ESPN is apparently hemorrhaging subscribers...

ESPN Can’t Afford Monday Night Football Any More

Quote:In the month of October ESPN lost over 15,000 subscribers a day in October per the latest Nielson estimates.

31 days x 15,000 / day = 465,000 subscribers lost in one month.

How Much Cable Subscribers Pay Per Channel

Quote:Cable providers currently pay a total of $28.32 for a few dozen channels, depending on the provider and the cable package, with ESPN taking over $6 of that. Meanwhile median price paid for each channel a subscriber gets is 14 cents. ESPN is estimated to cost $8.37 per month in 2018, an increase of 39%.

Let's say ESPN makes around $7.00 per subscriber per month.

465,000 lost subscribers in Oct x $7.00 per subscriber = $3,255,000 lost every month going forward.

If the lost on average 300,000 per month over the course of this year...

300,000 x $7.00 = $2,100,000 lost per month

In Jan they would be down $2.1M in revenue.

In Feb they would have $4.2M less in revenue because the subscribers lost in Jan aren't paying and neither are the lost Feb subscribers.

Those are monthly revenue decreases. There's also the cumulative impact.

In Jan they expected an additional $2.1M in revenue that they won't see.
The would expect monthly revenue of $4.2M in addition to the $2.1M they would have earned in Jan. In essence, revenue would be down $6.3M in Feb Year-to-Date.


Jan: $2.1M / YTD $2.1M
Feb: $2.1M x 2 = $4.2M / YTD $6.3M
Mar: $2.1M x 3 = $6.3M / YTD $12.6M
Apr: $2.1M x 4 = $8.4M / YTD $21.0M
May: $2.1M x 5 = $10.5M / YTD $31.5M
Jun: $2.1M x 6 = $12.6M / YTD $44.1M
Jul: $2.1 x 7 = $14.7M / YTD $58.8M
Aug: $2.1M x 8 = $16.8M / YTD $75.6M
Sep: $2.1M x 9 = $18.9 / YTD $94.5M
Oct: $2.1M x 10 = $21.0M / YTD $115.5M
Nov: $2.1M x 11 = $23.1M / YTD $138.6M
Dec: $2.1M x 12 = $25.2M / YTD $163.8M

Next year they have to downgrade their revenue forecast. On top of that, they'll continue losing subscribers which has a cumulative year-over-year impact.


On top of that, as they lose subscribers that means their viewership numbers drop.

As fewer and fewer eyes are watching the games advertisers will want to pay less for commercials.

Lost ad revenue coupled with lost subscriber revenue is a serious problem.

Wow, as Hill would say, "What Happened".

Combination of the fact that the market changed with other options to obtain content and ESPN and their clown CEO made the conscious decision to be in the politics and social justice warrior biz. Screw em. I hope they go back to the days where Australian rules football every night was all they could afford. Their content is largely unwatchable anymore.

Plus forcing cable companies to add crap channels like the SEC, ACC and Longhorn networks also drive people away. If they continue losing money? The ACC Network will not launch.

ESPN is garbage. Always has been. Always will be.

(10-30-2017 05:51 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Combination of the fact that the market changed with other options to obtain content and ESPN and their clown CEO made the conscious decision to be in the politics and social justice warrior biz. Screw em. I hope they go back to the days where Australian rules football every night was all they could afford. Their content is largely unwatchable anymore.

Heck I'd watch that.

You would think ABC would be the natural successor, but this could get interesting if it opens up for bidding again. My guess is the NFL allows Disney to modify the contract in hopes of avoiding s potentially catastrophic decrease for it going back out on the market.

Then again, could you imagine the week Fox might be having wiith their prime time potentially being World Series-MNf-and up to 2 more World Series games?

(10-30-2017 05:40 PM)umbluegray Wrote:  ESPN is apparently hemorrhaging subscribers...

ESPN Can’t Afford Monday Night Football Any More

Quote:In the month of October ESPN lost over 15,000 subscribers a day in October per the latest Nielson estimates.

