1. #1
    jjgold
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    ESPN will cut more than 40 on-air personalities in May..

    As more Americans cut the cable cord, ESPN has seen its subscriber numbers drop steadily, forcing Disney to demand cost-cutting from the “worldwide leader in sports.” It’s been widely reported since March that the next big round of ESPN layoffs will hit on-air talent, but now we know more on the timing: the cuts will begin on May 1, sources at ESPN tell Yahoo Finance.
    ESPN will part ways with more than 40 people, all of them “talent,” a label that ESPN applies to radio hosts and writers (almost all of whom regularly do video or audio), not just traditional TV personalities. ESPN says it has 1,000 people in the category. Still, you can expect most of the people cut to be faces you’ve seen on TV. In some cases, ESPN may buy people out of existing long-term contracts—as Sports Illustrated points out, that is unusual.
    The cuts will mostly be done by May 9, when Disney announces its quarterly earnings, but could extend until May 16, when ESPN presents its annual Upfronts in Manhattan.In a statement, an ESPN spokesperson said the approaching cuts are about innovating to suit the needs of consumers: “Today’s fans consume content in many different ways and we are in a continuous process of adapting to change and improving what we do. Inevitably that has consequences for how we utilize our talent. We are confident that ESPN will continue to have a roster of talent that is unequaled in sports.”ESPN’s last major layoff round was in 2015, when it cut around 300 employees—a much larger number than is coming in May, but this time it’s viewer-facing, recognizable names. Before that, ESPN cut around 300 people in 2013, so we see a recent pattern of big layoffs every two years.
    The reasons are clear if you’ve followed the fallout of cord-cutting: ESPN (and Fox Sports 1 just as much) is seeing viewership fall and rights fees continue to rise. ESPN pays fat fees for the right to show Monday Night Football ($1.9 billion per year through 2021), NBA games ($1.4 billion through 2025) and the College Football Playoff ($600 million through 2026), to name just a few. Its total programming costs are up to $8 billion this year. The situation is not tenable.
    Disney does not break out the financials of ESPN, but includes it in its media division. In Disney’s fourth quarter of 2016, revenue for its media division fell 3% and revenue for cable networks fell 6.8% year over year. Disney did say that ESPN had “lower advertising and affiliate revenue” in the quarter. In Disney’s first quarter of 2017, revenues in the media division fell 2% and operating income fell 4% year over year. Again, the causes were higher programming costs, fewer subscribers. In October of last year, ESPN had its worst month ever, losing 621,000 subscribers, according to Nielsen.But parting ways with expensive talent won’t just slim the network down fiscally—it could arguably improve ESPN’s image and modernize its identity. In the past two years, Bill Simmons, Colin Cowherd, Keith Olbermann, Jason Whitlock, Mike Tirico, and Skip Bayless all left the network, some by choice and some via firing. There’s a reasonable argument to be made that the network can thrive without such veterans. That’s not to say that it’s about to show all of its expensive, recognizable talent the door. The question is which expensive talent will remain.
    While no one knows (or isn’t telling) which people will be let go next month (The New York Daily News has some speculation, including SportsCenter anchor John Buccigross, whose contract expires on July 1), it’s easier to guess at which personalities are safe: Scott Van Pelt, whose midnight SportsCenter slot has done well; Michael Smith and Jemele Hill, who have just been given the 6 pm SportsCenter slot; Mike Greenberg, who is being taken off the long-running “Mike and Mike” radio show and getting his own show; and the main hosts of ESPN College GameDay, the network’s extremely successful Saturday college football franchise. It’s likely that many of the people cut will be lesser-known on-air correspondents that aren’t the face of a show.Another new step that will help ESPN very soon: parent company Disney’s close relationship with BAM Tech, the spun-off video business of Major League Baseball Advanced Media (“BAM”). Last August, Disney spent $1 billion to get a 33% ownership stake in BAM Tech. In four years it will get the option to buy another third, giving it the majority ownership—expect it to take that option. Disney has said that it plans to have BAM Tech build an OTT (over-the-top) streaming service for ESPN. Giving a standalone option with a monthly subscription fee, a la HBO Now, would help ESPN hold on to some of the young sports fans who don’t want full cable.

  2. #2
    stevek173
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    Hopefully some of them come here and post.

  3. #3
    jjgold
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    ESPN going to the ghetto network
    real cheap labor too

    Democratic...going to keep losing viewers too

  4. #4
    stevek173
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    They should hire you so they can go from sinking to completely dead.

  5. #5
    manny24
    pay Bobby
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    what they get for trying to drag Brady's name through the mud fuk them
    Nomination(s):
    This post was nominated 3 times . To view the nominated thread please click here. People who nominated: El Nino, darrell74, and turtlejc

  6. #6
    RangeFinder
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    Cable tv is dead. It's not the only network that's struggling. It got too expensive for the average household and millennials are just using internet streaming. The whole cable and satellite industry is failing because of operating costs and lower subscribers.

  7. #7
    brooks85
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    no surprise at all and welcomed.


    Wasting time listening to talking heads go on about the same thing over and over in sports is a -ev way of life.

