Quote:More personnel cuts are coming for Walt Disney Co.’s DIS, -0.51% sports channel ESPN.

Following a Sports Illustrated report over the weekend, MarketWatch confirmed it is preparing to go through significant cost-cutting layoffs on its talent side — meaning on-air personalities.

There is no set names or specific number yet expected to be cut, but ESPN will almost certainly part with names viewers are familiar with and, according to Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch, the company is looking to pare tens of millions in staff salary.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/espn-pr...2017-03-06

Lot of the on-air talent costs are hard to justify. I doubt they drive viewership in line with what they've been spending.

Well there goes the AAC fans dreams of a big ESPN payout increases coming in the next contract.

Quote:the company is looking to pare tens of millions in staff salary.

And some folks still think that ESPN will pay more for every new pro or college TV rights deal than they paid for the last deal?

$100MM in talent cuts: that's a seriously large chunk of money. BIG-name cuts coming, no doubt.

The various SportsCenter shows --- there are seemingly 24 separate episodes per day anymore --- how many of them draw eyeballs because of the anchor? Van Pelt at Midnight ET, sure. This new 6 PM ET show they're doing with Jemele and Michael, they're not my cup of tea but I'd guess they do draw incremental viewersy.

But all these other anchors? Honestly, they are rather fungible. Cuts could be very deep here.

Lee Corso
Aaron Boone
Trent Dilfer
Mike Ditka
Ray Evernham
Mike Golic
Scott Goodyear
Brian Griese
Tim Hasselbeck
Merril Hoge
Brock Huard
John Kruk
Jamal Mashburn
Mark May
Jesse Palmer
Dick Vital? He has been there since 1986.
Andre Ware
I think Chris Bergman is retiring.
Jonathan Coachman
Mike Greenberg
Kenny Mayne
Woody Page
Stephen A. Smith
Allen Bestwick (he sucked at being a NASCAR announcer which he was fired from NBC because people did not like him.)
Gary Gerould (NHRA announcer since they lost NHRA.)
Shannon Spake she was mainly NASCAR.
Scott Van Pelt

I think these are the likely ones to go. Was Brent Musburger retiring as well?

Mike and Mike to end per SI 1/12/17

Says Greenberg gets new show and status uncertain for Golic.

(03-07-2017 05:24 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  Was Brent Musburger retiring as well?

Yes, announced in January following his on-air verbal fellation of the criminal Joe Mixon.

(03-07-2017 12:32 AM)Stugray2 Wrote:  Well there goes the AAC fans dreams of a big ESPN payout increases coming in the next contract.

The next contract isn't up for renewal until 2035-36.
The payouts with the network are guaranteed.

(03-07-2017 07:58 AM)XLance Wrote:  

(03-07-2017 12:32 AM)Stugray2 Wrote:  Well there goes the AAC fans dreams of a big ESPN payout increases coming in the next contract.

The next contract isn't up for renewal until 2035-36.
The payouts with the network are guaranteed.

AAC....X....He said..."AAC".

(03-07-2017 12:32 AM)Stugray2 Wrote:  Well there goes the AAC fans dreams of a big ESPN payout increases coming in the next contract.

And BYU's big dreams of getting an increase.

I vaguely remember back in the 80s NBC tried an announcer-less broadcast of an NFL game. It was horrible!

I prefer to listen to the team radio broadcast whether I am in the stadium or watching on TV. The talking heads usually don't know what they are talking about and if I am going to listen to biased announcers, I prefer they are biased towards my team. I never hear promos for other teams or conferences. So what ever they are paying those talking heads it is too much.

(03-07-2017 08:00 AM)TerryD Wrote:  

(03-07-2017 07:58 AM)XLance Wrote:  

(03-07-2017 12:32 AM)Stugray2 Wrote:  Well there goes the AAC fans dreams of a big ESPN payout increases coming in the next contract.

The next contract isn't up for renewal until 2035-36.
The payouts with the network are guaranteed.

