For more than 40 years, ESPN has reigned supreme as the king of sports media. Growing its business by consistently raising the price of its fee to cable TV providers, ESPN now generates more than $16 billion in annual revenue. But the business of media is changing rapidly. In the past decade, about 40 million U.S. households have cut the cord on traditional cable TV. ESPN must adjust to find customers that aren’t subscribing to the cable bundle as new competitors including YouTube TV, Apple, Amazon, Peacock and perhaps Netflix bid on packages of live sports. This CNBC documentary examines ESPN’s strategy to fend off larger streamers and questions its sustainability in a digital-first world. Chapters: 00:00 – 02:25 Intro 02:26 – 08:59 ESPN’s streaming plan 09:00 – 16:14 Rising cost of sports 16:15 – 20:07 Mounting competition 20:08 – 24:20 ESPN’s future Reporter: Alex Sherman Senior Managing Producer: Tala Hadavi Edited and shot by: Darren Geeter Camera by: Shawn Baldwin, Magdalena Petrova, Andrew Evers, Natalie Rice, Alan Rice, Eric Clark Post Production Support: Erin Black Editorial Support: Jeniece Pettitt, Julia Boorstin, Stephen Desaulniers Animation: Midnight Snacks Senior Production Manager: Kathy Mavrikakis Executive Producer: Kamelia Angelova Executive Editor: Jay Yarow Additional Footage: Getty Images, ESPN » Subscribe to CNBC: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBC » Subscribe to CNBC TV: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCtelevision About CNBC: From 'Wall Street' to 'Main Street' to award winning original documentaries and Reality TV series, CNBC has you covered. Experience special sneak peeks of your favorite shows, exclusive video and more. Want to make extra money outside of your day job? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Earn Passive Income Online to learn about common passive income streams. Register today and save 50% with discount code EARLYBIRD: https://cnb.cx/3Iwblnk Connect with CNBC News Online Get the latest news: https://www.cnbc.com/ Follow CNBC on LinkedIn: https://cnb.cx/LinkedInCNBC Follow CNBC News on Instagram: https://cnb.cx/InstagramCNBC Follow CNBC News on Facebook: https://cnb.cx/LikeCNBC Follow CNBC on Threads: https://cnb.cx/threads Follow CNBC News on X: https://cnb.cx/FollowCNBC #CNBC Can ESPN Survive As Cable TV Fades?