How much are we to blame? Isn't it mostly our fault?

[M-I-Coug]

With the recent increase of Cord Cutting and/or skipping Commercials via DVR, I began to question....how much of this is our fault? How do we expect someone like ESPN to give us $31M a year, when fans are streaming a la carte, or skipping commercials?

I am speaking of loss of advertising TV revenue. I know that I'm guilty, because I skip the commercials via DVR. After much reflection, I then asked AI Chat GBT:

Question for AI: With many college football fans cutting the cable, streaming TV a la carte, and/or recording football games with a DVR, then skipping the commercials, how much of a financial impact, regarding loss of revenue, has it had on ESPN, ABC, CBS, NBC, and other College Sports Networks?

Answer from AI: As an AI language model, I don't have access to real-time data, and my knowledge is limited to September 2021. Therefore, I can't provide specific financial impact figures for the period beyond that date. However, I can give you some insights into the trends and challenges that traditional sports broadcasters like ESPN, ABC, CBS, NBC, and other College Sports Networks have faced due to changing viewer habits.

1. Cord-Cutting: The rise of streaming services and a la carte options has led to many viewers cutting the cable cord. This trend has affected traditional cable TV networks' subscriber numbers and advertising revenue.

2. Shift to Streaming: Consumers increasingly prefer to watch content on-demand through streaming platforms, which might not have the same advertising revenue model as traditional TV.

3. DVR and Ad-Skipping: With the availability of digital video recorders (DVRs), viewers can record games and skip through commercials, reducing the effectiveness of traditional TV advertising.

4. Fragmented Audience: As viewers shift to different platforms and services, it becomes harder for traditional networks to maintain their previous levels of audience reach.

5. Sports Rights Costs: Acquiring broadcasting rights for sports events, including college football, can be costly. The revenue challenges mentioned above might affect the networks' ability to invest in these rights.

6. Digital Advertising: While traditional TV advertising faces challenges, digital advertising is on the rise. Networks have been exploring online platforms to generate ad revenue and reach audiences through various devices.

7. Partnerships and Innovations: Networks have been adapting to the changing landscape by forming partnerships, creating their streaming platforms, and experimenting with new content delivery methods.

To get more up-to-date and accurate information about the financial impact of these changes, you would need to refer to recent reports, financial statements, and news articles from reliable sources.

 

[Loyal Coug1]

With the recent increase of Cord Cutting and/or skipping Commercials via DVR, I began to question....how much of this is our fault? How do we expect someone like ESPN to give us $31M a year, when fans are streaming a la carte, or skipping commercials?

I am speaking of loss of advertising TV revenue. I know that I'm guilty, because I skip the commercials via DVR. After much reflection, I then asked AI Chat GBT:

Question for AI: With many college football fans cutting the cable, streaming TV a la carte, and/or recording football games with a DVR, then skipping the commercials, how much of a financial impact, regarding loss of revenue, has it had on ESPN, ABC, CBS, NBC, and other College Sports Networks?

Answer from AI: As an AI language model, I don't have access to real-time data, and my knowledge is limited to September 2021. Therefore, I can't provide specific financial impact figures for the period beyond that date. However, I can give you some insights into the trends and challenges that traditional sports broadcasters like ESPN, ABC, CBS, NBC, and other College Sports Networks have faced due to changing viewer habits.

1. Cord-Cutting: The rise of streaming services and a la carte options has led to many viewers cutting the cable cord. This trend has affected traditional cable TV networks' subscriber numbers and advertising revenue.

2. Shift to Streaming: Consumers increasingly prefer to watch content on-demand through streaming platforms, which might not have the same advertising revenue model as traditional TV.

3. DVR and Ad-Skipping: With the availability of digital video recorders (DVRs), viewers can record games and skip through commercials, reducing the effectiveness of traditional TV advertising.

4. Fragmented Audience: As viewers shift to different platforms and services, it becomes harder for traditional networks to maintain their previous levels of audience reach.

5. Sports Rights Costs: Acquiring broadcasting rights for sports events, including college football, can be costly. The revenue challenges mentioned above might affect the networks' ability to invest in these rights.

6. Digital Advertising: While traditional TV advertising faces challenges, digital advertising is on the rise. Networks have been exploring online platforms to generate ad revenue and reach audiences through various devices.

7. Partnerships and Innovations: Networks have been adapting to the changing landscape by forming partnerships, creating their streaming platforms, and experimenting with new content delivery methods.

To get more up-to-date and accurate information about the financial impact of these changes, you would need to refer to recent reports, financial statements, and news articles from reliable sources.

I gotta say - this whole streaming thing just turns me off. Other posters (thanks!) have tried to explain it to me, but I'm just too much of a dinosaur to get my arms around it. I just want to turn on the TV and watch my Cougs.

On another note - so where is the Pac-12 network in all of this? Are they going defunct or what?

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

Blame for what? Lets define that first.

Second, cord cutting and streaming services were always the way, and most of them have ads now too (that you can't skip.) And the model is slowly shifting - I've found myself agreeing to watch ads on a streaming service to see the content I want - I watched all of Mad Men for free this way.

What's not our fault is the P12N being buried 2 to 3 tiers into a cable package or streaming service - THAT was Leisure Suit Larry's fault. Not only does it punish the people who WANT to watch the P12N by making them pay a premium, it also puts the network out of the reach of casual viewer who might be flipping channels and catch a game. It almost feels punitive to try to watch P12N.

Also, when you put ALL of your fcking games after 5pm on a saturday when the entire east coast viewing audience is already in the bag, you now lose a ton of viewership. I'm sure we got a premium for not competing with the east coast conferences, but not enough to compensate us for when the networks come back to the table and point to the lower viewing numbers as a reason to low-ball the conference for TV money. I mean yeah, no shit- you time slotted us out of a couple of million viewers so you could put Bama Vanderbuilt on at in the afternoon.

