ESPN ... wtf?

kg01

kg01

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ESPN president John Skipper resigned today citing substance addiction, etc.

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/12/esp...17-tumultuous-year-jemele-hill-trump-barstool

Considering all that's gone on the past coupla years, I think it's fair to ask the question ... is ESPN soon to be ded?

Seems with the 'cord-cutting' and all, they've basically failed (of have been slow) to adjust.

I heard a guy on the radio saying they're expecting ESPN to go more into a local market set-up rather than the national focus but it seems a little late.

I only watch ESPN when I have to. I haven't seen Sportscenter in literally 10+ years but I recognize they provide a necessary service for sports fans. I just think they should've anticipated and changed rather than simply continuing to be the dinosaur assuming extinction wasn't coming.
 
MikeJackets1967

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kg01 said:
ESPN president John Skipper resigned today citing substance addiction, etc.

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/12/esp...17-tumultuous-year-jemele-hill-trump-barstool

Considering all that's gone on the past coupla years, I think it's fair to ask the question ... is ESPN soon to be ded?

Seems with the 'cord-cutting' and all, they've basically failed (of have been slow) to adjust.

I heard a guy on the radio saying they're expecting ESPN to go more into a local market set-up rather than the national focus but it seems a little late.

I only watch ESPN when I have to. I haven't seen Sportscenter in literally 10+ years but I recognize they provide a necessary service for sports fans. I just think they should've anticipated and changed rather than simply continuing to be the dinosaur assuming extinction wasn't coming.
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I hope ESPN crashes and burns they need to go back to sports instead of being MSNBC Jr;)
 
Techster

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Just for the record, if ESPN crashes and burns, that's not a good thing for the ACC and GT considering our biggest revenue source will be the media contract with ESPN.

Be careful what you wish for.
 
Milwaukee

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ESPN will be fine. Live sports will never die, and that's what carries that network. They paid way too much for the NBA deal but they'll still be fine.

I'm with Jeff, I think this is a preemptive move because something is going to be announced involving him soon. I'm guessing sexual harrassment, sexual assault, abuse of power, etc. Then he gets to play the "I was under the influence of *insert here* when that happened and that is not who I am" card.

I'm also with KG as I only watch now when I have to. No longer do I watch Sportscenter or any of the talk shows, the exception being the Ryen Russillo show. He just announced Monday he's leaving ESPN, today is his last day actually. So now I can really avoid ESPN even more.
 
MikeJackets1967

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Milwaukee said:
ESPN will be fine. Live sports will never die, and that's what carries that network. They paid way too much for the NBA deal but they'll still be fine.

I'm with Jeff, I think this is a preemptive move because something is going to be announced involving him soon. I'm guessing sexual harrassment, sexual assault, abuse of power, etc. Then he gets to play the "I was under the influence of *insert here* when that happened and that is not who I am" card.

I'm also with KG as I only watch now when I have to. No longer do I watch Sportscenter or any of the talk shows, the exception being the Ryen Russillo show. He just announced Monday he's leaving ESPN, today is his last day actually. So now I can really avoid ESPN even more.
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Rumors are that ESPN is going to drop the NFL when the time comes to renew the NFL contract.
 
RonJohn

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Milwaukee said:
ESPN will be fine. Live sports will never die, and that's what carries that network. They paid way too much for the NBA deal but they'll still be fine.
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They paid far too much for everything: NFL, NBA, NCAAF, NCAAB. Everything. I have seen estimates that 60% of ESPN's revenue comes from subscriber fees and subscribers are dropping like flies. As subscribers drop, advertisers are reducing the amount they are willing to pay to advertise on the network. As their revenue is dropping, the contract fees that they pay for carriage rights are going up each year. The layoffs that they have had amount to about 2% of their revenue. The carriage rights are a very large portion of their revenue. Only about 40% of their subscriber base actually watch their channels, which is probably the reason they are trying to spread out from sports. As subscriber drop: they push away their core audience(sports enthusiasts) with societal shows and silly pop culture "news" shows, and raise the price of the channels that people already are tired of paying for.

At their height, ESPN was playing with a house of cards. It was unsustainable and has begun to fall down. I predict that in 5 years, ESPN will still be around, but will be a shell of its former self. Further than that, they will either revert back to network dedicated to their core audience, or they will become a group of stations like the A&E network. If that happens then the sports content will eventually be spread among all of Disney's properties.
 
MikeJackets1967

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RonJohn said:
They paid far too much for everything: NFL, NBA, NCAAF, NCAAB. Everything. I have seen estimates that 60% of ESPN's revenue comes from subscriber fees and subscribers are dropping like flies. As subscribers drop, advertisers are reducing the amount they are willing to pay to advertise on the network. As their revenue is dropping, the contract fees that they pay for carriage rights are going up each year. The layoffs that they have had amount to about 2% of their revenue. The carriage rights are a very large portion of their revenue. Only about 40% of their subscriber base actually watch their channels, which is probably the reason they are trying to spread out from sports. As subscriber drop: they push away their core audience(sports enthusiasts) with societal shows and silly pop culture "news" shows, and raise the price of the channels that people already are tired of paying for.

At their height, ESPN was playing with a house of cards. It was unsustainable and has begun to fall down. I predict that in 5 years, ESPN will still be around, but will be a shell of its former self. Further than that, they will either revert back to network dedicated to their core audience, or they will become a group of stations like the A&E network. If that happens then the sports content will eventually be spread among all of Disney's properties.
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ESPN could fall back to the level they were in the early 1980s when they were showing Pro Wrestling,Australian Rules Football and reruns of College Football,College Basketball and the CFL along with Sportscenter.
 
RonJohn

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MikeJackets1967 said:
ESPN could fall back to the level they were in the early 1980s when they were showing Pro Wrestling,Australian Rules Football and reruns of College Football,College Basketball and the CFL along with Sportscenter.
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I would watch Aussie rules football and world's strongest man competitions before I would watch talking heads screaming at each other, TMZ styled newscasts, or video of radio call in shows. As a sports enthusiast, I would actually enjoy the Aussie football and strongest man competitions. I used to watch them when they were on.
 
MikeJackets1967

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RonJohn said:
I would watch Aussie rules football and world's strongest man competitions before I would watch talking heads screaming at each other, TMZ styled newscasts, or video of radio call in shows. As a sports enthusiast, I would actually enjoy the Aussie football and strongest man competitions. I used to watch them when they were on.
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I used to watch that along with the CFL;) With the current problems ESPN has it's very possible that ESPN slides back down to that level:LOL:
 
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