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Trump kicks ESPN where it hurts
Politico ^ | Jason Schwartz

Posted on 09/16/2017 8:49:06 AM PDT by simpson96

President Donald Trump’s Twitter attack on ESPN on Friday morning hit the sports network in a particularly sensitive area — its declining subscriber numbers, which Trump claimed was because of its too-liberal politics.

Over the past several years, ESPN has faced a steady decline in subscribers, dropping from more than 100 million in 2011 to around 87 million today. The company has also undergone very public job reductions, cutting dozens of well-known faces in April. But does politics have anything to do with it?

According to analysts, no. But getting dragged into a political fight does present a challenge for the network.

“It’s a red herring. The drop in subscribers is an economic issue, not a political one,” said Joseph Bonner, a senior analyst for Communications and Technology at Argus Media. Bonner actually laughed at the notion that political bias has played a role, pointing out that ESPN has been steadily losing subscribers since well before the narrative developed —fairly or not — that the network is too liberal.

Stephen Beck, founder and managing partner of the consulting agency cg42, which has extensively studied cord-cutting in the cable industry, agrees. “If you go way, way, way down the list, you might have a segment of the population that is changing behavior based on their political stances,” Beck said. “But I would be shocked if that was a significant contributor to ESPN’s decline. It has a lot more to do with macro trends.”

(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...


TOPICS: Sports
KEYWORDS: espn
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Talk about whistling past the graveyard...
1 posted on 09/16/2017 8:49:07 AM PDT by simpson96
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To: simpson96

“Bonner actually laughed at the notion that political bias has played a role...”

Translation; It’s totally true, I’m just a devout libtard who will NOT concede the truth because that would mean I’m wrong about everything I believe.


2 posted on 09/16/2017 8:53:30 AM PDT by Lee'sGhost ("Just look at the flowers, Lizzie. Just look at the flowers.")
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To: simpson96

“But I would be shocked if that was a significant contributor to ESPN’s decline. It has a lot more to do with macro trends.”

Excellent, keep doubling down then.


3 posted on 09/16/2017 8:56:28 AM PDT by headstamp 2 (Ignorance is reparable, stupid is forever)
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To: simpson96

I’ve never understood that figure of speech.


4 posted on 09/16/2017 8:56:30 AM PDT by Excuse_My_Bellicosity (Liberalism is a social disease.)
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To: simpson96

These same fools were saying that the declining ratings for the NFL had nothing to do with the national anthem tantrums - I refuse to dignify this disgraceful act by calling ti a “protest”. They they learned from their own polling that the tantrums had a great deal to do with it.

Keep spinning, fools. Right into your graves.


5 posted on 09/16/2017 8:57:01 AM PDT by NohSpinZone (First thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers)
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To: simpson96

Rush, gone! Schilling, gone! ‘’nough said!


6 posted on 09/16/2017 9:00:09 AM PDT by Road Warrior ‘04 (Molon Labe! (Oathkeeper))
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To: simpson96

BOYCOTT ESPN!


7 posted on 09/16/2017 9:00:57 AM PDT by Road Warrior ‘04 (Molon Labe! (Oathkeeper))
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To: simpson96

I stopped visiting ESPN.com, although I really like their website.


8 posted on 09/16/2017 9:01:01 AM PDT by FatherofFive (Islam is EVIL and needs to be eradicated)
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To: simpson96

ESPN has a lot of problems, being liberal is just one of them. They oddly favor some sports figures and shun others. They’re hyping of Ronda Rousey into the stratosphere was either extremely poor judgement or the UFC was giving them serious kickbacks. Either way, they look like total crap over that. “Worldwide Leader in Sports”, what a joke that is. But it’s all good, ESPN helped me stop watching a lot of sports and go do better healthier activities, so they’re not all bad after all.


9 posted on 09/16/2017 9:01:04 AM PDT by Excuse_My_Bellicosity (Liberalism is a social disease.)
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To: NohSpinZone

The NFL sponsors are in a total panic and ESPN is clearly in decline while they pretend it’s all good. No problem, their denial just helps their decline.


10 posted on 09/16/2017 9:02:27 AM PDT by Excuse_My_Bellicosity (Liberalism is a social disease.)
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To: simpson96

US population in 2011 was 311 million
Today its 326 million

They lost 13 million
while the population grew by 15 million

They HAD about 32% of the population in 2011
adding 15 million people means they should have had another 4.8 million subs.


