Convenience is really what drives my part in this consumer media market. Since high school, I could stream my favorite movies and shows to my phone or laptop. I could watch highlights of recent Premier League fixtures on the go. Pandora (before Spotify took over) provided all the music that I could possibly listen to. So then was no need for cable packages or album purchases or DVD collections. Why buy a single physical copy when I could have a version that was available wherever I went?

I don’t see a way forward for broadcasting dinosaurs like ESPN. Its decline in revenue doesn’t surprise me at all because ESPN doesn’t offer anything new other than a steady supply of live sports. I can’t relate its analysis-driven and highlight reel shows which I only seem to view in sports bars these days. Compare ESPN with, say, Netflix. It started out as a Blockbuster of sorts before cornering the streaming market. And over the past few years, Netflix has grown into a supplier of its own original programming whose quality rivals and often surpasses normal series. The freedom from commercial interruptions that Netflix and other streaming services offer has become so normal that I now get annoyed by any delay to my viewing experience. In short, broadcasting has remained stagnant and hasn’t addressed the changes of the times enough to rival the burgeoning streaming services. Until some progress is made towards fixing this issue more giants will stumble.