ESPN Is In Free-Fall

[RJax55]

Unfortunately it's one of the drawbacks of cutting cable.  I assume I will end up watching big games I'm interested in at a friends or a bar, and then hope I can stream some of the lower priority games or just have to bite the bullet and miss some of the games.

Get Sling TV, Blue package. It gets you FS1 & FS2.

You may miss a few games, but the vast majority are on FS1.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

My wife and I went to see Sully a month ago at our local AMC 24. Tickets were $13 each (senior discount) and 2 hot dogs and 2 cokes cost $22. So 48 bucks for a matinee. Next time we'll stay home and wait for it on cable. People are paying thousands to see the Cubs in the World series. I guess my point is most folks will pay for whatever floats their boat and for some that is not cable.

I only go to Marcus Cinemas.  Early birds $5 (start time before 11 am).  Tuesdays all movies are $5.  Otherwise wait to rent it.  The concessions are cheaper at my house and HDTV makes for a fine viewing experience.

[ChuckyChip]

Get Sling TV, Blue package. It gets you FS1 & FS2.

You may miss a few games, but the vast majority are on FS1.

That makes sense, but at some point doesn't getting a combination of these smaller services (Netflix + Hulu + HBO Go + Sling) start to add up to just having cable?

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

I still marvel at how many channels I filter out when I customize my guide (was UVerse now DirectTV). I have a package with 250 channels and I narrow it down to less than 100 and that includes all the variations of the Sunday Ticket package (RedZone, Mixes, individual games, etc). I'd say 50 of the channels are sports related (Fox Sports, ESPN, and NFL network/Ticket).

I'm about as heavy as a television viewer as you'll find and I think there has to be a culling of a lot of the content because there is just too much out there.

I had Frontier/U-Verse and I recently switched to Optimum Cable (Cablevision).  My $160/month special deal ran out and was about $210/month thereafter.  They refused to give me the same deal despite telling them I will switch if they don't.  Multiple calls also.  Optimum gave me a guaranteed price for for 3 years at $151/month for the same package of channels. 
My customize guide on U-Verse was 100 channels like yours (plus I was able to categorize to find them easier.)  I unfortunately can't set up a custom guide with Optimum.  I can only select FAVORITES which lops everything into one unruly list.

[RJax55]

That makes sense, but at some point doesn't getting a combination of these smaller services (Netflix + Hulu + HBO Go + Sling) start to add up to just having cable?

It can, but you have far more control on what services to add and content you get. There's more flexibility. Flexibility that cable packages do not really offer at this time.

[rocket surgeon]

ummm, not so fast- this just in-

 "Nielsen is investigating a larger than usual change in the November 2016 Cable Network Coverage Universe Estimates (versus the prior month). We take the accuracy of our data very seriously and are conducting a thorough analysis to determine whether or not there is an issue with these estimates. In the meantime, we have removed the November 2016 Cable Network Coverage Universe Estimates file from the Answers portal and ask clients not to use the numbers that were posted Friday. We are working closely with clients and will alert them on the findings of our internal review."

   also, nielson isn't capturing subs from asking or AT&T's about to be launched direct tv's NOW product

http://awfulannouncing.com/2016/nielsen-now-removes-its-november-cable-estimates-espn-networks-safe-for-now.html

my son is looking in to amazon's fire stick-anyone out there using that?  time warner or whatever they are called now costs me over $225/month(tv and internet) and i watch maybe 10-15 different channels.  haven't watched hbo in years, but it's there. 

if i can't find a tv show that isn't (fake)reality tv, i'm going to cutting myself.  those shows are the furthest from reality and people just sop it all up-unbelievable!  my cousin was on one of those bachelorette shows a few years ago and the stories she has...very little food and lots of alcohol

on another note-
just watched espn's 30-30 on john daly-what a great story-stuff ya never knew about "long" johnny.  at the end he sings this country song that is not only quite good, but shows an above average ability in that department as well-the show and the song is called "hit it hard".  highly recommend watching.  turns out he and holywood henderson got quite close, but not in a way you would at first guess.   

[Silkk the Shaka]

ummm, not so fast- this just in-

 "Nielsen is investigating a larger than usual change in the November 2016 Cable Network Coverage Universe Estimates (versus the prior month). We take the accuracy of our data very seriously and are conducting a thorough analysis to determine whether or not there is an issue with these estimates. In the meantime, we have removed the November 2016 Cable Network Coverage Universe Estimates file from the Answers portal and ask clients not to use the numbers that were posted Friday. We are working closely with clients and will alert them on the findings of our internal review."

   also, nielson isn't capturing subs from asking or AT&T's about to be launched direct tv's NOW product

http://awfulannouncing.com/2016/nielsen-now-removes-its-november-cable-estimates-espn-networks-safe-for-now.html

my son is looking in to amazon's fire stick-anyone out there using that?  time warner or whatever they are called now costs me over $225/month(tv and internet) and i watch maybe 10-15 different channels.  haven't watched hbo in years, but it's there. 

if i can't find a tv show that isn't (fake)reality tv, i'm going to cutting myself.  those shows are the furthest from reality and people just sop it all up-unbelievable!  my cousin was on one of those bachelorette shows a few years ago and the stories she has...very little food and lots of alcohol

on another note-
just watched espn's 30-30 on john daly-what a great story-stuff ya never knew about "long" johnny.  at the end he sings this country song that is not only quite good, but shows an above average ability in that department as well-the show and the song is called "hit it hard".  highly recommend watching.  turns out he and holywood henderson got quite close, but not in a way you would at first guess.

