ESPN's all-access streaming service is bad news for local broadcast companies

[Howard Beale 61]

ESPN’s new all-access streaming service is good news…unless you’re a cable or satellite provider, or one of the many broadcast TV companies that rely on said providers.

 

ESPN is probably the last big reason why most people still subscribe to cable or satellite TV.  Now that ESPN is putting everything on its new streaming service, I suspect the holdout subscribers have a very good reason to cut the cord for good.  That’s obviously bad news for cable and satellite providers.  It will also set off a domino effect that means bad news for broadcast TV companies that rely mostly on retransmission revenue from said providers.  Cable and satellite providers now have more leverage to say no when broadcast companies seek higher fees come negotiation time.

 

Some companies are feeling the squeeze as I type.  For example, Scripps reported a $10 million quarterly loss “as a result of declining legacy pay TV subscribers.”  Gray reported a $2 million drop in retransmission revenue in its latest quarterly report as well.  These losses are very small compared to the revenue both companies made.  However, with ESPN’s newfound devotion to streaming media, the omnipresent threat cord cutting poses to local TV is going to get worse.

 

It's yet another reason why 2025 is a bad year to be in linear broadcast TV.

[TVLurker 200]

I blame all the companies who focused on profit instead of trying to make broadcast TV last.

[nomadcowatbk 149]

1 hour ago, TVLurker said:

I blame all the companies who focused on profit instead of trying to make broadcast TV last.

they never mention antennas when they have carriage disputes,  just other providers, local news and sports will eventually be paywalled, maybe the NFL will give free streams to the primary markets of teams, I'm starting to see commercials for "as seen on TV" products during the local breaks of smaller market stations instead of local business like car dealers

I guess ESPN will see massive subscriber drops during the slower times for sports like the summer, but massive increases when football begins again in the fall

Edited 1 hour ago by nomadcowatbk