ESPN Profit Plummets As Network Turns Left

#76
#76
Orange_Vol1321 said:
You just answered why ESPN is losing viewiers in the bolded. We aren't talking about CNN or MSNBC, this is a sports network that you are trying to defend while they shove political views down our throats. I don't want to see anything Democratic or Republican on there. I want to see sports, end of story.

While cord cutters are a percentage of it, the bigger percentage of the pie is people tired of that BS.
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Nobody just cuts out ESPN--they cut their cable packages, many, many channels--because cable is expensive. The problem with southerners, and red-state folk in general, is that they see progressives under their beds at night--boo! They are paranoid and fearful of everything. (Let's see, would I rather live in Washington state, Oregon or Colorado, or Nebraska/Mississippi/Kansas.) That's what makes them conservatives. Cable TV generally is a wasteland--who watches ANY of it? ESPN has a lot of people making comments; you can always cherry pick a few, and of course many African Americans are going to have a different world view than "clay" or "travis" from small-town south. The SEC Network, by the way, exists thanks to ESPN--and the SEC is benefiting hugely from is network.
 
#77
#77
armchair said:
The problem with southerners, and red-state folk in general, is that they see progressives under their beds at night--boo! They are paranoid and fearful of everything.
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While I won't say you're wrong, let's not pretend like it doesn't happen on the Left as well. We are an absurdly polarized nation because we've convinced ourselves that every issue can only be addressed by one of two options. That's on us, and all of us.

Having said that, this kind of ranting is best left to the Politics forum.
 
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#78
#78
bamawriter said:
While I won't say you're wrong, let's not pretend like it doesn't happen on the Left as well. We are an absurdly polarized nation because we've convinced ourselves that every issues can only be addressed by one of two options. That's on us, and all of us.

Having said that, this kind of ranting is best left to the Politics forum.
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Exactly what a Commie would say!
 
#79
#79
armchair said:
Nobody just cuts out ESPN--they cut their cable packages, many, many channels--because cable is expensive. The problem with southerners, and red-state folk in general, is that they see progressives under their beds at night--boo! They are paranoid and fearful of everything. (Let's see, would I rather live in Washington state, Oregon or Colorado, or Nebraska/Mississippi/Kansas.) That's what makes them conservatives. Cable TV generally is a wasteland--who watches ANY of it? ESPN has a lot of people making comments; you can always cherry pick a few, and of course many African Americans are going to have a different world view than "clay" or "travis" from small-town south. The SEC Network, by the way, exists thanks to ESPN--and the SEC is benefiting hugely from is network.
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Apparently, you haven't seen any activity from the left side of the aisle in the last 3 months.

The embodiment of a calm, tolerance and a lack of fear.
 
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#80
#80
spikesglaring said:
My Lord, we are so polarized that some cannot take watching anything that doesn't strictly align with their political views. Otherwise, it is guilty of being associated with the other side.There is a difference between human interest stories and liberalism. As a moderate, this crap drives me crazy.

ESPN is losing customers bc of the internet. They are adapting as a result and some will like the new content. Others do not. The obvious problem is the cost of cable, which will likely only increase thanks to the legislation Republicans are looking to introduce.
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and some cant comment on anything without making a political attack on one party or another.....
 
#81
#81
bamawriter said:
This is simply not true. This is trying to spin the situation to reflect one's own political views.

I tend toward the Right on most issues. The stuff that ESPN is pushing doesn't appeal to me. So I just don't watch it. However, I'm not cutting the cord because I want the sports programming ESPN offers. It's really easy: I watch what I want and don't watch the rest.

If you are willing to drop ESPN entirely, which requires cutting the cord all together, then you don't value ANY of their programming, including the sports.
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I think your missing the point. It's a sports network, whether left or right, like I stated in my earlier post, the network should be putting out 0% political statements or agendas. ABC should keep that to their news and allow ESPN to show sports.
 
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#82
#82
armchair said:
Nobody just cuts out ESPN--they cut their cable packages, many, many channels--because cable is expensive. The problem with southerners, and red-state folk in general, is that they see progressives under their beds at night--boo!
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Ah yes the stereotypical "southerners" card and "Republican" card from the left.

It's a sports channel and I expect to watch sports on it. I have a remote, I can turn it to a news channel if I want a political agenda.
 
