Posted on 09/07/2023 2:10:43 PM PDT by jeannineinsd
In the summer of 2014, the cable and satellite bundle peaked. One hundred million households were subscribed to ESPN, the most successful channel in the history of cable, and the apex of the greatest business in the history of media had been reached.
But no one knew it.
Cable, satellite, and media executives were all blissfully unaware of what was coming. Fox Sports FS1 had launched the prior year — yours truly appeared on the very first show in the history of the network, a 2013 college football preview show. In the summer of 2014 the SEC Network would make its debut. The SEC Network was, in fact, the single most successful cable and satellite channel debut in the history of the cable industry. With the launch of the SEC Network, ESPN, the channel’s owner, stood at the pinnacle of its power, the company seemed indestructible, a gold plated money minting machine.
Billions of dollars in profits flowed off ESPN each year, enabling all of Disney to flourish. It was the crown jewel of the company, a profit spigot, the Titanic of the cable fleet.
But an iceberg loomed ahead.
And almost no one saw it coming.
The era of cable and satellite cord cutting began in the fall of 2014.
Quietly, at first.
So quietly, in fact, that most at ESPN and in the cable industry refused to acknowledge what was occurring. A few million here, a few million there, slowly a trickle turning into a stream and then the stream turning into a river and before long there was a flood of cord cutters.
(Excerpt) Read more at outkick.com ...
What’s funny is that the PAC-12 has actually looked pretty good so far this year.
It is too late for the entertainment industry—too many alternatives and fragmented markets.
Right now the “big boys” get to bleed billions.
If small folks enter they just get to bleed millions.
;-)
I wasn’t referring to the schools...I was referring to the sports...
Too long don’t care enough to read. ESPN had the same number as CNn MSNBC, History Channel, and Hallmark. Having the subscription was mandatory to have cable service. I know I paid them for many years but I actually never ever watched. I don’t care at all about sports. Bunch of dudes bumping into each other or throwing objects back and forth or waving sticks around and counting how many times they did things. Pretty stupid. I have better things to think about. Just because I was a clumsy clod they would not let me play, well F them. My revenge is my knees are in great shape and so is my spine. I’m 66 years old and my skeleton works perfectly. hahahahahahaaaaaaah!
“ would say I feel bad for my old industry and co-workers but I don’t. The TV business is absolutely filled with executives and managers that are the dumbest people you will ever meet that all believe they are smarter than any person in the room. No lie, no exaggeration, no bias. I lived it for more than 10 years”
You can add management of cable tv providers in there as well.
And deservedly so. They wanted all cable subscribers to pay for their service whether they watched or not. That’s not capitalism, crony capitalism at best.
I’ve cut cable for years. I hated paying for the crap I didn’t want, espn, mtv, and many, many others.
Between ESPN and Kaepernick, I’ve lost all interest in sports. I refuse to have those thugs in my house.
“Between ESPN and Kaepernick, I’ve lost all interest in sports. I refuse to have those thugs in my house.”
Yup—that is what happened to me as well. Now I don’t care what happens to ESPN or any of the networks.
I am going to be laughing at them while most drift into bankruptcy.
Same here.
I just want to watch SEC games but can’t. The other options are too expensive. This just sucks. Go Dawgs!
“15 years of paying every month. I’ve only set foot in the building 3x for a total of under 60 minutes.”
That’s pretty crazy.
Thank you for your insight into regional sports networks.
Did anyone go to the link and read the whole story ?
Did you find the video you are forced to have run was annoying, even without audio ?
Won’t be going to that site again.
ESPN’s coverage of the US Open this year has been shockingly bad. Broken network.
Great article and analysis. Yes, I cut cable a long time ago. I have internet, Netflix and Amazon. But I mostly watch YouTube!
Even college sports are becoming crapola.
NIL deals attract players to schools, transfer portals for players who made the wrong choice or coaches who picked the wrong athlete..no real education for players. Bottom line ..put butts in the seats...win? Well, we’ll take it. Profits? First order of business.
Colle sports are a hollow shell of an activity that allowed sedentary college students to do athletic activity. Not much of that in the power conferences. All business.
And now it’s ridiculous to go to the games, because of all the TV timeouts, you literally sit in the stadium for ten minutes with nothing going on.
If cable bundling is brought down that would be a good thing. Creative destruction and all that. ESPN is the behemoth that no one really watches, except for actual live football, maybe basketball but IDK about that. Beyond that, ESPN is like airport CNN.
I did read the whole story before I posted the link. I do have an adblocker on my computer. I didn't have to deal with a video, I was unaware that was one. Sorry.
I bet most football fans will never realize how dull and boring an NFL game is unless they sit through one at the stadium.
I went to the Florida-Michigan game here in Dallas a few years ago, terrible, you get two or three plays, then wait 5 minutes for the next one.
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