Chapter 1154： Target ESPN

Yang Cheng has always been looking at people to order dishes. Note that this sentence is not derogatory, but refers to Yang Cheng's decision to treat each other according to the character of the opponent.

An upright gentleman like Robert Iger does not mind revealing some commercial secrets to show his sincerity.

Facing Yang Cheng’s sincerity, Robert Iger said, “But Disney also has perfect sports resources, and ESPN also needs the resources of Fox Sports to supplement.”

Yang Orange smiled, "Robert, what you can't deny is that although Disney is one of the greatest film companies in the world, no matter how brilliant its performance is, it cannot conceal the embarrassment of ESPN's steadily failing and retreating. It has even reached a crisis in Disney's stock To the point."

Iger's mouth is stiff, "That's why we need Fox Sports to join to make up for ESPN's shortcomings."

Yang Cheng shook his head and resolutely denied, "You were wrong Robert. Although I am sorry, I paid a high price for an ESPN investigation report.

The report shows that the performance of ESPN, which is the main source of Disney’s revenue, has continued to decline in recent years. The revenue of the cable TV network business fell 6.8% to 3.96 billion US dollars; operating profit fell 13% to 1.45 billion US dollars. "

Iger still refuses to let go, "However, the reality is that we still have a profit, and the profit is not small. I am personally satisfied."

Yang Cheng didn't catch up, and said to himself, "In 1995, Disney bought ABC TV for a sky-high price of 19 billion U.S. dollars, and ESPN, a 24-hour sports program under ABC, has also become Disney's pocket.

ESPN used to dominate the cable TV coquettish. I still remember a classic slogan, "Watch the game, find ESPN". It was the voice of American sports fans and my voice. ESPN bought the copyright of almost all popular events in the United States. Including the NBA, NFL, MLB, etc., it once contributed 70% of Disney's revenue during its heyday.

However, in the past few years, ESPN has been plagued by a decline in users, and the most profitable sector has begun to weaken. This is an indisputable fact.

In 2013, ESPN had 99 million users, and last year it became 92 million. Don’t look at this mere 7 million, which is not worth mentioning before the huge number of nearly 100 million. The loss of 7 million users means the loss of hundreds of millions of users. Subscription revenue.

If this trend continues, the situation will get worse and worse.

Falling below the 90 million mark is already visible to the naked eye.

While the subscription is damaged, ESPN still has to pay high copyright broadcasting fees. I roughly estimate that ESPN will spend more than 7 billion US dollars on copyright. The subscription fee per user is 7 US dollars per month. That’s US$84. If the number of users falls below 90 million, subscription revenue will reach US$7 billion. Together with advertising revenue, total revenue can barely cover all expenditures, but the scale of profitability is already very limited. , Don’t forget, your number of subscribers is still declining, what about next year? What about the next year? "

Robert Iger shook his head, "What you say is true, but this is not a reason to persuade me to give up Fox Sports."

Yang Cheng raised his index finger, "No, Robert, I not only want to persuade you to give up the fight for Fox Sports, but also to persuade you to give up ESPN."

Iger was taken aback, "What? Do you want to buy ESPN?"

Yang Cheng stretched out his hands, "If you agree, why not?"

After a pause, he took a sip of cold coffee, and analyzed again, "The average price of cable TV subscriptions in the United States has risen by nearly 40% in the past five years, and the percentage of American households owning cable TV has dropped from 87% five years ago 82%.

What does this mean? This shows that American consumption patterns are changing.

With the rise of limited TV fees and the emergence of streaming media, more Americans will choose streaming media with more extensive content, relatively few advertisements, and cheaper prices to watch videos, such as Netflix and Amazon.

Take Amazon as an example. Users only need to pay a one-year fee of US$99. They can enjoy free two-day delivery service on the website and free access to Amazon’s PrimeVideo to watch video competitions.

There is also Netflix. Users only need to pay $7.99 a month to watch massive videos, including movies, TV shows, sports events and so on.

Users are always the smartest. Since the subscription fees for TV and streaming media are almost the same, why not choose streaming media with more video types and fewer ads?

Besides, in addition to the impact of streaming media, ESPN also needs to take the main responsibility for its own decline.

The old business model makes ESPN difficult.

ESPN only broadcasts sports content and uses high copyright fees as a threshold to prevent other media from stealing its content resources. Most of its revenue depends on user subscription fees. This business model is very fragile. Once the number of users drops, not only subscriptions Fees drop sharply, and advertisers will also withdraw. The sports empire created by ESPN may collapse at any time. "

Robert Iger fell into deep contemplation. It doesn't matter whether Yang Cheng's words are right or not. At least it sounds straight to the essence of the problem. This is enough to make Iger more vigilant. Moreover, Yang Cheng is not an ordinary person. His analysis logic is worthy of anyone's deep thought. of.

Yang Cheng did not stop because Iger was thinking, "The model that all content needs to be paid, should we consider changing it?

Nowadays, in addition to some streaming media, many cable TV NBC and CBS have begun to broadcast some events on the free channel, such as MLB, the Olympic Games, the Tennis Open and so on.

ESPN is one of the few TV stations that broadcast all major events on premium channels.

Users only want to watch the NFL, but they need to pay high prices for other ESPN events. These events are likely to be free on other platforms. Can users balance their mentality?

Anyway, I changed me I would feel uncomfortable, even if these costs are nothing in my eyes. "

Iger sighed, "Maybe you are right."

Yang Cheng immediately raised his hand, "I haven't finished talking yet. Besides that, ESPN adopts the linear transmission mode of traditional TV and broadcasts programs according to a fixed schedule. For example, ESPN only broadcasts one NFL game on Monday night, but for For some game fans, just a fixed broadcast cannot meet their needs. They spend so much money in exchange for a cost-free experience. No one wants to be taken advantage of by fraud.

They can switch to other channels or streaming media to watch, and many ESPN sports events are concentrated in the autumn and winter seasons. Summer is basically a window period for events. At this stage, how to maintain subscribers, I feel that ESPN has nothing Clues. "

Iger stared at Yang Cheng scorchingly, "Then you must have a solution?"

Yang Cheng curled his lips, "Iger, this problem is a bit naive, even if I have a solution, will I talk about it now? Will you still sell ESPN to me if you get my solution?"

The corner of Iger's mouth turned up, and he smiled playfully, "Even if you don't say it, I don't necessarily split ESPN and sell it to competitors. Don't forget, ABC is a comprehensive TV station and lacks sports content. , The television station is incomplete, and I cannot explain it to the board of directors."

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