ESPN cuts to 100 on-air personalities happening today

[Chickenman Testa]

Yea, I know what show you are talking about. Its Boomani Jones or however you spell his name, Dan Lebatard and his dad.
Its actually worse than the Jemelle Hill Sports Center...think about that...its that bad.
Oh and there are a few at ESPN that I would be absolutely thrilled about seeing them lose their jobs. To the point that they are homeless and living off scraps from the street.

Hearing that Mushmouf is reduced to turning tricks at the Bus Terminal would please me.

 

[psuro]

Having just gone through an unexpected job change, I can say that when things get tough for an organization, they tend to focus on staff that "recites the corporate script." The powers that be seem more interested in surrounding themselves with those that have the same ideas that they do, as opposed to those who solidly do their job and don't buy into the bullsh*t.

No, I am not bitter.

 

[PSUMATT85]

Should be an interesting day. It appears that ESPN still doesn't get it, as they are touting the "success" of their dreadful 6 PM show in the press release.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/espn-will-cut-100-air-personalities-today-123057142.html

What's ESPN?

 

[psuro]

What's ESPN?

Its the place Mel Kiper calls home. But, that's not important now.

 

[ThePennsyOracle]

Having just gone through an unexpected job change, I can say that when things get tough for an organization, they tend to focus on staff that "recites the corporate script." The powers that be seem more interested in surrounding themselves with those that have the same ideas that they do, as opposed to those who solidly do their job and don't buy into the bullsh*t.

No, I am not bitter.

Been there too.

VP walks in at 4:30pm on a Monday, says not to come to work tomorrow just months before my wedding.

But, I ended up in a much better place--the months in between were rough, but such a situation has its way of teaching you things about yourself.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

They should just go back to Australian rules football in the afternoons. I was channel surfing about a month ago on a workday afternoon I was off that day. Those afternoon talk shows are putrid. I tried watching a couple of them and they are brutal. The one with 2 sports guys taking about that days news and some Cuban guy in the middle of them was the worst tv I have witnessed. I watch their afternoon shows for a total of about 2 minutes ... no wonder their ratings are down and cutting costs. Their programming is awful. Guys were smart jumping ship a few years ago to fox and getting off the sinking ship of espn.... while I don't like seeing people lose their jobs there are a few at espn if cut I will shed crocodile tears if they are cut ...

And international strong-man competitions in the wee hours of the night. Could use more morning work-out shows too IMO....

 

[Franklin_Restores_TheTradition]

I get not liking ESPN. But it is definitely not something to root for since the people being let go have families. Many of the people being let go are lesser known and likely not paid boat loads of money. Never a good thing to have to deal with being let go (even if the company you work for is ESPN) and to not know when you will be getting your next paycheck.

Yea, the people these hack "hatchet-jobbers" attack based on their own personal agendas and allegiances have families to! I have no sympathy for ESPN who is the party making absurd decision after absurd decision......and merely increasing the problems, and probable future losses, with their actions, not correcting, or even addressing, their massive failures - this is called the "death throws" of a useless garbage-media company that's lost-its-way going from a "broadcaster" of live sporting events, to a trash propagator "Tabloid News" and nauseating talking-heads who confuse their, and their employer's, baseless "opinions" with actual fact, reality and news ......and of course the louder they scream their baseless opinions, the more it proves it's fact......good riddance!

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

Erin Andrews today....

 

[MtNittany]

The folks at awfulannouncing.com are nice enough to keep us updated throughout the day here.

 

[Limestone_Lion]

Having just gone through an unexpected job change, I can say that when things get tough for an organization, they tend to focus on staff that "recites the corporate script." The powers that be seem more interested in surrounding themselves with those that have the same ideas that they do, as opposed to those who solidly do their job and don't buy into the bullsh*t.

No, I am not bitter.

Been there too.

VP walks in at 4:30pm on a Monday, says not to come to work tomorrow just months before my wedding.

But, I ended up in a much better place--the months in between were rough, but such a situation has its way of teaching you things about yourself.

Its tough for sure. I had a talk with the president of my previous company on a Friday. Talked for 2 hours about sports and my new apartment that I just signed the lease for. My phone rang at 9 am on Saturday morning for him to tell me that they laid me off.