P12 needs to find a mid market network, hitch all of our horses to them and raise a huge middle finger to the Mouse. I feel like Amazon might be a good partner for streaming, and its easy enough to get and stream. And if your old and stupid like Loyal, then too bad - you can go to a bar where smart people know how to work a fire stick or you can just miss out.

 

[How_did_this_happen?]

Blame for what? Lets define that first.

Second, cord cutting and streaming services were always the way, and most of them have ads now too (that you can't skip.) And the model is slowly shifting - I've found myself agreeing to watch ads on a streaming service to see the content I want - I watched all of Mad Men for free this way.

What's not our fault is the P12N being buried 2 to 3 tiers into a cable package or streaming service - THAT was Leisure Suit Larry's fault. Not only does it punish the people who WANT to watch the P12N by making them pay a premium, it also puts the network out of the reach of casual viewer who might be flipping channels and catch a game. It almost feels punitive to try to watch P12N.

Also, when you put ALL of your fcking games after 5pm on a saturday when the entire east coast viewing audience is already in the bag, you now lose a ton of viewership. I'm sure we got a premium for not competing with the east coast conferences, but not enough to compensate us for when the networks come back to the table and point to the lower viewing numbers as a reason to low-ball the conference for TV money. I mean yeah, no shit- you time slotted us out of a couple of million viewers so you could put Bama Vanderbuilt on at in the afternoon.

P12 needs to find a mid market network, hitch all of our horses to them and raise a huge middle finger to the Mouse. I feel like Amazon might be a good partner for streaming, and its easy enough to get and stream. And if your old and stupid like Loyal, then too bad - you can go to a bar where smart people know how to work a fire stick or you can just miss out.

Uh...I missed something. What's the "Mouse?"

Otherwise, good comments. Personally I despise ads. I hate being sold to all the time. I find it offensive and manipulative. But I also understand they are a necessary evil.

 

[425cougfan]

No, unless Big 12 fans are to "blame" for their conference getting members $31m a year. Which, by the way, is probably 40% of what SEC and Big Ten schools are going to get. Not like cord-cutting is just going on out west. What's going on out west is Larry Scott's dumb ass not going with a network partner, either at the beginning or when he had the chance later on, because he wanted to be a media company CEO.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

Uh...I missed something. What's the "Mouse?"

Otherwise, good comments. Personally I despise ads. I hate being sold to all the time. I find it offensive and manipulative. But I also understand they are a necessary evil.

Disney.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

No, unless Big 12 fans are to "blame" for their conference getting members $31m a year. Which, by the way, is probably 40% of what SEC and Big Ten schools are going to get. Not like cord-cutting is just going on out west. What's going on out west is Larry Scott's dumb ass not going with a network partner, either at the beginning or when he had the chance later on, because he wanted to be a media company CEO.

In theory I was ok with the media company ceo thing, but turns out Larry was a gigantic p.o.s. when it came to being one.

 

[Loyal Coug1]

Blame for what? Lets define that first.



P12 needs to find a mid market network, hitch all of our horses to them and raise a huge middle finger to the Mouse. I feel like Amazon might be a good partner for streaming, and its easy enough to get and stream. And if your old and stupid like Loyal, then too bad - you can go to a bar where smart people know how to work a fire stick or you can just miss out.

Hey - I may be getting old, but I'm not stupid. Bet my IQ is higher than yours. Just don't want to F with all this streaming BS just to watch my Cougs. At whatever cost. So you say yer sorry.

I just got back from the dog park. This 20 year old know it all punk was the only one there. He had his face buried in his phone, would not even exchange pleasantries. To busy watching some BS. A bit off the subject, but an example of why I hate technology.

 

[425cougfan]

In theory I was ok with the media company ceo thing, but turns out Larry was a gigantic p.o.s. when it came to being one.

Well, I wasn't. Not at all. It was ****ing stupid and I was saying that for a decade. Pretty sure I wrote about it starting in 2011 when this all was happening. If not, maybe 2012 at the latest. Larry was trying to sell us on people in Pittsburgh signing up for a standalone "Pac-12 app" -- yeah, right -- instead of getting Pac-12 games out to everyone who had cable or a cable/streaming package. Was never going to work. Also, look at how much value there is in distribution and cross-promotion alone. You tune into ESPN / Fox, as everyone does during football season most of the day, and you're hit constantly with promos for things on their partner networks (ACCN, SECN, Big Ten, etc.). Meanwhile, you have to go looking for games on the Pac-12 Network, if you even can get them at all.

Further, Larry stuck us with massive startup and ongoing operation costs to start a new sports network (studios, talent, equipment, and all the rest), only to have an amateur hour-level production nobody wanted. Better to have an existing network partner that knows what it's doing and has better production quality bear those costs (no, not for free, but reflected in the rev split, and it's better than massive costs for a high school AV club production). Any notion of being a "leader in streaming" was bullshit. When its time came, as will be the case for ESPN in a few years, the SECN and the rest will just move over there. There's no advantage to taking all that risk and incurring all those costs, other than for Larry and some of the other execs. Then distribution wasn't there, notably DirecTV which meant not only less cash, but less exposure. Just ****ing stupid and it was all foreseeable. There's a reason absolutely every other major conference went with a network partner.

I initially thought Larry was just incompetent, but I've come to believe he, not necessarily as an alternative but in addition, but just pulling a scam to empire build and buttress his resume. I kind of get it from a purely selfish perspective. Look at him. He's fine. The universities and the fans, especially of schools like WSU and Oregon State, are suffering greatly. Not Larry or any of those other assholes like Woodie Dixon.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

Well, I wasn't. Not at all. It was ****ing stupid and I was saying that for a decade. Pretty sure I wrote about it starting in 2011 when this all was happening. If not, maybe 2012 at the latest. Larry was trying to sell us on people in Pittsburgh signing up for a standalone "Pac-12 app" -- yeah, right -- instead of getting Pac-12 games out to everyone who had cable or a cable/streaming package. Was never going to work. Also, look at how much value there is in distribution and cross-promotion alone. You tune into ESPN / Fox, as everyone does during football season most of the day, and you're hit constantly with promos for things on their partner networks (ACCN, SECN, Big Ten, etc.). Meanwhile, you have to go looking for the Pac-12 Network, if you even can get it at all. Further, Larry stuck us with massive startup and ongoing operation costs to start a new sports network (studios, talent, equipment, and all the rest), only to have an amateur hour-level production nobody wanted. Better to have an existing network partner that knows what it's doing and has better production quality bear those costs (no, not for free, but it's still better than massive costs for a high school AV club production). Then distribution wasn't there, notably DirecTV which meant not only less cash, but less exposure. Just ****ing stupid and it was all foreseeable. There's a reason absolutely every other major conference went with a network partner.

