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Don't Hold Your Breath For a Standalone ESPN Streaming Service

With the channel having lost 3.2 million subscribers in the last year and "skinny" bundle Internet video options taking off -- ESPN is understandably nervous about its traditional TV cash cow (large forced channel bundles) going the way of the dodo. But as we recently mentioned, ESPN contracts with traditional cable operators have the "worldwide leader in sports" in between a rock and a hard place. Violating those contracts would allow cable companies to unbundle ESPN from channel lineups should a standalone ESPN streaming service be launched.

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If you recall, ESPN is suing Verizon after the telco started offering skinny TV bundles without ESPN. As such, turning around and offering a streaming service would give Verizon legal advantage and likely only accelerate ESPN's viewer losses.

According to Disney CEO Bob Iger, those waiting for ESPN to launch a stand alone streaming service could be waiting a long time. As in, five years:
quote:
“Five years out, I don’t think you see significant change,” Iger told CNBC’s Squawk Box. “I think eventually ESPN becomes a business that is sold directly to the consumers, where there is an engagement in that ESPN will know who their consumers are, will use that info to customize their product, enable personalization to essentially engage in a much more effective way and also to offer advertisers more value as well. That’s longer term. I think there is an inevitability to that, but I don’t think it is right around the corner."
Time will tell if ESPN has as much time as Disney execs seem to think it does. A recent survey said most customers want more flexible TV channel options, and ESPN wasn't high on the list of must-add channels.

Most recommended from 42 comments


Mystic95Z
join:2005-05-10
Orlando, FL

16 recommendations

Mystic95Z

Member

ESPN...

I would love to have a discounted option with my cable provider to drop ESPN... Nothing but a waste of money for me but yet I have to pay for shit I do not watch....
ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

3 recommendations

ISurfTooMuch

Member

The more we want it, the more they'll resist

Here's the bottom line. The more we want ESPN unbundled, the more Disney will resist. As resistant to change as these programmers are, they're usually not stupid. The Disney execs know full well that the reason people want ESPN on its own tier is that they don't want to pay for it, and a model where everyone pays is the only thing that can keep ESPN afloat. If the sports fans have to pay their own way, you'd see the amount ESPN must collect from each sub easily double or triple, and, at that price, some of these fans may decide it isn't worth it. That means the pool of potential subs gets even smaller, forcing the price up even more, which will put off even more viewers. There's a real danger of ESPN entering a death spiral.

Essentially, ESPN has become so expensive to run, it can't survive on its own, and the execs know it. The day unbundling happens, it will be the beginning of the end.

gigahurtz
Premium Member
join:2001-10-20
USA

2 recommendations

gigahurtz

Premium Member

I found a way to drop ESPN from my cable subscription...

I dropped my cable TV subscription all together. I rely on streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu and find the content of what I watch is far better than what it was when I paid over $100/mo for TV service.

Mactron
el Camino Real
Premium Member
join:2001-12-16
PRK

2 recommendations

Mactron

Premium Member

ESPN

I hate ESPN /Disney. That is all...

tabernak93
join:2015-02-16
Oklahoma City, OK

2 recommendations

tabernak93

Member

Sucks either way you look at it

Fans of ESPN are stuck subsidizing channels they don't want, fans of the other channels are stuck subsidizing ESPN channels they don't care about.