60% of ESPN's Revenue is from Cable Subscriber Fees

[WyoBrandX]

http://www.businessinsider.com/espn-revenue-subscriber-fees-2015-11" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That ESPN makes a lot of money off of cable subscribers is not a surprise, but the enormity is jaw-dropping. Consider that the next-biggest money-maker is TNT, which charged just $1.48 per subscriber and generated $1.7 billion in subscriber revenue in 2014.

If ESPN starts getting desperate for cash, this G5/P5 split might not actually occur. I think this bubble is about to pop.

 

[LanderPoke]

Hopefully.

 

[ragtimejoe1]

http://www.businessinsider.com/espn-revenue-subscriber-fees-2015-11
If ESPN starts getting desperate for cash, this G5/P5 split might not actually occur. I think this bubble is about to pop.

I'm curious why you think the split may not occur if ESPN gets desperate for cash?

Good link and thanks for sharing. My worry would be that ESPN generates 3.9B from advertising. I'm not sure what fraction of that is CFB driven, but of the CFB advertising revenue, I'm 99% certain that 99% of the revenue is due to the P5 contracts. The article states that the cost of producing live events is sky rocketing (largely broadcast rights fees). I could see them renegotiating with the contracts they must have (i.e. B1G) and have them play games on off nights. They do that, and they drop the likes of the MAC and MWC while fielding "more compelling" matchups on off-nights. I would worry that it accelerates the split.

 

[Asmodeanreborn]

ESPN is definitely facing some tough times ahead. Cord cutters are becoming more and more common, and a _lot_ of them have zero interest in sports.

I'd be happy not having ESPN as well, as I don't care about the NBA or the NFL, but sadly there are no options where I get the other sports networks and not ESPN.