Forbes: Losing Millions Of Subscribers, ESPN Now Facing Tough Decisions

[CCBoy]

Losing Millions Of Subscribers, ESPN Now Facing Tough Decisions
http://www.forbes.com/sites/vincent...-subscribers-espn-now-facing-tough-decisions/


No matter your opinion of the “sports leader,” ESPN ESPN has been the one constant around the sports world for well over a quarter century. Now, with unprecedented competition and some pretty ugly public relations issues, ESPN is seeing its biggest downturn since its inception during the Jimmy Carter Administration.

According to Nielsen, the network has lost 3.2 million television subscribers in a little over the past year (via Wall Street Journal, subscription required).

With Fox Fox Sports 1 debuting and a trend towards fans getting their news from the Internet, this isn’t a huge surprise. Long considered divisive in the minds of many within the general public, ESPN’s reputation has also taken a hit during this span. From enigmatic personalities such as Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith to other enigmatic personalities clashing on our airwaves, it seems that the network has gone away from simply providing viewers the news—a philosophy that made it the sports leader in the first place.

Just over the past two months, it’s been announced that Keith Olbermann and Bill Simmons will soon be departing the ESPN airwaves. Clearly divorces based on creative differences rather than tightening its financial belt, ESPN made the decision to part ways with these two big-time players while still airing what some would call the hogwash that Bayless, Smith and company convey on a near-daily basis.

Some analysis points to consumers looking to cut costs by going to more slimmed-down versions of cable/satellite subscriptions, but the drop of ESPN subscribers is an outlier of sorts around the sports world. The first quarter of 2015 saw Fox Sports 1′s viewership increase by 73 percent from the prior year. And while ESPN’s primary station is still leading all cable sports networks in ratings, Fox Sports 1 and NBC Sports Network just surpassed ESPN2. It’s a minor gain for rival networks, but it also represents a changing of the tide...

 

[Bowdown27]

Not shocking at all. I never watch it for anything. I always tune into NFL network or fox sports. It's become something that most people loathe because of the people they hire and how biased they can be at time.

 

[Stash]

It's coming around...

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

I personally do not like the college football coverage by Fox Sports one but I am glad they are doing better if for anything just for the sake of the Big 12. However their pre-game shows have been horrid this past season.

 

[superonyx]

I am limited with what I am can say because I work at one of the largest cable companies in the US.
Customers leaving ESPN is not a shock because the overall trend in the cable industry is to reduce the programming packages down to the basics. ESPN isn't always included in the lower tier due to the high cost per subscriber the cable companies must pay for someone to receive ESPN. If you knew the cost per subscriber of this channel you may be very surprised.

ESPN will need to reduce what they charge to avoid this trend from continuing.

 

[big dog cowboy]

ESPN has some good "reporters" but they are too few. Same with their "experts" as we have all seen with their NFL coverage. Some are simply horrible. Unfortunately the same can be said with other networks also but they don't claim to be the worldwide leader. ESPN could be really really good and people would watch every day. But they need to get their house in order or they will continue to lose viewers.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

ESPN was better in the early days. Just sports, no BS or opinion based reporting. Just sports and scores. That was a great idea and I honestly liked it much better. JMO

 

[tyke1doe]

I don't think ESPN's bias has anything to do with its declining viewership. I think it has more to do with the availability of other sports channels, particularly channels that feature singular sports.

I don't watch ESPN as much any more not because of perceived biases (which doesn't bother me, and I doubt bothers your average viewer or hard-core sports fan who doesn't wear his/her team's feelings on his/her sleeve) but because I really only follow NFL and college football. And whatever highlights I want, I can get from Total Access without wading through a bunch of sports I have no interested in. For example, I'm waiting on commentary from the McGregor-Mendes fight, which I would usually get on FOX Sports since FOX Sports has the contract with The Ultimate Fighter. But because soccer was on FOX, I had to switch to ESPN if I wanted any commentary. I had to wait through a bunch of baseball highlights and scores before ESPN decided to say anything about the fight.

With channels such as the MLB, the NBA and the Sunday Ticket, viewers aren't dependent upon ESPN to bring them the highlights they want to see.

 

[Doomsday]

I am personally boycotting ESPN due to them giving the Arthur Ashe award to Jenner. A guy whose reckless driving killed a woman earlier this year.

Their programming is pretty much garbage anyway.

 

[locked&loaded]

I am limited with what I am can say because I work at one of the largest cable companies in the US.
Customers leaving ESPN is not a shock because the overall trend in the cable industry is to reduce the programming packages down to the basics. ESPN isn't always included in the lower tier due to the high cost per subscriber the cable companies must pay for someone to receive ESPN. If you knew the cost per subscriber of this channel you may be very surprised.