I always thought we would be doing both streaming and network, just thought the streaming would be better and ala carte. Not sure I ever understood that he wanted to basically be ESPN for the P12 with exclusive rights and all games would only be on P12N via streaming. I do think that model is feasible in the future for whoever has the balls (and money) to make it happen, but 15 years ago it definitely wasn't.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

Hey - I may be getting old, but I'm not stupid. Bet my IQ is higher than yours. Just don't want to F with all this streaming BS just to watch my Cougs. At whatever cost. So you say yer sorry.

I just got back from the dog park. This 20 year old know it all punk was the only one there. He had his face buried in his phone, would not even exchange pleasantries. To busy watching some BS. A bit off the subject, but an example of why I hate technology.

You'd lose that bet. Its really the only thing I ever brag about, and only if it comes up, so yeah. And for what its worth, I still think I'm a dumbass for various multiple reasons and seem to be set on proving it regularly, but that's besides the point.

As for saying I'm sorry - grow a pair. You should take it as well as you give it. And if you can't tell tongue-in-cheek from an internet post you might be proving my point.

 

[425cougfan]

I always thought we would be doing both streaming and network, just thought the streaming would be better and ala carte. Not sure I ever understood that he wanted to basically be ESPN for the P12 with exclusive rights and all games would only be on P12N via streaming. I do think that model is feasible in the future for whoever has the balls (and money) to make it happen, but 15 years ago it definitely wasn't.

Feasible, maybe, but I don't see how. Better? I have thought about this quite a bit and don't even understand how anyone could believe that. What would be better about the Pac-12 trying to be ESPN, with women's soccer, gymnastics, and shit, and trying to sell that to people on the east coast or elsewhere outside the footprint? Really think people in Ohio, much less New York or Florida, are going to sign up for a "Pac-12 app" and pay $20, or even $10, or any amount, a month for it year-round? It's absurd now and sure as hell was in 2011. It all was ridiculous, as were some of Larry's loose thoughts on a presence in Asia. Give me a break.

Further, even if, say, the Pac-12 was to leap ahead in 2024, as some were claiming as recently as a few years ago, you can't make up for 13 years of getting so much less than everyone else and falling vastly behind, and everyone else would just catch up. If that streaming model was so great, everyone else would do it after it was proven out. You still need to produce the content, and that's exactly what's going to happen when ESPN does that in a few years, as was announced recently. But it was easy to see it was never going to work. None of it made any sense, and these university presidents all got snowed by that POS Larry. Man, this shit pisses me off.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

Feasible, perhaps. Better? I have thought about this quite a bit and see no way at all. What would be better about the Pac-12 trying to be ESPN, with women's soccer, gymnastics, and shit, and trying to sell that to people on the east coast? Laughable, as were some of Larry's loose thoughts on a presence in Asia. Give me a break.

Further, even if, say, the Pac-12 was to leap ahead in 2024, as some were claiming as recently as a few years ago, you can't make up for 13 years of getting so much less than everyone else and falling vastly behind, and everyone else would just catch up. If that streaming model was so great, everyone else would do it after it was proven out. But it was easy to see it was never going to work. Man, this shit pisses me off.

I'm sorry to be dense, but what exactly don't you think would work? Are you suggesting that the potential viewing audience would not be large enough to be profitable? Ever? If so, that says quite a bit about the quality of the product, no? Also, with USC and UCLA gone it is definitely a no go for the Pac-whatever, but I could for sure seeing the SEC doing this and partnering with a single online streamer.

Hey, I know! Maybe the NCAA should start their own network with exclusive rights to ALL P5 football games? What could go wrong?

 

[425cougfan]

I'm sorry to be dense, but what exactly don't you think would work? Are you suggesting that the potential viewing audience would not be large enough to be profitable? Ever? If so, that says quite a bit about the quality of the product, no? Also, with USC and UCLA gone it is definitely a no go for the Pac-whatever, but I could for sure seeing the SEC doing this and partnering with a single online streamer.

Hey, I know! Maybe the NCAA should start their own network with exclusive rights to ALL P5 football games? What could go wrong?

I don't think any of it would work, as I have been ranting about nonstop in this thread and for a decade, and even if at some point it was feasible -- not superior, but merely feasible, which I doubt -- that wouldn't make up for decades of falling behind in revenues received, poor distribution, bad exposure, no cross-promotion opportunities, and no real first-mover advantage, nor enough to offset the massive startup and ongoing operational costs for an amateur-hour production.

Why do you think it would work, even just in the sense of being viable? Who is going to sign up for the app, and how would that be superior to bundled distribution with ESPN OTA networks and, in the future, streaming apps?

Moreover, how would that first-mover advantage convey any real benefit? Let's say this suddenly was viable and outperformed the bundled approach using network partners. What's the benefit to it instead of doing what the SEC has done partnering with ESPN? How would any of that make up for decades of the massive costs and myriad manners of falling behind that I've written about?

 

[Loyal Coug1]

You'd lose that bet. Its really the only thing I ever brag about, and only if it comes up, so yeah. And for what its worth, I still think I'm a dumbass for various multiple reasons and seem to be set on proving it regularly, but that's besides the point.

