ESPN isn’t bringing Disney as much money as it used to

ESPN, the cash-generating ꦛmachine for Disney CEO Bob Iger, is starting to show some wear and t❀ear.

The cable sports juggernaut is losing subscribers, and its operating profit gains this fiscal year will slow to mid-single digits from an earlier forecast of higꦕh single digits, Disney said Tuesday in report🐬ing its third-fiscal-quarter results.

Iger declined to say how many subscribers ESPN lost in recent months because of cord-cutting — he called the decline “modest” — but denied it was as many as 3.2 million, which recently reporte🥃d, ci꧅ting Nielsen data.

Ad revenue at ESPN was off 3 percent in the three months ended June 27, in part because of the absence of the men’s World Cup soccer tournament in 2ဣ015. (ESPN aired the tournament﷽ in 2014.)

The slowdown at ES♚PN, cable’s most expensive cable channel, sent some investors to the exits. Disney shares dipped as much as 6.5 percent in after-hours trading — after hitting a 52-week high earlier in the day, at $122.08.

ESPN is one of the most widely distributed channels, with 92.9 million subs, and distributors ﷽pay the flagship network some $6.04 per sub per month — a number slated to rise to $8.38 by 2018, according to SNL K🌺agan.

Iger did say that the subscriber losses are more likely attributable 🦋to fewer households taking video packages — rather than to distributors offering so-called skinny bundles.

Disney, along with the rest of the industry, has also been suffering from a weaker TV advertising market, though its revenue numbe🍌rs have been buoyed by strong distribution increases.

BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield pointed out the importance of a strong TV universe to Disney’s overall financial picture. Its media networks unit — whꦑich includes ESPN and ABC — accounted for $5.9 billion of Disney’s $11.1 billion in operating income in the nine months to June 27.

In addition:

• Disney reported an overall 5 percent uptick in revenue, to $13.1 billion, but missed Wall Street forecasts in part because of the weak euro, which affected returns at Disneyland Paris.
•  Net profit grew 11 percent, to $2.5 billion, beating expectations.
•  Theme park profits grew 9 percent, and revenue rose 4 percent.