ESPN laying off up to 350, earning forecasts down
The network, which commands the highest price per customer among basic cable channels, has lost more than 4 million subscribers in the past four years, according to researcher SNL Kagan.Disney Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert Iger said on an Aug. 4 conference call that ESPN was experiencing “modest” subscriber losses. The company lowered its projected annual growth in operating income at its cable TV business to mid-single digits percentages, from high-digit percentages in the four-year period through fiscal 2016.
A lot of the talk about the new Big Ten deal in 2018 has revolved around being either the last of the megadeals or the first of a leaner market. The conference contract will almost certainly be the biggest up for bid this decade.
October 21st, 2015 at 12:21 PM ^
Right? Please tell me I'm right!
October 21st, 2015 at 12:25 PM ^
October 21st, 2015 at 1:19 PM ^
It's a bit sad around here with people talking about it. Probably wont be people you've ever heard of which means people who work very hard behind the scenes. These things happen at corporations though and everyone is being very professional. I don't make enough to get layed off, so i have that going for me (PRAYER CIRCLE THAT'S TRUE).
October 21st, 2015 at 1:25 PM ^
keep your head down, samber. god speed
October 21st, 2015 at 1:27 PM ^
Good luck man!
October 21st, 2015 at 1:29 PM ^
Best of luck. Nose to the grindstone.
October 21st, 2015 at 3:38 PM ^
Layoffs are stressful and can diminish productivity, which can lead to more stress. Keep busy and keep your spirits up.
I do have one question: the article says 350 positions is 4.3 of ESPN's workforce, which implies a total workforce of 8139. Over 8000 people work at ESPN?
8000 people, seriously? I'd nominate the Competitive Eating and the ESPY award teams for termination, but that's just my opinion.
October 21st, 2015 at 3:48 PM ^
October 21st, 2015 at 6:14 PM ^
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October 21st, 2015 at 7:17 PM ^
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October 21st, 2015 at 12:36 PM ^
I know Stephen A. being better than anything is hard to imagine, but he keeps me entertained in a car. It's just him, the callers, no Skip Bayless. His conversations with the callers are more tolerable than him and Skip going back and forth.
He definitely keeps me entertained on the highway which is all I can ask for with complaining kids in the back.
October 21st, 2015 at 8:01 PM ^
Jemele Hill
October 21st, 2015 at 12:21 PM ^
Does this mean no more Jemelle Hill?
October 21st, 2015 at 12:30 PM ^
I sure as hell hope you're right.
In all honesty though, how can ESPN think it's a good idea to let her go on her classless rant and alienate a good chunk of a very large fanbase? It just makes no economical sense.
October 21st, 2015 at 12:43 PM ^
October 21st, 2015 at 12:54 PM ^
They're probably right. I'd never watch show regardless of her rants about Sparty
October 21st, 2015 at 12:34 PM ^
Please make this happen, ESPN. She is literally the worst and extremely unprofessional.
October 21st, 2015 at 12:42 PM ^
Except that we are talking about her = mission accomplished
October 21st, 2015 at 12:54 PM ^
October 21st, 2015 at 1:07 PM ^
I hope that you're right. Usually, in TV, any publicity is good publicity.
To anyone reading this thread - DO NOT GOOGLE HER!
October 21st, 2015 at 12:56 PM ^
Heh, the ultimate sparty disrespect. C-ya!
October 21st, 2015 at 1:27 PM ^
October 21st, 2015 at 7:20 PM ^
One can only hope. God I hate her. She's so annoying. That his and her show has got to be the worst shit ESPN has ever come up with. Michael Smith sucks too.
October 21st, 2015 at 12:22 PM ^
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October 21st, 2015 at 12:27 PM ^
I don't think the core problem at ESPN is ESPN-centric. They've made some bad deals, sure, but Fox isn't immune to the forces that are making ESPN cut spending/jobs.
October 21st, 2015 at 2:29 PM ^
For all the people that work at ESPN and are effected by this...
FUCK YOU.
October 21st, 2015 at 4:37 PM ^
October 21st, 2015 at 6:18 PM ^
Who has any real control over the direction ESPN has been taking.
Although we can only hope that if they do lay off anyone involved with in-game production (which I doubt) that they end up at the BTN.
October 21st, 2015 at 12:23 PM ^
October 21st, 2015 at 12:26 PM ^
There won't be newspapers for them to return to. And I feel fine.
October 21st, 2015 at 12:23 PM ^
like Texas did. Fuck the rest of the Big 10.
October 21st, 2015 at 12:27 PM ^
I kinda wish this was true. The Big Ten can go fuck itself.
October 21st, 2015 at 12:30 PM ^
...whenever anything B1G related comes up. From the Rose Bowl AD vote, to getting screwed with back to back games at our in-state rival, among other BS, I feel like we've been damn generous in our relationship with the conference.
We have the international fanbase to support wall-to-wall Michigan coverage. I believe we still have the most total alumni (dead+living) in the world.
October 21st, 2015 at 1:35 PM ^
of the Big 10, teaching ND how to play football, being the winningest program of all time, and having the largest number of living (and dead) alumni in the world, we do seem to be treated like shit by the conference, the Big 10 Network, and the NCAA.
