ESPN cuts 100 on-air personalities

NEW YORK -- ESPN is laying off about 100 employees, including former athletes-turned-broadcasters Trent Dilfer, Len Elmore and Danny Kanell, in a purge designed to focus the sports network on a more digital future.

The cuts will trim ESPN's stable of on-air talent and writers by about 10 percent.

The 36-year-old network has been squeezed by rising fees to broadcast live events at the same time hordes of cord-cutting TV viewers have been canceling their ESPN subscriptions. ESPN has lost about 10 million subscribers during the past six years, based on estimates by Nielsen Media Research.

The downturn prompted an even bigger round of layoffs affecting about 300 workers in 2015, but on-air talent was mostly spared from those cuts.

ESPN chief John Skipper said Wednesday the company wants to provide distinctive content all the time on multiple screens, with more personality-oriented "SportsCenter" broadcasts, and is keeping people best suited to the new strategy.

ESPN isn't saying who has been fired. Many are releasing the news on social media, including Dilfer, NFL reporter Ed Werder, baseball reporter Jayson Stark and college basketball reporter Dana O'Neil.

Former morning host Jay Crawford, football columnist Jane McManus, ESPNU host Brendan Fitzgerald, hockey reporter Pierre LeBrun, soccer reporter Mike Goodman, baseball analyst Jim Bowden and baseball reporter Mark Saxon were among the others to announce their departures.

"Our goal continues to be to maximize our unparalleled scale in every medium with storytelling that stands out and makes a difference," Skipper said in a memo to employees. "We are well-equipped to thrive going forward by embracing those themes."

ESPN's recent troubles have become a drag on the profits of its parent, The Walt Disney Co. (DIS).
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/espn-cuts-10...onalities/

It looks like Lindsay has been spared. I don't know how they can justify having so many channels, including recent start ups the SEC network and longhorn network (which is struggling to even get picked up by the major cable provider Comcast).
They still have the upcoming acc network in 2019 too. When the next batch of contracts come around, sports leagues are going to receive lower pay days, as they should. Players in turn won't make as much in crazy contracts.

A very sad day for all of the people whom have lost their jobs. A lot of big names were let go today.

I believe the sports industry "bubble" is slowly beginning to leak air. The inflated league contracts that these networks have been signing has led to the increased contracts for players, more anchors, and more networks. I believe all of that will slowly start to shrink. Obviously, I don't believe it will ever regress to where it was 10 or 20 years ago but I feel like ESPN needs to start taking a hard look at some of these networks and avenues they have.

Is it really necessary to have Sportscenter airing 24/7 on all networks with a variety of anchors? Is anyone even watching SC at 8 PM on ESPN News anyway? Twitter, social media, and App alerts are enough to suffice for most people. And why continue to have ESPN specific anchors to cover one NFL team or conference? These are the things I assume we will see slowly disappear. There are so many more ways to consume sports today than there was 10 years ago and I don't think ESPN needs to have its net cast so wide anymore. I wouldn't be surprised to see things like ESPN News, ESPN Classic, etc. go away in the very near future.

If you're watching a sports network, it should be free of political commentary & opinions (you can get that everywhere else). That's been no longer the case at ESPN for a long time. I think that has caused them to lose a lot of viewers.

Live sportscenter episodes don't air 24 hours a day. They air reruns during the mid-day and late night.

The people complaining about political commentary wouldn't be doing so if it was directed to the other side. Yeah, it does seem almost daily though but it is sometimes relevant to sports. Kapernick's protest, players not going to the white house (which has always happened but they're talking about it more now).

(04-27-2017 05:35 AM)Potomac Wrote:  Live sportscenter episodes don't air 24 hours a day. They air reruns during the mid-day and late night.

The people complaining about political commentary wouldn't be doing so if it was directed to the other side. Yeah, it does seem almost daily though but it is sometimes relevant to sports. Kapernick's protest, players not going to the white house (which has always happened but they're talking about it more now).

Except that it never, ever actually IS directed at the other side. They fired Kurt Shilling but let Stephen A Smith say anything he wants, and they happily gave Kaepernick a platform for his foolishness (while he was wearing a Fidel Castro shirt, no less). They went full Social Justice Warrior. You never go full Social Justice Warrior.

To the extent people still watch ESPN, I guarantee most of them don't do it for the political content. Disney/ABC just can't help themselves.

(04-27-2017 12:30 AM)BDKJMU Wrote:  If you're watching a sports network, it should be free of political commentary & opinions (you can get that everywhere else). That's been no longer the case at ESPN for a long time. I think that has caused them to lose a lot of viewers.

It's even worse on ESPN Radio. Their political correctness is absolutely suffocating.

Seems we have some cold warriors on this board who are longing for the "good old days" when a white man could say anything he wanted.

Count down to the protests...3...2...1...

(04-27-2017 07:03 AM)Longhorn Wrote:  Seems we have some cold warriors on this board who are longing for the "good old days" when a white man could say anything he wanted.

Count down to the protests...3...2...1...

The first amendment only applies to them and not to differing opinions they refuse to listen to and consider.

Yeah anyone who thinks this is because of anything other than cord cutting also probably thinks Trump isn't taking orders from Putin...

(04-27-2017 07:17 AM)DirtyDukes Wrote:  Yeah anyone who thinks this is because of anything other than cord cutting also probably thinks Trump isn't taking orders from Putin...