Dude, what are you watching then? That's like 75% of watchable tv the past 5 years

[🏀]

Something for the Milwaukee crowd ... what did the city do right at the sports bubble peak?  Commit to building an unbelievably expensive basketball arena.

If the sports bubble is in full collapse, and the Bucks and MU do not generate the revenues they think they will, are you ready for more tax hikes to pay it?

Not in the Milwaukee crowd, but no one has seen a decline in NBA or NCAA attendance yet. Any local decline would be directly correlated to product quality.

Basketball is still a very good in-person event.

[mu03eng]

Not in the Milwaukee crowd, but no one has seen a decline in NBA or NCAA attendance yet. Any local decline would be directly correlated to product quality.

Basketball is still a very good in-person event.

+1

Not saying NCAA or NBA basketball is immune to the sports bubble but it's a better valuation than the NFL or NCAA football simply because in-person is at least comparable to at home for basketball vs football, logistics are better getting to and from games, and cost is not terrible.

Having said all of that, the stadium only makes sense because you have 3 revenue streams: NBA, NCAA, and others(concerts, musicals, performances, etc). The NFL and NCAA football stadiums are largely single purpose facilities that are used at most 20 times a year.

I'm comfortable with the choices Milwaukee made.

[rocket surgeon]

Dude, what are you watching then? That's like 75% of watchable tv the past 5 years

netflix, ID tv, history channel, and news of course.  may have to check out hbo's new orgie show though.  heard it's getting a lot of flack, so it must be worth seeing then, eyna?

[Tugg Speedman]

Since this thread was started, Nielsen first retracted its claim that ESPN lost 621,000.  The number was so big and so shocking that many thought it must have been wrong.

Today Nielsen came out and "un-retracted" their retraction and affirmed that ESPN had indeed lost 621,000 subscribers.

Disney falls to session lows as Nielsen reaffirms ESPN subscriber loss data
31 Mins Ago

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/04/disney-falls-to-session-lows-as-nielsen-reaffirms-espn-subscriber-loss-data.html

Shares of Walt Disney fell to session lows after Nielsen reaffirmed data that said ESPN lost 621,000 subscribers in a month.

The stock fell as much as 1 percent, and was last seen trading about 0.7 percent lower.

On Friday, Nielsen said it has now finished an "extensive" review of its data and confirmed that the figures were "accurate as originally released."
Disney said in a statement to CNBC that the data is a "historic anomaly for the industry and inconsistent with much more moderated trends observed by other respected third party analysts." The company added that the data does not measure new distribution methods and that it hopes to "work with Nielsen to capture this growing market in future reports."

On Sunday, the data measurement company temporarily pulled the numbers in its November 2016 Cable Network Coverage Area Universe Estimates. Nielsen said it wanted to "investigate a larger than usual change as compared to the prior month."

In response to the initial report, ESPN said in a statement to CNBC that "Nielsen numbers represent a dramatic, unexplrightble variation over prior months' reporting, affecting all cable networks." The network said it raised the issue with Nielsen "in light of their demonstrated failures over the years to accurately provide subscriber data."

Disney shares have declined 11 percent so far this year.

[HutchwasClutch]

ESPN has become unwatchable outside of live sports programming.  Sportscenter is so much more talk and hype than highlights now.  Who can stand to watch their talking heads like Stephen Smith, Kellerman, Kornheiser and Wilbon etc. not only shout and yell at one another, but shout bad opinions at viewers?  How old has Berman's schtick got?   He's just a fat old blowhard everyone's tired of and hasn't been funny in over 20 years.   Or how about Ray Lewis getting on his high horse about the Ray Rice situation?   Or the non stop political correctness.  They couldn't fire Curt Schilling fast enough because of his comments, or apologize fast enough for Musberger's comments on McCarron's girlfriend that  only the perpetually offended were offended by.

They are the sports version of MSNBC or CNN, that's why they are hemorrhaging subscribers, bad programs and obnoxious, stupid, completely full of themselves and talentless personalities.

[Herman Cain]

ESPN has become unwatchable outside of live sports programming.  Sportscenter is so much more talk and hype than highlights now.  Who can stand to watch their talking heads like Stephen Smith, Kellerman, Kornheiser and Wilbon etc. not only shout and yell at one another, but shout bad opinions at viewers?  How old has Berman's schtick got?   He's just a fat old blowhard everyone's tired of and hasn't been funny in over 20 years.   Or how about Ray Lewis getting on his high horse about the Ray Rice situation?   Or the non stop political correctness.  They couldn't fire Curt Schilling fast enough because of his comments, or apologize fast enough for Musberger's comments on McCarron's girlfriend that  only the perpetually offended were offended by.

