ESPN, which has added mightily to parent Disney's profits for the last decade, could well produce a smaller percentage of the media behemoth's profits in coming years, according to some
analysts.
One reason: Pro football, baseball, basketball and auto racing contracts that take effect by October of 2009 will raise the channel's expenses by more than $1 billion a year, while
its deals with Comcast and Time Warner Cable limit increases in subscribers to 7 percent.
Disney hopes that ESPN can increase revenue with online advertising, through channels like ESPN2,
and by selling Internet services.
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