ESPN Layoffs

lockedoutlogic said:
You know disney is good with research...and that research can't be good...
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That's conventional wisdom. But what research is telling them that their audience wants 20 hours per day--across multiple networks--of screaming heads and the opinions of former athletes?
 
tjkraz said:
That's conventional wisdom. But what research is telling them that their audience wants 20 hours per day--across multiple networks--of screaming heads and the opinions of former athletes?
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When your options "bankruptcy" or "screaming heads"...do you really have an option?

They have nobody else's bed to sleep in due to contracts at this point...
 


jknezek said:
Huh. Just goes to show how much I watch ESPN and how much I care about hockey...
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Nope...NBC has the only US contract and they got it cheap after the lockout and espn declined...they declined again about 5 years ago.

Espn does minimal lip service to hockey and they fired all their writers/commentators an hour or so ago
 
jknezek said:
That's part of my problem too. I liked ESPN more when they showed bowling and world's strongest man competitions more than watching two guys, though more recently women as well, yell and scream at each other and try to be the loudest, most obnoxious person outside of politics on T.V. It just has no appeal.
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Actually, a lot of it was political too on ESPN... which only helped accelerate the audience stampede.

As for the prominence of the "talking head" shows on the network, the explanation for the trend is ease to understand: they are a lot cheaper to produce that on-site sporting events.
 
lockedoutlogic said:
I think they know that nobody will pay a subscription price for espn alone...
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The price has to be right, and if it is, I would. When i say the price has to be right, it has to be under $10 a month for me to even think about it.

But it also has to include ESPN2, ESPN3, the ACC and SEC Networks.
 


ChipnDale79 said:
The price has to be right, and if it is, I would. When i say the price has to be right, it has to be under $10 a month for me to even think about it.

But it also has to include ESPN2, ESPN3, the ACC and SEC Networks.
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Never...no way...

HBO go is $20....and that's about 6 series per week...

$10 is a pipe dream
 
Geoff_M said:
Actually, a lot of it was political too on ESPN... which only helped accelerate the audience stampede.

As for the prominence of the "talking head" shows on the network, the explanation for the trend is ease to understand: they are a lot cheaper to produce that on-site sporting events.
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Ehhh...that's an issue but I think it's been overstated. I actually think it's misreading what the changing demographics want and what they can pay for (kinda like disney parks)...not necessarily true "political"
 
Just found out the beat writer for my Wisconsin Badgers football was part of the layoffs. The little press they get even smaller. Gotta love it. Get rid of the people who actually do good work and keep the people nobody wants.
 
rteetz said:
Just found out the beat writer for my Wisconsin Badgers football was part of the layoffs. The little press they get even smaller. Gotta love it. Get rid of the people who actually do good work and keep the people nobody wants.
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This is a massive swing of the hatchet that details are just now coming out...

Massive house cleaning and the next round is reportedly worse.

How bad does this look to the street?

Get ready for price increases in 32830
 
rteetz said:
Just found out the beat writer for my Wisconsin Badgers football was part of the layoffs. The little press they get even smaller. Gotta love it. Get rid of the people who actually do good work and keep the people nobody wants.
Click to expand...

Hopefully he gets picked up by another paper.
 
ChipnDale79 said:
The price has to be right, and if it is, I would. When i say the price has to be right, it has to be under $10 a month for me to even think about it.

But it also has to include ESPN2, ESPN3, the ACC and SEC Networks.
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See, from all people who don't even want it, Disney gets $7.21 for ESPN, $.90 for ESPN2, and $.23 for EPSNU for $8.34 right now from the 87M+ who still have cable bundles...no way can they make that same dollar work if they lose 1/3-1/2 of the people by unbundling and selling direct...you are probably looking at a $20/month minimum (or Disney taking a "loss" by bundling into new options, hoping those options become as expensive as cable once people get hooked into them)...

http://www.whatyoupayforsports.com/numbers/
 
TwoMisfits said:
See, from all people who don't even want it, Disney gets $7.21 for ESPN, $.90 for ESPN2, and $.23 for EPSNU for $8.34 right now from the 87M+ who still have cable bundles...no way can they make that same dollar work if they lose 1/3-1/2 of the people by unbundling and selling direct...you are probably looking at a $20/month minimum (or Disney taking a "loss" by bundling into new options, hoping those options become as expensive as cable once people get hooked into them)...

http://www.whatyoupayforsports.com/numbers/
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Right...that's why it's a broken model...that's why this affects everything disney does...why bob iger needs to go for someone not looking to retire...and why cable cutting poses the biggest threat to the Walt disney company since Silverstein in 1983-4
 
lockedoutlogic said:
When your options "bankruptcy" or "screaming heads"...do you really have an option?

They have nobody else's bed to sleep in due to contracts at this point...
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It's more a criticism of the content they're producing and the talent they've hired rather than the dollars available to spend. I realize times have changed and the ESPN I grew up with in the 80s and 90s is long gone. But 99% of the studio shows they produce today hold zero interest for me. Perhaps it's a generational thing but I just wonder what audience they're programming for these days.

Regarding streaming, the interesting thing is that web/app credentials for ESPN (and Disney Channel) seem to be about the easiest to come by. Pretty much every cable company, satellite company and streaming provider offers access to the Disney/ESPN suite of apps. Others conglomerates like Turner, Viacom, Lifetime / A&E don't have streaming deals with nearly as many cable/sat providers.

The Disney platforms seem to be among the most marketable as standalone streaming services. ESPN still has a huge draw for college sports, particularly with some of their ancillary networks (ACC Network, etc.) And I bet there are many families who would pay $10 per month for unlimited live & on demand access to Disney Channel (XD, Jr, etc.) as a stand alone. But if you're a cord cutter, it's not hard to find a friend or family member who will loan a password to access the Disney/ESPN content for free.
 
rteetz said:
ESPN's NBA deal is roughly $2.66 Billion per year

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/11652297/nba-extends-television-deals-espn-tnt

NFL Deal is $1.9 Billion per year

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/09/sports/football/espn-extends-deal-with-nfl-for-15-billion.html

MLB Deal is $700 Million per year

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/29/sports/baseball/espn-extends-deal-with-mlb-through-2021.html
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These three contracts shall be known as millstone, anchor, and weight belt in a few years as ESPN continues to sink. The NBA just doesn't seem popular enough to justify those numbers. ESPN doesn't get enough content from the NFL to justify that contract. And MLB really isn't that bad, but there are only so many Yankees/Red Sox games in a season, and those who don't care get ticked off that every one is on t.v., while there just aren't enough people who care to watch L.A. vs. Cleveland in May. But at least it isn't stupidly expensive and they get a lot of content out of it.
 
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