espn's perceived shift left is well known and is also well accepted in media circles as one reason for viewer loss. It's not THE reason for viewership declines but it is a reason, along with cord cutting, and it's not helping their situation. Their own ombudsman wrote a lengthy piece admitting the above points in December 2016. Examples of this are Caitlyn Jenner winning Arthur Ashe Award, televising an Obama town hall, pulling a golf tournament off of a Trump course due to past comments. John Skipper who runs the network says the filter they use as a company is tolerance not politics but that is tough to juggle when one side perceives you of being intolerant to their views. I'm not saying how I feel just that this real or perceived shift is well documented and has an impact externally.
OT: Big Layoffs at ESPN
- Thread starter RUtix4me
- Start date
The revenue model for sports in general is an interesting topic. It would certainly appear that PPV is the way of the future, pay for the games you want to watch. However, only big schools will pull enough eyeballs for that to work, and they'll need someone else to play. So, how do you keep the rest of the teams alive in a PPV world?
Ed Werder announced that he was "laid off" after 17 years at ESPN covering the NFL. Pretty big name to let go.
Yikes some of you are in some serious denial if you don't think the way they deliver content or speak out on political issues (why would a sports network get political anyway?) is off putting. People don't watch sports programs to hear a journalism majors opinion on a social issue, they actually do it to get away from that nonsense. ESPN can't comprehend that and instead continuously doubles down on their stupidity. I look forward to watching them burn to the ground.
Who?
Paul Kuharsky too. Who?
Not being snarky-just don't know who these folks are.
Chris Berman still there? I don't watch ESPN.
Off putting and out of place ? Sure. But it's still not the main reason they are in trouble. Their contracts and overhead are too high and they read the market change and forecasts about as well I read Arabic. They are now scrambling to adjust with the layoffs over the past couple of years but they are still way behind. The only color they care about is green and if they thought a shift in how they present news would dramatically help profits, they would do it.
The scariest part is how this will impact ru as our tvs deals could suffer in this new market
So far, I've seen Ed Werder (NFL), Scott Burnside (NHL), Pierre LeBrun (NHL). That figures - fire the actual sports content people that built the network's core business
Yes, I read that 100 on air employees are getting cut. ESPN is getting their content clocks cleaned by the NFL Network, The MLB network, The NHL network and the NBA network. I watch the NFL network and MLB network for highlights and game day reporting. Their on-air reporters are more tolerable and are more in-depth in their analysis. The only thing that ESPN does great is college football.
And that Michael and Jemele show at 6 pm, what the f is that?
And that Michael and Jemele show at 6 pm, what the f is that?
John Buccigross - one of few anchors I liked.
Significantly reduced roles:
Karl Ravitch
Ryan Russillo
Hannah Storm
Significantly reduced roles:
Karl Ravitch
Ryan Russillo
Hannah Storm
I don't watch much ESPN these days but I've read articles talking about Berman giving up hosting duties of the draft and NFL countdown for other female anchors. Can't say for sure but sounds like a phasing out/retirement. He'll probably still be around but not in as large a capacity. I think he may do baseball, not sure.
That baseball team they have of Boone?, Mendoza, and whoever is not so great, especially Mendoza. I know they have to push diversity, but can the find someone better like Beth Mowins?
Wonder if Beth survives.
Hope Jesse Palmer and Jason Pollock survive-they are two of the best on ESPN.
The reason that ESPN is in trouble has nothing to do with their programming, hosts, Sports Center, ETC....... It has to do with the changes in cable TV..... It will never be like it use to be and ESPN is bleeding money because they aren't the only game in town now..... Cable subscribership's are way down and continue that way..... Stations like NETFLIX , Apple TV, HULU and others are the way to go now..... Plus you can watch everything on your phone with live streaming......The world is changing and new mediums are being used and old ones are slowly going away......So Left or Right politics have nothing to do with this
Exactly, sports are an escape from that crap. Just because you are on screen does not mean people want to hear your opinion.
I really do not remember the last time I had audio on from a sports broadcast. Announcing a game has really become a lost art.
Beancounter, do you work for nj.com?
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Had many good years, have many good friends at Star-Ledger/nj.com. But whoever came up with this idea is a scumbag. <a href="https://t.co/XViVBnBHak">https://t.co/XViVBnBHak</a></p>— Mike Vaccaro (@MikeVacc) <a href="">April 26, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Had many good years, have many good friends at Star-Ledger/nj.com. But whoever came up with this idea is a scumbag. <a href="https://t.co/XViVBnBHak">https://t.co/XViVBnBHak</a></p>— Mike Vaccaro (@MikeVacc) <a href="">April 26, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Oh man the schadenfreude is so strong...multiple media people FINALLY going after NJ.com and calling them trash. Of course it takes media layoffs to light a fire.
