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  • By Ben Thompson
    • About
    • Email/RSS
    • @benthompson
  • Explore
    • Concepts
    • Companies
    • Topics
  • More by Ben Thompson
    • Updates
    • Interviews
    • Year in Review
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Latest Podcast

  • Play-In Chaos and Knueppel Slippage, Anyone But the Thunder, Title Picks and Awards Resolution

    Greatest Of All Talk | Apr 17
    Play-In Chaos and Knueppel Slippage, Anyone But the Thunder, Title Picks and Awards Resolution
Companies

ESPN

  • ESPN’s Cuts, ESPN’s History, ESPN: From Franchise to Business

    Thursday, April 27, 2017

    ESPN’s cuts are not a surprise if you understand how ESPN has made money in the past, and where it must go in the future


  • The Great Unbundling

    Wednesday, January 18, 2017

    It’s trivial to say that the Internet changed media; what is more interesting is unpacking how different types of media were affected, and why — and what might happen to TV.


  • Facebook and Twitter to Stream Conventions; ESPN Going Over-the-top, Kind-of

    Thursday, July 14, 2016

    The different approaches Facebook and Twitter are taking to the political conventions get at the differences between the two platforms; then, ESPN continues to experiment with going over-the-top


  • Brexit and Tech; More on Musk, Tesla, and Solar City; The Allure of Live: Facebook and ESPN

    Thursday, June 23, 2016

    Why Brexit would be bad for U.S. tech companies, Why Tesla May be Hurt Even if Solar City Isn’t Acquired, and the power of live for escapism and sports


  • Star Wars Grosses >$500 million, Disney: Cable or Content?, Goldman Sachs Recants on Microsoft

    Monday, December 21, 2015

    Star Wars has significantly exceeded expectations, yet Disney’s stock is down. The question is what matters: content, or cable networks? I argue it is the former, and that Disney’s future is bright.


  • Why ESPN Was Justified in Killing Grantland, Did ESPN Overpay for Sports Rights?, Disney Earnings

    Friday, November 6, 2015

    I’ve spent time on Grantland’s potential, but did ESPN really make a mistake by not taking advantage? I say no — the mistake was Grantland’s. Still, has ESPN stretched itself too thin, or might there be a method to their seeming madness when it comes to sports fees? Disney’s earnings — particularly CEO Bob Iger’s comments…


  • Grantland and the (Surprising) Future of Publishing

    Wednesday, November 4, 2015

    ESPN’s decision to close Grantland seems to be more evidence that there is no future outside of massive scale or one-man operations. Bill Simmons’ recent successes, though, suggest that the answer could be the exact opposite.


  • ESPN Follow-up, BAM Tech and Bundle Logic, No Apple MVNO and the Apple TV

    Thursday, August 6, 2015

    A follow-up to my piece on ESPN


  • Why Disney and ESPN Will Be OK

    Wednesday, August 5, 2015

    An increasing number of questions are being raised about the future of the pay-TV bundle, and of ESPN. The former may indeed be doomed, but that doesn’t mean the latter is in as much trouble as people think: after all, Disney is the master of differentiated content.


  • Correcting the Netflix Story, ESPN’s Challenge — and Opportunity, Yahoo to Stream NFL Game

    Tuesday, July 14, 2015

    My Netflix chart from Netflix and the Conservation of Attractive Profits wasn’t quite right: after all, I was talking about time, and networks and studios are already modularized. Still, fixing my error provides an interesting view on ESPN and its challenges and opportunities.


←Newer Posts Older Posts→

Stratechery Plus

Updates

  • TSMC Earnings, New N3 Fabs, The Nvidia Ramp

    Monday, April 20, 2026
  • An Interview with F1 Driver and Venture Capitalist Nico Rosberg About the Drive to Win

    Thursday, April 16, 2026
  • Amazon Buys Globalstar, Delta to Add Leo, The Apple Angle

    Wednesday, April 15, 2026
View All

Stratechery Plus

Podcasts

  • Play-In Chaos and Knueppel Slippage, Anyone But the Thunder, Title Picks and Awards Resolution

    Greatest Of All Talk | Apr 17
    Play-In Chaos and Knueppel Slippage, Anyone But the Thunder, Title Picks and Awards Resolution
  • Vibe App Quality

    Dithering | Apr 17
    Vibe App Quality
  • (Preview) Six Questions on Frontier AI Labs, Messaging AI to a Skeptical Public, Amazon (and Apple?) Ramps Up Competition with Elon

    Sharp Tech | Apr 17
    (Preview) Six Questions on Frontier AI Labs, Messaging AI to a Skeptical Public, Amazon (and Apple?) Ramps Up Competition with Elon

Stratechery Plus

Interviews

  • An Interview with F1 Driver and Venture Capitalist Nico Rosberg About the Drive to Win

    Thursday, April 16, 2026
  • An Interview with Asymco’s Horace Dediu About Apple at 50

    Thursday, April 2, 2026
  • An Interview with Arm CEO Rene Haas About Selling Chips

    Thursday, March 26, 2026
View All

Sharp Text

Articles

  • What the NBA Needs Right Now Is Anyone But OKC
    Friday, April 17, 2026
  • Hormuz, Rushmore and a Sam Altman Story That Missed the Story
    Friday, April 10, 2026
  • A Snap of Oversteer
    Friday, April 3, 2026
View All

More by Ben Thompson

Year in Review

The most popular and most important posts on Stratechery by year.

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All Articles

Explore all free articles on Stratechery.

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All Content

Explore all posts on Stratechery.

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Stratechery Plus

UpdateS

  • TSMC Earnings, New N3 Fabs, The Nvidia Ramp

    Monday, April 20, 2026
  • An Interview with F1 Driver and Venture Capitalist Nico Rosberg About the Drive to Win

    Thursday, April 16, 2026
  • Amazon Buys Globalstar, Delta to Add Leo, The Apple Angle

    Wednesday, April 15, 2026
View All

Stratechery Plus

Podcasts

  • Play-In Chaos and Knueppel Slippage, Anyone But the Thunder, Title Picks and Awards Resolution

    Greatest Of All Talk | Apr 17
    Play-In Chaos and Knueppel Slippage, Anyone But the Thunder, Title Picks and Awards Resolution
  • Vibe App Quality

    Dithering | Apr 17
    Vibe App Quality
  • (Preview) Six Questions on Frontier AI Labs, Messaging AI to a Skeptical Public, Amazon (and Apple?) Ramps Up Competition with Elon

    Sharptech | Apr 17
    (Preview) Six Questions on Frontier AI Labs, Messaging AI to a Skeptical Public, Amazon (and Apple?) Ramps Up Competition with Elon

Stratechery Plus

Interviews

  • An Interview with F1 Driver and Venture Capitalist Nico Rosberg About the Drive to Win

    Thursday, April 16, 2026
  • An Interview with Asymco’s Horace Dediu About Apple at 50

    Thursday, April 2, 2026
  • An Interview with Arm CEO Rene Haas About Selling Chips

    Thursday, March 26, 2026
View All

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