ESPN •

At just 49 years old, ESPN anchor, Stuart Scott, has passed away from stomach cancer. Although he had undergone multiple surgeries, radiation, chemotherapy, and even various clinical trials after begin diagnosed with cancer in 2007, he finally lost the battle. However, he never looked at his battle as losing.

While fighting for his life, Stuart made a profound statement that will inspire and encourage other people dealing with cancer for many years to come. “You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and the manner in which you live. So live. Live. Fight like hell”.

In 1993, Stuart joined the ESPN family, quickly reaching the top spot on the SportsCenter program. He was full of life, always enthusiastic and best known for his colorful phrases and descriptions of stories that pertained to sports. As explained by Dan Patrick, former ESPN anchor and sports radio host, Scott did not push the envelope but bulldozed it.

Since his passing, millions of people to include family, friends, celebrities, professional sports figures, and even government officials such as Former US President Bill Clinton and President Barak Obama, have expressed their sadness over this great loss.

Commonly referred to as “Stu”, he did not just report on sports but provided viewers with pure entertainment. Forever, he will leave a legacy of being an exceptional anchor but also for his many catch-phrases such as “As cool as the other side of the pillow” and “Boo-ya”.

Throughout his long career, Stuart covered a wide range of professional and college sporting events to include the Super Bowl, the World’s Series, the NBA Finals, and the NCAA Final Four, among many others. However, for many, it was also Stuart’s love for inner city kids that earned him so much respect.

Over the years, Stuart worked hard to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to help organizations in their quest to find a cure for cancer. In honor of such an amazing man, both players and fans throughout the country stopped for a moment of silence on Sunday.

Tiger Woods summed up the emotions surrounding Scott Stuart’s death best when he said, “Stuart was not covering champions and heroes – it was the other way around”.

There is no question that virtually everyone in the world of sports lost an inspirational person and genuine friend. Even while going through difficult chemotherapy treatments, he never quit, walking out of the hospital to get back to the ESPN set or participate in mixed martial arts training.

Stuart leaves behind 15 and 19-year old daughters, a supportive girlfriend, his parents, two sisters, and one brother who together have thanked the world for their outpouring of kindness and love.

A new standalone online service offered by HBO is being launched in 2015. As such, consumers will no longer need a subscription for cable or satellite, this according to Richard Plepler, chief executive of HBO.

The goal is to create a major shift within the television industry. For a long time, this industry has reaped tremendous benefits by forcing ever-growing bundles on consumers when in fact, just a small fraction of the offered programs are even viewed.

Specific to cable and satellite packages, HBO is ranked as one of the most valuable channels. However, company executives believe that distributing partners of cable and satellite have not provided a large enough cut of the industry’s high profit stemming from paid television subscriptions.

Although the cable model has experienced pressure from new competition to include Netflix, among other digital entertainment platforms, consumers have stayed with cable subscriptions in order to watch live sports on ESPN and high-quality content on HBO.

In a statement at HBO’s at Investor Day, hosted by the parent company Time Warner, Plepler made it clear that next year the company wants to reach far by launching a standalone and over-the-top service that has potential to produce revenue of hundreds of millions of dollars. He added that there is also opportunity internationally, which could be much bigger.

Although no details pertaining to the digital plans were revealed, the company will reportedly begin selling the new standalone service in the US, as well as two additional countries prior to making it available to other countries served.

Having made $4.9 billion in revenues for 2013, HBO is among the fastest growing Time Warner units. HBO, along with ESPN, is currently seen more as a requirement to the cable model and while over two million subscribers added HBO since January 2014, there are definite growth limitations using cable subscriptions.

Within the United States there are roughly 10 million broadband-only homes, which are expected to increase. Plepler stated that the opportunity is not only large but growing and because of this, now is the time to break barriers for consumers who want HBO.

The latest statistics show that some 80 million homes in the US are still without HBO, which is now the new target for growth. To bring the standalone online service to fruition, HBO will continue to work with current partners but add new partners as well.

The plans for HBO’s standalone service marks a dramatic turn for Time Warner. While many consumers like the idea of paying separately for HBO without a cable subscription, others are concerned that if the price exceeds $20, it may be difficult to justify due to piecing together a number of online subscriptions.

Even after the HBO standalone online service launches next year, the cable bundle will probably stick around. After all, there is still a commitment between cable news and live sports with cable television that will linger for years.

Stuart Scott, ESPN Anchor Succumbs to Cancer

HBO – Standalone Streaming Service Set for 2015

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