They are the sports version of MSNBC or CNN, that's why they are hemorrhaging subscribers, bad programs and obnoxious, stupid, completely full of themselves and talentless personalities.

I agree with this analysis.

[tower912]

I quit watching ESPN's non-live programming and all of their football when they hired Limbaugh and I have never gone back. 

[rocket surgeon]

I quit watching ESPN's non-live programming and all of their football when they hired Limbaugh and I have never gone back.

you know he's been gone now for, oh....13 years now? with all due respect tower,  if some of us who hit from the other side of the political plate took this attitude, there would literally be nothing we could watch...sometimes ya just got to bite your lip and get through it.  you'll be ok and maybe even a better man for it

[tower912]

When I quit watching college football for a year due to conference realignment, I realized I didn't miss it.    Same thing.   I quit watching ESPN and realized I didn't miss it.   

[Pakuni]

ESPN has become unwatchable outside of live sports programming.  Sportscenter is so much more talk and hype than highlights now.  Who can stand to watch their talking heads like Stephen Smith, Kellerman, Kornheiser and Wilbon etc. not only shout and yell at one another, but shout bad opinions at viewers?  How old has Berman's schtick got?   He's just a fat old blowhard everyone's tired of and hasn't been funny in over 20 years.   Or how about Ray Lewis getting on his high horse about the Ray Rice situation?   Or the non stop political correctness.  They couldn't fire Curt Schilling fast enough because of his comments, or apologize fast enough for Musberger's comments on McCarron's girlfriend that  only the perpetually offended were offended by.

They are the sports version of MSNBC or CNN, that's why they are hemorrhaging subscribers, bad programs and obnoxious, stupid, completely full of themselves and talentless personalities.

Then you're missing out.
ESPN does air lots of trash - I suspect it would be impossible not to when you're airing 24 hours a day across 5 (or more?) networks.
But the 30 for 30 series, Outside the Lines and their other documentaries (the OJ series, SEC stories, etc.) is some of the best programming on television.

Political correctness has zero to do with their problems.

[Benny B]

Not in the Milwaukee crowd, but no one has seen a decline in NBA or NCAA attendance yet. Any local decline would be directly correlated to product quality.

Basketball is still a very good in-person event.

Basketball is, and always will be, the most exciting sport to watch in person (of the major sports, anyway).  No other sport has as many lead changes in an entire game that basketball can have in one minute.  No other sport (maybe hockey) has the intimacy (read: fan proximity to the field of play) of basketball.  No other sport has as many wacky-waving-inflatable-arm-flailing-tube-men and laser light shows.  And while baseball offers the terror of wooden bats flying into the fan seating areas, basketball offers the terror of real bats flying over the fan seating areas.

IOW, basketball has something for everyone.

[keefe]

I quit watching ESPN's football when they hired Limbaugh and I have never gone back.

They could hire Hitler as a color commentator and I would tune in if Michigan is playing.

[muwarrior69]

Basketball is, and always will be, the most exciting sport to watch in person (of the major sports, anyway).  No other sport has as many lead changes in an entire game that basketball can have in one minute.  No other sport (maybe hockey) has the intimacy (read: fan proximity to the field of play) of basketball.  No other sport has as many wacky-waving-inflatable-arm-flailing-tube-men and laser light shows.  And while baseball offers the terror of wooden bats flying into the fan seating areas, basketball offers the terror of real bats flying over the fan seating areas.

IOW, basketball has something for everyone.

With the exception of timeouts or fouls there is no dead time in basketball as the ball is essentially in play all the time (i.e. while the clock is running). Can't say that about football.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

I keep seeing the thread title and have sound effects in my head going "whahhhhhhhhh..........!"

[rocket surgeon]

back on topic-i really have no skin or not a real lot in this game.  i'm sure my eddy jones guy has some disney et.al in some of my funds-that being said, there are a few things i've learned about nielsen-

       according to a wall street news journal piece, leichtman research groups bruce leichtman, president and priciple analyst notes the nielsen numbers make NO sense and Q3 is shaping up to be "ok"

        variety's oriana schwindt says the nielsen ratings do not affect subscriber fees.  they are paid on the number of subscribers or a wholesale sum

ok, carry on

[muwarrior69]

So do any of you see the day where all live sports will be pay per view. By that I mean if you want to watch a game on any particular day you pay....and of course you will still be exposed to all the adds.

[jesmu84]

So do any of you see the day where all live sports will be pay per view. By that I mean if you want to watch a game on any particular day you pay....and of course you will still be exposed to all the adds.

I would pay MU a yearly/seasonal fee if they showed all the games streaming online. I would be MUCH more likely to do that then buy FS1/ESPN/whatever as an individual channel.

[brandx]

So do any of you see the day where all live sports will be pay per view. By that I mean if you want to watch a game on any particular day you pay....and of course you will still be exposed to all the adds.

Not any of the major sports in the near future, for sure. They would lose too many viewers, advertising rates would drop and the networks wouldn't be able to fulfill their contracts.