Iger does ESPN deal

[PTBoardOp94]

I'm 67 and my wife's 60. The demos for broadcast and cable have to be positively scary.

Yup.

By network, 18-49 demo, prime time only, comparing 2013 to 2023:
ABC: -73%
CW: -86%
CBS: -76%
FOX: -60%
NBC: -63%

I didn't see data for 2023, but I found Nielsen data from 2021 that said FOX prime-time audience had the youngest median age of 58, and "Big Three" networks all had a median age over 60 with CBS registering oldest at 66

By the way, total audience was also off 50% from 2013 to present, so not even old Uncle Francis watches as much network TV as he used to.

Sources:
Hollywood Reporter (2023)
Deadline.com (2013)
Variety (median ages)

 

[Mark Roberts]

So if I cancel cable now, I save nearly $100 a month or over a kilobuck a year, and, in particular I avoid paying nearly $150 a year for ESPN which I never, ever have or would watch*.... and another $60 or so on other sports channels which have the same or less interest. I will get a cheap "You're fired" thrill sticking it to ESPN and the cable company for forcing me to pay for sports channels I will never view.

• * Did I say "Never"? It's n-e-v-e-r.

¡Nunca jamás y yo tampoco!

Funny reading this while I'm idly watching a couple of CenturyLink workers string fiber to our new house. Are we going to get cable here? Nope. The house we've bought has internal Ethernet wiring specifically for an Internet connection. Wi-Fi in the house and local TV off the air. We'll figure out an appropriate DVR approach for the latter but I suspect all we'll watch is local news and Stephen Colbert once the writers strike ends in 2025.

Only sporting events we care about are bike races so can get Peacock for that. Will pick up one or two other services to start. Otherwise we'll chop almost $200 from our monthly bills, plus we're not getting a landline here either for even more savings. No more ESPN tax, "regional sports fees" and other "rent" ( using the term the way economists use it) No more dealing with Comcast customer service, bad as it is. This will be hurtling into a new future and I'm looking forward to it...once I figure it out!!

 

[michael hagerty]

Another brick in the wall just caved in. RadioInsight, on its Facebook page (so far) is reporting that Scripps fired ALL of its TV station GMs today. Stations will now be overseen by corporate VPs, who will be responsible for 6-8 stations each.

https://www.facebook.com/radioinsightcom/posts/pfbid0ZP59RZfEztwjZRdyCHbhRqyhghMbe7FvV8bA3Fdoj3YaTVSwQhLss9gnxez2BoN9l

 

[michael hagerty]

FTVLive now going with the story on Twitter---but for Patrons only.

 

[Mark Roberts]

Out of curiosity I went through my cable bill just now. Leaving out the high-speed Internet portion of it, here are various charges (per month):

$89.49 for the programming package, which no doubt includes fees to various program providers. Does not include HBO or similar services, which we don't have.

$9.95 for an "HD Technology Fee" which is listed as an "add-on".
$9 for the (mandatory) cable box.
$22.50 for a "Broadcast TV Fee"
$17.25 for a "Regional Sports Fee"
10 cents for a "Regulatory Cost Recovery"
$1.76 for "Government, Educational, etc." fee

Then there are the outright taxes:
$9 for the franchise fee
98 cents in sales tax
$12.68 for the local utility tax (Oakland, which never met a tax it didn't like)

I'll grant that there's at least some value in that $89.49 fee for various programming sources and the local channels. But the remaining $83.22? Pure grift, in my opinion, including the taxes. Cable companies, local governments, and broadcasters let their greed get away with them and now they've choked the golden goose a million times too many. There are alternatives, and cord-cutting is the result.

 

[michael hagerty]

The Scripps memo, in its entirety:

Scripps employees:

In June, I announced how we are changing our local media organization to place decision-making closer to the operations with a focus on improving our agility and driving financial performance. As part of this, we are creating five new regional vice president/GM roles.