As for saying I'm sorry - grow a pair. You should take it as well as you give it. And if you can't tell tongue-in-cheek from an internet post you might be proving my point.

Poo on you.

Haven't seen feedback from my question about the Pac-12 network. Guess I need to get on cable and see if it even still exists now. But what about later? How does it play into this elusive media rights deal?

Oh and I googled Larry Scott to try to see what he is up to now. Couldn't find anything. Did find a couple of articles on the SF headquarters fiasco and how much it has and is costing us.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

I don't think any of it would work, as I have been ranting about nonstop in this thread and for a decade, and even if at some point it was feasible -- not superior, but merely feasible, which I doubt -- that wouldn't make up for decades of falling behind in revenues received, poor distribution, bad exposure, no cross-promotion opportunities, and no real first-mover advantage, nor enough to offset the massive startup and ongoing operational costs for an amateur-hour production.

Why do you think it would work, even just in the sense of being viable? Who is going to sign up for the app, and how would that be superior to bundled distribution with ESPN OTA networks and, in the future, streaming apps?

Moreover, how would that first-mover advantage convey any real benefit? Let's say this suddenly was good. What's the benefit to it instead of doing what the SEC has done partnering with ESPN? How would any of that make up for decades of the massive costs and myriad manners of falling behind that I've written about?

I haven't thought about it as much as you, but Disney is hemorrhaging money and they are downsizing significantly. That means ESPN and ABC.

I'll think on this a bit and get back to you, but what I can tell you off the top of my head is that, outside of the actual game coverage, the big networks offer nothing that I want to watch. Their sports "talk shows" have turned into political pundit talking heads that have allowed all the social bullshit dictate their conversations. Sportscenter sucks balls anymore. SVP is great, but he can only do so much with what he's given. Obviously I'm not their demo because somehow the show goes on, but for the life of me I can't figure out why.

What my brain is telling me is that for the right person/ organization and bankroll the market is primed for an usurper to knock ESPN/Disney and Fox from their thrones, or at least take a huge chunk of market share. Getting 5% of $15.8B (googled NCAA D1 revenues - I'm sure most of it is media rights deals) is still $790M, and I feel like 5% is worst case, first year scenario. Obviously the goal is for 3-4x that.

 

[M-I-Coug]

I haven't thought about it as much as you, but Disney is hemorrhaging money and they are downsizing significantly. That means ESPN and ABC.

I'll think on this a bit and get back to you, but what I can tell you off the top of my head is that, outside of the actual game coverage, the big networks offer nothing that I want to watch. Their sports "talk shows" have turned into political pundit talking heads that have allowed all the social bullshit dictate their conversations. Sportscenter sucks balls anymore. SVP is great, but he can only do so much with what he's given. Obviously I'm not their demo because somehow the show goes on, but for the life of me I can't figure out why.

What my brain is telling me is that for the right person/ organization and bankroll the market is primed for an usurper to knock ESPN/Disney and Fox from their thrones, or at least take a huge chunk of market share. Getting 5% of $15.8B (googled NCAA D1 revenues - I'm sure most of it is media rights deals) is still $790M, and I feel like 5% is worst case, first year scenario. Obviously the goal is for 3-4x that.

Disney's in bad shape, big time. For those who do not know....

Their parks at WDW and Anaheim are virtually empty, (for this time of year). Wait times for their major rides are like 10 to 15 minutes, (instead of 40 to 90 minutes).

The hotels on Disney property, (Orlando) are empty.

They have slashed ticket prices to ridiculous amounts, to lure tourist.

On the other hand, cruise ships have increased their prices big time, because of demand.

ESPN has laid off hundreds and hundreds of staff members, becuase revenue is down.

Disney is being punished, big time. In addition, wait until their deferred maintenance at their theme parks take a toll. Watch the YouTuber's exploit the deferred maintenance as they try to save a buck on overhead.

In the history of the Walt Disney Company, they are in real, real bad shape.

BTW, "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny", was lucky to break even. A horrible and disappointing movie. It wasn't just me, but everyone who saw the movie agreed.

Bottom line, their parks are dead, they're empty, and ESPN, (and ABC) is in really bad shape.

And what's really sad? Nobody can see when the storm will be over. They may not survive, if the public continues to avoid Disney!

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

Disney's in bad shape, big time. For those who do not know....

Their parks at WDW and Anaheim are virtually empty, (for this time of year). Wait times for their major rides are like 10 to 15 minutes, (instead of 40 to 90 minutes).

The hotels on Disney property, (Orlando) are empty.

They have slashed ticket prices to riduicuouls amounts, to lure tourist.

On the other hand, cruise ships have increased their prices big time, because of demand.

ESPN has laid off hundreds and hundreds of staff members, becuase revenue is down.

Disney is being punished, big time. In addition, wait until their pro-active maintenance at their theme parks take a toll. Watch the YouTuber's exploding the deferred maintenance as they try to save a buck on overhead.

In the history of the Walt Disney Company, they are in real, really bad shape.

BTW, "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny", was lucky to break even. What a horrible and disspoionting movie.

Bottom line, their parks are dead, their empty, and ESPN is in really bad shape.

They ran the MCU and Star Wars universes into the ground as well, pretty much guaranteeing that no one will be in the theaters for future films. I saw the last Guardians movie and it was ok at best, but very typical of everything hollywood anymore - chock full of fan service and canned jokes and very little substance. As much as a theater ticket costs now, I'm pretty set on not giving any Disney product my money as its almost sure to be garbage. But I digress.

BTW, they still have a covid warning on their ticket purchase webpage. And yes, it does look like their prices have gone down some since the last time I looked.

 

[justinbgocougs]

Disney did it to themselves by going completely woke. They deserve everything they're getting for that horrible Kenobi show, absolute trash

 

[Flatlandcoug]

Disney's in bad shape, big time. For those who do not know....

Their parks at WDW and Anaheim are virtually empty, (for this time of year). Wait times for their major rides are like 10 to 15 minutes, (instead of 40 to 90 minutes).

