This has been a rough week for media companies. Time Warner, Disney, Viacom and 21st Century Fox all took a beating in the markets. The fact is that people are canceling their traditional cable subscription plans in droves.

Marketplace entertainment reporter Adriene Hill says this is something that has been building up for a long time.

“Cord cutters have been cutting cords for a long time,” she says.

Disney CEO Bob Iger also drew attention for his claim that he could spin off ESPN into an over-the-top streaming model any time he wanted.

“We all have to have our sports, right?” Hill says. “ESPN is part of the reason that we all pay way too much to have a lot of channels that we don’t watch. So when investors heard that ESPN was vulnerable, I think it made them realize just how vulnerable the rest of cable was.”

Now the television industry is in trying to figure out how to make money again. Hill says networks strategies center on producing more quality shows.

“I guess when you don’t know exactly how you’re going to make money, all of these networks are trying to make the best television they can to get us there,” she says.

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