ESPN and the future of OU on TV/Streaming

NickZepp84

All-Conference
Aug 23, 2013
773
1,657
93
If you haven't been following Disney is selling it's TV assets including ABC and is looking for a partner to spin off ESPN.

Essentially cable has gone from 100 million subs to 50 million subs or lower. So if ESPN is paired with someone else(google or apple most likely) and then sold direct to consumer it'll end up being 25 or 30 bucks month.

My point in all this is that in all this with everything going to espn/abc in the SEC move we could see it be more expensive to watch OU sports and in rural areas it may be impossible. And if ESPN goes bankrupt down the line the SEC stuff would pretty much be back on the market.

The next couple years will be interesting to say the least.
 
Dec 8, 2002
26,647
407
0
If you haven't been following Disney is selling it's TV assets including ABC and is looking for a partner to spin off ESPN.

Essentially cable has gone from 100 million subs to 50 million subs or lower. So if ESPN is paired with someone else(google or apple most likely) and then sold direct to consumer it'll end up being 25 or 30 bucks month.

My point in all this is that in all this with everything going to espn/abc in the SEC move we could see it be more expensive to watch OU sports and in rural areas it may be impossible. And if ESPN goes bankrupt down the line the SEC stuff would pretty much be back on the market.

The next couple years will be interesting to say the least.

I was thinking about this very thing yesterday. ESPN used to be such a pleasure to watch. The price kept going up and up over the years to where people like myself cut the cord. Unfathomable contacts, using it as a political and social justice platform and outright greed ruined it for me. I'm back to 1980 on some Saturdays... listening to the local OU radio game broadcasts with Toby Rowland, Teddy Lehman and company. Other times we chip in $ as a group to watch OU games at someone's house. As for professional sports, I live happily without it.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • Like
Reactions: iasooner2000
Oct 20, 2002
38,097
12,071
0
I've heard a year or two ago, that the big money online people like YouTube, and Amazon will dominate college football in the not too distant future. They have the money to spend, and want to expand into the sports world, esepecially college athletics. Maybe this will hasten that transition.
 

MOJO_ERASER

Sophomore
Jun 21, 2023
193
183
0
If you haven't been following Disney is selling it's TV assets including ABC and is looking for a partner to spin off ESPN.

Essentially cable has gone from 100 million subs to 50 million subs or lower. So if ESPN is paired with someone else(google or apple most likely) and then sold direct to consumer it'll end up being 25 or 30 bucks month.

My point in all this is that in all this with everything going to espn/abc in the SEC move we could see it be more expensive to watch OU sports and in rural areas it may be impossible. And if ESPN goes bankrupt down the line the SEC stuff would pretty much be back on the market.

The next couple years will be interesting to say the least.
I agree with what you’re saying but that’s the reason every single channel is offering streaming services and ESPN will still be king because everyone has to pay the watch their team …. Espn will easily survive with the sec and even though they laid people off it really only has to do with cable tv not the independent streaming services .