Please don't subscribe to ESPN+/DAZN/etc (or even use free trials)

I will forgo subscribing if all of you will join me in UNSUBSCRIBING from HBO and Showtime. I am heartily sick of being socially engineered by hypocrites and halfwits and would prefer to purchase from a more focused entity. Sure ESPN has more than boxing (which is the only sport I recognize as such), but at least it's narrowed down to sports. Would that I could buy videocast fights in a free market, each on it's own merits. These new, more narrowly focused services appear to me to be a step in that direction. I support these attempts.

 

Some of this change will be generational. It will happen nonetheless because the old model will no longer be cost effective to deliver as legacy platforms lose share and ad revenue.

 

Exactly. Saying “lets boycot DAZN” but staying with showtime/HBO makes just about 0 sense to me, as the later cost alot more.
So, is this actually a “lets boycot changes” type of thing or what?

 

I am a little underwhelmed by the current roster of fighters signed up, but its still early day's, i will be supporting because it has potential, 9.99 per month is peanuts if they can deliver the PPV worthy shows, If they truly can deliver quality fights and as many PPV worthy shows as they claim then its a bargain, Not sure why people want to see it fail, Nothing has yet convinced me that it is going to take off and be as big as they claim but i am also willing to give them a chance and support, Rome wasn't built in a day lets see how things pan out first.

 

As far as I know DAZN also includes a lot of other sports.

Its not expensive tbh i dont get the issue. Everything costs, we live in a capitalist society

 

They are offering a month for free, by the way.

 

The advertising model for traditional TV broadcasting is dying and has been ever since we have been able to store vast quantities of programming to watch when we want to and not when it's shown, and have the ability to skip the ad breaks. Content will more and more be monetised by subscription - for this reason above many - although people's desire to create their own scheduling and propensity towards binge-watching are factors too.

I hate it, but ESPN+ and DAZN, or similar set-ups are the future of sports broadcasting where we pick up more of the tab for content and advertising contributes less than before. Is it better? Hell no. Will we have a choice? Nah, we created this monster....

 

TV ads dont work in general, and haven't done so for a while now. And they are way overpriced.

 

Exactly. So the industry is finding alternative sources of revenue..... us! So okay live sport is a slightly different animal because we cannot choose when to watch a live event, but the subscription culture is embedded in viewing habits now: Netflix, Spotify, Amazon..... and now ESPN+ and DAZN.

Subscription financing is also very predictable in the sense if you can project your likely customer base you will know very accurately your likely income and without too many spikes.

 

Ad dollars will drop off a cliff if the content people want migrates to streaming platforms. It's a vicious cycle too: less ad revenue, less money for programming..... less ad revenue. Rinse and repeat.

 

Kinda sucks that there is the "Netflix model" as everyone is seemingly looking to move that way. But that bubble will burst. People want free ****. (As i wrote this i looked up the profitability of Spotify and the article asked me to pay to continue reading!)
I think we will eventually move closer to free content that is supported by ads.