Spectrum vs. Disney -- A Development Tracking Thread

#176
#176
There is a Clay Travis article on Fox News website.

He sums this battle up pretty well I think. I used to have Spectrum/Charter where I lived prior. Not available where I live now. It makes sense for Charter to do what they are doing. ESPN is raising rates and stated they plan to go direct to consumer in the future.

ESPN is acting as if they hold the cards, ESPN needs Charter more than Charter needs ESPN at this point.

The entire cable bundle boom has gone bust...... Get ready to pay insane accounts of money to watch games online from here out.

I'm out, I can't afford it.
 
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#177
#177
KB5252 said:
There is a Clay Travis article on Fox News website.

He sums this battle up pretty well I think. I used to have Spectrum/Charter where I lived prior. Not available where I live now. It makes sense for Charter to do what they are doing. ESPN is raising rates and stated they plan to go direct to consumer in the future.

ESPN is acting as if they hold the cards, ESPN needs Charter more than Charter needs ESPN at this point.

The entire cable bundle boom has gone bust...... Get ready to pay insane accounts of money to watch games online from here out.
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Agree and Charter realizes this and my take is that they are ready to move on. In the short-term they are saying I will stay in the game for now and "give you money to support your streaming offers", but you need to make it worth it to me and my customers. I'm not giving you the cake and letting you eat it too.

My take also is that Disney is not ready to let that money go (it is billions of dollars) and need it to stay profitable. That is probably why you see them now trying to push Hulu.
 
#178
#178
volfan102455 said:
Agree and Charter realizes this and my take is that they are ready to move on. In the short-term they are saying I will stay in the game for now and "give you money to support your streaming offers", but you need to make it worth it to me and my customers. I'm not giving you the cake and letting you eat it too.

My take also is that Disney is not ready to let that money go (it is billions of dollars) and need it to stay profitable. That is probably why you see them now trying to push Hulu.
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They aren't profitable, at least the streaming business isn't. No one is making money except for Netflix.
 
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#181
#181
volfan102455 said:
They are getting a big chunk of that from Spectrum. I read somewhere where Disney gets 2B plus from Spectrum.
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That is true. If Spectrum leaves, ESPN will be at about the "break even" point or in the red, short term, and Disney will have to accelerate the "bundle it ourselves and sell it" business model.

Disney understands streaming and selling Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu Originals, FX, as pieces to various others besides the Hulu brand they control. If they start selling ESPN directly, they'll take a hit but they aren't going to starve.
 
#183
#183
KB5252 said:
There is a Clay Travis article on Fox News website.

He sums this battle up pretty well I think. I used to have Spectrum/Charter where I lived prior. Not available where I live now. It makes sense for Charter to do what they are doing. ESPN is raising rates and stated they plan to go direct to consumer in the future.

ESPN is acting as if they hold the cards, ESPN needs Charter more than Charter needs ESPN at this point.

The entire cable bundle boom has gone bust...... Get ready to pay insane accounts of money to watch games online from here out.

I'm out, I can't afford it.
Click to expand...
It was a very good article. Long but good.
 
#185
#185
My daughter said she heard that people calling spectrum in our area looking for a credit or discount were instead told maybe they should check out YouTube TV.
 
#186
#186
C-south said:
My daughter said she heard that people calling spectrum in our area looking for a credit or discount were instead told maybe they should check out YouTube TV.
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Spectrum makes more money off of internet than cable now. So they don't care as long as they have your internet service.
 
#187
#187
KB5252 said:
But the streaming side of the business lost billions last year.
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Sure, the "free ride" of cable bundling in ESPN to lots of subscribers has been good to Disney. Streaming is only just now passing cable in the US, I think. The "cable bundle bonanza" ESPN has enjoyed is coming to an end because cable is coming to an end.

The $2B question is: how many of those going from cable to streaming will also get an ESPN bundle from YouTube TV, Hulu, Fubo, etc.

The next question coming will be: how much will the market pay for ESPN as a stand alone service when the streamers get tired of Disney.

It comes back to the product and someone (who has obviously been to college and listened way too much) mentioned the lack of "elasticity" in sports fans. In normal terms that means: these people will pay a lot of money to get this product.

There's derivatives and fancy math and equations (Rene Descartes really was the devil) but somewhere in the Mouse hole, nerds are trying to figure out where the magic number is for ESPN.