I showed up Monday morning to collect my things, and the VP had the nerve to say "why didn't you make it in Sunday to get your stuff?"..

4.5 months later I landed my current gig, and it could not have turned out better. Been here for almost 2 years now, and they couldn't offer me enough to go back...

 

[tboyer]

This isn't even a very well organized layoff. They are just getting rid of everybody who is not on long term contract, everybody who is not absolutely necessary to keep the lights on. Disney wants them profitable again.

Sad thing is, all these people's salaries is a drop in the bucket compared with what they're losing on some of their broadcast rights deals. The NFL has taken ESPN to the cleaners. Saw an analysis recently estimating they lost $100 million PER GAME on one of their NFL contracts. They paid top dollar for a bunch of dog games featuring dog teams.

So stupid corporate executives make stupid decisions, then when they lose money, they lay off all the people who had nothing to do with those stupid decisions. And the people who made the stupid decisions get to keep their jobs.

 

[RTLH]

Having just gone through an unexpected job change, I can say that when things get tough for an organization, they tend to focus on staff that "recites the corporate script." The powers that be seem more interested in surrounding themselves with those that have the same ideas that they do, as opposed to those who solidly do their job and don't buy into the bullsh*t.

No, I am not bitter.

Been in the corporate world 30 years at a few companies. Seen many layoffs.
So many times the people who get let go you wonder why. Move makes no sense.
Then others you wonder why they are still around.

 

[RTLH]

Should be an interesting day. It appears that ESPN still doesn't get it, as they are touting the "success" of their dreadful 6 PM show in the press release.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/espn-will-cut-100-air-personalities-today-123057142.html

Hoping Beth Mowens is let go.
Maybe time for her to start making some babies!

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

Former Rivals writer Jeremy Crabtree got the boot too.

 

[JoeLion]

The NFL network is rapidly eating away at their NFL viewership, college football conference networks are posing a real challenge as well. ESPN has sold its soul to the NBA and will keep feeding that venue in hopes of reviving that segment of their viewership loyalty.
ESPN is not the 800 lb. gorilla it used to be.

 

[Sandinista!]

ESPN is profitable.

Also, these cuts suck because it is just the good people. All the people you hate, everyone is sucks, they will still be there tomorrow.

This isn't even a very well organized layoff. They are just getting rid of everybody who is not on long term contract, everybody who is not absolutely necessary to keep the lights on. Disney wants them profitable again.

Sad thing is, all these people's salaries is a drop in the bucket compared with what they're losing on some of their broadcast rights deals. The NFL has taken ESPN to the cleaners. Saw an analysis recently estimating they lost $100 million PER GAME on one of their NFL contracts. They paid top dollar for a bunch of dog games featuring dog teams.

So stupid corporate executives make stupid decisions, then when they lose money, they lay off all the people who had nothing to do with those stupid decisions. And the people who made the stupid decisions get to keep their jobs.

 

[ThePennsyOracle]

Jeremy Crabtree (formerly of Rivals) and Bret McMurphy also gone.

 

[OldTiredLion]

Rumor has it that Marv Albert will be handing out the pink slips.

Yeah, but Mel will still have a closetful left to wear when he wants to get frisky.

 

[Cletus11]

The sooner ESPN realizes that people are not tuning in to watch a 'personality' they are tuning in to watch live sports programming, is when they start to become more profitable. The days of people tuning into see Howard Cosell because he was a bombastic guy were over 30 years ago. Put on good programming, have a couple of highlight shows that show highlights, have some original quality content like Outside the Lines and 30 for 30. Get rid of the talking head shows that yell and scream.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

The sooner ESPN realizes that people are not tuning in to watch a 'personality' they are tuning in to watch live sports programming, is when they start to become more profitable. The days of people tuning into see Howard Cosell because he was a bombastic guy were over 30 years ago. Put on good programming, have a couple of highlight shows that show highlights, have some original quality content like Outside the Lines and 30 for 30. Get rid of the talking head shows that yell and scream.

All of their programming - on every platform - needs to be nuked. Tried listening to Dan LeBatard this morning for a few minutes and he literally played the same 15 second clip of some Michigan reporter (covering the team in Italy) say, 'That there's the Vatican - the Pope lives up in there!' about a dozen times while he and his jolly gang of circle jerkers laughed like maniacs.

