ESPN Layoffs

[Natsinpwc]

https://twitter.com/ESPNDanaOneil/status/857242844985163776
https://twitter.com/mkisaacson/status/857294852580659205
https://twitter.com/AshleyFoxESPN/status/857295249743507456

Yea. I checked later and saw a bunch.

[Lintyfresh85]

Stark can head to MLB. Hopefully they cut Kurkjian and he goes to MLB as well.

[nats2playoffs]

/social media invented for people to share things about their lives
/people share things, like big moments in life, such as getting laid off a high-profile job
/"why are you sharing things about your personal life on social media"



OWGs, y'all

FIXED

[DPMOmaha]

They essentially cut the legs out of Baseball Tonight. I used to watch that show every night.

[nats2playoffs]

Since Disney owns ABC and ESPN, all of the talking heads on ESPN should wear costumes from Beauty and the Beast or Frozen. Every ESPN show should have one openly gay or lesbian person.




ESPN can cover more winter sports, even in the summer.

[Slateman]

Since Disney owns ABC and ESPN, all of the talking heads on ESPN should wear costumes from Beauty and the Beast or Frozen. Every ESPN show should have one openly gay or lesbian person.

(Image removed from quote.)

(Image removed from quote.)
ESPN can cover more winter sports, even in the summer.

Better yet, just make all the talking heads digital.

[OldChelsea]

To be perfectly honest I haven't watched much ESPN in recent years. Case in point: back in the 2015 NFL season I had not watched their Sunday pre-match show for a while so, after returning from one of my trips, I tuned in...and the two-hour broadcast turned out to be little more than an infomercial for DraftKings. Haven't watched it since.

I'll still tune in to specific matches at times, and their website still has some pretty good statistics on it, but that's about the extent of my involvement nowadays with the 'Worldwide Leader'..

[Slateman]

(Image removed from quote.)

Not crying, just stating facts. MG asked why have an openly gay one and it's because Disney is the LGBTQ+ SJW champion of industry.

[Natsinpwc]

This guy summed it pretty nicely.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/i-didnt-drop-espn-because-of-its-preachy-politics-but-it-makes-me-glad-i-did/article/2621339

"Middle America wants to pop a beer and listen to sports talk, they don't want to be lectured about why Caitlyn Jenner is a hero, Michael Sam is the new Jackie Robinson of sports, and Colin Kaepernick is the Rosa Parks of football. ESPN made the mistake of trying to make liberal social media losers happy and as a result lost millions of viewers."

The Washington Examiner. Ha ha.  Here is a more balanced view. It's not the only reason.

https://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2017/03/21/the-top-5-reasons-espns-ratings-are-in-freefall/

[DPMOmaha]

That explains why they would, not why they should.

[Natsinpwc]

Not crying, just stating facts. MG asked why have an openly gay one and it's because Disney is the LGBTQ+ SJW champion of industry.

So. Have people stopped going to Disney? Or watching their movies? 

[DCFan]

The Washington Examiner. Ha ha.  Here is a more balanced view. It's not the only reason.

https://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2017/03/21/the-top-5-reasons-espns-ratings-are-in-freefall/

The social justice warrior network works for me.

[UMDNats]

espn as a whole is just terribly run, i don't understand why skipper still has a job, their management is horrendous and has misjudged the media landscape for a good, like 10 years.

no one my age cares about ESPN anymore except to watch live games. way to go!

cutting these jobs amounts to what, one MNF broadcast rights fees? sweet deal they got! they need a complete re-structuring of how they present themselves.

This guy summed it pretty nicely.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/i-didnt-drop-espn-because-of-its-preachy-politics-but-it-makes-me-glad-i-did/article/2621339

"Middle America wants to pop a beer and listen to sports talk, they don't want to be lectured about why Caitlyn Jenner is a hero, Michael Sam is the new Jackie Robinson of sports, and Colin Kaepernick is the Rosa Parks of football. ESPN made the mistake of trying to make liberal social media losers happy and as a result lost millions of viewers."

Yeah, this is not why espn's ratings are down. Good try though!

