ESPN reportedly plans another big round of layoffs in the coming weeks
BY PETE GRATHOFF
NOVEMBER 10, 2017 9:10 AM
Once upon a time, “SportsCenter” was must-see television for fans. But ESPN’s one-time signature program apparently will be at the center of another round of layoffs that reportedly will happen in the coming weeks.
Sports Illustrated reported that more than 100 people will lose their jobs after Thanksgiving. This is from the SI story:
The layoffs, which were described by a person briefed on the plans, will hit positions across ESPN including front-facing talent on the television side, producers, executives, and digital and technology staffers. The SportsCenter franchise is expected to be hit hard—including on-air people—given the frequency of the show has lessened considerably on main network ESPN.
As more people drop cable in favor of streaming, ESPN has felt the financial pinch. In April, ESPN cut a number of long-time journalists as part of a round of layoffs that included 100 people.
According to the Los Angeles Times, ESPN weighed down the earnings of its parent company, Walt Disney, in a report on Thursday. The Times said that Disney’s “revenue declined 3 percent and the company failed to meet analysts’ expectations.”
The holiday season may seem like a harsh time to shed jobs. But Sports Illustrated said one reason why ESPN is planning the layoffs between Thanksgiving and Christmas is so employees can received another year in the stock vesting program.
i watched this and Pardon the Interruption religiously after I got home from high school my freshman and sophomore years. Just begging them to say something about the Chiefs. [Reply]
ATH was great until about 2016 then they started filling the rolls with the modern day progressive sports journalist and it became as bad as every other espn show.
PTI is still fine. They seem to be the only show willing to talk baseball and hockey during their respective seasons. At least they offer variety [Reply]
Originally Posted by warpaint*:
People watch these shows?
Man, I remember growing up I watched all of these ESPN shows religiously. Like, all day long.
These days, I might watch Sunday NFL Countdown or one of the other pregame shows on Sunday.
More on topic, I will say that I never cared for PtI or AtH. Something about the presentation seemed a bit drab for my liking. I also really only like NFL and a little bit of NBA. Those shows are better suited to sports fans with a more broad spectrum of interests than I have. [Reply]
Everything is different now. You don't need any of these shows to find content on whatever interests you. It's commentary about the current landscape as opposed to dogging the shows out at least from my POV.
This is the only place I come for Chiefs content b/c it all aggregates here (& every NFL team has one).
& other sites for the college programs I follow.
Not to mention podcasts.
When I was a kid in the early 90s I'd turn ESPN Thursday CFA on just to catch their swing around the nation segment at halftime for CFB content. Things have changed.
All these national shows are worthless IDK how any of them stay on the air. [Reply]
Man, i remember about 30 years ago there was some 24-news channel hat played the same shit over and over every 30 minutes. I checked it once I saw the Chiefs sign Tony Casillas so I checked it out all the time and never saw Chiefs shit again. [Reply]