DISH Reaches Long Term Agreement with DISNEY / ESPN / ABC

[Yespage]

I dunno where I got 16 Billion from,it was only 15.2 Billion.
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2011/09/19/Media/ESPN.aspx

Thanks for the links. Gosh, $2 billion a year?! What is that? More than $100 million a game? With cash like that, do they really need to charge admission to the game?! It is stuff like that which makes me want to say the heck with ESPN.

Here is a great article showing the spending spree that Disney owned ESPN has been on in the past few years.
http://www.businessinsider.com/espn-nightmare-scenario-2013-5

The odd thing... competition isn't good for the consumer. The more channels that can bid for something the more the consumer is going to pay. Which would be alright if this led to lower ticket prices, but that doesn't happen.

 

[jrbdmb]

Thanks for the links. Gosh, $2 billion a year?! What is that? More than $100 million a game? With cash like that, do they really need to charge admission to the game?! It is stuff like that which makes me want to say the heck with ESPN.

The odd thing... competition isn't good for the consumer. The more channels that can bid for something the more the consumer is going to pay. Which would be alright if this led to lower ticket prices, but that doesn't happen.

At this point, we have to hope that the cable / sat companies keep the rates for these new sports channels in check - which they tend to do because the higher rights fees either cut into their profits or anger consumers if they just pass the higher costs on. They will also be less willing to pay extra for ESPN in an environment where they are losing programming to other channels (soccer, NHL, NASCAR already going or gone).

Another possibility is that eventually consumer anger forces a la carte (either voluntarily or via Congress). To me that is the ultimate "nightmare scenario" for ESPN - paying $16B for Monday Night Football and then (perhaps) losing over half of the audience, impacting both subscription and advertising fees. If the ESPN channels cost me $15/mo., I would probably only subscribe during college basketball season - nothing else on there is that compelling for me.

 

[osu1991]

At this point, we have to hope that the cable / sat companies keep the rates for these new sports channels in check - which they tend to do because the higher rights fees either cut into their profits or anger consumers if they just pass the higher costs on. They will also be less willing to pay extra for ESPN in an environment where they are losing programming to other channels (soccer, NHL, NASCAR already going or gone).

Another possibility is that eventually consumer anger forces a la carte (either voluntarily or via Congress). To me that is the ultimate "nightmare scenario" for ESPN - paying $16B for Monday Night Football and then (perhaps) losing over half of the audience, impacting both subscription and advertising fees. If the ESPN channels cost me $15/mo., I would probably only subscribe during college basketball season - nothing else on there is that compelling for me.

Keep dreaming, Fox was seeking an increase from 22 cents to a $1.50 for FS1 and espn is supposedly looking for an increase from the current $5 range up to the $8 neighborhood from Dish. Sounds like they're really keeping things in check

 

[ashutto20]

I know it's an espn thread but we could be having this discussion when the original fs1 contract is up

 

[LASooner]

It's time to start phasing out SD receivers completely. You can plug an HD receiver into an SD TV. ESPN's channels, all of them, are shot and produced in HD, they are distributed and down converted to SD. It took 15 years for the transition from Black and White to color, we're in our 17th year since the first HD TV stations came on line. It's time. It's more silly to expect a station in SD than HD these days.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

On that topic.......
http://forums.solidsignal.com/conte...ficially-the-worst-year-for-channel-blackouts

Good article by Mr Sweet.

 

[dare2be]

It's time to start phasing out SD receivers completely. You can plug an HD receiver into an SD TV. ESPN's channels, all of them, are shot and produced in HD, they are distributed and down converted to SD. It took 15 years for the transition from Black and White to color, we're in our 17th year since the first HD TV stations came on line. It's time. It's more silly to expect a station in SD than HD these days.

And that has nothing to so with the reason the U and Disney channels are in SD at the moment.

 

[ronjohn]

I think a lot of people who complain about providers losing channels during negotiations miss these issues about cost. ESPN is reportedly asking for $8 per subscriber for the ESPN suite? That applies to almost everyone on Dish, with the exception of the Family pack. ESPN requires that EVERY package contain ESPN at $8 per subscriber per month. Probably half of the people don't even watch sports at all. If ESPN was an add on pack at $16 a month, I would probably pay it. As a matter of fact, I would rather pay that knowing what it costs, than REQUIRE that half of the Dish customers subsidize my sports channels. The problem is that even many of the people complaining about the lack of ESPNU in HD would not pay $16 a month to get it. Disney knows that it is easier to get EVERYONE to pay $8 a month and not know it than to get the people who actually want the content to pay the prices they are hiding.

 

[Yespage]

Keep dreaming, Fox was seeking an increase from 22 cents to a $1.50 for FS1 and espn is supposedly looking for an increase from the current $5 range up to the $8 neighborhood from Dish. Sounds like they're really keeping things in check

Yeah, and Fox actually lost content and they wanted an increase!

 

[Brucegrr]

This. Lots of basketball on the U.

This is why I want ESPNU in HD.

Come November, I am ready for some college basketball to fill in the lonely, cold winter days when football is not on.

 

[dangue]

I think a lot of people who complain about providers losing channels during negotiations miss these issues about cost. ESPN is reportedly asking for $8 per subscriber for the ESPN suite? That applies to almost everyone on Dish, with the exception of the Family pack. ESPN requires that EVERY package contain ESPN at $8 per subscriber per month. Probably half of the people don't even watch sports at all. If ESPN was an add on pack at $16 a month, I would probably pay it. As a matter of fact, I would rather pay that knowing what it costs, than REQUIRE that half of the Dish customers subsidize my sports channels. The problem is that even many of the people complaining about the lack of ESPNU in HD would not pay $16 a month to get it. Disney knows that it is easier to get EVERYONE to pay $8 a month and not know it than to get the people who actually want the content to pay the prices they are hiding.

