You are right to be suspicious of these news reports that cite "another source". But here's what media networks know that we don't know: They know how much ESPN pays for college football content. They know how much ESPN charges advertisers to sponsor that content. They know how badly ESPN beats the opposition programming on Saturdays in the Fall. They also know how well Fox and NBC fare on Saturdays against ESPN.
So they know whether or not ESPN is squeaking-by or actually swimming in cash from college football. Now they just make the calculation as to how well college football will pay off for them instead of continuing their current programming. Is it worth the risk? Is it a risk at all?
The ACC media deal with ESPN is the reason that the conference is falling farther and farther behind the two fat cats. Looking at the 2019 college sports revenue reporting, The ACC appears to be much weaker than the Big Ten. But if you remove the media payout from all the programs in those two conferences, the numbers are eerily close. ACC schools raise money as well as Big Ten schools except for media dollars. ESPN is the difference here. They are the ACC's albatross.