Robert Iger, Disney’s chief executive, has said that he could imagine ESPN selling the sports network over streaming video via a so-called over-the-top, or O.T.T., subscription, calling such a move “inevitable.” But he also seems in no rush to make such a move — and for good reason.

“There are many commonly held beliefs/myths/legends about ESPN,” Todd Juenger, an analyst at Bernstein, wrote over the weekend, partly in response to Mr. Greenfield. One such belief, he wrote, is that “ESPN is what holds the bundle together.” But he said: “Maybe that is true, but in a different way than most people intend. If ESPN went O.T.T., we don’t think the bundle would collapse because millions of households would drop cable and subscribe to ESPN. Instead, if ESPN went O.T.T., we think other networks would respond in kind, and perhaps millions of households would drop cable to avoid ESPN (and other expensive sports networks) and take advantage of the rich array of entertainment video options.”

Mr. Iger has acknowledged that television is a mature industry now being disrupted by streaming technology, which makes its future uncertain. But Mr. Iger, 64, may not have to wrestle with these challenges; those will most likely be left to his expected successor, Tom Staggs. (Mr. Iger’s contract ends in mid-2018.)

Most analysts wave off concerns about ESPN, arguing that this won’t be a problem for some time and that live sports will remain the most desirable programming for viewers who still want a bundle of channels. And, they say, it’s the cable companies that will feel the most pain.

“We think that the turmoil and disruption will most be felt by the distributors and some of the weaker programming content companies,” Martin Pyykkonen of Rosenblatt Securities wrote to investors, also seemingly in response to Mr. Greenfield. “For Disney, we think it’s a reasonable bet that they will be a necessary part of almost any skinnier programming package going forward.”

All that may be true. It’s also possible that shifts in television habits will change more slowly than some of the most dire predictions.