Today I’m pleased to announce the regional vice presidents/GMs and the stations they will support, effective immediately:

• Kathleen Choal, currently vice president and general manager at KSHB in Kansas City, will oversee Kansas City, Waco, Corpus Christi, Indianapolis, Tulsa and Omaha.
• Anita Helt, currently vice president and general manager at KNXV in Phoenix, will oversee Phoenix, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Bakersfield, Tucson and Las Vegas.
• Nick Nicholson, currently vice president and general manager at WFTS in Tampa, will oversee Tampa, West Palm Beach, Miami, Tallahassee, Fort Myers, Florida 24 and Lafayette.
• Lyn Plantinga, currently vice president and general manager at WTVF in Nashville, will oversee Nashville, Lexington, Cleveland, Buffalo and Cincinnati.
• Joe Poss, currently vice president and general manager at WTMJ in Milwaukee, will oversee Milwaukee, Detroit, Lansing, Grand Rapids and Green Bay.

These regional vice presidents/GMs will oversee the station they currently manage as well as their regional group of stations. In the station where they each sit, we will recruit for a station manager role between now and the end of August to help with the station’s day-to-day operations. Current department heads at these stations are eligible to apply for these positions. Successful candidates will take on the station manager responsibilities in addition to their current department head role.

Jon Saunders, vice president of local media operations, who currently oversees the Montana stations, will oversee a larger group of stations. These stations are Missoula, Boise/Twin Falls, Great Falls/Helena, Butte/Bozeman, Billings, Salt Lake City, Denver, Colorado Springs, Baltimore, Richmond and Norfolk.

In Jon’s station group, we will introduce the station manager role in several of our smaller markets where we have open GM positions – Missoula, Butte/Bozeman and Boise/Twin Falls. Again, current department heads will be eligible to apply for these roles, which would be in addition to their department head responsibilities. The station managers in these markets will report to Jon and we will not be filling the GM roles.

In addition to Jon and the regional GMs, Ed Fernandez, vice president of the local media network, also reports to me, as previously announced.

Please join me in congratulating the regional vice presidents/GMs on their new roles. Once the station manager positions are posted, we will share details on WorkLife.

Dean Littleton
Senior Vice President, Local Media

 

[Mark Roberts]

I noticed that the new station managers would be taking on that role in addition to their current roles. Those are going to be some very busy people. I doubt that they, or the new regional VPs, will have much time for anything other than ongoing supervision. It's as if they're giving up on any possibility of strategic positioning for the future and are there to try to hold on for dear life.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

That is probably spot on.

 

[Weiserguy]

Do I hear the sound of the Titanic circling the drain?

 

[michael hagerty]

I noticed that the new station managers would be taking on that role in addition to their current roles. Those are going to be some very busy people. I doubt that they, or the new regional VPs, will have much time for anything other than ongoing supervision. It's as if they're giving up on any possibility of strategic positioning for the future and are there to try to hold on for dear life.

My bet---the vast majority of the new Station Managers will be the current Sales Managers, who will get a little bit of money added to their base pay. Given that a large-market GM for a company like Scripps is probably a $300,000 paycheck, plus bonuses, the company saves some serious money with this.

 

[TheBigA]

I noticed that the new station managers would be taking on that role in addition to their current roles.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. We did this in radio many years ago.

 

[TheBigA]

Analysts are suggesting Apple should buy ESPN. That way they'd get the rights to lots of sports, and put them all behind a paywall.

Apple should buy ESPN from Disney for $50 billion, says analyst who calls a deal a ‘no brainer’ | Fortune

Disney’s CEO is searching for a ‘strategic partner’ for ESPN as he looks to adapt the sports network for the streaming era. Would he entertain an outright sale?

fortune.com

Apple Buying Or Partnering With ESPN Is A “No-Brainer” To One Wall Street Analyst, And “Much More Attractive” Than Full Disney Acquisition

With sports a "golden goose" in streaming, it would be a "no-brainer" for Apple to partner with or even acquire ESPN, one Wall Street analyst says.

deadline.com

Should Apple Buy ESPN From Disney? Wall Street Analyst Dan Ives Thinks It's a "No-Brainer" | The Motley Fool

ESPN's live sports content is a "golden goose" that Apple might want to have.

www.fool.com

 

[michael hagerty]

Analysts are suggesting Apple should buy ESPN. That way they'd get the rights to lots of sports, and put them all behind a paywall.

