Boyer' open letter to Kaepernick

"ESPN Loses Two Million More Subscribers In Fiscal 2018"

"Yesterday Disney announced in its yearly 10K filing that ESPN lost another two million subscribers in fiscal year 2018.

ESPN now has 86 million subscribers, down from over 100 million subscribers in 2011.

Now the positive for ESPN is that the rate of subscriber decline seems to have slowed this year, but the negative is that since 2011 ESPN has now lost 15 million cable and satellite subscribers. Those 15 million lost subscribers equate to $1.44 billion a year in lost yearly revenue that ESPN will never be able to book. (This is based on an $8 a month subscriber cost for ESPN multiplied by 12 months in the year.) Again, this isn’t just a one time yearly revenue loss, this is a loss in yearly revenue forever....."​

ESPN Loses Two Million More Subscribers In Fiscal 2018

 

... and this has been said before ... but if the satellite providers didn't bundle channel packages, I reckon there'd be fewer subscribers. Ditto NFL channel.

But I don't think it's as much a channel issue as a league/product/programming issue.

Interesting the subscriptions are falling ... that'd have to be the "pull the plug" people who are unsubscribing, right?

 

Yes, the issue for ESPN isn't political correctness for the most part, it is cord cutters. ESPN had the best deal from the traditional model of channel bundling and it is falling apart.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is ... those who can specify what channel they want ... makes it easier to track the market demand.

So if ESPN is being bypassed by "cord cutters" isn't that demonstrating their product isn't demanded? Why isn't it demanded? Are there that many in the 'cord cutters' who simply do not watch any sports???

ESPN's politics couldn't affect their product, could it? It's inconceivable the cord cutters are opting out of ESPN BECAUSE of the product's change to include politics?

 

Most of the people paying for ESPN over the years were not sports fans. Everyone with cable was paying them the highest rate any channel was getting.

I do think the political thing had some effect, just not the primary one.

 

I agree to some extent. However, most cord cutters have an ESPN subscription via their streaming package and certainly every cord cutter has the option to add an ESPN subscription if they choose.

ESPN has lost subscriptions for two big reasons:

1. Consumers have more options to watch movies and TV shows without needing a traditional satellite/cable package. Fundamental change in media delivery infrastructure which punched a huge hole in the cable cartel.
2. Many of the cord cutters did not see enough value in adding a streaming package to get ESPN. This is where the politics and poor quality programming comes in. I would not minimize this reason as any business has to demonstrate sufficient value to justify its cost to consumers. ESPN just became spoiled, lazy, and arrogant from years of leveraging the cable cartel.

 

Yeah, I thought about that after I commented. Part of it is I am not sure how the internet TV options work. There is some bundling but didn't know if ESPN gets as much per subscriber or if ESPN is always added to the basic bundle.

 

I think most internet TV customers get Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, one of the other options, or some combination of them. In our house, we have Netflix and Amazon Prime. That gives us access to a ton of pretty good content. In addition, if we want a network channel or something from one of the networks, we can buy the channel or even just a particular show through Amazon Prime.

I think you can get ESPN through Amazon Prime, but the content just isn't good enough to warrant paying separately for it. Why fork out $10 or per month for the World Series of Poker and lacrosse matches between Azusa Pacific and Chillicothe State? Yes, they have some big games, but a lot of their content is just junk.

And of course, if you don't mind being a crook, it's pretty easy to steal virtually any content you want through the internet. Furthermore, if you're remotely careful about it, it's damn near impossible to get caught.

The bottom line is that bundling and exclusivity deals that let some networks and content providers make money by restricting access and competition or by forcing customers to pay for them whether they want to or not are going away. It's just getting too easy to circumvent them.

 

Some pic showing the slide in NFL attendance in different stadiums

click once to enlarge

 

Pretty much every streaming service includes ESPN. I think Sling may give a skinny option which does not.