ESPN will need to reduce what they charge to avoid this trend from continuing.

booooooo

 

[superonyx]

booooooo

Haha...Everyone loves to hate us.
People don't realize that without the major investments of the cable companies that the internet would not be half the size that it is today. The telecoms were not in the position to invest the money needed to bring true high speed internet access to most Americans. (remember AOL and your 28.8 modem)
I understand the hate though when you most people don't have a deep understanding of how the industry works. The media companies (Viacom for example) force the channels to be bundled into packages so if you want to watch ESPN or NFL Network then you also have to pay for cable channels you will never watch. The cable companies are really the middlemen who are delivering the feed from the Media companies while providing thousands of dollars in equipment to the end user.

The real crooks are the cell phone companies. People hate cable companies for charging them $150 per month for 100 meg fast internet with no caps while also supplying you with on demand access to hundreds of channels and the equipment needed to get these channels in HD. Verizon wireless will charge you $150 per month for 2 lines of only 5 gigs of internet and force you to purchase the over priced iphone or android device. Trust me, you are most likely getting more for your money on your cable internet bill than you are on that cell phone plan.

 

[joseephuss]

I am limited with what I am can say because I work at one of the largest cable companies in the US.
Customers leaving ESPN is not a shock because the overall trend in the cable industry is to reduce the programming packages down to the basics. ESPN isn't always included in the lower tier due to the high cost per subscriber the cable companies must pay for someone to receive ESPN. If you knew the cost per subscriber of this channel you may be very surprised.

ESPN will need to reduce what they charge to avoid this trend from continuing.

Good points. People are also streaming more things, ESPN sports programming included.

 

[WPBCowboysFan]

Trust me, you are most likely getting more for your money on your cable internet bill than you are on that cell phone plan.

My cell phone plan is exactly what I need. I make calls. I text. I email. I go online. All for a fraction of what I pay for cable tv and internet - and about 90%+ of what I pay for is garbage I dont watch. Cable tv & internet is legalized extortion compared to my cell phone plan.

 

[superonyx]

My cell phone plan is exactly what I need. I make calls. I text. I email. I go online. All for a fraction of what I pay for cable tv and internet - and about 90%+ of what I pay for is garbage I dont watch. Cable tv & internet is legalized extortion compared to my cell phone plan.

In the US we have terrible cell phone plans. Now the companies have figured out to stop subsidizing your phone purchase. (Att next plan for example).
So that iphone isn't really costing $199 like people think. A single line with 5 gigs of data and the cost of the phone will cost a person $3k over 2 years. Now add another person to your plan and they will eat from the same data pool and yet they have to pay $40 for the data.

You can get cable internet for $50 per month and sit and stream as much as you want for your whole house for much less than that cell phone is costing. Remember when the cell companies would (they may still) charge you $10-$15 per month just to have unlimited texting? It barely takes any data for a text.

It sounds like you may be well served to look into all the TV packages your cable companies offers. You shouldn't be paying a crazy amount for channels when you don't watch 90% of them anyway.

 

[RonSpringsdaman20]

I personally do not like the college football coverage by Fox Sports one but I am glad they are doing better if for anything just for the sake of the Big 12. However their pre-game shows have been horrid this past season.

this goes for their basketball coverage as well.

 

[RonSpringsdaman20]

people are dropping cable... and espn is exclusive to cable...

duces....

 

[RonSpringsdaman20]

I am limited with what I am can say because I work at one of the largest cable companies in the US.
Customers leaving ESPN is not a shock because the overall trend in the cable industry is to reduce the programming packages down to the basics. ESPN isn't always included in the lower tier due to the high cost per subscriber the cable companies must pay for someone to receive ESPN. If you knew the cost per subscriber of this channel you may be very surprised.

ESPN will need to reduce what they charge to avoid this trend from continuing.

or start steaming at a cost outside of cable packages.... but we all know disney/abc won't do this yet....

 

[Shunpike]

It has to do with people cutting the cord more than anything. Personally, I was never high on ESPN. I never watch any of their programming except the highlights.

 

[DFWJC]

Olbermann trumps all of those with regards to divisiveness.

As abrasive as SAS can be, I've never met anyone who swore off ESPN entirely due to him.
Olbermann on the other hand.....

 

[skinsscalper]

One they shifted from sports reporting to trying to make themselves the story, it was the beginning of the end. I couldn't possibly care less if they folded like a cheap suit. Bunch of blow hards with an east coast bias that can rot as far as I'm concerned.

A good riddance couldn't possibly come fast enough. I can't even remember the last time I tuned into that turd of a network.