Posted on 10/21/2015 1:51:46 PM PDT by Kaslin
RUSH: ESPN is in trouble economically, financially. ESPN just announced that they're gonna have to cut a minimum of 350 jobs. And the reason why is subscribers are abandoning cable. Many people do not understand how all of this works, the cable bundle. I mean, you understand that you have to pay a minimum amount per month to get a bunch of channels, the vast majority of which you never watch, but the channels you want are in that bundle, and you have to pay for the bundle.
So let's say you want your local stations, you want ESPN, maybe HBO. Fine. You've gotta buy 25 or 30 or maybe other channels that you never watch. Now, here's the thing about that. In a free market, these networks with no audience wouldn't survive. If you have network programming that nobody watches, then there won't be any ratings and you won't be able to sell any advertising and you won't be able to operate. If, however, the cable companies collect X-amount per subscriber as though they are viewers and then pay that to the network, then the network can stay alive and viable even though nobody may be watching it.
ESPN gets six dollars per cable subscriber every month. That's ESPN's gravy train. And when cord cutting begins, when people eliminate cable from their lives, then the number of people paying for the bundle, out of which ESPN gets six bucks per customer, that starts dwindling away, and ESPN's income dwindles away, and it doesn't matter how many viewers they have or not. This is the point, with the cable bundle it doesn't matter how many viewers a network has. In ESPN's case, it doesn't matter, because they're gonna get six dollars for every household that has ESPN in its cable package.
The interesting thing is 3.2 million people have cut the cord so far, 3.2 million people have cut their cable subscription, and that means that a good percentage of that 3.2 million people are no longer funding ESPN at six dollars a month. They are leaving cable for a bunch of market reasons. Many of them are Millennials, and they just simply don't want to pay for channels. They don't have the money. Young people can't get jobs; they don't have the money. They don't want to pay for things they don't watch.
They'd rather take the money they have and a la carte their way via streaming or whatever and watch it on their device. And maybe if they have AirPlay, project it onto a TV or something, but they don't want to pay cable. Well, 3.2 million people, many of them probably not even sports fans, that's gonna add up to a serious chunk of change. That's $250 million a year for ESPN. ESPN's in close to a hundred million homes. But if they lose 3.2 million subscribers, that's a loss of $250 million a year, and that's why they are cutting 350 jobs.
But here is the piece de resistance. This is what everyone needs to know. Bundled cable subscriptions serve as the foundation for Hollywood to own pop culture. John Nolte at Breitbart makes this point extremely well today. Hollywood does not have to generate audience in order to generate income. All they have to do is secure networks being carried by cable in a basic tier, or maybe next tier up, and they get funded by customers who never watch the network, or very few do, because they're not buying for these obscure channels that are all left left-wing rubbish, many of them are.
That's how they remain viable, that's how they remain in operation, without anybody watching them, people paying the cable channels, the cable companies. Every network gets a certain amount of money per subscriber. ESPN's the top at six bucks. Not every channel gets that. Some get 50 cents, 75 cents, what have you. But the scam of bundled cable is the foundation of Hollywood's money and cultural power.
Look at it this way. If Hollywood was not able to force people to pay for networks and programming they never watch -- MSNBC has no audience. MSNBC could not stay on the air if it weren't for cable bundles. CNN, ditto, folks. They don't have enough audience to be viable with just their audience. They couldn't survive without cable and these subscriber percentages that they collect.
The same thing with Comedy Central. Nobody watches Comedy Central. Not enough people watch Comedy Central to support it via advertising. Ditto MTV. But they all get a percentage of everything you pay monthly to cable to sustain them. And Millennials are leading the way, unknowing about this impact, in taking away some of that staying power.
Awesome news, great catch!!
The plan is working perfectly...
Mwuhahahaaaaa
May the trend continue. Unfortunately plenty of ‘conservatives’ seem determined to keep tithing to the libs via their cable dish bill. I guess it’s practice for the Jizya. Which they will embrace as well. They seem to crave funding their own demise.
Well Football is more important than their country I suppose...
What jazzy?
Not going to happen.
Rush must think his audience is stupid....I did not need his explanation....95% know what the problem is....Been saying it for at least 20 years...But thanks anyways Rush.
To a great many, you last sentence is very true.
If I dare blaspheme the holy ball, holy ball player, holy ball coach or some broadcast sports imam, I get some weird looks and some disgust.
the new buzzword is “curated tv”. IOW tv which is selected just for you. (ioow marketing BS)
IGER said he expects espn to go unbundled. they just want to ensure profits.
