ESPN Classic will go dark on January 1, ending a nearly three-decade run of nostalgic pay-TV sports programming.
The network was founded as Classic Sports Network in 1995 and was acquired by ESPN in 1997. The decision to shut it down follows several years of declining distribution. Several major providers had dropped the network entirely, and satellite operators Dish and DirecTV had shifted it to a video-on-demand offering. Its reach had dwindled to a fraction of that of ESPN, which was in 84 million households as of 2020.
While ESPN Classic programming initially filled a gap in sports fandom, the rise and ubiquity of YouTube and other video sources has made it much less unique. ESPN had not placed much emphasis on the network during the past few years, making its demise not entirely surprising.
Sports Business Daily had the first report on the shutdown, which was confirmed to Deadline by sources familiar with the plans. Disney and ESPN declined to comment on the decision.
Across the traditional cable dial, networks have started to go dark or flee to digital in greater numbers after decades of overall industry expansion. NBCUniversal has said it will unplug NBC Sports Network in 2022, with its programming shifting to USA and also the Peacock streaming service.
The dual-revenue stream of advertising and distribution fees made pay TV one of the most profitable industries in American business. Streaming has disrupted the model, with ESPN itself grappling with the strategic puts and takes of continuing in a wholesale structure but also pushing into direct-to-consumer offerings. Cord-cutting has whittled away at the overall number of pay-TV homes, which has dropped by more than 20% from its peak in 2013.
Sports, which has been viewed as the glue of the traditional bundle, is starting to migrate toward streaming. Amazon’s Prime Video, for example, has locked up 11 years of exclusive NFL rights and streams nearly two dozen New York Yankees games a season.
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