The hotels on Disney property, (Orlando) are empty.

They have slashed ticket prices to ridiculous amounts, to lure tourist.

On the other hand, cruise ships have increased their prices big time, because of demand.

ESPN has laid off hundreds and hundreds of staff members, becuase revenue is down.

Disney is being punished, big time. In addition, wait until their deferred maintenance at their theme parks take a toll. Watch the YouTuber's exploit the deferred maintenance as they try to save a buck on overhead.

In the history of the Walt Disney Company, they are in real, real bad shape.

BTW, "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny", was lucky to break even. A horrible and disappointing movie. It wasn't just me, but everyone who saw the movie agreed.

Bottom line, their parks are dead, they're empty, and ESPN, (and ABC) is in really bad shape.

And what's really sad? Nobody can see when the storm will be over. They may not survive, if the public continues to avoid Disney!

Empty is a strong word to describe what's going on at the park. According to queue-times.com, a site that has tracked park attendance at Disney for 10 years, the recent traffic on Mondays to Wednesdays has been running between 71% and 92% full with the majority of days at 83% or above. Thursday-Friday is generally 50-60% full Saturdays and Sundays are running around 30-35% full. This was a busier weekend with the park at 50% capacity.

Compare that to 2019 and you see that Mondays to Wednesdays were 79% to 92% full which means running about 4-5% higher than 2023 on average. Thursday-Fridays were 53% to 86% full. Saturday-Sundays were 60-70% full.

What that says is that the locals who come on the weekends aren't showing up as much but the out of state tourism is keeping the park pretty full on weekdays. A park running at 80% plus capacity for several days a week isn't empty. FWIW, the "small" crowds of 2023 are bigger than the crowds from 2014-18. 2019 and 2021 were higher but frankly, crowd sizes were already dropping in 2022 and the July 2023 crowds are bigger than July 2022

 

[Stretch 74]

With the recent increase of Cord Cutting and/or skipping Commercials via DVR, I began to question....how much of this is our fault? How do we expect someone like ESPN to give us $31M a year, when fans are streaming a la carte, or skipping commercials?

I am speaking of loss of advertising TV revenue. I know that I'm guilty, because I skip the commercials via DVR. After much reflection, I then asked AI Chat GBT:

Question for AI: With many college football fans cutting the cable, streaming TV a la carte, and/or recording football games with a DVR, then skipping the commercials, how much of a financial impact, regarding loss of revenue, has it had on ESPN, ABC, CBS, NBC, and other College Sports Networks?

Answer from AI: As an AI language model, I don't have access to real-time data, and my knowledge is limited to September 2021. Therefore, I can't provide specific financial impact figures for the period beyond that date. However, I can give you some insights into the trends and challenges that traditional sports broadcasters like ESPN, ABC, CBS, NBC, and other College Sports Networks have faced due to changing viewer habits.

1. Cord-Cutting: The rise of streaming services and a la carte options has led to many viewers cutting the cable cord. This trend has affected traditional cable TV networks' subscriber numbers and advertising revenue.

2. Shift to Streaming: Consumers increasingly prefer to watch content on-demand through streaming platforms, which might not have the same advertising revenue model as traditional TV.

3. DVR and Ad-Skipping: With the availability of digital video recorders (DVRs), viewers can record games and skip through commercials, reducing the effectiveness of traditional TV advertising.

4. Fragmented Audience: As viewers shift to different platforms and services, it becomes harder for traditional networks to maintain their previous levels of audience reach.

5. Sports Rights Costs: Acquiring broadcasting rights for sports events, including college football, can be costly. The revenue challenges mentioned above might affect the networks' ability to invest in these rights.

6. Digital Advertising: While traditional TV advertising faces challenges, digital advertising is on the rise. Networks have been exploring online platforms to generate ad revenue and reach audiences through various devices.

7. Partnerships and Innovations: Networks have been adapting to the changing landscape by forming partnerships, creating their streaming platforms, and experimenting with new content delivery methods.

To get more up-to-date and accurate information about the financial impact of these changes, you would need to refer to recent reports, financial statements, and news articles from reliable sources.

I would say that more than our fault as viewers that it is the fault of the networks and advertisers for jamming so much quantity and such poor quality of advertising down our throats. They are driving us away, our tolerance level has been exceeded by a factor of at leat two. For instance:
1. How many times have you looking at the guide to see that a movie that runs 122 minutes is in a 180 minute time slot. Are you kidding me? One minute of advertising for every two minutes of content? FU!
2. For those of you that do watch regular TV on cable or satellite, how do you think the commercials are? How horrible are every single one of the Progressivve Insurance commercials with Flo and the rest of her bakery gowned boobs? God, they just gag me. And I am a Spectrum customer, do I really need to see 200 damn Spectrum commercials if I have a long day of watching? Back to back sometimes, every commercial break at least one runs, and there isn't a more irritating spokes person on TV right now than that a-hole they use.
3. Sure, give us a lot MORE political correctness. Please-I am begging you. Did we really need Jake from State Farm to turn from white guy to black guy? Oh, sure, they claim it was to switch from a doofus company employee to a "professional actor", but I am still waiting for any noteworthy work from the new Jake.
4. Don't you just love it when watching a 1 hour program near the end they have 3-5 minutes of commercials, come back for 30-45 seconds of semi-related stuff from the program, and then go into another long commercial break of 4-5 minutes? Yeah, well, just fvck you and the horse you rode in on. There are still several hundred other channels for me to go to while you are pulling that bullshit on us. Remember, the days of us having to walk over to the TV to change the channel are long gone, and that "Last Channel" button on the remote works great.

 

[Stretch 74]

Poo on you.

Haven't seen feedback from my question about the Pac-12 network. Guess I need to get on cable and see if it even still exists now. But what about later? How does it play into this elusive media rights deal?

Oh and I googled Larry Scott to try to see what he is up to now. Couldn't find anything. Did find a couple of articles on the SF headquarters fiasco and how much it has and is costing us.

