I either don’t follow or don’t agree. I think ESPN is uniquely positioned compared to BTN, and the others. The purpose of those other networks is to carry sports games. They have one or two channels, plus spillover channels during games. ESPN is 9 channels, plus 4 ncaa conference affiliate channels for 13 total.Well, ESPN the cable network is subject to the broader trends of the industry. But ESPN the company has properties people want to watch and is attached to Disney, wherever the industry and the technology goes, ESPN will be there even if the death of the cable scam means less revenue.
It's something like the BTN that nobody ever watches but collects $1 a month from a declining subscriber base that's just going to disappear. And then quite how something like NBC Sports Chicago makes the transition is an interesting question. How would they have to price that to maintain even revenue parity let alone growth?
As I've blathered about for years, sports is a bubble and it's starting to pop.
It's funny how people are talking about NIL "getting out of control fast", as if there was ever control.
The Berlin Wall fell the instant that was let out of the bag. NCAA control of player compensation is in the past.
ESPN has used the consumer desire for their flagship channel to force cable providers to include the other 10-12 channels In their packages. They’ve filled the dead air with an immense amount of studio productions.
I recently read that the ESPN studio production ratings are at an all time low dating back to when the network was created in the 70s. People don’t care to watch PTI, around the horn, etc anymore. Even SportsCenter.
The other networks are more suited to a streaming model with a focus on games not studio production. AppleTV, Prime, etc even more so because they don’t need to fill dead air time with any studio productions.