Bingo. What is happening is they've lost 10M subscribers lately due to the non-sports crowd cutting the cord and not caring enough to make sure ESPN is part of their package. Those persons never watched ESPN to begin with, they're just no longer getting the $5 a month from their cable companies per subscriber.

The "10M subscribers are disgusted because they allowed a handful of their commentators to weigh in on Colin Kapernick's first amendment right to protest about the trend of excessive police force towards african americans" just sounds like an easier excuse to them though.

dirty loves trump

I don't watch a lot of Sportscenter or commentary on ESPN. Never did, although back in the day I used to watch Baseball Tonight. My interest in baseball has waned now that I can no longer watch Braves games regularly. Comcast seems determined that I should ONLY watch the Nats or the Os, or otherwise some randomized schedule. Snowball throwing will be an Olympic sport in hell before I become a Nats fan, let alone the fan of any American League team.

Anyhow, all this is preamble to saying that I only watch events on ESPN. And yes, I still have cable. I do have Apple TV, but I haven't found much difference on that, sports-wise. I read yesterday that one of the names on the next "executioner's list" is Hannah Storm, which pissed me off no end. She is one of the few knowledgeable female commentators on any sport other than basketball, and about the only one on track and field. They need to keep her, also Holly Rowe and Kara Lawson. Frankly, as far as I'm concerned, they could dump Doris Burke and Kevin Neghandi for starters.

They need to renegotiate their TV rights deals with all leagues and conferences. That's the only real way they're going to keep up with their revenue losses. They're paying pro and college leagues WAY too much.

ESPN is in the same boat that newspapers were in starting in the 90s. They thought they were "too big to fail" and thought they were impervious to new trends in the market. But really, I stopped watching them (and, after I got a job, reading them) a while ago. The content has declined. I like Don van Natta's reports, I liked the goofiness and character of the old SC anchors (oldmanyellsatcloud.jpg)... Stuart Scott (RIP), Kenny Mayne, Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann (regardless of what you think of his politics, I could listen to him talk baseball for days). Now, I just check Twitter. I don't need SportsCenter.

Their mid-day programming is even worse. I remember watching lawnmower racing, school bus demolition derbies, and other zany things, and it was extremely enjoyable. I was also in my early teens at the time, but I would still enjoy watching those at 30. Certainly better than listening to Stephen A Smith yell for four hours. ESPN needs to adjust in a BIG way. They need to view those that consume their content as fans, not just as viewers.

I don't have the answers (and if I did, I wouldn't post them here anyway... I would trade them for a big check from Bristol), but that's my (first) take on why they had to make these moves.

I may be alone in this one, but it seems all they cover is the NBA...Does anyone even watch or follow the NBA??? I don't and therefore I don't watch. "Lets do another special segment on Lebron" no thanks

(04-27-2017 08:30 AM)streamerlauncher Wrote:  I may be alone in this one, but it seems all they cover is the NBA...Does anyone even watch or follow the NBA??? I don't and therefore I don't watch. "Lets do another special segment on Lebron" no thanks

Really? I think they are more constant with their NFL coverage than NBA. They cover NBA players more than they cover the league. The cover LeBron, not the Cavs; Harden, not the Rockets; Russ, not the Thunder. And in between all that they cover the NFL, NFL free agency, NFL schedule, NFL draft, NFL ass wiping, NFL fantasy ratings, etc.

(04-27-2017 08:30 AM)streamerlauncher Wrote:  I may be alone in this one, but it seems all they cover is the NBA...Does anyone even watch or follow the NBA??? I don't and therefore I don't watch. "Lets do another special segment on Lebron" no thanks

Funny. My first reaction yesterday when I saw the layoffs was "damn, I sure hope they still have people around to tell me what Lebron had for breakfast, what time he cleared his toejam, and whether he laid a deuce successfully that morning". Sheesh. It's sickening. :>) Thank goodness I can turn the channel.

Growing up as a kid I recall our first remote control. It was my brother and me. My dad would throw an empty beer can at my head and say "get up boy and turn the channel". It was OK though because we only had 4 channels back then (NBC, CBS, ABC and PBS). And, the national anthem played around midnight. I never cared to know what my childhood hero, Pete Maravich, had for breakfast or whether he laid a deuce successfully that morning. I guess I didn't know what I was missing.

ESPN programming, such as SC, etc, has taken a massive dump over the last few decades.

but they are still the best, by far IMO, in covering live sports. And their documentaries like 30 for 30 are fantastic.

It's a shame they bought into all the flash and flare they thought was necessary in today's environment and didn't stick to what works and what still works. Just cover the damn games show us some highlights, talk about them after and tell us about any news. But we don't need it dressed up with flair and politics and hip hop, etc. Leave that for other networks. It's ESPN, not CNN or MTV.

(04-27-2017 08:48 AM)Duke Dawg Wrote:  ESPN programming, such as SC, etc, has taken a massive dump over the last few decades.

but they are still the best, by far IMO, in covering live sports. And their documentaries like 30 for 30 are fantastic.

It's a shame they bought into all the flash and flare they thought was necessary in today's environment and didn't stick to what works and what still works. Just cover the damn games show us some highlights, talk about them after and tell us about any news. But we don't need it dressed up with flair and politics and hip hop, etc. Leave that for other networks. It's ESPN, not CNN or MTV.

Amen!

I am hearing a rumor that Fox News will be covering tonight's draft. But, only the white players of course. And teams with black head coaches? Forget it. No coverage for the Bengals and Steelers, for example.

:>)

(j/k)