Read the New York Times articles on ESPN , and answer the following question:If Disney decided to spin-off ESPN into a separately traded company, would you buy it? In your answer, ignore valuation, and discuss the proposed purchase purely from the aspect of its future prospects. In your answer, address the following issues:1. Does ESPN have a sustainable competitive advantage? In your answer, use Porter’s five forces and discuss each at length.2. How sustainable is its past pricing power? Is unbundling a positive or negative for ESPN and the cable industry in general?3. What are the competitive forces at work to cause unbundling to occur? Are they purely legislative or are other forces at work? Are there any disruptive innovations at play?4. How are the fortunes of the pay TV industry tied to ESPN?5. What impact will new pay TV entrants have on ESPN? Are new entrants in the pay TV market a positive or a negative for ESPN?6. Does ESPN have a franchise that can overcome the challenges that the pay TV industry is presently facing?In your answer, ignore any bundling advantages that Disney as a whole may have received with tying ESPN to its other network properties (ABC, other cable channels).
