ESPN

[smootness]

I would think it is a combination of cord cutting plus losing advertising dollars. Ratings in general are down for TV viewership with the rise of Youtube and Netflix. Now with all of the conference channels, you might not watch UCLA vs Cal when you can watch SEC Network+ on your tv. I watch all the MSU games no matter what so I end up watching less games of other teams. Also with DVR, I can catch up on different shows that I didn't watch during the week instead of leaving it on ESPN. I used to just have it on ESPN if nothing else was on but I can watch a DVR or On Demand show instead.

Advertising revenue represents a fraction of what subscription revenue is for ESPN. And sure, they want ratings...which is why you see shows like First Take becoming more and more prominent. It's also why you see so much fuss over things like Caitlyn Jenner. If some random women's college tennis player wins the Arthur Ashe award, who cares? If they give it to Caitlyn Jenner, boom...people go nuts, in both directions. Which is good for ESPN's business.

But these cuts have nothing to do with ad revenue losses and everything to do with subscription losses.

And SECN+ is an ESPN product.

[SaintDawg]

Hate to break it to you but everything isn't a PC culture war against you.

The decline of ESPN has more to do with the rise of the web and websites. You used to depend on ESPN to know scores and stats and what happened in a game but now you can just click to a website and get the highlights you want to see when you want to see it.

You used to have to watch sportscenter and wait for that 10 sec clip. And then they just played SC on a loop all day long until 6pm and have a new episode.

Agree 110%, but you must admit... ESPN has become pretty "snowflakey"

[RougeDawg]

Hate to break it to you but everything isn't a PC culture war against you.

The decline of ESPN has more to do with the rise of the web and websites. You used to depend on ESPN to know scores and stats and what happened in a game but now you can just click to a website and get the highlights you want to see when you want to see it.

You used to have to watch sportscenter and wait for that 10 sec clip. And then they just played SC on a loop all day long until 6pm and have a new episode.

Wrong. Hate to break it to you that just about every American not stuck on either coast, does not turn in to sports to hear a liberal left political opinion. ESPN has just about turned every broadcast into an attempt to push a political agenda and talking points. I'm sorry you can't see this, but it's the main reason people are tuning out. You never see the Bob Costas segments during broadcasts? Just about always political.

Do you think the sudden drop in NFL viewers after Kapernikus' anti American Steve by and praises of the sports media( ESPN) was just coincidence? Come on man, get out of your bubble and start calling a spade a spade.

And what ESPN apparently cannot understand is the liberal millennial target they have shifted toward in the last 10 years, is the exact same portion of the country that is cutting he cables and does not see the need to pay for television. The stats and studies are there to prove millenials aren't paying for TV subscriptions, buying homes, cars, etc. my only guess is that the ideology ESPN is trying to shove down everyone's throats is blinding them from seeing reality.

ETA do you recall any player or team being vilified for supporting a presidential candidate? Why did they start doing this in last 6-12 months? Does political choice impact how well Tom Brady plays or how successful the patriots are? The media in this country has an agenda and the last 6-12 months should have proven that to everyone paying attention. If anyone has not come to the conclusion the media is pushing for one ultimate goal, then you either want that goal yourself, are mentally disabled, or completely oblivious to that which takes place around you. Cannot be any other answer because all bases are covered here.

[maroonmania]

Inevitable given where the network is headquartered.

[Brahmabull]

ESPN is cratering because they overpaid for their content. Everything else is a result of that. They misjudged the top $ value of sports content. They assumed they could pay whatever they wanted and people would just accept their cable bills continuing to rise. Once it was possible for people to say no without losing all television entertainment, they did so.

The left wing "silly shit with Caitlyn/Bruce "Look At Me" Jenner and the ESPYs was icing on the cake". Furthermore, when the CEO of your company is more concerned with his political/presidential run rather than the company that employs him, the company suffers.

[PMDawg]

There's truth in pretty much all of these answers. Add them all up, and there you are. And I can tell you for a fact that I quit watching ESPN aND visiting their site due to their biases (Lib and OM). Plus the whole Colin Kap thing (I also lost 90% of my interest in NFL over this). You can deny it all you want, but it's a real thing. Ask Starbucks.