AAC....X....He said..."AAC".

I need another cup of coffee.

(03-07-2017 08:11 AM)Wolfman Wrote:  I vaguely remember back in the 80s NBC tried an announcer-less broadcast of an NFL game. It was horrible!

I prefer to listen to the team radio broadcast whether I am in the stadium or watching on TV. The talking heads usually don't know what they are talking about and if I am going to listen to biased announcers, I prefer they are biased towards my team. I never hear promos for other teams or conferences. So what ever they are paying those talking heads it is too much.

That's the point. What "talent" do ESPN employees have?

ESPN could fire every one of its studio "talent" and it would not bother me one bit.

I only tune in to ESPN to watch an actual game of a team I care about, that is it.

(03-07-2017 08:25 AM)TerryD Wrote:  ESPN could fire every one of its studio "talent" and it would not bother me one bit.

I only tune in to ESPN to watch an actual game of a team I care about, that is it.

That would include the Tar Heels, right? They are on ESPN a lot.

I get the impression their talent pool is a bit too reliant on divisive, love-to-hate types. I also get the impression it won't be too many of those who get cut.

So, yeah...they probably will shed talent. They'll retain ****.

They have themselves to blame. The cord cutting movement wouldn't have gained steam as fast as it did without Disney trying to milk its viewers in subscriber fees.

(03-07-2017 12:36 AM)Wedge Wrote:  

Quote:the company is looking to pare tens of millions in staff salary.

And some folks still think that ESPN will pay more for every new pro or college TV rights deal than they paid for the last deal?

My contention is that premium content will continue to receive premium pricing regardless of the format. ESPN can't just let its top sports properties walk away: whatever costs there might be with them, they also HAVE to have them or else they cease to exist entirely (not just make lower profits).

Once again, look at ESPN's sister organizations at Disney in the movie business. Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar and Disney Princess movies still command huge budgets despite the movie business not being as profitable as it was 25 years ago. Big brands still get big money. The cheap movies also still get funded on the low end (such as inexpensive horror flicks like Paranormal Acitivity and Get Out). The movies that got cut, though, are the mid-budget films (think of the 1990s era Miramax films) - those are the ones that are impossible to get made in Hollywood now. (Caveat: Amazon, as shown by Manchester by the Sea this past year, and Netflix might be stepping in to fill that mid-budget void.)

As a result, I really don't believe that the NFL, NBA, MLB and P5 leagues are the ones that need to worry. ESPN needs them and there's heavy competition for all of those properties from the other networks that would like to build their own competitors to ESPN themselves (including the aforementioned Amazon and Netflix and other tech companies) that will keep premium pricing for premium sports brands (just like premium movie brands). If you thought that all of the money in sports is going to just a handful of organizations already, just wait until ESPN basically have to pour all of its resources into just those premium properties with literally nothing else to spare.

The middle tier of sports properties are really who need to worry: G5 conferences, non-major golf and tennis tournaments, MLS soccer, etc. The expensive premium brands are needed to justify ESPN's top line subscription rate, but the mid-tier content isn't worth mid-tier costs. You're either going to see really high value content (the top brands) or really cost effective content (such as WCC basketball with its diet of Gonzaga and BYU games or expanding its 30 for 30 library with documentaries that can do well in repeats and can be shown at any hour of the day). The stuff in between will get squeezed (just like the middle is getting squeezed in all of society - you're either high or low with little in between).

You can even see it with the stories posted here on this thread. The OP story shows that ESPN is preparing for layoffs of talent to save costs. Yet, in this same thread, there's another story that ESPN is preparing to give Mike Greenberg a contract that would make him one of the highest paid people in the industry. The fungible talent is expendable and will get cut, but ESPN will pay higher salaries to the smaller number of people that they believe actually drive viewership (like Greenberg, SVP, etc.). Expect the same thing for sports leagues themselves (just like virtually every other industry over the past two decades).