That said, I do think cord cutting has contributed to fewer ESPN subscriptions simply due to weakening the cable cartel. However, I do not think that cord cutting has significantly contributed to the NFL ratings decline because nearly all of the NFL fans that cut the cord have likely added a streaming package.

 

All they have to do is cut ticket prices and people will start coming back. Things have become way out of balance for several reasons. Politics, cable, and ticket cost all have taken their toll. Of course now the owners will have to negotiate player salaries down too.

 

NFL Playoffs Ratings: Viewership Skyrockets For ESPN, ABC, Fox Games

Ratings skyrocket for playoff games. Wonder what changed? Certainly not cord cutting.

 

UTChe
Maybe the weather had something to do with it.?

 

Since Trump won this one, you will never hear about the kneelers moving forward - like it never happened.

 

link?

 

Trust me when I say there will be new excuses for them.

 

Why do you need a link when I just told you?

 

Yeah!! the NFL wore those military style hoodies on the sideline for Veterans Day weekend. What patriots!!!

I'm just happy they stayed strong with the blackball of KC. That was the least they could do.

 

Trump "won". Just accept it and move on.

Like most things Trump, you don't actually have to measure winning just simply claim it and never ever back down.

 

The Cowboys always have big ratings.

 

Streaming numbers were up substantially. The three point difference for the AFC game is not what I would have called 'skyrockets' though. Am guessing that putting it on ESPN Deported easily accounts for an extra few points...

 

I can only speak for myself, and my definitive answer is "I'm really not sure why!" I've watched more NFL this year than the last two or three combined, and while I'm certainly not back to monitoring the stats and paying attention on a fantasy football level, I've definitely been paying more attention this year. Maybe the Cowboys playing better (mostly), maybe the fact that the offenses are playing a more innovative style of late (mostly)... I'm really not sure. So sometimes it has nothing to do with politics or digital trends, and just comes down to what you're doing with your time, and what has grabbed your interest during that time.

Not saying there aren't still issues with the NFL, but I do think that the kneeling thing has been overblown by both sides.

 

It's the Cowboys, baby. Ratings for their games were through the roof.
People love them or hate them. Hence, they shall be watched. Go COWBOYS!
Also, speaking of football, my niece, once removed, has been in the SEC package commercial all season, and she made it to the National Championship commercial.
Her role was reduced to showing her just 2 times, but I couldn't be prouder.
She is the pole vaulter running in slow mo. She is on scholarship for vaulting at Arkansas. I wonder about guys sometimes.

She is a natural beauty (she is in sports mode in the commercial) funny, Christian, loving, smart (4.0 in engineering) and genuinely kind. She is an awesome contemporary dancer, hunts, and competes in beauty pageants.Yet, no guys ask her out.
Are men these days wussies, too chicken to ask? Are they intimidated? Are they too sensitive to try? Have they been scarred by Metoo, etc?
What is their deal, men of HF? She has tons of guy friends, but really wants a boyfriend.
I know this may not be the right forum to post this part, but, I am curious about the male mind today. In my time, guys would have been fighting over her.

 

Holland
GOOD on her
I think it is intimidation.
The pool of equals to her might not be very large at Arkie.

 

I say intimidation, plus your niece given her intelligence and dedication is likely picky too.

 

Plenty of guys are going to be afraid to ask her out, because they're assuming the answer is going to be "No." Nevertheless, I'm willing to bet that most (perhaps all) of these "guy friends" would like to become a boyfriend but are afraid to make the move.

So yes, it's a wussy issue. Of course, I can't really criticize them that much. Most of us have been too afraid to ask out a girl at some point.

 

Even I am not too old to remember those days. I remember taking months to go through the " find out who she likes?" queries before asking the prettiest girls, and yep it went into college just not as pronounced.

 

Bears/Philly game up 12%. Chicago Bears' dramatic loss helps boost playoff ratings by 12 percent

NFL ratings for the season were up 5%. The cord cutting excuse should die a horrible death. NFL ratings go up: Here were the five most-watched regular season games of the 2018 season

 

Wait...you don't think the ratings services are doing better at incorporating web views?