[Coackjek]

There's truth in pretty much all of these answers. Add them all up, and there you are. And I can tell you for a fact that I quit watching ESPN aND visiting their site due to their biases (Lib and OM). Plus the whole Colin Kap thing (I also lost 90% of my interest in NFL over this). You can deny it all you want, but it's a real thing. Ask Starbucks.

I'm with you. No one can point at a single thing a say that is the reason ESPN is failing, it's a culmination of things. Personally people can point single things out and claim it for the reason they stopped. But claiming the PC angle is non-existent is like saying bowling is not a sport. You'll have people on both sides fighting it tooth and nail.

[smootness]

I'm with you. No one can point at a single thing a say that is the reason ESPN is failing, it's a culmination of things. Personally people can point single things out and claim it for the reason they stopped. But claiming the PC angle is non-existent is like saying bowling is not a sport. You'll have people on both sides fighting it tooth and nail.

I mean, it's a pretty clear answer. People are no longer paying for cable at nearly the rate they once were, and a huge majority of those cutting the cord do not watch sports.

So ESPN is no longer making tons of money off people who don't consume their product. That's a pretty cut-and-dry answer.

There may be a handful of people saying, 'I don't like them, they're too liberal,' but do you honestly think those people are cutting out their entire cable package and not watching live sporting events because of it?

[BrunswickDawg]

If all the PC snowflake stuff is causing ESPN to fail, how come Fox Sports still continues to flounder? This is all about an overall economic model beginning to fail (cable/sat tv)combined with ridiculous contracts (for broadcast rights and "on air talent" coming home to roost.

[Cooterpoot]

The costs involved with cable/sat tv are going to kill lots of media. People are cutting the cord. Also, ESPN has gone so political, that they've lost another large segment of viewers that don't give a damn about politics and quite frankly are tired of hearing about it. Stick to sports. The top shows are just about always ballgames, followed by Pardon the Interruption and Around the Horn. Occasionally a 30 for 30 will score high in the ratings.
Sportscenter sucks. Most of the talk shows suck. Stephen A's show First Take, down 35%.

[Political Hack]

Political partisanship may be costing them a small %, but it's the ability to see everything on your phone immediately that makes SC irrelevant in today's world.

[Todd4State]

I watch sports in part to get away from politics. Also their baseball coverage is a joke and MLB Network is far superior with their content as far as baseball goes. I'm sure the other networks that focus only on a certain sport hurt them as well as the other things mentioned.

[PSYCHO(thesis)DEFENSE]

Hate to break it to you but everything isn't a PC culture war against you.

no bigger example of victim culture than the Right's interpretation of other's rights & views that have no effect on their personal lives as a personal attack.

The rise of websites to deliver the content is also because of the decline of ESPN and their decision to cater to the fringe instead of what built them. There is a demand out there that is anything but ESPN, just like some of the news networks. I won't let my kids just watch ESPN without it being a certain sporting event because of the garbage that's there, the exact same reason we don't watch news networks.

enjoy your safe space

There's truth in pretty much all of these answers. Add them all up, and there you are. And I can tell you for a fact that I quit watching ESPN aND visiting their site due to their biases (Lib and OM). Plus the whole Colin Kap thing (I also lost 90% of my interest in NFL over this). You can deny it all you want, but it's a real thing. Ask Starbucks.

Yes, glad we can all agree Kapernick should have been more politically correct instead of expressing his politically incorrect views

Agree 110%, but you must admit... ESPN has become pretty "snowflakey"

the only snowflakes I see are the ones melting b/c their outdated source of sports information forces them to acknowledge the fact that straight white males aren't the only ones that represent American Sports. Women have opinions on basketball, gay dudes play football, illegal immigrants are baseball stars, people don't feel patriotic when they see their tax dollars paying for administrative leave for someone who just killed an unarmed citizen. Ignoring it and being constantly offended doesn't make it go away.

/

aside from the UCONN win & 2014 rise to #1 I haven't watched ESPN since the mid-2000s - not b/c I give ashit who or what they put on tv but b/c I can watch live sports & get real-time updates via an app & watch highlights on Twitter 30 seconds after they happen.

[MadDawg]

no bigger example of victim culture than the Right's interpretation of other's rights & views that have no effect on their personal lives as a personal attack.



enjoy your safe space



Yes, glad we can all agree Kapernick should have been more politically correct instead of expressing his politically incorrect views



the only snowflakes I see are the ones melting b/c their outdated source of sports information forces them to acknowledge the fact that straight white males aren't the only ones that represent American Sports. Women have opinions on basketball, gay dudes play football, illegal immigrants are baseball stars, people don't feel patriotic when they see their tax dollars paying for administrative leave for someone who just killed an unarmed citizen. Ignoring it and being constantly offended doesn't make it go away.

