jobs to a handful of teams and ignore the rest, another dislike, any type of tragedy they have been trying their best to find the sports angle, Killings in SC they found a sports angle with one of the victims, I don't want to see that on my screen, i have a real news channel for horrible stuff..
Vanillalite
Ask me about the GAF Notebook
He has fans, but NONE ZERO ZIP NADA of them have enough fans to actually make a ton of money off of them. It just doesn't maximize Disney's dollars.
Nastrodamous
Member
I only watched highly questionable and his and hers and those have podcast, and I don't watch mnf anymore so I just get local broadcast.
I also think that the potential of a 24/7 sports analysis channel loses it's luster when I can go on a variety of websites on my mobile phone to get up-to-date news on exactly the teams I follow. It also doesn't help ESPN that they're not really good with their mobile solutions, I personally prefer Bleacher Report's team stream.
metalslimer
Member
I made it just fine without an espn sub last year. I just went to a bar anytime I need a game on that channel. Local cable for 19.99 does me just fine with a Netflix subscription
Also yeah espn is useless now with so many good sports websites
Also yeah espn is useless now with so many good sports websites
Vanillalite
Ask me about the GAF Notebook
That's because CFB is the only sport where ESPN is actually the main broadcaster of the sport itself.
Hell ESPN's family of networks in one CFB week probably broadcasts more CFB games than they do NFL games for the entire seasons. Ditto for MLB in that they tend to have 1 game a week on.
College sports in general is the one area where they actually broadcast the sports themselves vs highlights. Well that and Tennis.
Exactly. Anyone can get 24/7 sports these days, and the coverage is pretty good. I only miss ESPN when there are certain games on, at which point I can go to a bar or friends house to watch as a group (better and more fun anyway)
If there was a way to purchase a sports-only cable plan I think they could grab some people back. The cheapest way for us to get ESPN is to pay an extra $45/mo to get the standard cable options instead of just local channels, and most of the games we care about are on local channels anyways.
Allforce
Member
The problem is if they offer an ala-carte service like HBO Now, then the cable companies have the clause to just take them off their packages along with the 6 bucks per subscriber they already have.
Do the math on 92 million subscribers at 6 dollars per subscriber per MONTH (paid by the cable company). It's astronomical money they're pulling in even when they're down 7%. They'd never recoup those subscriber numbers with even a 14.99/month plan to offset what they'd lose from cable subs.
This has nothing to do with the issue. People aren't "unsubscribing" to ESPN and "subscribing" to Fox Sports 1. Those sports channels are in the same boat. This is the result of people just choosing to cut cable and no longer paying for packages that include ESPN (which is basically all of them).
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
3 million and one.
I cut my cable last month. Have hardly missed it at all.
I cut my cable last month. Have hardly missed it at all.
McHuj
Member
They're just going to have to accept less. In turn, the big sports leagues are going to have to accept less as well.
This might actually have a pretty big ripple effect on all college sports that are being driven by the ESPN/television revenue stream.
layzie1989
Member
If Espn is removed from Slingtv I'm definitely canceling
FriedConsole
Banned
Those are both decent shows but I don't see the need to listen to more than one of those shows because they are all the same issues over and over.
What is wrong with the Knicks/Lakers?
Check out with this 3rd string receiver you never heard of said on Twitter. Let get outraged.
Lets pile on this athlete for giving an honest answer or dodging the question. It doesn't matter we will criticizes them either way.
Check out Gronk. He so crazy. Look at this video of him eating toast.
We know you aren't tired of Deflategate.
Never too early to talk about the NFL draft.
Let's ask the hockey analyst what he thinks about this issue going on in football because nobody cares about hockey.
Let's talk about baseball.....as long as it is centered around A-rod.
Teabow.
MightyHealthy
Banned
Well shit. That's the main reason I even have Sling TV.
Liu Kang Baking A Pie
Member
I'm kind of surprised this is still a thing, because I honestly haven't met anyone my age with cable in around five years, and it's never been a topic of discussion with any roommates who have moved in with me. ESPN is going to be a decade behind the rest of the world soon enough.
AyaisMUsikWhore
Member
Seen this a mile away. I don't know but looking at the numbers now, you really see where the BS regarding ESPN being a must have comes from because it surely isn't. People are happy to leave their ISPs for them and aren't too concerned about having them back.
I can't help but think about that Slingbox thread where some people thought that the service will fail without ESPN as well as Vue.... Seems like that's not the case.
I can't help but think about that Slingbox thread where some people thought that the service will fail without ESPN as well as Vue.... Seems like that's not the case.
basically... ironically this news has virtually nothing to do with ESPN. ESPN is probably the single best barometer for the health of the basic cable industry. 3M subs lost basically means 3M US consumers who have cut the cord 100%.
IdreamofHIME
Member
Reboot ESPN as part of the Marvel Universe, can only help their bottom line
ESPN lost the rights to pretty much anything Soccer related in just a few years.
They lost the EPL to NBC Sports Network, they lost La Liga (and the Italian/French leagues) to BeIN Sports and they lost the next 3 World Cups to Fox Sports 1.
These 3 competing networks are driving up the prices on all sports broadcasting deals, so not only are they losing viewers but the cost of them doing business is going up at an insane pace.
They lost the EPL to NBC Sports Network, they lost La Liga (and the Italian/French leagues) to BeIN Sports and they lost the next 3 World Cups to Fox Sports 1.
These 3 competing networks are driving up the prices on all sports broadcasting deals, so not only are they losing viewers but the cost of them doing business is going up at an insane pace.
sooperkool
Member
Bill is good for an article or two and a tweet but his shtick gets really old really quickly if you're exposed to more than that and he is terrible on air. His fans over estimate how much content he has and how willing people are to pay for it.
outunderthestars
Banned
RiccochetJ
Gold Member
I wonder though if ESPN is the last thing tying a lot of people to paying for cable. Purely anecdotal, but that's honestly the only reason I still pay for my satellite package.
Stormhammer
Member
Whoever the new anchors are sometimes for late night Sportscenter are really hard to watch.
I'll take a 30 for 30 marathon channel though >_>
I'll take a 30 for 30 marathon channel though >_>
Randolph Freelander
Member
For a sports fan, ESPN is the reason to have cable. If you enjoy live sports, they're the biggest provider.
That said, I also pretty much have no use for SportsCenter anymore. If it could go back to the days when it was just two people (actually, just Dan and Keith) behind the desk having fun running down highlights, then it would be watchable. But it's not, it's various loudmouths beating on the dead horse topic of the week, with the occasional fun highlight sprinkled in apparently for contractual reasons.
That said, I also pretty much have no use for SportsCenter anymore. If it could go back to the days when it was just two people (actually, just Dan and Keith) behind the desk having fun running down highlights, then it would be watchable. But it's not, it's various loudmouths beating on the dead horse topic of the week, with the occasional fun highlight sprinkled in apparently for contractual reasons.
outunderthestars
Banned
Seriously, look into Sling TV. They'll even subsidize the cost of Roku or Amaonf Fire TV device.
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