They can do it if they dump the political BS of the talking heads.
ESPN leftist thugs.
The upshot of this is that ESPN could probably gain back some of those lost viewers if the cable companies would/could unbundle (no idea of technical issues here, if any). The a la carte choice to spend that $6 for the sports coverage they desire and reject the MTV, Comedy Central, etc. would bring some back. ESPN is probably the only reason I didn’t go all OTA and AppleTV/ROKU/Amazon/Netflix etc. in a recent home technology upgrade.
The douchebag contingent on late night network TV would be significantly reduced had we not all been contributing to Comedy Central for the comedy “stylings” of Stephen Colbert.
I pulled cable completely in 2012. My reasons were:
1. The overall quality of cable TV had prummetted to new lows.
2. It was costing me TIME (hours in the evening) that I would catch myself watching reruns of Pawn Stars and American Pickers, etc.
3. I realized that my cable bill (basic at $60/month) was subsidizing channels I don’t watch and don’t even support (MSNBC, CNN, Bravo, Lifetime, etc., etc., etc.)
It was cold turkey for a while but I did it. And I have more free time in the evenings and I can watch things (of my own choosing) on the internet.
To too many, it IS !
Same thing with Sears, Target, Wal-Mart....don't spend money there, they will straighten up...hit them in their wallets, it works every time...
Don't watch FNN, CNN, any of those, hummm what do you know, they are gone....or the cable companies tell them to go to heck, because THEY are losing money...
Don't like a certain news paper, if there still any out there, don't pay for it, if its on the internet, don't go there (cookies tract you)...they start hurting...
Maybe if ESPN wouleyd reduce the number of talkers on various sporting events, they could lessen the pinch. Monday Night Football doesn’t need 7 analysts.
It’s already happening. There are already places like Dearbornistan where it’s happening daily. Is it widespread? Yes. In every city muzzies are doing defacto no go areas. It’s still low level sure. But it’s well in progress.
All things have a beginning. And at the beginning someone always says it cannot happen ‘here’. Then it does. It’s a hard thing to accept but it is there regardless.
Now you understand why Americans have “armed up”, so as to keep the Islamofacists at bay.
Before this thread ends I’ll be attacked and told I’m full of crap. Even though a couple have already agreed with it.
Because they DO love their sports/entertainment more than their country and the impact their cash has on funding liberals.
Example: People here had fits over Bruce Genders award. Much screaming on the downfall of America ensued.
How many screamers canceled their cable? How many still tune into ESPN? So they continue funding ESPN to push trannies, homos and Obamacare on PURPOSE. WILLINGLY AND KNOWINGLY.
I always did understand. I just know -—most-— will run like scared kids when faced with jihad or jackboots directly. It’s easy to talk. Not so easy to do mortal violence.
Why don’t they just sell more advertisement time to DraftKings and FanDuel? Their commercials are NEVER on.
EXACTLY!!
They think we have no other choices, what are we gonna do.....
Well I will tell you life dealt me a card that changed my situation and for the past 2 years I have learned a lot personally about how much STUFF someone really needs, and how much is stimulated by a Visual Image on TV ...Visuals bypass all Logic BTW...
Too Much Stuff
Are you spending all your life buying what you need?
Spending all your money are we talking about greed
Just buying lot’s more stuff
When will you have enough?
If you live in a house with 20 bed rooms
And it’s just you and your wife, who you trying to fool
Do you think you have enough?
I think I’ll call your bluff
Well you tell all your friends that you’re out of space
Yet you can’t find half of what you bought just yesterday
Wow it must be tough
Guess you need to buy more stuff
When you see someone living in a dark doorway
And they ask you for a quarter do you turn away
Cause with just a little luck
It could be you someday
Carrying all that you have in a paper bag
Would you be happy to be livin or go on a cryin jag?
Life would be just too tough
Without all your stuff
Now the message isn’t that it’s bad to have success
Maybe just looking out for someone who has less
They say that the one who has most toys when they die
Wins the game, if that’s true, then I ‘m not gonna try
You see God don’t care
Cause you can’t bring it there
So spend a little time in another’s shoes
Then winning the game is one you might want to lose
When Christ was on the cross he had a heavy load
Carried all of our sins just so we have somewhere we can go
He took away all our stuff
He really had it rough
To set us free
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