Not for the entire suite. $8 just for ESPN.

 

[ronjohn]

Not for the entire suite. $8 just for ESPN.

So that would probably be $10-12 for the suite that EVERY Dish subscriber is REQUIRED to pay to subsidize those of us who like sports. I find it hard to believe that anyone has objections to Dish pushing back.

 

[ashutto20]

So that would probably be $10-12 for the suite that EVERY Dish subscriber is REQUIRED to pay to subsidize those of us who like sports. I find it hard to believe that anyone has objections to Dish pushing back.

Im one of the biggest sports fans out there...its not that I have objections to dish pushing back...but if the channels drop I think our bills will stay around the same if not go up...I understand to fight but they're is no gurantee our bills will reflect the battle

 

[rjfrandle]

Maybe I didn't go back far enough in this thread, but is Disney, ABC Family, ESPN U gone from Dish. I still have ESPN & ESPN2, but the other Disney owned channels are gone on my system.

 

[lucky86]

Maybe I didn't go back far enough in this thread, but is Disney, ABC Family, ESPN U gone from Dish. I still have ESPN & ESPN2, but the other Disney owned channels are gone on my system.

I would double check. All my normal channels are still there

 

[rjfrandle]

Nevermind. Somebody put my guide on my HD channels, instead of My Channels.

 

[Yespage]

So that would probably be $10-12 for the suite that EVERY Dish subscriber is REQUIRED to pay to subsidize those of us who like sports. I find it hard to believe that anyone has objections to Dish pushing back.

Well, as a side note, even those that want to get ESPN are subsidizing ridiculous prices that Disney paid for content. And I'd like to keep ESPN, but it is hard (read "impossible) to justify Disney's decision to use ESPN's quasi-must carry status to spend subscribers money well in advance, just to get exclusive rights to show commercial riddled football.

Im one of the biggest sports fans out there...its not that I have objections to dish pushing back...but if the channels drop I think our bills will stay around the same if not go up...I understand to fight but they're is no gurantee our bills will reflect the battle

There is no way Dish can drop the mouse channels and not have a suitable response for customers. Sure, people in NY didn't get much (anything?) when their RSNs were dropped, but the mouse channels are a huge chunk of change. Dish would be crazy not to lower the bill (if only $5) or to counter with lowering NBCSports or just giving away the Multisports pack. The loss of the ESPN slate would be huge to sports customers, but if they were to get all the other sports channels, that'd definitely soften the blow.

I do ponder that. Disney says "We'll pull the plug on ESPN", and Dish responds, "We'll give away RedZone for free to our customers". Disney responds "Touche!"

Of course, in the end, they both need each other. I just wish that NBC Sports was on Latino Dos, so I could be mostly free from Disney.

 

[sethwell]

So that would probably be $10-12 for the suite that EVERY Dish subscriber is REQUIRED to pay to subsidize those of us who like sports. I find it hard to believe that anyone has objections to Dish pushing back.

It would be more after Dish applies their markup to it. they aren't giving us channels at cost that is for sure.

What is the markup on a channel? 40%, 50%? Anyone know by chance.

 

[ronjohn]

Well, as a side note, even those that want to get ESPN are subsidizing ridiculous prices that Disney paid for content. And I'd like to keep ESPN, but it is hard (read "impossible) to justify Disney's decision to use ESPN's quasi-must carry status to spend subscribers money well in advance, just to get exclusive rights to show commercial riddled football.

......

Of course, in the end, they both need each other. I just wish that NBC Sports was on Latino Dos, so I could be mostly free from Disney.

They do both need each other. However, I think ESPN's current business model is not sustainable. They pay premium prices for content with the expectation that ALL current TV customers will pay higher prices for ESPN in the future. I read an estimate somewhere that approximately 43% of TV viewers watch ESPN channels. Live sports is the main content left that requires watching live. The 57% who do not watch the ESPN channels will eventually discover that they can get the same content on demand for less than the $60-100 that most are paying per month. They can get their desired content on Amazon, Itunes, Netflix, etc for less money. If the 57% move to other methods of content delivery, then the providers like Dish will be hurt very badly. ESPN would then have to more than double their rates to maintain the same level of revenue. That would cause some casual sports viewers to drop TV delivery also. If paid TV subscribers drop to 30-35% of the current numbers, cable providers, Dish, and Direct would all be in serious trouble if not out of business.

I have to believe that Dish knows that forcing all customers to pay higher prices for sports content will quicken the pace of cord-cutting. I also have to believe that in the negotiations they are terrified of the chances of either enraging 43% of their customers or driving 57% of their customers to internet streaming services. The whole business model of ESPN is a house of cards that is bound to come crashing down.

 

[sam_gordon]

Name one national TV provider who doesn't offer it in HD, along with ESPN News, which also airs games, and the Disney channels. Not carrying a channel offered in HD is practically unheard of, except for Dish. This is something every other carrier hasn't had an issue with, for years. Its ridiculous. Tell someone who has another carrier about it and they are dumbfounded. Its ridiculous.

So what? The channels haven't been in HD for 5+ years. Anyone currently under contract entered that contract knowing the channels weren't in HD, anyone not in contract can go to another provider. If the HD versions are that important, the consumer shouldn't be subscribed to Dish.