Begining of the end of the 4 letter network?

[huskerbux]

Costs are going through the roof over the next few years and they have lost subscriptions steadily over the last few. Not usually the great business model to follow.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/espn-made-two-critical-mistakes-132855270.html

 

[HuskerTimOmaha]

It's definitely something to pay attention to with B1G TV negotiations...

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

That article states they overpaid for the NFL by about 500mil? YIKES!!

It will be interesting that's for sure. Also interesting the Texas network didn't go as planned either, oh I realize Texas is doing fine on the deal but obviously they over guessed the amount of people who wanted that package. Fascinating stuff and I will be curious how it all plays out.

 

[NikkiSixx]

Not at all surprised. More and more people are cutting the cord and finding alternative ways to consume sports and tv programming in general. The industry is on the verge of going through a dramatic shift. This B1G money we are supposed to get in a couple of years may not ever happen the way we think it will. The big ten network is built on the old model as well. It's very possible to start seeing networks fail, and not just sports networks in the next 3 years or so. I expect a painfull consolidation in the next 5 years. People don't need or want to pay for 220 channels of content.

 

[leodisflowers]

I am starting to watch FOX more and more it seems.

 

[wkato]

They overpaid for the Longhorns also!

 

[jimbosc]

Content providers will need to find a way to profitably offer their content to customer that only stream. Live sports in particular - require most consumers to be subscribers to a cable or satellite provider to get streamed content. That is the revenue model - not to charge for the content unless you buy a package (NFL ticket, college football, etc.) Clearly subscribers are giving these providers the gigantic middle finger - and I am sure pirating content if they can't get it any other way (cheaply).
ESPN, NBCSN, etc. have been willing to over pay for live content to try and hold subscribers onto cable or satellite. The numbers show - it is not working. Time for a new model. If the mothership crashes to Earth - I would not loose any sleep over it.

 

[Husker.Wed.]

Not at all surprised. More and more people are cutting the cord and finding alternative ways to consume sports and tv programming in general. The industry is on the verge of going through a dramatic shift. This B1G money we are supposed to get in a couple of years may not ever happen the way we think it will. The big ten network is built on the old model as well. It's very possible to start seeing networks fail, and not just sports networks in the next 3 years or so. I expect a painfull consolidation in the next 5 years. People don't need or want to pay for 220 channels of content.

I don't watch a lot of TV, but sometimes I want to sit down, relax and watch something decent for about 30 minutes. What is mind boggling is even though I have the 220 channels, I almost always find "nothing is on". I'm not sure how we got by with 4 channels back in the day, but we managed somehow. I used to like AMC, but that is now the Walking Dead Channel. I used to like the History Channel, but that is now the Ice Road Trucker Channel, I liked History2 but that is now the Alien Channel, and I liked A&E, but that is now the Storage Wars Channel.