Should ESPN be set free to be a-la-carte, what fraction of Dish's 14 million subs would pay directly for it?
Let's assume 25% are rabid enough sports fans to buy ESPN a-la-carte, so for ESPN to maintain it's current income it would have to quadruple the price it currently charges for its programming - $5/month jumps to $20/month.
If the number is 20% then the price has to go to $25/month.
The fear is that nobody knows how many would fork over for ESPN a-la-carte and the higher the price the fewer will subscribe.
So if ESPN goes a-la carte, my Dish bill drops $5
but if I want ESPN I must fork over $15 or $20 extra (over my pre a-la-carte bill) per month for it.
I don't forsee a snowballs chance that ESPN would take that risk - a known income stream for a questionable one - not smart and ESPN is the one who decides how its programming is distributed.