Iger wouldn't say when but it is on the horizon. Every network that has gone streaming has pulled it, people will not pay for it. So glad B1G pulled from the Evil Empire... Every network that Disney has put their polluted woke programming on is now for sale as well, losing money and eyeballs. Couldn't happen to a better company.
OT: ESPN to be stream only soon...
- Thread starter HuskerOH_rivals315145
- Start date
Besides the wokeness and all of that business, a tiny percentage of the blame for ESPN's problems might be that the number of cable subscriptions are lower than its been for 30+ years.
Mostly this. Tastes change, technology changed, businesses must evolve. Learn from Blockbuster, people, don't become them.
I have asked this several times over the past week with zero answer:
has the B1G media deal been finalized yet?
has the B1G media deal been finalized yet?
Watch the Saudis buy the Big 12.It worked for the LIV against the PGA....
I agree, I only watch games if they start talking woke BS I mute them. In fact if it happens to be a Husker game I will play the radio call.
Am I the only one that doesn't care what channel the game is on, who the announcers are, what they talk about, what the commercials are about...
Don't you all just watch the games with friends, drink beer, eat food, and make wagers all day long?
Don't you all just watch the games with friends, drink beer, eat food, and make wagers all day long?
I get your point and mostly agree. But a Beth Mowens announcer can lessen the experience. I like Herbstreit (most probably don't) and think that enhances the experience. But the game is what's important.
Although, the CW is going to have some terrible announcers. What announcer would sign-up for that gig?
Can’t be worse than who the BTN trots out
ESPN/ABC is the unrivaled gold standard
Gus Johnson’s schtick has been old for quite some time
Indeed. Gus Johnson makes my ears bleed.
Political bias has infiltrated the American brain to the point that virtually every discussion might as well be scripted from a Fox or CNN perspective.
Probably the two dudes from the show Supernatural. I think that finally ended. They need a gig!
People won’t pay, huh?
Just wait until you have to buy NBC’s Peacock or other obscure streaming services for a month or two to get select Husker football games. As you may know, MSU-Washington game this Fall is on Peacock and their fans are thrilled. I saw a recent post from a USC fan screaming that they are escaping the terrible PAC12 network just in time for B1G to begin siphoning off games to obscure streaming networks.
ESPN isn’t the only network that realizes splitting content among pay streaming providers is the immediate future. Baseball is also doing this with Apple TV+ and Amazon.
BTW, like it or not, everything I have read on the subject says ESPN has been the principal driver of cable tv programming for years. Just as satellite tv is disappearing, does anyone believe cable tv will survive without ESPN? Not that I care as I have been 100% streaming for a few years but also wonder if “cable-like programming” streamers including my YouTube TV will also die.
Last edited:
ESPN and Disney are going under because a massive and growing chunk of our population have canceled their subscriptions and don’t buy their products. It’s not that difficult to avoid certain providers.
I care but it's kind of a different strokes for different folks thing. I think Gus (although Gus' schtick is starting to wear a little thin) and Joel are the best in NCAA and Troy and Joe are the best in NFL. Got a buddy who loves Kirk and Fowler and Romo and Nanz. Depends what you're going for I guess.
I think that for the most part we are seeing the "end" of the cheap service. YouTube TV was cheap, HULU Live was cheap...all that stuff was cheap but in the end they are all going to keep climbing up and up.
Neither of them is technically "going under". It's just that ESPN's business model is changing. No longer can the four letter network demand high fees from cable and satellite providers, because the cable and satellite industry itself is dying. Eventually, ESPN will just be bringing more content over to ESPN+, the ESPN app & ESPN3-- which are three different content providers if I understand it correctly. ESPN will become a streaming network with its own cable channel rather than the other way around.
Disney has also talked about selling FX and ABC for what it's worth. As for someone "partnering" with Disney on streaming ESPN, I think that just means that their CEO wants Google, Apple or Amazon to buy half of Disney's share of ESPN. It's really a mess at this point.
