http://www.sportingnews.com/other-sports...vedncxtmfg

The layoffs are likely to be worse than expected. ESPN could fire nearly 70 members from on-air talent, among others, in effort to please Disney and Wall Street. 2nd quarter financials are due May 9th.

"They’re not growing. So the only way to show fiscal responsibility is to lay people off," said a TV insider. "This is all Wall Street-driven. This is all about Disney ordering a Code Red."

ESPN has now lost 12 million subscribers in the past five years.

(04-25-2017 06:51 PM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote:  ESPN could fire nearly 70 members from on-air talent, among others, in effort to please Disney and Wall Street.

Cutting 70 jobs from a group of (according to that article) over 1000 on-air and/or online employees.

Hardly a "bloodbath". Obviously it sucks for the people who lose their jobs, but the hype represented by this article is just competitors or haters exaggerating the impact and celebrating people getting laid off.

(04-25-2017 08:21 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(04-25-2017 06:51 PM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote:  ESPN could fire nearly 70 members from on-air talent, among others, in effort to please Disney and Wall Street.

Cutting 70 jobs from a group of (according to that article) over 1000 on-air and/or online employees.

Hardly a "bloodbath". Obviously it sucks for the people who lose their jobs, but the hype represented by this article is just competitors or haters exaggerating the impact and celebrating people getting laid off.

That could be. But it could also mean that espn is struggling too though right?

Eventually some of these contracts of the P5 will have to be renegotiated downward barring high inflation. And some these schools like U of Illinois and Cal already have crazy athletic debt. Make no mistake about it, you can make fun of the G5 and call them the have-nots but most of the P5 are in just as a precarious situation, just on a grander scale...

For an organization that has constantly grown another round of mass layoffs is no bueno

Well Wedge and Solohawks have it right. Then there is more anti P5 schadenfreude which gets to be a really old schtick around here.

The truth is the subscription rates for mobile devices and other forms of streaming are not added back in when a cable subscription is canceled and one of those delivery models is picked up.

As to personnel, they have some really low quality talking heads outside of Game Day. I've heard their announcers consistently call teams by the wrong names, repeat rumors as fact about a great many programs, talk over the plays happening on the field, outright show their ignorance of rules, and drag minor issues through the mud while more interesting and entertaining things are going on in the competition. If they cut out 70 of those it is only a good start. Most of them you don't recognize immediately and won't miss when they are gone.

ESPN just expanded into over 20 Mexican cities, and they are big ones. The SECN and ESPNU will be available there in Spanish.

It's simply an organization streamlining after a spate of years saturated in profits. It's a healthy move and not any sign of weakness. Plus it looks like the streamlining of the P5 might come sooner. They may need to revamp some of those slots to accommodate the material they intend to air by giving the SEC and ACC some more familiar names and faces. I see it as a seed change and it was long overdue.

You are 1000% correct. Their talking head shows outside of game day suck. And basketball game day isn't really that good either

Drop the SEC, ACC and the Longhorns Network, and you would saved a lot of money. Maybe they can finally get rid of Paul Finebaum as well? He is not well liked by many.

(04-26-2017 05:05 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  Drop the SEC, ACC and the Longhorns Network, and you would saved a lot of money. Maybe they can finally get rid of Paul Finebaum as well? He is not well liked by many.

Should McDonald's drop hamburgers from the menu because they are too expensive to cook? No doubt ESPN has "overpaid" for certain properties (those NFL and NBA contracts weren't cheap, either!), but those are the things that bring eyeballs... not some dudes pontificating about whether a player with a twisted ankle should sit out the first round of the playoffs!

Now being reported the number of layoffs will be closer to 100.


Richard Deitsch‏Verified account
@richarddeitsch

ESPN UPDATE: I have multiple sources at ESPN telling me they expect the number of layoffs to be closer to 100 people than 70. Awful news.

(04-25-2017 11:22 PM)JRsec Wrote:  Well Wedge and Solohawks have it right. Then there is more anti P5 schadenfreude which gets to be a really old schtick around here.

Whether that gets old or not is likely a matter of your pov. If you are primarily a P5 fan then yeah but if you're more of a G5 fan, then there are probably not nearly enough slaps at the P5.

(04-26-2017 07:37 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  Now being reported the number of layoffs will be closer to 100.


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@richarddeitsch

ESPN UPDATE: I have multiple sources at ESPN telling me they expect the number of layoffs to be closer to 100 people than 70. Awful news.

I've seen reports on Twitter that it's actually OVER 100 people getting laid off. And it's not limited to ESPN. Fox Sports last year laid dozens of people off too.

(04-26-2017 06:58 AM)Hokie Mark Wrote:  

(04-26-2017 05:05 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  Drop the SEC, ACC and the Longhorns Network, and you would saved a lot of money. Maybe they can finally get rid of Paul Finebaum as well? He is not well liked by many.

Should McDonald's drop hamburgers from the menu because they are too expensive to cook? No doubt ESPN has "overpaid" for certain properties (those NFL and NBA contracts weren't cheap, either!), but those are the things that bring eyeballs... not some dudes pontificating about whether a player with a twisted ankle should sit out the first round of the playoffs!

The SECN has been a major bright spot for ESPN in terms of offsetting other downtrends, which is a major reason it will push hard to make the ACCN succeed.

In hindsight, it is clear that ESPN probably paid too much for the NFL, NBA, and MLB at a combined $4 billion per year. (The CFP/NY6 deals may also be in this category at $600 million per year, but the individual conference deals don't appear bloated in the same manner). ESPN made the major deals when it seemed like it would rain money forever. The same mentality that led to those deals applied to on air talent. While there undoubtedly are some on air personalities that bring an audience, a whole bunch of them are interchangeable with folks who would take a whole lot smaller paycheck to do the same job.

Ed Werder is the first to publically announce his termination from the Mothership:

https://mobile.twitter.com/Edwerderespn/...4221831168

We have been hearing this has been coming. That was why I was really surprised that the AAC "sold" the Miami Bowl to them. Seems like the last thing Daddy Disney would want them to do. Curious if the Bowl was actually bought or basically handed over to them with the condition it remains an AAC bowl. No matter what, I think it is good move from Miami to Dallas Area. I am thinking we could see more bowls move to Soccer Stadiums. It looks better 20-25K full than 25K in 50K seat stadium. Bowls are now about TV not huge crowds.

(04-25-2017 06:51 PM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote:  on-air talent

(04-26-2017 08:49 AM)msm96wolf Wrote:  We have been hearing this has been coming. That was why I was really surprised that the AAC "sold" the Miami Bowl to them. Seems like the last thing Daddy Disney would want them to do. Curious if the Bowl was actually bought or basically handed over to them with the condition it remains an AAC bowl. No matter what, I think it is good move from Miami to Dallas Area. I am thinking we could see more bowls move to Soccer Stadiums. It looks better 20-25K full than 25K in 50K seat stadium. Bowls are now about TV not huge crowds.

That could have been in conjunction with the sale of the Marlins -- I'm speculating, of course, but it could be likely.

As to DavidSt's speculation on shutting down the various networks (SECn, ACCn, et. al), those contracts are probably much more costly to get out of than the costs of an organized layoff.

Looks like Sage Steele is gone as well.

Scott Burnside, one of the few NHL writers at ESPN, just announced that he's been fired.

It looks as if most hockey writers are getting cut: Pierre LeBrun(who will still write for TSN, which is partially owned by ESPN) and Joe McDonald have also announced their depatures.

Looks like Trey Wingo as well, but not too sure.

Someone mentioned Boomer.

https://twitter.com/wingoz/status/857232989306200065