PAC 12 Network is still here on cable and I assume the one satellite provider. It sucks big time. Not so much for its content, but for the guide. I would say that 90+% of watching is for a fan of one school watching a game that involves that school. As a Cougar, how often will I watch CO vs UT or ASU? Close to never, so with that as the baseline how often will I scroll through all 7 channels listed in the guide as "PAC 12 Football" on the off chance that one of them involves the Cougars? Not very often, I guarantee that. So how effing tough would it be to have some interns ID each and every program in every sport by the teams involved and the year involved? It is ridiculous that they don't have that done after all these years. And I brought that up when speaking to Chun last fall and he didn't show much interest in it, just that they were aware of it. Well, if you are aware of the problem, why the Hell don't you fix it so you can increase the viewership of your content?

 

[Cougini5591]

I'm sorry to be dense, but what exactly don't you think would work? Are you suggesting that the potential viewing audience would not be large enough to be profitable? Ever? If so, that says quite a bit about the quality of the product, no? Also, with USC and UCLA gone it is definitely a no go for the Pac-whatever, but I could for sure seeing the SEC doing this and partnering with a single online streamer.

Hey, I know! Maybe the NCAA should start their own network with exclusive rights to ALL P5 football games? What could go wrong?

Funny

 

[Cougini5591]

I would say that more than our fault as viewers that it is the fault of the networks and advertisers for jamming so much quantity and such poor quality of advertising down our throats. They are driving us away, our tolerance level has been exceeded by a factor of at leat two. For instance:
1. How many times have you looking at the guide to see that a movie that runs 122 minutes is in a 180 minute time slot. Are you kidding me? One minute of advertising for every two minutes of content? FU!
2. For those of you that do watch regular TV on cable or satellite, how do you think the commercials are? How horrible are every single one of the Progressivve Insurance commercials with Flo and the rest of her bakery gowned boobs? God, they just gag me. And I am a Spectrum customer, do I really need to see 200 damn Spectrum commercials if I have a long day of watching? Back to back sometimes, every commercial break at least one runs, and there isn't a more irritating spokes person on TV right now than that a-hole they use.
3. Sure, give us a lot MORE political correctness. Please-I am begging you. Did we really need Jake from State Farm to turn from white guy to black guy? Oh, sure, they claim it was to switch from a doofus company employee to a "professional actor", but I am still waiting for any noteworthy work from the new Jake.
4. Don't you just love it when watching a 1 hour program near the end they have 3-5 minutes of commercials, come back for 30-45 seconds of semi-related stuff from the program, and then go into another long commercial break of 4-5 minutes? Yeah, well, just fvck you and the horse you rode in on. There are still several hundred other channels for me to go to while you are pulling that bullshit on us. Remember, the days of us having to walk over to the TV to change the channel are long gone, and that "Last Channel" button on the remote works great.

You would have been BY FAR the best "Jake" with State Farm.

Biggs comes in 2nd

 

[M-I-Coug]

Empty is a strong word to describe what's going on at the park. According to queue-times.com, a site that has tracked park attendance at Disney for 10 years, the recent traffic on Mondays to Wednesdays has been running between 71% and 92% full with the majority of days at 83% or above. Thursday-Friday is generally 50-60% full Saturdays and Sundays are running around 30-35% full. This was a busier weekend with the park at 50% capacity.

Compare that to 2019 and you see that Mondays to Wednesdays were 79% to 92% full which means running about 4-5% higher than 2023 on average. Thursday-Fridays were 53% to 86% full. Saturday-Sundays were 60-70% full.

What that says is that the locals who come on the weekends aren't showing up as much but the out of state tourism is keeping the park pretty full on weekdays. A park running at 80% plus capacity for several days a week isn't empty. FWIW, the "small" crowds of 2023 are bigger than the crowds from 2014-18. 2019 and 2021 were higher but frankly, crowd sizes were already dropping in 2022 and the July 2023 crowds are bigger than July 2022

 

[Flatlandcoug]

I would say that more than our fault as viewers that it is the fault of the networks and advertisers for jamming so much quantity and such poor quality of advertising down our throats. They are driving us away, our tolerance level has been exceeded by a factor of at leat two. For instance:
1. How many times have you looking at the guide to see that a movie that runs 122 minutes is in a 180 minute time slot. Are you kidding me? One minute of advertising for every two minutes of content? FU!
2. For those of you that do watch regular TV on cable or satellite, how do you think the commercials are? How horrible are every single one of the Progressivve Insurance commercials with Flo and the rest of her bakery gowned boobs? God, they just gag me. And I am a Spectrum customer, do I really need to see 200 damn Spectrum commercials if I have a long day of watching? Back to back sometimes, every commercial break at least one runs, and there isn't a more irritating spokes person on TV right now than that a-hole they use.
3. Sure, give us a lot MORE political correctness. Please-I am begging you. Did we really need Jake from State Farm to turn from white guy to black guy? Oh, sure, they claim it was to switch from a doofus company employee to a "professional actor", but I am still waiting for any noteworthy work from the new Jake.
4. Don't you just love it when watching a 1 hour program near the end they have 3-5 minutes of commercials, come back for 30-45 seconds of semi-related stuff from the program, and then go into another long commercial break of 4-5 minutes? Yeah, well, just fvck you and the horse you rode in on. There are still several hundred other channels for me to go to while you are pulling that bullshit on us. Remember, the days of us having to walk over to the TV to change the channel are long gone, and that "Last Channel" button on the remote works great.

I quit watching "The Walking Dead" when they had the season finale that ended with the cliff hanger where Negan captured the group. It was a bad episode to start with and ended up being 30 minutes of bad TV sandwiched between 30 minutes of commercials and then it ended with no resolution.