Linear non-streaming TV is a declining business whatever the company. But there will be various streaming options ranging from free (fully ad supported) to paid (no ads) with options in-between. People will have a choice and that's beneficial to the consumer.
ESPN has a HUGE subscription base now because of cable providers. It is impossible to have cable without ESPN and a bunch of other crappy channels. I would venture a guess that once ESPN pulls the cable plug, they will instantly lose 40%-50% of their subscribers, not everyone watches ESPN nor want ESPN. (ABC moved Dancing with the Stars to Streaming, lost their viewership and advertisers... Dancing with the Stars is back on the free air) I will pay for ESPN during the college season only (if it is affordable), then pull the plug at the end of the season, and I believe about 30% more viewers like me. Once ESPN becomes streaming only, they will be shocked to learn the truth. Discovery+ streaming lost their asses as well and brought back everything to free viewing.
I would imagine once you interview most sports viewers, about 20% would keep ESPN year-round.
And if that is the case, think about the ramifications it could have on conference TV contracts, bowl games, pro sports TV deals, et. al. I always heard that quality live sports to keep people subscribing to cable was the major driver to these huge TV deals being made. Once things go to streaming, I wonder if the money faucet gets turned down?
I think ESPN needs to break new ground in telecasts. I think it needs to be a free side and a premium side. They basically have the college world by the curlys, and the pro side will do whatever they need to to get their product out. I think games on the free side with advertising dollars will generate more than any premium stream could ever do. In time, I would not be surprised to see universities streaming their games on their own site someday. Since the invention of the television, there have always been free telecasts, I am not sure people would accept and pay for total pay-per-view sports, someone out there would start a new network to keep it free. ESPN broke new ground in the 80's, they need to do it again in the 20's. I know I have a price cap I am willing to pay, I will listen to the radio and wait for highlights.
This ^ and when you pause it to go take a piss or get another beer or whatever, you’re really screwed
I use YTTV and I call my Dad during games (Cox) and sometimes I'm ahead of him and sometimes I'm 4-5 seconds behind.
But dang, I'm never 45 seconds behind, don't know what streaming service you used or terrible Internet connection you had
Cable is also behind the live action. The only actual live action you can get without being there is over-the-air antenna. I tune to that whenever possible because it’s also the best quality picture by a ways.
From my experience, ESPN app seems to be one of the worst delays for streaming, about 30-40 seconds on average. YTTV, Fox Sports are a little bit better.
It will be all about the live game sports contracts for ESPN. Their streaming app is among the worst in the business so I would be greatful if the whole company just went out of business already and let Fox Sports take over. Unfortunately I think they will continue to get plenty of contracts and be around for awhile.
Streaming live sports is still nowhere near the reliability of cable, especially the ESPN app. Their app lags the action by a ways, goes blurry in and out, freezes, crashes, seems to eat up a crap load of bandwidth and do god knows what with it, not stream a quality sports picture that’s for sure. I even run it on my Xbox series X so when I’ve watched it running on a smart TV or smaller streaming device (most people) it performs even worse. It will probably get there eventually but right now this is another bad decision by a terribly ran company
Streaming live sports is still nowhere near the reliability of cable, especially the ESPN app. Their app lags the action by a ways, goes blurry in and out, freezes, crashes, seems to eat up a crap load of bandwidth and do god knows what with it, not stream a quality sports picture that’s for sure. I even run it on my Xbox series X so when I’ve watched it running on a smart TV or smaller streaming device (most people) it performs even worse. It will probably get there eventually but right now this is another bad decision by a terribly ran company
2010 when Ed Cunningham was being, well, himself, the Lincoln radio station delayed their broadcast to sync with the over-the-air KLKN-TV broadcast so viewers could mute the TV. What a time!
I'm not saying Ed was wrong about Eric Martin, but he was just persistently whiny.