I always found is completely absurd the talking heads made high six figures let alone millions.
Readjustment is coming.
Readjustment is coming.
PSU alum who had a dislike for RU.
Was already explained earlier why this could be considered Rutgers related.
I'll let it slide this one time as he is exposing everyone to the steaming pile of monkey **** that Manahan and the SL are.
I stopped watching ESPN because I can get my sports highlights & updates faster (without annoying commercials!) in the blogosphere.
Other than exclusive broadcasting rights to certain live events, I can't name one thing ESPN is good for these days.
Not to mention their website layout -- woof...
Other than exclusive broadcasting rights to certain live events, I can't name one thing ESPN is good for these days.
Not to mention their website layout -- woof...
From a college football perspective, I see they let Brett McMurphy go.
Don't like to see anyone lose their job, but he cracked jokes about Rutgers way too often.
Don't like to see anyone lose their job, but he cracked jokes about Rutgers way too often.
About the politics angles.. I wonder if this will be a purge of all those not playing on the same side as management. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they kept their most political employees. I am a little surprised that Disney has not fixed this situation already. They are a first class operation in taking care of their customers.. but I guess ESPN has been such a cash cow that they have been given free reign.
But in the bigger scheme of things.. I think ESPN's agenda-pushing toward conferences with which they have the biggest deals is as much to blame as anything else. While I hated it way-back-when when The Big Ten was ABC/ESPN's biggest deal and they pushed the Big Ten to no end... and then they orchestrated their number 2 conference deal.. the ACC.. to get better in football by raiding the Big East over and over... NOW.. with the rise of competition from Fox and BTN (50% owned by Fox).. and even NBCsports to a lesser extent.. ESPN has actually gotten WORSE in pushing the SEC and ACC.
They used to be the only game in town for sports news.. and now there are so many options at the same time they have gone overboard in pushing their products and their political leanings.
But in the bigger scheme of things.. I think ESPN's agenda-pushing toward conferences with which they have the biggest deals is as much to blame as anything else. While I hated it way-back-when when The Big Ten was ABC/ESPN's biggest deal and they pushed the Big Ten to no end... and then they orchestrated their number 2 conference deal.. the ACC.. to get better in football by raiding the Big East over and over... NOW.. with the rise of competition from Fox and BTN (50% owned by Fox).. and even NBCsports to a lesser extent.. ESPN has actually gotten WORSE in pushing the SEC and ACC.
They used to be the only game in town for sports news.. and now there are so many options at the same time they have gone overboard in pushing their products and their political leanings.
I think you're seeing a wide trend of powerful media outlets are far left and believe if they push their agenda enough, the viewer will hop on board. However, a large amount of their viewers are either middle of the road or generally conservative and are really turned off by it.
You see it with Hollywood, you've seen it with this past election, you're seeing it sports. It's not a vast majority, but it's a large portion and I'd argue at least the majority by a bit.
This is a little out of the box, but you could make a decent argument that NASCAR tried to buy in to new-age sports to a degree and "progressiveness" to a degree , changing rules and technology etc...to try and appeal to that portion of society and while it seemed to work for a moment, they became bored with it and while that was all happening, "conservative" viewers that liked things the way they have been were lost. Now NASCAR ratings are in the absolute toilet as a result.
You see it with Hollywood, you've seen it with this past election, you're seeing it sports. It's not a vast majority, but it's a large portion and I'd argue at least the majority by a bit.
This is a little out of the box, but you could make a decent argument that NASCAR tried to buy in to new-age sports to a degree and "progressiveness" to a degree , changing rules and technology etc...to try and appeal to that portion of society and while it seemed to work for a moment, they became bored with it and while that was all happening, "conservative" viewers that liked things the way they have been were lost. Now NASCAR ratings are in the absolute toilet as a result.
It's hand in hand. Espn over expanded, thinking $7 monthly carriage fees would last forever. Let's be honest, the only reason News, Classic, & U are around is to collect the carriage fee. Once the younger set started dropping cable, instead of cutting the profit centers (News, Classic & U), they think that by being "edgy" they'll bring those viewers back.
It's the same exact death spiral MTV took in the late 90s.
Such BS. Cable prices are too high, viewers have many more (cheaper) options, ESPN spent too much money on rights fees, which all results in cutting costs.
Good God. This really is the ESPN equivalent of The Purge.
I saw a recent list of layoffs. I guess I'm old because I don't recognize most of them. I recognized Danny Kanell. I hope they get rid of Stephen A Smith.