As for your PC comment, I really, really hate the brownwashing of today's TV programming. We all get it that whitewashing used to be a problem, but it's laughable to see some of the casting choices that have been made that have ruined what should have been good shows in the name of DEI. The Witcher was butchered by brownwashing and the spinoff series was completely unwatchable because of it. I don't mind when a change is made and the role is enhanced by the choice, but when it's just checking a box....ugh. And it's not solely about color. In Justified - City Primeval, Olyphant forced his daughter into the show and it's terrible. She's not a good actress at this time and the best thing that they did was send her packing at the end of the third episode. Bad casting, crappy acting and a character that doesn't really help the plot move forward is a deadly cocktail and Disney (and media in general) are just puking that stuff out left and right.

 

[95coug]

With the recent increase of Cord Cutting and/or skipping Commercials via DVR, I began to question....how much of this is our fault? How do we expect someone like ESPN to give us $31M a year, when fans are streaming a la carte, or skipping commercials?

I am speaking of loss of advertising TV revenue. I know that I'm guilty, because I skip the commercials via DVR. After much reflection, I then asked AI Chat GBT:

Question for AI: With many college football fans cutting the cable, streaming TV a la carte, and/or recording football games with a DVR, then skipping the commercials, how much of a financial impact, regarding loss of revenue, has it had on ESPN, ABC, CBS, NBC, and other College Sports Networks?

Answer from AI: As an AI language model, I don't have access to real-time data, and my knowledge is limited to September 2021. Therefore, I can't provide specific financial impact figures for the period beyond that date. However, I can give you some insights into the trends and challenges that traditional sports broadcasters like ESPN, ABC, CBS, NBC, and other College Sports Networks have faced due to changing viewer habits.

1. Cord-Cutting: The rise of streaming services and a la carte options has led to many viewers cutting the cable cord. This trend has affected traditional cable TV networks' subscriber numbers and advertising revenue.

2. Shift to Streaming: Consumers increasingly prefer to watch content on-demand through streaming platforms, which might not have the same advertising revenue model as traditional TV.

3. DVR and Ad-Skipping: With the availability of digital video recorders (DVRs), viewers can record games and skip through commercials, reducing the effectiveness of traditional TV advertising.

4. Fragmented Audience: As viewers shift to different platforms and services, it becomes harder for traditional networks to maintain their previous levels of audience reach.

5. Sports Rights Costs: Acquiring broadcasting rights for sports events, including college football, can be costly. The revenue challenges mentioned above might affect the networks' ability to invest in these rights.

6. Digital Advertising: While traditional TV advertising faces challenges, digital advertising is on the rise. Networks have been exploring online platforms to generate ad revenue and reach audiences through various devices.

7. Partnerships and Innovations: Networks have been adapting to the changing landscape by forming partnerships, creating their streaming platforms, and experimenting with new content delivery methods.

To get more up-to-date and accurate information about the financial impact of these changes, you would need to refer to recent reports, financial statements, and news articles from reliable sources.

No. It’s the fault of the networks for not seeing the direction their customers and the market wanted to go, and not figuring out how to provide a product that met that. It’s their fault for locking themselves into long-term, high cost contracts that forced them to stick to a dying product model.

 

[ttowncoug]

Which is why doing a deal with Apple makes sense. Let’s be in front of innovation and not waiting for it to change us.

 

[CougPatrol]

Steaming is coming whether us older folks like it or not. Regarding the current situation, WSU was always going to be a victim of corporatism.

I just got home from a rare summer trip to the Palouse. I had to take my 5th wheel to an independent RV technician who lives in Potlatch, ID. As I was driving from Moscow on US-95N enjoying the scenery, I couldn't help but remind myself how fortunate I've been to enjoy these past 40 years of Cougar football. The fact that we've been as competitive as we have been over the years is an incredible accomplishment.

The needle has been moving this direction for years. Costco, Walmart, Subway, Amazon, Google. USC, Oregon, UW, Ohio State, Michigan, Texas, Alabama. How in the world is a program with 12K season ticket holders in Pullman, WA going to keep up with fan bases with billionaire donors and 100K seat stadiums?

Maybe we survive to the next round of GOR contracting, but facts are facts. We are a G5 program in today's market, like it or not. What I'd love to see, even though it won't be enough to keep the league together long term, is for the Pac to add SDSU, UNLV, and SMU and get to 12 teams, because it will make the next transition easier. 5-10 years from now, I'll be shocked if we're not in a conference with Boise State, Montana, North Dakota, North Dakota State, South Dakota State, and the rest of the mid-size West coast programs like ours.

 

[wazzucougs96]

Hey - I may be getting old, but I'm not stupid. Bet my IQ is higher than yours. Just don't want to F with all this streaming BS just to watch my Cougs. At whatever cost. So you say yer sorry.

I just got back from the dog park. This 20 year old know it all punk was the only one there. He had his face buried in his phone, would not even exchange pleasantries. To busy watching some BS. A bit off the subject, but an example of why I hate technology.

Yeah it's definitely the fault of phones that no one wants to talk to a miserable old git like yourself

 

[wazzucougs96]

Disney's in bad shape, big time. For those who do not know....

Their parks at WDW and Anaheim are virtually empty, (for this time of year). Wait times for their major rides are like 10 to 15 minutes, (instead of 40 to 90 minutes).

The hotels on Disney property, (Orlando) are empty.

They have slashed ticket prices to ridiculous amounts, to lure tourist.

On the other hand, cruise ships have increased their prices big time, because of demand.

ESPN has laid off hundreds and hundreds of staff members, becuase revenue is down.

Disney is being punished, big time. In addition, wait until their deferred maintenance at their theme parks take a toll. Watch the YouTuber's exploit the deferred maintenance as they try to save a buck on overhead.

In the history of the Walt Disney Company, they are in real, real bad shape.

BTW, "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny", was lucky to break even. A horrible and disappointing movie. It wasn't just me, but everyone who saw the movie agreed.

Bottom line, their parks are dead, they're empty, and ESPN, (and ABC) is in really bad shape.

And what's really sad? Nobody can see when the storm will be over. They may not survive, if the public continues to avoid Disney!