11 posted on 09/16/2017 9:04:12 AM PDT by mountn man (The Pleasure You Get From Life, Is Equal To The Attitude You Put Into It)
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To: simpson96; Lee'sGhost; headstamp 2
How many of you, and this is assuming you have cable or satellite, can drop only ESPN? I don't like the direction of ESPN either, and their Sunday Night Baseball totally sucks. But this is talking about "subscribers" not viewers. It's not the same thing when you're talking about cable and satellite.
12 posted on 09/16/2017 9:04:43 AM PDT by Artemis Webb (Maxine Waters for House Minority Leader!!)
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To: Lee'sGhost
Read Sheryl Attkisson'sThe Smear. This denial is straight out of the dishonest press's playbook. We Freepers already know most of what is in her book, but it is a nice change to see it in print.

As my favorite radio talk show host Chris Plante says frequently, "If it weren't for double standards, Democrats wouldn't have any standards at all."

13 posted on 09/16/2017 9:06:19 AM PDT by Freee-dame (Best election ever.)
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To: simpson96

President Donald Trump’s Twitter attack on ESPN on Friday morning hit the sports network in a particularly sensitive area — its declining subscriber numbers, which Trump claimed was because of its too-liberal politics.

I posted on a previous thread that I was trying to watch the
SF Giants and there a rain delay. So the Sling sport channel went to 3 talking heads.

The discussion got into the declining crowds for the Former Niners.

The three had all types of excuses from being to hot to sit on the east side with the sun shining on the seats, parking was expensive and traffic was bad, and even the team was rebuilding.

These 3 jerks never mentioned the Rectum Colon and the outrage of fans even in the Gay Frisco area.

My wife wondered what planet these guys were from if they didn’t know what the problem was.

I told her, that if they dared to mention the real reason, they would never get near anyone with the Former Niners.

It was at first, funny when these 3 rectums never mentioned the Colon problem. Then, it became obvious that they would never mention the real problem.


14 posted on 09/16/2017 9:06:20 AM PDT by Grampa Dave (Did voting for Trump for President, make 62+ million of us into Deplorable Racists/Nazis? NO! NADA!)
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To: simpson96

Couldn’t have been in the nut sack. They suffer from lack-O-sack any more.


15 posted on 09/16/2017 9:11:48 AM PDT by rktman (Enlisted in the Navy in '67 to protect folks rights to strip my rights. WTH?!)
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To: simpson96

You can get scores and highlights from your phone or tablet instead of waiting for ESPN’s goofy hosts to get around to what you’re interested.

It’s a huge shift that they still haven’t worked around.

They think that lefty politics will keep the young eyes they want but they’re pulling the cord instead.


16 posted on 09/16/2017 9:15:58 AM PDT by Snickering Hound
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To: simpson96
When anyone cuts their cable, Sling is a reasonable alternative.

We had both the Sling Orange and Blue basic. One of SIL's who hates the NFL gave us a great heads up. Sling Blue doesn't carry any ESPN or Disney channels.

We don't watch ESPN or Disney, however, they were getting money from us by subscribing to Sling Orange.

I got that info from my SIL yesterday. A few minutes later I had cancelled Sling Orange. So ESPN and Disney get zero money from my Sling Blue monthly subscription payment.

What Is Sling Blue?:

Sling Blue costs $25 per month and gives you access to 43 live channels. However, Blue does not include every Orange channel by default; there’s no Disney and no ESPN, for starters.

17 posted on 09/16/2017 9:18:34 AM PDT by Grampa Dave (Did voting for Trump for President, make 62+ million of us into Deplorable Racists/Nazis? NO! NADA!)
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To: simpson96

It isn't necessarily the 'too-liberal politics'. Rather it is 'politics' in general. Most who tuning in to ESPN do so for sports, not politics.

SPORTS -- NOT POLITICS. Get it? The Libs think they have to politicize everything and every venue.

Look at some of the NFL stadiums that are suffering massive drops in attendance. Much of that is because of the political protests from the players. People tune into to or pay for a stadium ticket for FOOTBALL, NOT POLITICS.

FOOTBALL -- NOT POLITICS. Get it? The Libs think they have to politicize everything and every venue.


18 posted on 09/16/2017 9:23:24 AM PDT by TomGuy
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To: Artemis Webb

Sling Blue does not carry any ESPN nor Disney channels.

The link below explains this.

http://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3586354/posts?page=17#17


19 posted on 09/16/2017 9:24:04 AM PDT by Grampa Dave (Did voting for Trump for President, make 62+ million of us into Deplorable Racists/Nazis? NO! NADA!)
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To: simpson96

“But I would be shocked if that was a significant contributor to ESPN’s decline”

Hey, Beck, were you ALSO shocked when Trump beat Hillary to become President? I bet you were. I bet you even believed all the pundits and polls that said there was a 99% chance Hillary would win.


20 posted on 09/16/2017 9:28:14 AM PDT by catnipman ( Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
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