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#83
#83
Orange_Vol1321 said:
I think your missing the point. It's a sports network, whether left or right, like I stated in my earlier post, the network should be putting out 0% political statements. ABC should keep that to their news and allow ESPN to show sports.
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First and foremost, ESPN is in the entertainment business (hence, the first letter in the acronym). They aren't going to show sports 24 hours a day because the rights are too expensive to waste on the hours that no one is watching. Their commentary, whether political or not, is meant to drive viewership. It's no different than any other form of entertainment: it either works or it doesn't. But again, you're either willing to sacrifice every second of ESPN's programming because of their political leanings or you aren't.
 
#84
#84
bamawriter said:
First and foremost, ESPN is in the entertainment business (hence, the first letter in the acronym). They aren't going to show sports 24 hours a day because the rights are too expensive to waste on the hours that no one is watching. Their commentary, whether political or not, is meant to drive viewership. It's no different than any other form of entertainment: it either works or it doesn't. But again, you're either willing to sacrifice every second of ESPN's programming because of their political leanings or you aren't.
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It's Entertainment and Sports Programming Network. Now, unless I'm missing something I don't see News or Political in that.

But for giggles I'll play along. If they are going to devote time to one side they should the other side. But being owned by ABC (Disney) we know that isn't going to happen.

On a side note, why the F are you here?
 
#85
#85
Orange_Vol1321 said:
It's Entertainment and Sports Programming Network. Now, unless I'm missing something I don't see News or Political in that.

But for giggles I'll play along. If they are going to devote time to one side they should the other side. But being owned by ABC (Disney) we know that isn't going to happen.

On a side note, why the F are you here?
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Lol, right after you complain about stereotypes, you pull this tired, cliched nugget.
 
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#86
#86
Orange_Vol1321 said:
It's Entertainment and Sports Programming Network. Now, unless I'm missing something I don't see News or Political in that.
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With the exception of CSPAN, the broadcasting of news and politics is also for the purposes of entertainment.

But for giggles I'll play along. If they are going to devote time to one side they should the other side.
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Will you be more likely to watch the talking head shows if they include conservative talking heads?

On a side note, why the F are you here?
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I'm not. I'm a figment of your fevered imagination.
 
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#87
#87
VolsSportsFan said:
Lol, right after you complain about stereotypes, you pull this tired, cliched nugget.
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I don't mind a red team cheerleader here. But when I see him in the FF putting our players down is when I have a problem with it.

And that isn't stereotyping, it was a question hence the ? after it.
 
#89
#89
Orange_Vol1321 said:
I don't mind a red team cheerleader here. But when I see him in the FF putting our players down is when I have a problem with it.

And that isn't stereotyping, it was a question hence the ? after it.
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So call him out there; using that to ask him why he's in an Around the NCAA forum that has nothing to do with UT players makes no sense.
 
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#90
#90
Espn had the best business situation out there for a long time they offer a product that many pay for but a low percentage actually use. Long story short the business landscape changed they didn't adapt so now with more options a good chunk of that many aren't paying anymore and they're losing money hand over fist
 
#91
#91
RetardedElf said:
Espn had the best business situation out there for a long time they offer a product that many pay for but a low percentage actually use. Long story short the business landscape changed they didn't adapt so now with more options a good chunk of that many aren't paying anymore and they're losing money hand over fist
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Actually, with the watch ESPN app and their podcasts, ESPN is well ahead of the game. The truth will pan out when this is all said and done.
 
#93
#93
volfanbill said:
Actually, with the watch ESPN app and their podcasts, ESPN is well ahead of the game. The truth will pan out when this is all said and done.
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ESPN is locked into some big contracts that limit their ability to make any big adjustments. Once those contracts come up, I'm certain that we'll be seeing more a la carte options for sports.
 
#94
#94
volfanbill said:
Actually, with the watch ESPN app and their podcasts, ESPN is well ahead of the game. The truth will pan out when this is all said and done.
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Their multimedia is on point, I was referring more to spending money that they should have known wouldn't be coming in like it used to instead of starting more networks and hoping for the best. I think that says what I'm trying to get across I'm currently on a morphine drip so it might not be
 
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#95
#95
RetardedElf said:
Their multimedia is on point, I was referring more to spending money that they should have known wouldn't be coming in like it used to instead of starting more networks and hoping for the best. I think that says what I'm trying to get across I'm currently on a morphine drip so it might not be
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No, your point is there, just wrong. The extra networks were a hit. Very few expected cord cutting to be so quick and instantaneous. Funniest part of the whole thing is Fox Sports is literally hemorrhaging itself into oblivion due to the same problem, but brown noser Travis won't touch that.
 