31 days x 15,000 / day = 465,000 subscribers lost in one month.

How Much Cable Subscribers Pay Per Channel

Quote:Cable providers currently pay a total of $28.32 for a few dozen channels, depending on the provider and the cable package, with ESPN taking over $6 of that. Meanwhile median price paid for each channel a subscriber gets is 14 cents. ESPN is estimated to cost $8.37 per month in 2018, an increase of 39%.

Let's say ESPN makes around $7.00 per subscriber per month.

465,000 lost subscribers in Oct x $7.00 per subscriber = $3,255,000 lost every month going forward.

If the lost on average 300,000 per month over the course of this year...

300,000 x $7.00 = $2,100,000 lost per month

In Jan they would be down $2.1M in revenue.

In Feb they would have $4.2M less in revenue because the subscribers lost in Jan aren't paying and neither are the lost Feb subscribers.

Those are monthly revenue decreases. There's also the cumulative impact.

In Jan they expected an additional $2.1M in revenue that they won't see.
The would expect monthly revenue of $4.2M in addition to the $2.1M they would have earned in Jan. In essence, revenue would be down $6.3M in Feb Year-to-Date.


Jan: $2.1M / YTD $2.1M
Feb: $2.1M x 2 = $4.2M / YTD $6.3M
Mar: $2.1M x 3 = $6.3M / YTD $12.6M
Apr: $2.1M x 4 = $8.4M / YTD $21.0M
May: $2.1M x 5 = $10.5M / YTD $31.5M
Jun: $2.1M x 6 = $12.6M / YTD $44.1M
Jul: $2.1 x 7 = $14.7M / YTD $58.8M
Aug: $2.1M x 8 = $16.8M / YTD $75.6M
Sep: $2.1M x 9 = $18.9 / YTD $94.5M
Oct: $2.1M x 10 = $21.0M / YTD $115.5M
Nov: $2.1M x 11 = $23.1M / YTD $138.6M
Dec: $2.1M x 12 = $25.2M / YTD $163.8M

Next year they have to downgrade their revenue forecast. On top of that, they'll continue losing subscribers which has a cumulative year-over-year impact.


On top of that, as they lose subscribers that means their viewership numbers drop.

As fewer and fewer eyes are watching the games advertisers will want to pay less for commercials.

Lost ad revenue coupled with lost subscriber revenue is a serious problem.

You need a trigger warning when posting a Clay Travis article. He's mathematically illiterate even for a sportswriter. And he makes Greg Papadopolous look brilliant by comparison.

Any numbers he puts out are simply not worth reading.

ESPN and the NFL are sinking ships loaded down with social justice.

(10-30-2017 05:51 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Combination of the fact that the market changed with other options to obtain content and ESPN and their clown CEO made the conscious decision to be in the politics and social justice warrior biz. Screw em. I hope they go back to the days where Australian rules football every night was all they could afford. Their content is largely unwatchable anymore.

Yup.

The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, first started watching it on the overnight shift around ‘82 when the only tv we could get on Mds. eastern shore was this new thing called cable.

Had it on in one form or another for decades since, used to enjoy a number of the shows. More recently (last 10-15!yrs?) mike and mike was on in the office as background noise most every day.

Then, even they decided full on dipstick SJW was the way to go.

Throw in the garbage that followed them, with all the fake crying by hosts and guests over all the injustices borne by pro athletes, the apparent need to weigh in on everything NOT sports related and all the rest, and I’d prefer Aussie rules football to that crap once again.

It’s gotten to the point (ex. This broad Hill), that I don’t just not tune in everyday like I used to, I make a conscious decision to not tune in, at all. Ever.

Simply became unwatchable, even unlistenable as background noise. Hope ESPN dies a quick painful death.

Buh bye!

Fox has the Aussie Rules contract

ESPN and ESPN2 are in the most basic cable packages, so this is people cutting the cord which has been going on for the last 2-4 years

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using CSNbbs mobile app

(10-31-2017 05:52 AM)fsquid Wrote:  ESPN and ESPN2 are in the most basic cable packages, so this is people cutting the cord which has been going on for the last 2-4 years

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using CSNbbs mobile app

Yup. So the even better news is that not only is ESPN going bankrupt, but so is Fox News.