/

aside from the UCONN win & 2014 rise to #1 I haven't watched ESPN since the mid-2000s - not b/c I give ashit who or what they put on tv but b/c I can watch live sports & get real-time updates via an app & watch highlights on Twitter 30 seconds after they happen.

ESPN is obviously in a shit-ton of trouble because they lost you and you are apparently their target audience.

[PSYCHO(thesis)DEFENSE]

ESPN is obviously in a shit-ton of trouble because they lost you and you are apparently their target audience.

Don't forget I got the #1 cable news show taken off air too. Single-handedly taking down the fake news MSM. Thank me later

[RougeDawg]

no bigger example of victim culture than the Right's interpretation of other's rights & views that have no effect on their personal lives as a personal attack.



enjoy your safe space



Yes, glad we can all agree Kapernick should have been more politically correct instead of expressing his politically incorrect views



the only snowflakes I see are the ones melting b/c their outdated source of sports information forces them to acknowledge the fact that straight white males aren't the only ones that represent American Sports. Women have opinions on basketball, gay dudes play football, illegal immigrants are baseball stars, people don't feel patriotic when they see their tax dollars paying for administrative leave for someone who just killed an unarmed citizen. Ignoring it and being constantly offended doesn't make it go away.

/

aside from the UCONN win & 2014 rise to #1 I haven't watched ESPN since the mid-2000s - not b/c I give ashit who or what they put on tv but b/c I can watch live sports & get real-time updates via an app & watch highlights on Twitter 30 seconds after they happen.

You do realize your entire post is text book snowflake deflect and attack, right? It's comical because the ones who preach tolerance and free speech, opinion, etc. are the very same ones who shout down or discredit speech they don't agree with. Comical I tell ya. Your response provided 0.000 evidence to disprove thenposts you don't agree with. You simply shouted them down and told them to go to a safe space. Typical left wing tactic. Deflect and attack, without providing a factual argument.

That's why there is ALWAYS an emotional attachment to left political agendas. You can't reform EPA regulations because "Children will die" and you don't want to be the reason children die, donyoy? . Can't reform health care, MediCare, or Medicaid because "old people will die". Surely you don't hate old people. . Everything they push is attached to some extreme emotional tie because the policies never work. To stay in power and push their agenda they strike fear in their voters minds that the other side hates women, children, old people, LGBT, Hispanics, monitories, etc.

If just for one second people would step back and look at the ridiculousness of these accusations. So only one political party likes women, is composed of some old people, minotories, actually has children and families? No. this is why we have divide in this country. One political party is hell bent on dumbing down society and striking fear in their voters in order to stay in power. Period.

[SaintDawg]

http://deadspin.com/a-running-list-o...ffs-1794664091

All that phony mess. "Thank you ESPN for the great years." "Thank you ESPN for letting me pursue my passion" "Thank you ESPN for all the friends and colleagues I've made." "Moving on to the next chapter" Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. Be real guys and tell'em to get 17ed.

Man, I'm angry today. Glad I have a place to vent and then have people tell me how dumb I sound. Thanks EliteDawgs!

[Dawg61]

All of us in this thread will watch ESPN and their networks when it's a sporting event we want to watch and that won't change no matter who is announcing the games or hosting SportsCenter at 10am. During the day most of us work and aren't watching daytime tv so ESPN caters more to the crowd that is watching tv during those hours and that means catering to people that watch soap operas, Ellen, Steve Harvey Show, Dr. Phil and Jerry Springer type shows. These people watching daytime First Take and Stephen A. Smith are just bored and need some energy and fire from their TV so yes they like yelling and arguing and talking about racism and domestic violence and a bunch of shit none of us really want to talk about most of the time. Again ESPN will get our dollars regardless so they cater to dumb ass shady people who are craving drama. They basically turn ESPN into Facebook with a sports twist during non-prime time.

[Irondawg]

Won't miss Danny Kannell at all. Hate it for long timers like Werder and jayson Stark both of which I always liked

[BeardoMSU]

Can at least rejoice in Danny Kannell getting the boot? He is absolutely atrocious.