Posted on 02/08/2017 5:21:46 AM PST by davikkm
A year that saw arguably the five greatest championship game performances of all time should have helped right the ship for ESPN, and at the very least stopped the trend of massive subscriber losses which have plagued the Bristol-based sports giant for the last few years. Well, that did not happen, and ESPN appears to be a sinking ship, dragging parent company Disney down with it.
Bloomberg reports that ESPN badly hurt Disney’s first quarter sales, falling well short of projections.
According to The Wrap, “Cable networks, particularly ESPN, have been an albatross on Disney’s stock price even as the company’s two other major prongs, movies and theme parks, continue to perform well. As cheaper TV alternatives began to proliferate, ESPN hemorrhaged subscribers during the course of 2016 and is now at less than 88 million, compared with a peak of 100.1 million in 2011. At an estimated $7 per subscriber, that dip has been a substantial hit to Disney, especially considering media networks made up 49 percent of Disney’s profits during fiscal 2016.”
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
ESPN...keep spouting out your commie political agenda. Maybe your Mouse boss will finally destroy you.
ESPiN is another example of a successful conservative boycott. Add this bastion of liberalism to the dwindling fortunes of CNN, MSNBC, Megyn Kelly, the NY Times, WoPo, and print media in general.
ESPN who?
You’re 3 decimal places off I believe, to the right!
Exactly! They need to get back to what made them the juggernaut they are and stop the stupid social and political commentary.
it has been all downhill for ESPN since they stopped airing Australian Rules Football.
Doh, you got it :-)
I think the at-home-viewer (not the guy who buys tickets) really dialed back his viewing of NFL games, and it had a complete effect on his interest for the season. I’m guessing between 10 and 20 percent of guys lessened their interest.
It might be interesting to gather up a hundred of these guys and find out how they used their Sunday afternoons, and if this is a permanent trend.
For me, I’ll admit I haven’t watched a NFL game since 2013, and frankly...I don’t really care much for the game anymore.
I think the at-home-viewer (not the guy who buys tickets) really dialed back his viewing of NFL games, and it had a complete effect on his interest for the season. I’m guessing between 10 and 20 percent of guys lessened their interest.
It might be interesting to gather up a hundred of these guys and find out how they used their Sunday afternoons, and if this is a permanent trend.
For me, I’ll admit I haven’t watched a NFL game since 2013, and frankly...I don’t really care much for the game anymore.
When I boycott, I do a life change. I didn’t watch the superbowl and actually didn’t know it was happening last weekend until a facebook friend posted something about it on Saturday.
And I hear I missed the biggest game ever. Yet I don’t care. I feel no sense of loss or “missing something really imprtant”. I really have utterly moved on.
Permanently.
ESPN = Extreme Socialist Programming Network
“It’s certainly uncontaminated by the presence of any sports.”
— h/t to Monty Python
I am absolutely thrilled that I successfully jettisoned ESPN just this week. My provider told me, “But you’ll lose ESPN,” like it was a bad thing. I said, “perfect!”.
I think if ESPN went even more into thugs, drugs, perversion, and communism, their profits will soar - and I hope that is exactly what they do!
Hahahahahaaaaaaaaaaa.
2016 U.S. Merchandise Trade Deficit: $734,316,300,000
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/2016-us-merchandise-trade-deficit-734316300000?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWkdSak5XWmxOalJoWmpNeSIsInQiOiIxNE9FS1ZnckpkKzUyRFZ2UHYyVGdjQU55WFkxd0diVDluYXRjS1NjeFI2TTNKK1c1QmRIV1J4Q1ZxVGFKTW5uQmE3UnkzVlFjS2ZaTXA1aHJJd0VpcXRZQWNwVmVZdmcraTNcL0FBelFOc2FRNWNtVFZmZVwvVSt2ZnlCYkticTJvIn0%3D
Gen Xer’s and millennials that I know are not into cable TV. They stream what they want, free of ads. They also don’t watch that much TV, even on weekends when they’re not working. They’re busy with kids, seek outside and social activity and recreation and play video games.
The days are coming to a close when people surf TV channels and settle for the best of what’s on, which usually isn’t much.
Why pay $200/month to settle for the best of what’s on? Get Sling TV, Roku, a BluRay or whatever and choose what you want. There is enough on Amazon Prime, Netflix and Vudu for a lifetime at a fraction of the cost of cable.
Granted, you don’t get live sports on those, but you can subscribe to those as well per season.
Walt Disney world be appalled at what the company he founded has turned into.
Not just the buttercups, but Disney is no longer a wholesome channel for your children to watch, parents are starting to notice the violence and the Heather has 2 Mommies carp.
No child should be allowed to watch Disney channel. Or Muppets to much violence for little ones.
Spot on.
Most television is more that just a waste of valuable time. It teaches a passive acceptance and indoctrinates people into false senses of what is real.
Stop watching television and your life suddenly becomes much better!
HAHAHAHAHAHAAHA!!
All that aside ...
What's interesting for me is that this was the first year where nobody I knew made any kind of a big deal about the game. I'm sure many of my friends watched the game, but I didn't hear of anyone hosting or attending Super Bowl parties. I think that whole charade is coming to an end, and a lot of it is driven by two things: (1) demographics (the NFL fans dying off aren't being replaced by a like number of younger fans); and (2) entertainment options (people simply find other things to do).
My prediction is that the NFL will make one desperate attempt to shake the game out of its doldrums, and their strategy will involve something along these lines:
1. The preseason will be eliminated and the regular season will be extended to 18 games.
2. The playoff field will be expanded to get another playoff weekend into the schedule.
3. The Super Bowl will be played annually on President's Day weekend.
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