(10-31-2017 06:08 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  

(10-31-2017 05:52 AM)fsquid Wrote:  ESPN and ESPN2 are in the most basic cable packages, so this is people cutting the cord which has been going on for the last 2-4 years

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using CSNbbs mobile app

Yup. So the even better news is that not only is ESPN going bankrupt, but so is Fox News.

No, Fox unloaded some overpriced "talent." I see you have a problem with voices that don't sing the DNC chorus.

(10-31-2017 03:57 AM)JMUDunk Wrote:  It’s gotten to the point (ex. This broad Hill), that I don’t just not tune in everyday like I used to, I make a conscious decision to not tune in, at all. Ever.

Simply became unwatchable, even unlistenable as background noise. Hope ESPN dies a quick painful death.

Buh bye!

Gotta wonder if she'll be out on her rear end after the upcoming layoffs. Will ESPN double down and keep her and if not, will she scream racism if they let her go?

No way she gets laid off if they didn't fire her butt for the stunts she has pulled. She represents the market espn is actively targeting as a way to offset the continued loss of eyeballs.

Per @SportsTVRatings on Twitter:

Quote:10/30/17, 2:07 PM
November Cable Coverage per source:

ESPN: 87.043M (-480,000 vs October)
FS1: 84.713M (-584,000 vs October)

Have a nice day.

Sure, ESPN loses more money per subscriber than Fox Sports, but subscriber loss is an industry-wide issue that effects every channel. Stop being dopes and letting Clay Travis spoonfeed you the narrative you're desperately clinging to support.

Do these numbers count people who drop their cable subscription but then sign up for something else like PlayStation Vue or Sling that contains ESPN?

Quote: ESPN loses more money per subscriber than Fox Sports

H.U.S.T.L.E... that's the key line of your post

EDIT: I did find the current numbers

ESPN $7.86 (ppsub) 87,437 (thousands of homes) $8,247 (Millions per month in subs).
ESPN2 $0.98 (ppsub) 87,349 (thousands of homes) $1,027 (millions per month)
ESPNU $0.25 (ppsub) 68,574 (thousands of homes) $206 (millions per month)

Fox Sports 1 $1.30 84,159 $1,313
Fox Sports 2 $0.33 50,164 $199

That's not counting the specialty networks... (Big10, SEC, etc.).. So ESPN losing a minimum of $9.09 per full subscriber lost, FS losing 1.63 per full subscriber lost.

I think Fox might be in a little better shape.. (Granted, they've got a sinking ship as well if they don't figure it out but they may just stay afloat a bit longer)..

Quote:but then sign up for something else like PlayStation Vue or Sling that contains ESPN

I think you'd have to compare which ones of these have FS1 and not ESPN or vice-versa... I dont' remember which services carry which sports channels.

(and I didn't realize how close ESPN and FS1 were already in number of subscribers).

(10-31-2017 10:32 AM)Chappy Wrote:  Do these numbers count people who drop their cable subscription but then sign up for something else like PlayStation Vue or Sling that contains ESPN?

Honestly, I don't know. I've been following that for a while. I haven't seen the numbers from those that switch.

I'm one of them. I dropped DirecTV at $150/mth for PS Vue at $35/mth.

I dropped Vonage, too. Instead of $35/mth I picked up MagicJack at $35 / YEAR or ~$3/mth.

Any, I digress.

With PS Vue I still get all the ESPN channels, FOX Sports, CBSSN, etc but at a MUCH LOWER cost.

And PS Vue allows me to use all of those networks' apps (Watch ESPN, FOXSports GO, etc).

I believe the subscriber fees ESPN charges PS Vue (and other streaming services) is less than what they charge traditional cable/sat.

I just searched for "espn subscriber fees sling tv ps vue" and didn't see anything.