Nielsen sticks with
subscriber report challenged by ESPN
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[November 05, 2016]
By Lisa Richwine
LOS
ANGELES (Reuters) - The Nielsen ratings agency on Friday reaffirmed a
report about U.S. pay-television customers that was challenged by Walt
Disney Co's ESPN sports network.
Media reports said the Nielsen data, which showed a decline in
subscriptions for most cable networks, suggested ESPN lost 621,000
subscribers from a month earlier. Neither Nielsen nor ESPN released the
numbers publicly, but ESPN questioned the accuracy of the findings.
In a statement on its website, Nielsen said an "extensive review"
undertaken after ESPN objected showed that estimates of cable
subscribers provided on Oct. 28 were accurate.
Disney shares fell nearly 1 percent on Friday to close at $92.45 on the
New York Stock Exchange.
"This most recent snapshot from Nielsen is a historic anomaly for the
industry and inconsistent with much more moderated trends observed by
other respected third-party analysts," ESPN said in a statement.
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The figures do not include people who subscribe through digital TV
services and other new distributors, the sports network said.
Nielsen, in its statement, said the company is researching newer
providers to add those subscribers in future reports.
The future of ESPN has been a concern on Wall Street since August 2015
when Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger acknowledged "modest"
subscriber losses at the sports network. Disney and other media
companies are facing challenges from "cord cutters" who are dropping
traditional TV subscriptions for cheaper online options.
Nielsen said its data showed most cable networks experienced a
month-to-month subscriber decline. The drop was driven primarily by a
0.55 percent decrease in the number of households paying for TV packages
through cable, satellite or telephone providers.
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![](../images/110516pics/busine89.jpg)
Interactive walls in the lobby of Digital Center 2, a new 194,000
sq. ft building on the ESPN campus in Bristol, Connecticut May 22,
2014 REUTERS/Michelle McLoughlin
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Nov/05/images/ads/current/agland_lda_farm_2015.png)
Analyst Brian Wieser of Pivotal Research Group, which pays for access to
Nielsen data, confirmed that Nielsen's latest report indicated a drop of
roughly 621,000 ESPN subscribers. But he said it was not unusual as ESPN
has seen previous monthly drops of around 500,000 or 600,000 customers.
Wieser estimated that year-over-year declines stood at 3.1 percent, in
line with the 2 percent to 4 percent drops seen since the start of 2014.
"This has occurred as the network began to trade off high subscriber
fees for greater flexibility" for pay TV providers, Wieser said in a
research note. "We continue to believe that ESPN is experiencing
low-single-digit subscriber declines."
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Andrew Hay and Leslie Adler)
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