Apple should buy ESPN from Disney for $50 billion, says analyst who calls a deal a ‘no brainer’ | Fortune

Disney’s CEO is searching for a ‘strategic partner’ for ESPN as he looks to adapt the sports network for the streaming era. Would he entertain an outright sale?

fortune.com

Apple Buying Or Partnering With ESPN Is A “No-Brainer” To One Wall Street Analyst, And “Much More Attractive” Than Full Disney Acquisition

With sports a "golden goose" in streaming, it would be a "no-brainer" for Apple to partner with or even acquire ESPN, one Wall Street analyst says.

deadline.com

Should Apple Buy ESPN From Disney? Wall Street Analyst Dan Ives Thinks It's a "No-Brainer" | The Motley Fool

ESPN's live sports content is a "golden goose" that Apple might want to have.

www.fool.com

About a week and a half ago, The Hollywood Reporter ran a piece about the possibility of Apple just buying Disney outright:

A Disney Sale to Apple? Don’t Count It Out This Time

Facing the staggering problems afflicting all legacy studios, is Bob Iger contemplating a once-unthinkable option? The signals he sent in Sun Valley suggest that it could happen.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Yeah, there'd be regulatory hurdles, and yeah, several pieces (including linear TV) would get spun.

Frankly, Apple/ESPN is an easier deal to do. And, depending on what Iger can unload after that, they could always consider a full-on merger/devouring.

 

[TheBigA]

About a week and a half ago, The Hollywood Reporter ran a piece about the possibility of Apple just buying Disney outright:

That was referenced in some of the articles I posted. There are many things one can buy when you run a company worth almost $3 trillion. The question is what fits within the business model. Theme parks and broadcasting don't fit with Apple. Content creation and distribution does. That's why ESPN fits better.

Getting the rights to all types of sports isn't the hard part. Apple could do that without buying ESPN. Buying ESPN's rights comes with fulfilling their obligations. That means most of them would not be for streaming only. So looking long term, sports on TV will cost consumers more money. We know that now. They won't be buying something to give it away.

 

[michael hagerty]

Theme parks and broadcasting don't fit with Apple.

Well, not yet. But what if Disney Imagineering is suddenly powered by Apple R&D at the parks? A massive injection of constantly updating (and heavily branded) cutting-edge tech to parks that really exist as promotion vehicles for content and distribution (in addition to generating healthy revenue themselves)?

 

[TheBigA]

Well, not yet. But what if Disney Imagineering is suddenly powered by Apple R&D at the parks?

Some of that already happens without one company owning the other. Imagineering also gets some of that from Industrial Light & Magic that came with their purchase of LucasFilm. They had been working together since the 80s. Remember Captain EO?

 

[michael hagerty]

Some of that already happens without one company owning the other. Imagineering also gets some of that from Industrial Light & Magic that came with their purchase of LucasFilm. They had been working together since the 80s. Remember Captain EO?

That was 1986. The possibilities are different today.

Not saying it's gonna happen. Again, what I wrote was that an ESPN partnership or purchase makes the most sense, and that Iger's probably gonna offload the rest of linear TV.

But beyond that, who knows? Disney wasn't in the parks business until Walt decided it was.

 

[TheBigA]

Iger's probably gonna offload the rest of linear TV.

When it happens, it will be the beginning of the end of TV as we knew it. Radio has already been through this.

 

[michael hagerty]

When it happens, it will be the beginning of the end of TV as we knew it. Radio has already been through this.

Completely agree.

 

[davideduardo]

Completely agree.

Add in the horribly timed AFTRA-SAG strike and many people will just forget about the traditional networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox) and even more extensively watch "cable channels" or streams (often the same thing with different deliveries).

The strike has reduced the networks to providing non-scripted shows and all drama, comedy and other scripted material is in reruns.

Further "enhancing" the "end of TV as we know it".

What concerns or interests me is that the networks are married to Hollywood and the AFTRA-SAG structure. Newer media has no trouble producing material independently even in other countries or states where the union is of less influence or non-existence. This means that tens of thousands of AFTRA-SAG jobs may be eliminated in the long run.