[crabasa]

> I can probably safely say that the decline of ESPN first started with the rise of well-produced TV shows on HBO, AMC, Netflix, etc.

You are remarkably wrong here. In fact, live sports has come to completely dominate TV over the last 20 years. 9 of the top 10 most watched TV shows in 2016 was a sporting event:

http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2016/tops-of-2016...

I would argue the opposite: that "prestige" TV shows are a response to live sports by networks that don't have NFL or NBA rights.

[tells]

The 10 most watched TV shows doesn't give as much info as the top 10 primetime tv programs. 7 out of the 10 shows that are aired regularly are NOT sports. These one off events are big for the networks that have the rights to air them but they exist for one day and do not obtain ownership of the content afterwards. On the other hand regular programs last for approximately a dozen episodes or more and can still maintain viewership with reruns. Other than the NFL, there is nothing that has a comparable draw.

But that diverges from my main assertion that with less time available to working people, people prefer to follow a story with familiar characters in a 1-hr window rather than have to watch a 3-hour affair between two random teams.