Scott Van Pelt And Rich Greenfield Feud Over ESPN's Demise

Earlier this week, ESPN host Scott Van Pelt spoke with the Washington Post about the cable industry's cord-cutting fears, as well as the ESPN "brain drain."

Walt Disney Co DIS stock fell hard last summer after ESPN subscriptions took a big hit.

"I understand the direction things are going, and yet the reality is that our competitors let go of a ton of people as well," Van Pelt told the Post's Matt Bonesteel. "We make seven bucks a [subscription], they make a dollar. Our ratings are in the millions and the high hundreds of thousands; they can't crack six figures. And I just wonder at what point the articles about the death of our company are laid side-by-side with our supposed competitors and you take inventory. Because it isn't close. It's not close."

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BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield shared the story on his Twitter Inc TWTR account earlier Thursday, leading Van Pelt to chime in.

"You can sign-up for @Sling for NFL season, but you dont need to subscribe to ESPN all year & no box to return (frictionless)," Greenfield Tweeted. "How has @espn been proactive? shoving SEC Network and now ACC Network into an already bloated TV bundle?"

He continued, "ESPN has tied its future to the big TV bundle - there is no way out. Skipper made a mistake paying up for NBA & will suffer." John Skipper is the president of ESPN and co-chairman of Disney Media Networks.

Van Pelt asked Greenfield to define "suffer," saying, "I simply think using a commenter saying we are dying is comedy."

Whose side are you on?