[Natsinpwc]

espn as a whole is just terribly run, i don't understand why skipper still has a job, their management is horrendous and has misjudged the media landscape for a good, like 10 years.

no one my age cares about ESPN anymore except to watch live games. way to go!

cutting these jobs amounts to what, one MNF broadcast rights fees? sweet deal they got! they need a complete re-structuring of how they present themselves.

Yeah, this is not why espn's ratings are down. Good try though!

It's like the postal service. Years ago everyone needed them. But not now. No one needs to wait for sportscenter to see the scores and highlights. However if they have a game you want to watch I bet you tune in.  Just too much competition. They will never get back to the same niche.

[skippy1999]

I'm the weirdo who still watches ESPN pretty regularly but they took on way too much, I mean the SEC Network and Longhorn Network, were those really necessary?  Methinks not.  ESPN drove me nuts through spygate and then deflategate  but I like Van Pelt late at night and Sports Reporters on Sunday (even though that's going away ) and Outside the Lines anytime so I don't think they totally suck I just think they way overspent on stupid new networks as well as not counting on how readily people would be able to get info via the internet.

[DCFan]

They will never get back to the same niche.

Australian rules football. The glory days of ESPN. 

[DCFan]

Yeah, this is not why espn's ratings are down. Good try though!

Of course it is. When you shove politics into sports you are by definition alienating half your audience.

[Minty Fresh]

espn as a whole is just terribly run, i don't understand why skipper still has a job, their management is horrendous and has misjudged the media landscape for a good, like 10 years.

no one my age cares about ESPN anymore except to watch live games. way to go!

cutting these jobs amounts to what, one MNF broadcast rights fees? sweet deal they got! they need a complete re-structuring of how they present themselves.

Yeah, this is not why espn's ratings are down. Good try though!

I also have to think that their NBA contract is likely the worst deal in sports media right now.  The NBA regular season is unwatchable.

[Minty Fresh]

This guy summed it pretty nicely.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/i-didnt-drop-espn-because-of-its-preachy-politics-but-it-makes-me-glad-i-did/article/2621339

"Middle America wants to pop a beer and listen to sports talk, they don't want to be lectured about why Caitlyn Jenner is a hero, Michael Sam is the new Jackie Robinson of sports, and Colin Kaepernick is the Rosa Parks of football. ESPN made the mistake of trying to make liberal social media losers happy and as a result lost millions of viewers."

[DPMOmaha]

I'm the weirdo who still watches ESPN pretty regularly but they took on way too much, I mean the SEC Network and Longhorn Network, were those really necessary?  Methinks not.  ESPN drove me nuts through spygate and then deflategate  but I like Van Pelt late at night and Sports Reporters on Sunday (even though that's going away ) and Outside the Lines anytime so I don't think they totally suck I just think they way overspent on stupid new networks as well as not counting on how readily people would be able to get info via the internet.

Conference networks, like the SEC Network and Big Ten Network have been successful. Team specific networks hemorrhage cash.

[Natsinpwc]

Australian rules football. The glory days of ESPN. 

And people watched. Because there was no competition and the Internet was just starting.

[Minty Fresh]

Conference networks, like the SEC Network and Big Ten Network have been successful. Team specific networks hemorrhage cash.

Sports in general really have become fairly regionalized.  In what used to be "the big four sports," MLB, NHL and NBA are all now very regionalized.  Many fans of specific teams just don't have the kind of time to follow their team through such a long and drawn out schedule - especially if the team is terrible.  Outside of the NFL (which is also suffering a bit) there is no national sport the majority of fans follow for an entire season.

[HalfSmokes]

too many stupid rights deals, often bidding against themselves. Combine that with anything other than increasing revenue, and you hit a wall

[OldChelsea]

...but they didn't do much with Michael Sam that was beyond standard reporting (except, you know, that one report on his showering routine with teammates) - I mean, that was a big deal...

In Sam's case the coverage ran out fairly soon because his NFL career fizzled out so quickly (final pre-season cut at Rams, then waived off practice squad by Cowboys - never saw regular-season action in NFL; last time I looked he was at the CFL Montreal Alouettes).

[HalfSmokes]

Conference networks, like the SEC Network and Big Ten Network have been successful. Team specific networks hemorrhage cash.

This is nothing more than cord cutters running into increasing rights fees. Declining revenue plus increasing fixed costs isn't viable