At the end of the day, we've bitched about cable bills going up for years and paid up. We've bitched about streaming and paid up. We've bitched about movie prices and paid up (but movies are a good example of elasticity because far, far fewer people go to theaters anymore, largely due to price and accessibility via streaming being more attractive.)

Other than the thieves among us who will steal ESPN (or as they prefer to say: find it elsewhere....... similar to how a guy walks through a broken window and finds a TV at Best Buy. "I didn't break the window and they have been screwing us for years. I'm not a thief.") a good percentage of people will pay up.
 
#197
#197
SayUWantAreVOLution said:
Sure, the "free ride" of cable bundling in ESPN to lots of subscribers has been good to Disney. Streaming is only just now passing cable in the US, I think. The "cable bundle bonanza" ESPN has enjoyed is coming to an end because cable is coming to an end.

The $2B question is: how many of those going from cable to streaming will also get an ESPN bundle from YouTube TV, Hulu, Fubo, etc.

The next question coming will be: how much will the market pay for ESPN as a stand alone service when the streamers get tired of Disney.

It comes back to the product and someone (who has obviously been to college and listened way too much) mentioned the lack of "elasticity" in sports fans. In normal terms that means: these people will pay a lot of money to get this product.

There's derivatives and fancy math and equations (Rene Descartes really was the devil) but somewhere in the Mouse hole, nerds are trying to figure out where the magic number is for ESPN.

At the end of the day, we've bitched about cable bills going up for years and paid up. We've bitched about streaming and paid up. We've bitched about movie prices and paid up (but movies are a good example of elasticity because far, far fewer people go to theaters anymore, largely due to price and accessibility via streaming being more attractive.)

Other than the thieves among us who will steal ESPN (or as they prefer to say: find it elsewhere....... similar to how a guy walks through a broken window and finds a TV at Best Buy. "I didn't break the window and they have been screwing us for years. I'm not a thief.") a good percentage of people will pay up.
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The question is "how many" of those subscribers are "active" ESPN users? In one article, Disney says is it in the 70% range, Charter says it is in the 25% range. Neither say it is 100%. I suspect Disney's take is inflated and Charter's take is deflated. Today all Charter subscribers pay for Disney/ESPN whether they use it or not. Many will not care that they no longer have it and will welcome the decrease in their bill.

The fact is that the only streaming service that makes money is Netflix. Can ESPN as a direct to consumer make money? That is yet to be proven as it has always been wrapped up in a package. Plus, there are still games on non-ESPN channels - folks will choice and adjust. Some may just go back to listening on the radio.
 
#198
#198
volfan102455 said:
The question is "how many" of those subscribers are "active" ESPN users? In one article, Disney says is it in the 70% range, Charter says it is in the 25% range. Neither say it is 100%. I suspect Disney's take is inflated and Charter's take is deflated. Today all Charter subscribers pay for Disney/ESPN whether they use it or not. Many will not care that they no longer have it and will welcome the decrease in their bill.

The fact is that the only streaming service that makes money is Netflix. Can ESPN as a direct to consumer make money? That is yet to be proven as it has always been wrapped up in a package. Plus, there are still games on non-ESPN channels - folks will choice and adjust. Some may just go back to listening on the radio.
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That's me. I have no problem listening to the game on the radio. In some ways, it's a better experience. I still have cable, and I really don't mind losing ESPN. I'll survive
 
#199
#199
Dadof2Vols said:
A dated article but extremely relevant to understand the fundamental flaws of ESPN business model. This is also why I say you will have to pay Disney $30-50 monthly “to have your ESPN/SECN” when they take these DTC….

www.outkick.com

ESPN Lost 8 Million Subscribers in 2021, 10% of its overall subscriber base

Last year ESPN lost eight million cable and satellite subscribers, finishing 2021 with around 75 million total subscribers. That eight million subscriber loss, an average of nearly
www.outkick.com www.outkick.com
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Satellite droppers and Cable cutters....where do they go? To streaming service TYYV, FUBO, HULU, SLING etc which all carry ESPN. Lose Cable/Sat scribers gain Streaming subscribers.
 
#200
#200
WillisWG said:
Satellite droppers and Cable cutters....where do they go? To streaming service TYYV, FUBO, HULU, SLING etc which all carry ESPN. Lose Cable/Sat scribers gain Streaming subscribers.
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And if ESPN is a standalone service, I can drop my existing live tv subscription. In the end, I’m paying the same (ever increasing) price. I’m just writing a check to a different company and clicking on a different app. But I’m always shocked at how many people still pay for cable.
 
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