More Cuts at ESPN

ESPN is overpaid for some rights. But cord cutting is going to affect all broadcasters, even the networks. The networks run large groups of local television stations that charge a fee to the lcoal cable systems for the rights to carry thier stations.

ESPN clearly had more money than they knew what to do with and that will change. But they are not going to go broke. Eventually their rights deals will expire and they will get out of the bad contracts. And ESPN will not go into Chapter 11 because Mother Disney still makes lots of money and can bail them out.

ESPN will still be the dominant cable provider of sports. The sports cable networks of Fox, CBS and NBC face the same economic pressures but do not have the brand of ESPN. The networks run large groups of local television stations that charge a fee to the local cable systems for the rights to carry thier stations so they will also be negatively affected. So at the end of the day broadcasters will pay less for sports rights. This will mean teams will make less money which means team owners and players will make less money. But team owners and players will still make a lot of money. So who cares about that?

It will also suck if you work at ESPN and lose your job. But if Trey Wingo does the pregame show instead of Berman it will have little impact on an the lives of any viewer.

 

I think that lots of guys adopt a persona for thier media duties. What is dangerous is when the line between your normal personality and the persona become inseperable. I don't know Smith so I don't know if he has been affected but I believe it happens to others.

 

Well said. That's also true of message board posters, real life vs. online persona.

I'm looking at you in the mirror, VB.

 

At some point, ESPN became more about providing shitty entertainment and ridiculing losers instead of covering sports. Changing that approach now would require scrapping a good deal of the current programming. I doubt that is going to happen.

 

I'm actually a bigger dick in person

 

Bill Simmons of all people has defended ESPN's broadcast rights deals, because they include unlimited (and immediate) highlights. That allows you to fill a lot of programming.

 

I don't think the cord cutting going on in cable have much to do with ESPN's programming, or sports programming in general.

Cable television was able to thrive because they were an oligopoly. Normally a subscriber had three choices, Direct TV, Dish and the local provider all of whom provided similar packages.

But with the technological improvements you can subscribe to Netflix, Amazon, Apple et. al. Sports programming was the last line of defense for cable and satellite companies because viewers want to watch sports live. That is why we saw the rise and financial success of networks like the Big 10 Network, which shows third tier games. Cable companies were desperate for programming that Netflix could not easily duplicate. But that defense against cord cutting is crumbling.

The reason it is crumbling is that while sports fans are passionate but they are maybe 20% of the population. So as the other 80% bails on cable sports programmers get dragged down also.

ESPN will make it through this. But Fox Sports Arizona, for example, paid 1.5 billion for 20 years of Diamondback baseball. That contract is about to become a huge albatross.

 

Yeah a lot of programming that's being broadcast to fewer and fewer people

 

But that includes gifs and clips on Facebook and Twitter.

 

ESPN pays over $100 million PER Monday Night Football game. I can't reconcile that no many how many times I hear it.

 

I am sitting at and using a computer and Internet that makes it completely unnecessary to watch any highlight show unless the on-air personalities bring something to the table such as humor and/or insight. SportsCenter was one of ESPN's biggest success stories. Now it has been cookie-cuttered and genericized to death. The other studio shows are all pretty much talk radio on TV, with varying degrees of screaming ranging from none (the sports-specific panel shows) to lots (Around the Horn, PTI, all shows with SAS, etc.) Never needed that product. They might be better off (sure would be cheaper) showing the minor sports events of the network's infancy. I really would rather watch collegiate lumberjack competitions than Around the Horn or SportsCenter.