 

[RTLH]

The NFL network is rapidly eating away at their NFL viewership, college football conference networks are posing a real challenge as well. ESPN has sold its soul to the NBA and will keep feeding that venue in hopes of reviving that segment of their viewership loyalty.
ESPN is not the 800 lb. gorilla it used to be.

You can also add what Comcast is doing with CSN in many major markets.

 

[harbest]

It's all about ratings. It you're professional and competent, you're a ratings liability. If you're loud, boisterous, and make off the wall predictions, people WILL tune in to watch you make an ass of yourself (See Cosell, Howard). If they take too much of that hot air away, Bristol would be pretty damm unbearable in the middle of winter.

 

[UncleRoyBiggins]

Having just gone through an unexpected job change, I can say that when things get tough for an organization, they tend to focus on staff that "recites the corporate script." The powers that be seem more interested in surrounding themselves with those that have the same ideas that they do, as opposed to those who solidly do their job and don't buy into the bullsh*t.

No, I am not bitter.

Been there and done that my friend.

 

[NewEra 2014]

The sooner ESPN realizes that people are not tuning in to watch a 'personality' they are tuning in to watch live sports programming, is when they start to become more profitable. The days of people tuning into see Howard Cosell because he was a bombastic guy were over 30 years ago. Put on good programming, have a couple of highlight shows that show highlights, have some original quality content like Outside the Lines and 30 for 30. Get rid of the talking head shows that yell and scream.

I agree, but it appears they are going even further in the other direction based on early reports. This may drive even more people away from ESPN to Fox Sports, the MLB/NFL/NBA networks, and the college conference networks. I think it is a good thing for the consumer in the long run, but I can't believe how tone-deaf ESPN management truly is.

 

[MtNittany]

espn owes over $7 billion in rights alone in 2017. Yeah, they're profitable.

 

[NittPicker]

Rumor has it that Marv Albert will be handing out the pink slips.

Knowing what we know about Marv, maybe he'll be WEARING the pink slips.

 

[NC2017]

Should be an interesting day. It appears that ESPN still doesn't get it, as they are touting the "success" of their dreadful 6 PM show in the press release.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/espn-will-cut-100-air-personalities-today-123057142.html

This won't help their business model unless they drop the mix of sports and politics.

 

[Chickenman Testa]

Having just gone through an unexpected job change, I can say that when things get tough for an organization, they tend to focus on staff that "recites the corporate script." The powers that be seem more interested in surrounding themselves with those that have the same ideas that they do, as opposed to those who solidly do their job and don't buy into the bullsh*t.

No, I am not bitter.

When I retire, I'm going to start a thread here and dump a bunch of great stories from the corporate front lines I've kept in various CYA files over the years.

I still have one email thread I've kept from a law firm job. Female partner who screwed up was trying to throw me under the bus. I didn't care about making partner and was a short-timer of sorts so wasn't putting up with her crap. The sad thing is that I had to deal with about 45 emails, many from that ****, on a Sunday which just happened to be my baby boy's first birthday. Since that day about 13 years ago, it looks like she's aged 30 years while I look younger as I left that sweatshop to the benefit of my well-being.

 

[Lavar5150]

So far, it looks like Ed Werder is the most visible name.

https://deadspin.com/a-running-list-of-espn-layoffs-1794664091

Ed always has that free rent up Jerry Jones' a$$. Good riddance

 

[Lion84]

This guy did not make my stomach turn so disappointed to hear. Quick story. My friend used to play basketball with Sal Pal. Said Sal never believed he fouled anyone and believed EVERYONE was always fouling him.

I hear him on the radio with Mikey Miss (another tool that I cant believe went to PSU) and Sal comes off as the biggest pompous ass I have ever heard and it bleeds right through the radio.

 

[tboyer]

ESPN for most of its history was just a license to print money. They got a fee from every cable subscriber, and they could raise that fee pretty much every year. It was like being able to give yourself a raise every year -- who wouldn't?

Imagine being in a business where you can get 60 million people to give you $10 a month EVEN THOUGH THEY DON'T USE YOUR PRODUCT. That's ESPN's business -- and it's still a pretty nice business.

