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[Vanillalite]

CNN

On Wall Street, there's skittishness about the Happiest Place on Earth.

Disney shares fell nearly 9% on Wednesday amid deep concerns about the company's most profitable enterprise, ESPN.

Fears about subscriber declines seemed to trigger a broader sell-off of media stocks. Time Warner shares were down 9% in mid-afternoon trading; 21st Century Fox shares were down 7%; Comcast shares were down 5%.

But when the company posted mixed second quarter results on Tuesday, the focus was on ESPN, which is being pinched by changes in consumer habits.

Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed that there have been "some subscriber losses" at ESPN because some households have opted for smaller cable packages that don't include the pricey cable channel.

But he said that Nielsen's estimate of the decline -- 3.2 million subscribers in a little more than 12 months -- was overstated. The flagship channel has more than 90 million subscribers overall.

 

[Escape Goat]

21st Century Fox shares were down 7%

I can think of 4 fantastic reasons for this one.

 

[freeofgreed]

huh. Didn't know Disney owned ESPN.

 

[super-famicom]

I can think of 4 fantastic reasons for this one.

Hehehe.

 

[entremet]

Most profitable entreprise?

Interesting. Even with all those expensive contracts too.

 

[Sanjuro]

CBS Sports
CBS Sports Network
NBC Sports
NBC's Outdoor Life Network
FOX Sports
FOX Sports One
MLB Network
MLB.tv
NFL Network
NHL Network
Local Sports
Local Sports Cable Networks
GAF Threads
Etc.

 

[Maximus.]

Shareholders are crazy. These companies are dealing with serious cash and it's still not enough for a chunk of them.

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

ESPN stinks and their coverage stinks.

 

[TheAbsolution]

Most profitable entreprise?

Interesting. Even with all those expensive contracts too.

Yup, They account for 25% of Disney profits/revenues(Can't remember which right now which)
Easily one of their best acquisitions.

 

[BobLoblaw]

Sell off ESPN please. Get that stink out of your portfolio.

 

[ReAxion]

you know what's weird? they still use go.com

 

[brochiller]

Sell off ESPN please. Get that stink out of your portfolio.

It really is a stain on the Disney name.

 

[sixteen-bit]

I can think of 4 fantastic reasons for this one.

ayy lmao

 

[entremet]

Sell off ESPN please. Get that stink out of your portfolio.

Stockholders would riot. Hate it all you want, but it looks like they bring tons of cash.

 

[Pai Pai Master]

Clearly, the stock market is also tired of all these superhero movies.

I stand corrected, the "fatigue" is real!!

 

[Hari Seldon]

Good!! Fuck ESPN and the stupid bundling system we have in the US.

 

[Walter White Walker]

I can think of 4 fantastic reasons for this one.

Yeah - I would imagine some are imagining the future where only the people that actually watch ESPN have to pay for ESPN. That likely won't be pretty w/o all the non-watchers subsidizing that.

 

[Silkworm]

Stockholders would riot. Hate it all you want, but it looks like they bring tons of cash.

Quick, make a spin off ESPN channel and show First Take around the clock. Just fill it with repeats. Who cares if they are several years old, just make sure it's wall-to-wall episodes of Stephen A. Smith vs. Skip Bayless. That and make ESPN 8- The Ocho a reality. Surely with such changes ESPN will gain its viewership back.

 

[Hellion]

CBS Sports
CBS Sports Network
NBC Sports
NBC's Outdoor Life Network
FOX Sports
FOX Sports One
MLB Network
MLB.tv
NFL Network
NHL Network
Local Sports
Local Sports Cable Networks
GAF Threads
Etc.

This and nbatv is all I need. I'm done espn.

 

[rokkerkory]

I can get all the news I want from ESPN on their podcasts which are free.

Also, I just need NFL network tia

 

[anderyoung]

time to buy DIS

 

[Fox318]

They gave way too much money to the SEC and NFL.

 

[Sephzilla]

I can think of 4 fantastic reasons for this one.