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.
ESPN no different than so many other media oil test, just like the KC Star. Have constantly force-fed their paying customers non-stop liberal politics and their customer based plummeted. Stupid is, as stupid does. [Reply]
Originally Posted by hawkchief:
ESPN no different than so many other media oil test, just like the KC Star. Have constantly force-fed their paying customers non-stop liberal politics and their customer based plummeted. Stupid is, as stupid does.
i bet thats a very very small part of it, the real big part of it, is people are cutting cable. I know i did last year and i dont even miss it. There is no reason to watch espn or fox sports outside of live sports. Most people spend hours upon hours looking at their stupid phones and can get what they need from there. Hell, i fi want to check the score to say the Dodgers game now days, i just head on over to r/dodgers and open up the game thread. They have the highlights already imbedded in the thread in real time. [Reply]
Originally Posted by kcxiv:
i bet thats a very very small part of it, the real big part of it, is people are cutting cable. I know i did last year and i dont even miss it. There is no reason to watch espn or fox sports outside of live sports. Most people spend hours upon hours looking at their stupid phones and can get what they need from there. Hell, i fi want to check the score to say the Dodgers game now days, i just head on over to r/dodgers and open up the game thread. They have the highlights already imbedded in the thread in real time.
They theoretically would be making up that difference with their espn+ platform. It doesn't seem to be enough though. I just think besides their live sports most of their type of programming can be found in a million different locations now. [Reply]
ESPN peaked at 99 million subscribers back in 2013.. That was an impossible number to sustain because the advent of streaming changed the way the world watched and watches TV.
ESPN still has more than 82 million subscribers and ESPN+ has 12.1 million.
The news of their death has been greatly exaggerated. [Reply]
And Chris Berman gets a contract extension from ESPN today...
Happy birthday, Chris Berman - & congrats on your new multi-year ESPN extension!
His continuing roles include: 🏈 NFL PrimeTime on ESPN+ 🏈 NFL PrimeTime on ESPN after Super Bowl & #NFL Conference Championship games 🏈 SportsCenter & beyond
Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud:
ESPN peaked at 99 million subscribers back in 2013.. That was an impossible number to sustain because the advent of streaming changed the way the world watched and watches TV.
ESPN still has more than 82 million subscribers and ESPN+ has 12.1 million.
The news of their death has been greatly exaggerated.
I would hazard a guess that there is also quite a bit of overlap on those two figures. But thats basically what I was trying to say as well. But they themselves seem to be leading the narrative when they keep doing 'massive' layoffs. [Reply]
Originally Posted by tyecopeland:
I would hazard a guess that there is also quite a bit of overlap on those two figures. But thats basically what I was trying to say as well. But they themselves seem to be leading the narrative when they keep doing 'massive' layoffs.
If you're referring to ESPN and ESPN+, no, they are reported separately. [Reply]
Originally Posted by tyecopeland:
So, nobody that watches espn but also subscribes to espn+ gets counted in both figures? I dont believe it.
Dude, JFC, I fucking hired one their Directors of Finance 18 years ago as junior financial analyst at Paramount. I don't pull shit out of my ass when talking about ANYTHING in the entertainment business.
You can believe whatever you want to believe but NO, those subscribers numbers are NOT mixed. If you're so concerned, do a fucking Google search, where you'll find historical data and charts within minutes. [Reply]
