Disney loses 3 million ESPN subscribers in a year

ESPN's main rival, Fox Sports Net, boasted about 89 million subscribers in its fiscal year ended July 30, down from 91 million subscribers in the previous 12-month period, according to its regulatory filings.

Walt Disney Co. dropped as much as 3.5 percent after reporting a decline in ESPN subscribers, reviving concerns about shrinking demand for traditional cable TV packages and dragging down media stocks. The last time ESPN said it had 92 million subscribers was in 2006.

If all these numbers are added then ESPN has lost around $700 million in subscriber revenue in comparison to the amount drawn in 2013. But Iger seemed confident that he could stem the slide.

Some analysts believe the decline in the number of subscriptions to ESPN is a result of the Disney decision to reduce its guidance of the sports network during the second quarter earnings report.

How huge? Based on an average per-subscriber carriage fee of $6.61 for ESPN, $0.83 for ESPN2, $0.63 for the SEC Network and $0.22 for ESPNU, the national sports conglomerate is taking in around $650 million less each year in affiliate fees compared to two years ago, Jackson writes. Walt Disney Co.'s (NYSE:DIS) share price is up more than 33 percent over the past 12 months, to $118.69.

ESPN is reorganizing and eliminating over 300 positions, Reuters reported in October, citing a person familiar with the situation. Disney is losing cable channel subscribers.

The company has plenty of content exposure and popularity via OTT services such as Hulu (where it owns one-third of the equity), 50 percent of "Fusion", and a healthy portfolio of other distributors which are retailing its film and video content (including PPV and VOD services), as well as an ever-expanding worldwide TV presence. "ESPN is making hundreds of millions of dollars less off its core business in 2015 than it was making in 2013".