  8. #8
    jjgold
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    Quote Originally Posted by brooks85 View Post
    no surprise at all and welcomed.



    Wasting time listening to talking heads go on about the same thing over and over in sports is a -ev way of life.

    yes

    All day different shows same stories

    It is over kill

    I like the show on internet from South Points Sports Book all sports betting

  9. #9
    Cuse0323
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    Good. ESPN has been shit for years now. I hope they eventually crumble somehow. Last time I turned it on was to watch the UCon women lose.

    TV is awful in general now. Liberals infiltrated everything, and are failing per the usual. I may even read a book.

  10. #10
    SBRMAN23
    Be humble sit down
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    Quote Originally Posted by brooks85 View Post
    no surprise at all and welcomed.


    Wasting time listening to talking heads go on about the same thing over and over in sports is a -ev way of life.
    Wow we agree on something cheers

  11. #11
    Sam Odom
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    hope they keep the Mexicans

  12. #12
    Merella
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    i dont even watch sports talk anymore..could hire robots to do their job

  13. #13
    ChuckyTheGoat
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    Quote Originally Posted by stevek173 View Post
    Hopefully some of them come here and post.
    Imagine if JJGold was an anchor on Sp-Ctr.

  14. #14
    Foxx
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    Hopefully Stephen A Smith is on the chopping block.

  15. #15
    ChuckyTheGoat
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  16. #16
    jjgold
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    It's overkill now

    I rather watch good tennis or soccer match

  17. #17
    Sam Odom
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    Quote Originally Posted by Foxx View Post

    Hopefully Stephen A Smith is on the chopping block.

    NO fuking way... and you know why

  18. #18
    stevek173
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    Quote Originally Posted by ChuckyTheGoat View Post
    Imagine if JJGold was an anchor on Sp-Ctr.
    This needs to happen.

  19. #19
    Cuse0323
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sam Odom View Post
    NO fuking way... and you know why
    :

    Hill should be gone too, but maybe they get good ratings at 6 PM with that terrible duo. The 40 will be 38 white folk. I hope Bucci doesn't go as the article mentioned. He's actually knowledgeable, especially with all Hockey. Actually, let him go somewhere else. He would be a great commentator for the NHL.

  20. #20
    CWD
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    goldy nice post

    we call this pot meets kettle

  21. #21
    senseionline
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    Quote Originally Posted by Foxx View Post
    Hopefully Stephen A Smith is on the chopping block.


  22. #22
    The Kraken
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    Quote Originally Posted by brooks85 View Post
    no surprise at all and welcomed.


    Wasting time listening to talking heads go on about the same thing over and over in sports is a -ev way of life.
    Then don't watch it

    and if you don't watch it, why would you care if anyone was cut or not?

    At least you're consistently a dumb fukk

  23. #23
    jjgold
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    Lucky college game day still strong but they might screw that up too

  24. #24
    ChuckyTheGoat
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    Coach:

    If offered, would u accept a slot as Sp-Ctr host?

  25. #25
    Gaze73
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    That's what they get for bringing politics into sports, fukking clowns.

  26. #26
    NrmlCurvSurfr
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    Quote Originally Posted by ChuckyTheGoat View Post
    Imagine if JJGold was an anchor on Sp-Ctr.
    It would be an improvement lol You could have segments on bookies and bad beats, how he almost scored etc...would get better ratings than sports center IMO..

  27. #27
    Sam Odom
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    Could have a '3" of Steel' segment

  28. #28
    INVEGA MAN
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    a lot of deadwood at ESPN

  29. #29
    slambam
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    The only reason rights are so high is because the dumbasses are only fighting against like 3 other networks, yet they pay an incredibly ridiculous amount. $1.9B a year for MNF? That's over $100M per game. What kind of fukking moron thinks that is worth it?

  30. #30
    mdunlap3
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    Wtf is going on with ESPN? Seems like Fox sports really is killing it.

  31. #31
    Foxx
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    Quote Originally Posted by slambam View Post
    The only reason rights are so high is because the dumbasses are only fighting against like 3 other networks, yet they pay an incredibly ridiculous amount. $1.9B a year for MNF? That's over $100M per game. What kind of fukking moron thinks that is worth it?
    Yeah, 110 million/game does seem a bit much. That's like $9 per viewer.

  32. #32
    chopperocker
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    they get redundant becuz its such a homogenized approach.

    I prefer the following anyway -

    http://pregame.com/pregamepros/podcast/?t=all

    https://soundcloud.com/donbestsports

    https://soundcloud.com/sportsxradio

    https://soundcloud.com/eye-on-gaming

    https://soundcloud.com/bettheboard

    https://www.vsin.com/

    in no particular order and subscribed to the youtube SBR, WagerTalk, Pregame, FNTSY channels

  33. #33
    mohye1980
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    Those dudes are vastly overpaid. Get rid of them and lower my direct tv bill lol

  34. #34
    dlowilly
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    They better not fire Samantha Ponder
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    Ralphie Halves gave dlowilly 2 Betpoint(s) for this post.


  35. #35
    jjgold
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    You can get people 70% cheaper and do great job

    It does not require much talent where very few can do

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