ESPN Lost Another 3.8% of Viewers in May The exodus of viewers away from ESPN shows no sign of slowing down. Nielsen data indicates the channel lost another 3.8% of its viewership in May, nearly a third higher than the median drop of 2.9% for cable channel subscriber losses during the month overall. Nielsen notes that ESPN was in 86.9 million households as of the end of May, down 3.3% from 89.8% one year earlier. These defections continue courtesy of skinny bundles that exclude sports (which ESPN tried to sue to stop) and the slow but steady rise of cord cutting among users that no long want to pay for traditional cable television.

Pivotal Research analyst Brian Wieser says ESPN's losses -- and last quarter's record cord cutting rates -- come despite the fact that the overall number of TV-watching households actually grew by 1.7% (they just didn't subscribe to TV or watch ESPN). When Nielsen data began more clearly highlighting ESPN's subscriber defections, ESPN originally made a bit of a public stink, insisting the data had to be in error (it wasn't). More recently, ESPN has been conducting a notable number of layoffs, though you'll note the executives that failed to steer the company through choppy cord cutting waters (or, frankly, see the phenomenon on the horizon at all) remain gainfully employed. ESPN's been losing 2-4% of its subscriber base annually, and monthly losses have been between 500,000 and 700,000 subscribers. Meanwhile, one recent survey suggested that ESPN's been losing 2-4% of its subscriber base annually, and monthly losses have been between 500,000 and 700,000 subscribers. Meanwhile, one recent survey suggested that 56% of consumers would drop ESPN in a heartbeat if it meant saving the estimated $8 more the channel costs cable subscribers each and every month.







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Most recommended from 25 comments



Packeteers

Premium Member

join:2005-06-18

Forest Hills, NY 30 recommendations Packeteers Premium Member death of 1000 cuts i love watching espn slowly die.



next i want to live long enough to see all the politicians lose their elections when

tax paid stadiums they championed get bulldozed in favor of affordable housing. Corporate

join:2014-10-04 19 recommendations Corporate Member Actual viewership may be much lower Despite ESPN being in 87 million households, how many people actually watch the channel?



In the years that I've had cable (or a service that emulates cable, such as DirecTV Now), the only times that I have ever tuned to ESPN were when I entered the wrong channel number.



Anyone else share the same experience? ncted

join:2010-10-25

Durham, NC 14 recommendations ncted Member Hope for America This is the kind of thing that gives me a sliver of hope for the future of America. The amount of time, money, and other resources we expend on sports is excessive. Now if only people would start demanding skinny packages without cable news, we could do the same for politics. six9

join:2001-12-03

Wake Forest, NC 13 recommendations six9 Member They are behind the times First, they need to get their dadgum politics off SportsCenter and stick to the highlights. They have turned into nothing but opinion shows like the other so-called news networks



Second, why in the hell do they not just start up a streaming service? I'd go for that come football season. Or why not let me pay a small fee so I can have ESPN3 without having a TV service? Gee, that would make too much sense.



I know most of you on here couldn't give a crap about sports but I like watching football and college basketball. If DirecTV doesn't make me a deal in the next month or two, I'm going to miss out on that because ESPN leadership is too far in the dark or too darn stupid to let me consume their product. adam1991

join:2012-06-16

united state 12 recommendations adam1991 Member Hey, public--apply this to those stadiums as well Now everyone should take this attitude to the voting booths, and stop the public funding of stadiums that team owners think they're entitled to.

Red Hazard

Premium Member

join:2012-07-21

O Fallon, IL 10 recommendations Red Hazard Premium Member Lost 3.8% Viewers That figure would be much much higher if ESPN was optional in programming bundles. nfotiu

join:2009-01-25 8 recommendations nfotiu Member How bad is this for the RSNs? The story that isn't getting reported yet is that RSNs are almost always in the same bundle as ESPN, so they are probably seeing the same the declines. Each one of them is not a big enough story to make national news, but they have created a revenue and salary bubble in the MLB, NHL and NBA that will surely be hit hard soon.

Economist

The economy, stupid

Premium Member

join:2015-07-10

united state ·AT&T FTTP

6 recommendations Economist Premium Member Imagine if ESPN actually had to earn their customers... ...instead of relying on channel welfare. Put all sports channels, including ESPN, on their own premium tier and watch that 3.8% drop go well into the double digits. Hey, ESPN, poker is not a sport. I watch RSN, but can't remember the last time I watched an ESPN broadcast (unless it was on ABC).