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Bill Simmons Says ESPN Blew It By Not Embracing Tech (cnbc.com)
An anonymous reader shares an article: ESPN's problem isn't competition over content: They didn't position themselves for a future where cord cutting was a reality, according to former ESPN personality Bill Simmons. "They didn't see a lot of this coming," said Simmons. "They didn't see cord cutting coming. They weren't ready for it. A lot of decisions were made based on subs staying at a certain level. They had to realize they were a technology company. The ones winning are now Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Hulu. ESPN should have been in that mix, but they're in Bristol. They should have had a place in Silicon Valley. That was their biggest mistake." ESPN is far from over, Simmons points out. Though it may make less money in the future, it has such strong cable deals, he said. "Everybody in here was paying $7 for ESPN whether they watched or not," he said. Simmons left ESPN in May 2015 after a public breakup, and signed a deal for an HBO series called "Any Given Wednesday" shortly after. The HBO show was cancelled in November 2016. Simmons also launched a new website called The Ringer in 2016. Also read Bloomberg's profile of executives at the company: ESPN Has Seen the Future of TV and They're Not Really Into It.
ESPN?
What's that?
ESPN blew it when they went aggressively progressive in their commentary and corporate statements. Sure, it made both ESPN subscribers in SF very happy, but the first post is typical of lefty big city dwellers.
ESPN's audience 2 years ago was something like 65-35 conservative (including a lot of folks who kept cable just to keep ESPN). Well, they certainly got rid of that "deplorable" majority of their subscribers, didn't they? Perhaps focusing entirely on pleasing the crowd you have cocktail parties with is a mistake for a nationwide business, just as it was for a Democratic presidential candidate?
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
Oh god shut the fuck up retard. I can;t wait until we have you peasants back to running plows through fields of your own shit.
Treating deplorables fairly has turned out to be a huge disaster luckily you all seem happy to embrace feudalism.
How nice to see a congressman posting on Slashdot. It's always humorous when the mask slips.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
Not the least of which was injecting political commentary every chance they got. Oh, and you know, not really showing "all-sports, all the time" anymore. Their base tuned out, and here they are. No sympathy from me, and no amount of tech can save you when you essentially give the middle finger to your bread and butter.