For more than 40 years, ESPN has reigned supreme as the king of sports media. Growing its business by consistently raising the price of its fee to cable TV providers, ESPN now generates more than $16 billion in annual revenue. But the business of media is changing rapidly. In the past decade, about 40 million U.S. households have cut the cord on traditional cable TV. ESPN must adjust to find customers that aren’t subscribing to the cable bundle as new competitors including YouTube TV, Apple, Amazon, Peacock and perhaps Netflix bid on packages of live sports. This CNBC documentary examines ESPN’s strategy to fend off larger streamers and questions its sustainability in a digital-first world.

Chapters:
00:00 – 02:25 Intro
02:26 – 08:59 ESPN’s streaming plan
09:00 – 16:14 Rising cost of sports
16:15 – 20:07 Mounting competition
20:08 – 24:20 ESPN’s future

Reporter: Alex Sherman
Senior Managing Producer: Tala Hadavi
Edited and shot by: Darren Geeter
Camera by: Shawn Baldwin, Magdalena Petrova, Andrew Evers, Natalie Rice, Alan Rice, Eric Clark
Post Production Support: Erin Black
Editorial Support: Jeniece Pettitt, Julia Boorstin, Stephen Desaulniers
Animation: Midnight Snacks
Senior Production Manager: Kathy Mavrikakis
Executive Producer: Kamelia Angelova
Executive Editor: Jay Yarow
Additional Footage: Getty Images, ESPN

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Can ESPN Survive As Cable TV Fades?