LOLOLOLOLOL

Source this or stfu

 

[wazzucougs96]

I would say that more than our fault as viewers that it is the fault of the networks and advertisers for jamming so much quantity and such poor quality of advertising down our throats. They are driving us away, our tolerance level has been exceeded by a factor of at leat two. For instance:
1. How many times have you looking at the guide to see that a movie that runs 122 minutes is in a 180 minute time slot. Are you kidding me? One minute of advertising for every two minutes of content? FU!
2. For those of you that do watch regular TV on cable or satellite, how do you think the commercials are? How horrible are every single one of the Progressivve Insurance commercials with Flo and the rest of her bakery gowned boobs? God, they just gag me. And I am a Spectrum customer, do I really need to see 200 damn Spectrum commercials if I have a long day of watching? Back to back sometimes, every commercial break at least one runs, and there isn't a more irritating spokes person on TV right now than that a-hole they use.
3. Sure, give us a lot MORE political correctness. Please-I am begging you. Did we really need Jake from State Farm to turn from white guy to black guy? Oh, sure, they claim it was to switch from a doofus company employee to a "professional actor", but I am still waiting for any noteworthy work from the new Jake.
4. Don't you just love it when watching a 1 hour program near the end they have 3-5 minutes of commercials, come back for 30-45 seconds of semi-related stuff from the program, and then go into another long commercial break of 4-5 minutes? Yeah, well, just fvck you and the horse you rode in on. There are still several hundred other channels for me to go to while you are pulling that bullshit on us. Remember, the days of us having to walk over to the TV to change the channel are long gone, and that "Last Channel" button on the remote works great.

Imagine being such a pathetic snowflake that you are upset about a state farm commercial.

Right wingers get offended by literally everything and it is hilarious.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

Imagine being such a pathetic snowflake that you are upset about a state farm commercial.

Right wingers get offended by literally everything and it is hilarious.

I personally didn't notice or think about the fact that they brownwashed Jake from State Farm, but the pendulum on diversity in the media has swung too far to the left in my opinion and raceswapping by State Farm is just another symptom of it. It doesn't matter in the big picture and it's certainly not worth getting worked up about whether it should or shouldn't be a white guy or a black guy.

The pathetic snowflake thing goes both ways. I recently saw an article where little people were angry that some fantasy show didn't use little people to portray dwarven characters. The problem is that the physiology of little people doesn't allow them to handle weapons without looking ridiculous. Witcher: Blood Origin had a little person portraying a female dwarf warrior. I quit watching the show because it was stupid...but the smart thing that they did was to have her fights happen off-screen and implied with sound effects rather than showing it. You can't be mad at directors who don't want to handle fights that way...but the left wants to go all PC and yell "discrimination!" when they don't use little people for those roles. So yeah, be careful casting stones. Your glass house is just as fragile.

 

[Crimoug]

This thread should be deleted. Some weird racist comments, Disney parks are empty (was there a month ago and it was packed) and other random stupid comments. It’s basically a crazy right wing conspiracy thread (far left ain’t much better) stick to football or conference talk so your idiocy can be less apparent people. This thread is a bad look for Washington state.

 

[CougPatrol]

This thread should be deleted. Some weird racist comments, Disney parks are empty (was there a month ago and it was packed) and other random stupid comments. It’s basically a crazy right wing conspiracy thread (far left ain’t much better) stick to football or conference talk so your idiocy can be less apparent people. This thread is a bad look for Washington state.

I don't like racist, sexist, or insulting posts either, but censoring them is the wrong approach. More can be learned and greater progress achieved by keeping the lines of communication open.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

This thread should be deleted. Some weird racist comments, Disney parks are empty (was there a month ago and it was packed) and other random stupid comments. It’s basically a crazy right wing conspiracy thread (far left ain’t much better) stick to football or conference talk so your idiocy can be less apparent people. This thread is a bad look for Washington state.

Uhhh, you may want to find a different place to hang out. At least 50% of the threads on this board devolve into this kind of bullshit.

 

[425cougfan]

This thread should be deleted. Some weird racist comments, Disney parks are empty (was there a month ago and it was packed) and other random stupid comments. It’s basically a crazy right wing conspiracy thread (far left ain’t much better) stick to football or conference talk so your idiocy can be less apparent people. This thread is a bad look for Washington state.

I don't want to have to lay out the Pac-12 Networks' flawed inception and execution, nor how hosed WSU would be with a piss-ant Mountain West media rights cut, for the 85th time. As for the social war shit, I could do without it, but if you think this is bad, you haven't been here long. Thread stays.

 

[wazzucougs96]

I personally didn't notice or think about the fact that they brownwashed Jake from State Farm, but the pendulum on diversity in the media has swung too far to the left in my opinion and raceswapping by State Farm is just another symptom of it. It doesn't matter in the big picture and it's certainly not worth getting worked up about whether it should or shouldn't be a white guy or a black guy.

The pathetic snowflake thing goes both ways. I recently saw an article where little people were angry that some fantasy show didn't use little people to portray dwarven characters. The problem is that the physiology of little people doesn't allow them to handle weapons without looking ridiculous. Witcher: Blood Origin had a little person portraying a female dwarf warrior. I quit watching the show because it was stupid...but the smart thing that they did was to have her fights happen off-screen and implied with sound effects rather than showing it. You can't be mad at directors who don't want to handle fights that way...but the left wants to go all PC and yell "discrimination!" when they don't use little people for those roles. So yeah, be careful casting stones. Your glass house is just as fragile.

You are crying about a spokesman for a commercial for a lousy insurance company. Grow up, loser.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

You are crying about a spokesman for a commercial for a lousy insurance company. Grow up, loser.

What? I said that I hadn't noticed it before and that even if it was stupid to change the guy's race, it wasn't worth worrying about.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

What? I said that I hadn't noticed it before and that even if it was stupid to change the guy's race, it wasn't worth worrying about.

why are you feeding the troll?