#96
#96
volfanbill said:
No, your point is there, just wrong. The extra networks were a hit. Very few expected cord cutting to be so quick and instantaneous. Funniest part of the whole thing is Fox Sports is literally hemorrhaging itself into oblivion due to the same problem, but brown noser Travis won't touch that.
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I guess we'll just agree to disagree on not knowing I'm no genius by any stretch of the imagination but I could see it coming for many networks not just espn as soon as options started popping up where for a smaller fee you could see network programs. To the other point fox should be I tried watching one of their programs and couldn't make it past 15 minutes
 
#97
#97
spikesglaring said:
More garbage from Clay Travis. They're losing viewers for a lot of reasons, but dragging politics into the mix is the moron reaching for something to write. If anything, ESPN has not really changed as much as the country is becoming more polarized and each side cannot stand to think they're getting the other sides view. Travis is as guilty of that as anyone. Twitter has been so much more bearable since unfollowing him.
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I'll tell you right now, I 100% no longer watch ESPN unless there's a key football or basketball game I REALLY wanna watch because of ESPN's constant politicizing of everything. I even stopped watching SportsCenter after 30 years because I was so sick of their crap. So, it's not Clay Travis politicizing it, he's simply correctly naming why there are tons of people tuning out to their programming. I spend maybe 15-20% of the time watching ESPN compared to what I used to. They're absolutely insufferable imo. I watch sports to get away from "life" and all the cultural rot and politics currently going on in our country and the last thing I'm gonna do is turn on a sports channel that's dedicated to trying to shove it down my throat. To hell with em
 
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#98
#98
99gator said:
The best way to see the problem is reverse the situation and see how it would look to the other side.

One of the things that has driven me nuts as someone who is not a moderate are the numbers of people who are blind to the obvious political bent in coverage.

It pisses me off because I turn to sports to get away from that crap.

Caitlyn Jenner receiving the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPY's was clearly political. There are other blatant political messages made by ESPN.

And, yes, it pisses a lot of people off.

The reason many have not/did not cut the cord was live sports. Pretty much the only reason at this point.

America's most beloved sport is professional football. There is no close second. Do you want a list of all of the left leaning stuff the NFL has engaged in?

There is not a doubt in my mind that Colin Kaepernick being celebrated for taking a stand while the league denying the Dallas Cowboys request to wear a patch for police officers who were gunned down has a cumulative effect over time.

And that stuff has been going on for years.
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The Caitlyn Jenner/espy thing wasn't about politics, it was about ratings. There's a reason ESPN promoted it for over a month. Guess what, it worked. Ratings for that espy broadcast were up 200% over the previous years edition.
 
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#99
#99
KBVol said:
I'll tell you right now, I 100% no longer watch ESPN unless there's a key football or basketball game I REALLY wanna watch because of ESPN's constant politicizing of everything. I even stopped watching SportsCenter after 30 years because I was so sick of their crap. So, it's not Clay Travis politicizing it, he's simply correctly naming why there are tons of people tuning out to their programming. I spend maybe 15-20% of the time watching ESPN compared to what I used to. They're absolutely insufferable imo. I watch sports to get away from "life" and all the cultural rot and politics currently going on in our country and the last thing I'm gonna do is turn on a sports channel that's dedicated to trying to shove it down my throat. To hell with em
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But that's not Travis' point. You are still a subscriber. It's one thing to argue that ratings are down because of politics. There is a case to be made for that. But to say that people are completely cutting off their cable or satellite service because of ESPN's politics, is simply wrong.
 
#100
#100
Boston Vol said:
The Caitlyn Jenner/espy thing wasn't about politics, it was about ratings. There's a reason ESPN promoted it for over a month. Guess what, it worked. Ratings for that espy broadcast were up 200% over the previous years edition.
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Anything controversial generates ratings, due to interest. Regardless if it's positive or negative in a person's point of view.
 
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