SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET:

ESPN NOSEDIVES – FROM BLOOMBERG:  ESPN lost 2 million subscribers last fiscal year, underscoring the challenge owner Walt Disney Co. faces attracting young people who don’t pay for cable.  The network, one of the most watched on the cable dial, had 88 million U.S. subscribers at the end of September, including people paying for online versions, Disney said in its annual report Wednesday. That’s down from a peak of 100 million in 2010 and marks the lowest total since 2003.  To ensure the long-term future of one of its most profitable businesses, Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger is negotiating to include ESPN in new digital forms of pay TV, such as Sling TV and DirecTV Now. He’s also planning the rollout of an online-only ESPN subscription service that would include live games that aren’t available on the network’s regular channels.  Hopeless thinking.  ESPN has become politicized, and until the politics is taken out of its programming, it will continue to fade.

ENCOURAGING TREND – FROM DAILY MAIL:   The abortion rate has dropped to an historic low in the US, the latest data reveals.  A new CDC report released on Wednesday confirmed the rate dropped two percent from 2013 to 2014, continuing the steady decline seen over the past few years.  In 2014, there were 12.1 abortions per 1,000 women of childbearing age - down from 19.4 in 2008.  The biggest decrease was seen among teenage pregnancies, and now more abortions than ever are performed before 8.5 weeks' gestation.  While the drop mirrors the closure of abortion clinics nationwide, experts say the figure is likely down to more effective use of contraception and the falling pregnancy rate.   No matter how you feel about abortion, the fewer abortions the better.

AND NOW HOCKEY – FROM CITY NEWS SERVICE:  LOS ANGELES >> The man who appears at Los Angeles Kings games as team mascot “Bailey” was sued Wednesday by a dishwasher for allegedly groping the defendant’s buttocks in a Staples Center elevator in 2016.  Maso Griffin’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit names as defendants Tim Smith and his employer, Kings’ owner Anschutz Entertainment Group Inc., as well as Levy Restaurants Inc. and Compass Group USA, which both provide food services to Staples Center. The suit seeks unspecified damages.Smith did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.  Even hockey is contaminated.  What is next?  Chess?

November 23, 2017