(05-25-2022 09:14 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(05-23-2022 06:17 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(05-23-2022 05:31 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  I enjoy that my ESPN sports viewing is currently subsidized by (a) cable subscribers who get charged for ESPN whether they want it or not and (b) streaming by Disney via their bundles. A total of about $15 a month to get all that cable + streaming ESPN content is awesome-sauce.

Will it last forever? Probably not, but I will enjoy it while it lasts.

That said, since I don't own Disney stock, I could care less whether ESPN thrives or survives or not. What would concern me is if I could no longer see the sports I want to see on ESPN and other networks, meaning that if ESPN goes away, the sports goes away from my TV, or if the price of viewing those things were to rise dramatically.

I don't foresee either happening, because IMO the fundamental of the sports broadcasting market is sound, namely that while cords are being cut and all that, the actual bedrock demand to watch sports on TV isn't declining.

I have said this before and will say it again. I think people misunderstand what Disney/ESPN may be doing. I think as cable dies ESPN intends to shift to being a college sports rights broker. I think they will sell the choicest games each week to the highest bidder and show all other contests via stream, cut their studio overhead and use college play by play guys to reach their own fans at a fraction of the cost.

Therefore other networks will buy their games each week to maximize ad revenue. It's more profitable for them to spend on just the games they want, pulling from any conference, than to buy all the B1G rights to land 8 must see games.

IMO, some (not you, btw) always seem to view ESPN with a "glass half empty" lens.

Five years ago, it was "Streaming is Taking Over, it's the Future! Cable is Dead and ESPN missed the Streaming Boat! They are a Doomed Dinosaur!"

Now, given that ESPN was able to very easily establish itself with streaming, it's "Streaming won't Save ESPN!"

It's always something, IMO. But ESPN remains very profitable.