Can ESPN Survive As Cable TV Fades?

[kungfoodude]

20 minutes ago, Shocker said:

Strange when I see this…seems to disagree:

The College Football Playoff and ESPN announced a $7.8 billion deal Tuesday that will give the network exclusive rights to the expanded postseason through the 2031 season, with the national championship game moving to ABC starting in 2026.

Remember when housing prices were going to go up forever?

[kungfoodude]

4 minutes ago, Tbe said:

The only people still subscribing to cable or listening to radio are boomers/gen X.

That generation can't see what is coming because they can't fathom it.

Despite the fact that social media advertising revenue is insanely higher than TV ad revenue.

But....the status quo will always remain. Riiiight.

[Panthero]

5 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

That generation can't see what is coming because they can't fathom it.

Despite the fact that social media advertising revenue is insanely higher than TV ad revenue.

But....the status quo will always remain. Riiiight.

My aunt is sixty. She keeps bitching about how the cable company keeps creeping the price up. I cut her costs by 2/3s in 10 minutes. Cable is doomed. Now what we will have are services you can start stop at will. That will enforce a price point that is reasonable. People have learned that we live in a scam nation. The younger people are quick to drop services they think are overpriced. 

[Tbe]

30 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

That generation can't see what is coming because they can't fathom it.

Despite the fact that social media advertising revenue is insanely higher than TV ad revenue.

But....the status quo will always remain. Riiiight.

They will subscribe until they are dead. It’s what they like and are used to.

It’s just like my grandparents and landline phones.

Real talk though: all these streaming options are not going to work long term.

At some point they will consolidate into cable tv 2.0 because people want simple.

They won’t be as powerful as before because of YouTube, but it will happen.

[Davidson Deac II]

5 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

College football is built on a foundation made of sand.

I agree.   They had a ratings spike this year, and might have one next year with the playoffs, but overall, I expect ratings to continue to drop.  Might get to the point where networks say the ratings are not worth the money, and we can do better with cheap reality shows.  

[The NFL Shield At Midfield]

2 hours ago, Panthero said:

My aunt is sixty. She keeps bitching about how the cable company keeps creeping the price up. I cut her costs by 2/3s in 10 minutes. Cable is doomed. Now what we will have are services you can start stop at will. That will enforce a price point that is reasonable. People have learned that we live in a scam nation. The younger people are quick to drop services they think are overpriced. 

I have YouTube TV and cancel it after the draft until the preseason pretty much.  With us not having a 1st round pick this year I might even dip after the NCAA tournament is over.

Hell even my boomer parents have cut the cord and use a FireStick now.  Cable TV won't really be a thing in 10 years imo, if even that.

[The NFL Shield At Midfield]

8 hours ago, Admiral Ackbar said:

Social Media destroyed the need for a 24/7 news channel. Them and the rest of legacy media can go kick rocks as far as I am concerned. We are better off without them

Just look at the demise of Sports Illustrated.  I used to comb through a hundred thousand words about coffee, airports, and other random bullshit in Peter King's column every week hoping to find a precious sentence or two about the Panthers.

Now you just to go to YouTube or Twi-uh, X, and find hours upon hours of guys breaking down our film in absurd detail.  And it's free... ish.

[Jackie Lee]

3 hours ago, The NFL Shield At Midfield said:

I have YouTube TV and cancel it after the draft until the preseason pretty much.  With us not having a 1st round pick this year I might even dip after the NCAA tournament is over.

Hell even my boomer parents have cut the cord and use a FireStick now.  Cable TV won't really be a thing in 10 years imo, if even that.

Just get an antenna and watch the draft on ABC for free. You get ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC all for free

[Panthero]

3 hours ago, Jackie Lee said:

Just get an antenna and watch the draft on ABC for free. You get ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC all for free

He'll just watch some shiz on youtube....the freebies, not youtube tv. The future is decentralized (hell the present) content. No more news or sports insight from pretty talking heads. That model is gladly dying. 

[PanthersATL]

18 hours ago, Panthero said:

And prepare for me to ride the high seas to watch,  and live, as a man free of these skallywags. 

If broadcasters stop paying/broadcasting the events... you'll have nothing to see.

[CRA]

20 hours ago, Admiral Ackbar said:

Social Media destroyed the need for a 24/7 news channel. Them and the rest of legacy media can go kick rocks as far as I am concerned. We are better off without them

I agree social media destroyed the need....but I can't co sign we are better off going down the social media road.  Think that's proving to be a path to a worse outcome for just about all avenues.  

[MillionDollarCam]

ESPN is still profitable for Disney right now and it won’t go anywhere until it’s not.

They’ll bring on minority stakeholders, continue doing mass layoffs, etc.

They still have their deals with essentially every sports league save the MLS. ESPN may eventually become like CBS Sports but I doubt it truly ever goes away.

[The Huddler]

ESPN can eat my sshit

[PanthersATL]

14 hours ago, Tbe said:

The only people still subscribing to cable or listening to radio are boomers/gen X.

Not entirely true.  Audacy (a radio company with a vested interest) says that 98% of GenZ listens to radio daily.  A different company's report is more realistic and says over half of GenZ listens to radio daily

And yet a *different* survey in 2023 (that is often reliable) says 37% of GenZ said they've listened to radio in the past week vs 60% for older demos.  Different phrasing: GenZ might not be listening to radio as much as older generations, but they haven't abandoned it completely

From a price perspective, it's almost to the point where subscribing to all the required streaming services at one time (which few households actually do) is practically the same as a lower-tier cable subscription. 

The one issue all the streamers have to deal with is the ongoing issue of "where do I go to watch my preferred show", vs having it all in one place - or at least, easier to find/interface - via a cable sub.

And many cable subscribers don't take advantage of the TV Everywhere feature which allows them to log into a cable channel's website to watch content on-demand, just like they could with a streaming service.  (*disclaimer: Paramount has removed themselves from the TV Everywhere service recently)