But it is eroding pretty fast with video streaming taking over. People are finding alternatives to cable, cable companies are having to respond with more flexible packages. We still don't have a la carte programming but some giant steps are being taken in the direction of a la carte. Even people like my dad, who loves sports, are starting to rebel at the $180 monthly cable bill.

And that means ESPN can no longer count on $10 a month from 60 million households that don't actually watch ESPN. It will 30 million, and eventually it will be 0.

ESPN is going to have to get its users to actually pay $10 (and it will be more, maybe more like $15 or $20). And there are plenty of sports fanatics who will pay. But ESPN is going to have to deliver real value for their money. So they can't just have a bunch of information and commentary that doesn't any real measurable value.

In other worlds, ESPN is now moving out of that nice financial bubble of extended basic cable and into the sea with everybody else in the information business. And a lot of what they produce is a commodity and not worth all that much. It is not easy to make a living in that sea of information and it is going to be a painful transition for them.

 

[step.eng69]

It disturbs me to see anyone lose their employment, but reading the announcement, it appears they are just culling the herd of bubbleheads.

I see many posters are reporting that Penn State alum Dana O'Neil is among ESPN's retrenchment casualties, I'm sorry to hear. Maybe she'll be invited to joint the Learfield network.

"The 100 people getting cut are all “on-air talent,” a label ESPN uses for TV personalities, radio hosts, and writers who regularly appear on TV and radio"

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

View embedded media

If I'm O'Neil, I see a perfect opportunity to do some teaching/lecturing at the new Bellisario School of Communications at my alma mater.

 

[NittPicker]

They should just go back to Australian rules football in the afternoons.

I remember seeing Aussie Rules during the early days of ESPN. It was a fun sport to watch, certainly better than the NBA. Sadly, it's hard to find nowadays. Back then ESPN had a lot of programming which wasn't common to see. That's what made it interesting. Today they've gone all in with moronic talk shows and Texas Hold 'Em to fill out the schedule.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

I remember seeing Aussie Rules during the early days of ESPN. It was a fun sport to watch, certainly better than the NBA. Sadly, it's hard to find nowadays. Back then ESPN had a lot of programming which wasn't common to see. That's what made it interesting. Today they've gone all in with moronic talk shows and Texas Hold 'Em.

 

[Lion84]

Been there and done that my friend.

Me too - sucked big time for a while but ended up OK at the end but it seems the Corporate world we live in now is not the same as it once was. My Dad worked for the same Company his whole life - doubt that will happen much if at all any longer.

 

[bjf1991]

And international strong-man competitions in the wee hours of the night. Could use more morning work-out shows too IMO....

If I really thought about it, aside from live ACTUAL sporting events (with the sound on "mute"), and a few of the "30 for 30"s ....the ONLY ESPN program that was ever worth watching was:


BodyShaping.....with Kiana ( even though it took a hit when Jennifer hooked up with that "walking-bag-of-hair" Chris Fowler)

There was - for a while - a gal who (honest to God) looked like a slightly more petite version of Kiana ....who worked out, for an hour or two EVERY DAY, at the gym I was going to.
Suffice to say, I RARELY missed a day at the gym during that time ......
so the effect of that show was really a positive!!!!.

 

[Obliviax]

Me too - sucked big time for a while but ended up OK at the end but it seems the Corporate world we live in now is not the same as it once was. My Dad worked for the same Company his whole life - doubt that will happen much if at all any longer.

me too...but won the lawsuit so its all good.

 

[Cletus11]

I agree, but it appears they are going even further in the other direction based on early reports. This may drive even more people away from ESPN to Fox Sports, the MLB/NFL/NBA networks, and the college conference networks. I think it is a good thing for the consumer in the long run, but I can't believe how tone-deaf ESPN management truly is.

I agree 100% with you. If ESPN thinks laying off 100 'on air' personalities of the 1,000 they have (read that is the number in the yahoo article) is going to lower costs enough to stay profitable, they are crazy. As was discussed in this thread, ESPN has a huge business issue with the migration of cable TV to more direct, on-line content and a myriad of more choices today versus even 7-8 years ago. They are in a declining business model with some huge legacy costs with some of the crazy $$$ they spent for multi-year deals for some of their pro sport content. Today's action will only satisfy Disney for 2016. But come the end of this year when the accountants get a look at the bottom line of ESPN, in 2017 they will have to make some real changes.

 

[MtNittany]