ESPN Is Crashing And Burning

Whiskey_Clear

Whiskey_Clear

Banned
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The only time I watch espn is if they are televising a GT game. That channel was on at a restaurant I went to the other day. They were replaying constant coverage of OJ on the run in the white Bronco. After I almost threw up in my mouth at the coverage I recalled something if forgotten.

I think the ESPN coverage of OJ back then was a turning point for the channel. Ever since they have overly focused on politics and have gotten further away from sports coverage. To their own detriment.
 
nod

nod

Ramblin' Wreck
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ESPN has issues.
Bad game broadcast production
Other shows are all self promotions for ESPN.
They make news story that people could care less about, then pound on same story show after show. Example: One analyst says Lebron could go to Lakers, next 50 shows are "will LeBron go to Lakers".
 
MikeJackets1967

MikeJackets1967

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nod said:
ESPN has issues.
Bad game broadcast production
Other shows are all self promotions for ESPN.
They make news story that people could care less about, then pound on same story show after show. Example: One analyst says Lebron could go to Lakers, next 50 shows are "will LeBron go to Lakers".
Click to expand...
Production values will go down the toilet when you're forced to lay off a s**tload of people on a regular basis ;):LOL:
 
Technut1990

Technut1990

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Production values go down the toilet when you forget you are a sports network and you become a social commentary network.

Despite all the contrary opinions in this forum my guess is that all of us would be more than happy to sit aside our world views for 3 hrs of good football, I’d even sit with you guys and watch Georgias annual struggle against Kentucky, if I could do it without being reminded that I’m a privledge White male
 

smathis30

Ramblin' Wreck
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732
Sports has also been hit the hardest with cable cutting IMO. It's why almost every sport streams on Facebook. Way too many ways to view games illegally for free. I haven't had cable since high school. Just have my HBO and Netflix account and I'm basically golden. I'll watch sports at a bar anyway. I think the TMZing of sports has played a role, but the explosion of internet coverage on sports (Rivals, SBnation, YouTube, ACC digital network, Reddit) has taken away a lot of the older programs roles for a cost that is entirely free for the same target audience, while also providing more niche (e.g. Just one team) opportunities to filter out what you don't want to see. I'm sure we'll start to see more options available soon on the internet by cable providers, similar to how most print news now offer online subscriptions to their website after XYZ articles
 
RonJohn

RonJohn

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The big problems for ESPN are:

  • The majority of their revenue(It used to be more than 80%) comes from cable subscription fees which are declinng.
  • They have too many financial obligations for carriage rights. They pay much more for carriage rights than the programming is actually worth.
  • They have too many channels to show sports programming. ESPN, 2, U, Classic, SEC, Longhorn, soon to be ACC .... When it was just ESPN, the would occasionally have Sports Center. They had re-runs, Aussie Football, rugby, strongest man competitions, lumberjack competitions, etc.. to fill in time when major sports weren't available.
  • They are a niche network. Pretty typical to niche networks they are trying to expand their base. In doing so, the get rid of off-center sports programming such as strongest man and try to put in social type programming to reach a larger audience. Similar to TechTV/G4, they are expanding the program offering, but alienating the base fans more than attracting new ones.
The very big problem is that ESPN grew by using a revenue base that was hidden and not directly related to the perceived value of their product.(Subscriber fees) Their entire business model was based on the cable/satellite TV subscriber base continuing to grow. Cable/satellite subscriptions have decreased. On top of that I have seen estimates as high as 60% for people who do have cable/sat subscriptions who don't watch ESPN channels at all and would gladly drop those channels for a $10-15 a month reduction in their monthly bill. 60% of 80% means that 48% of their revenue comes from people who don't watch and don't want to pay for it. I don't think any company can survive that long term.
 
jeffgt14

jeffgt14

We don't quite suck as much anymore.
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If they had a usable WatchESPN app they'd probably get additional views too but since it's one of the most unusable POS on the planet, I just resort to watching the same thing that some dude is streaming from his mom's basement.
 
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