Honestly, I'd be fine with telling the B1G to go fuck themselves and being an independent. I'm sure there would be no shortage of quality teams for us to play in this scenario, and OSU would never drop us off their schedule.
October 21st, 2015 at 1:41 PM ^
Manipulated like sh_t by the Conference officiating crews. Perhaps it's due to the prominence of Harbaugh, but I find it blatant, vile and disgusting regardless. The officials are literally gunning us and where is the Conference recourse?
There isn't any - we're simplistically labeled crybabies godforbid we complain about obvious manipulations. I would be fine if football departed the conference for a decade or so. In fact, I welcome it because we can generate superior revenue if we pursue that route.
October 21st, 2015 at 1:57 PM ^
do you think it is? I have noticed it too and I really don't understand it. We have been on the receiving end of more bad calls this year than I have ever seen, and many of them are wrong and then upheld on review. Do you think Harbaugh not speaking to the BIG crew when they where there has something to do with it? We have won and played well this year despite being "targeted" by the refs.
October 21st, 2015 at 2:23 PM ^
Suspicion of mine is some games have been manipulated indirectly by gambling syndicates. It doesn't stem from a single play or game outcome; my hunch from watching play over time is that shifting score counts are being deliberately manipulated in specific games for the ancient reasons.
I rather doubt it's personal as you suggest but given where the B1G is headquartered - my backyard - I suspect wrongdoing to guide dynamic spreads. If true, it isn't just Michigan, the phenomenon in these economic times orginates from a desire to continue gambling growth all across the teams.
Do you think *this* FBI would actually step in against such an important national economic contributor? Me neither. And I couldn't care less if my viewpoint ranks with UFO and Hoffa conspiracies.
BTW re Jim Harbaugh's welcome at the White House the other day - can somebody please direct me to a White House scheduling source which shows the meeting with the President was planned well in advance? I had viewed reports that Coach Harbaugh was supposed to visit the Bay Area then.
October 21st, 2015 at 2:40 PM ^
my suspicions that the fix was in during the State game. The refs were the primary reason that game was close at all. I don't have any problem saying to anybody that, yes, we screwed up the last play but we were in fact at least two touchdowns better than State was and literally had the game taken from us by the refs. The calls they made and failed to make had a very profound impact on the game in relation to field position, time of possession and momentum. I don't believe that State would have scored in the first half if they did not call that targeting on Bolden. The fact that it was upheld is egregous and makes me seriously question that crew, the conference, and its motivations. I thought the spread was odd when it opened and also thought it was even stranger when it went up mid-week. Michigan State was the higher ranked team and there was no reason they should have opened as a touchdown dog. Funny business.
October 22nd, 2015 at 7:59 PM ^
October 21st, 2015 at 12:23 PM ^
ESPN may be reduced to broadcasting nothing but sporting events again!
They were great back in their early days, with Australian Rules football, off-road rallying, cliff diving, and all the other weird things they would show to fill time.
Getting rid of all their studio shows would be the best thing ever.
October 21st, 2015 at 12:26 PM ^
October 21st, 2015 at 12:38 PM ^
October 21st, 2015 at 12:27 PM ^
Live sports has to be more expensive then studio shows, no? I think the business decision is just that the people and production of the studio shows (outside of maybe college gameday) don't matter so cut costs there.
I am worried about being the first contract up for bids in the new cable world. If ESPN isn't going to go as high and Fox knows that, we may not be seeing the revenue boost that lots of people around the Big Ten are counting on.
October 21st, 2015 at 1:02 PM ^
Live sports may cost more, but it is the only thing that brings ratings (and thus ad dollars) to the network. The MSU-Michigan game just got the highest rating ever for an October ESPN game, and the second highest rated ESPN game of the season next to OSU-VT. And with Harbaugh at Michigan and Urban at OSU, the Game is going to be a must see. Big Ten football is turning a corner, and there will be plenty of suitors. It's possible they may get a split deal between multiple networks like most of the other Power 5 conferences, but the Big Ten is going to get paid. The contract negotiations couldn't have come at a better time between OSU winning the CFB playoffs and Michigan hiring Harbaugh.
October 21st, 2015 at 2:10 PM ^
I agree that live sports are what's truly important to ESPN. I was more pushing back on the idea that stuodio shows are going to go away. I think they'll just become cheaper for ESPN.
I guess the flipside is that ESPN may not be able to afford to keep the Big Ten at the cost many are projecting for the Big Ten rights. If ESPN is already losing money, paying even more money for Big Ten rights isn't going to help them when it doesn't result in more content. But then again, if ESPN loses any portion of the Big Ten's best games, that would leave only them with the ACC as the only conference to which ESPN owns the rights to the conference's unquestionably best games. That wouldn't be a good situation for ESPN.
I think the Big Ten will get paid, but I could see all the networks being a little circumspect with their bids in light of the changing cable landscape, possibly bringing down that pay check below what people are currently expecting.
October 21st, 2015 at 9:44 PM ^
Are live sports more expensive when they're simply showing a broadcast from an Australian outlet or something? If ESPN is setting it all up themselves with their own commentators and cameramen and all that, it must be more expensive. But I would assume they can just re-broadcast something if it's in English. Or they might only need their own commentators. In Korea, MLB playoffs are just the American broadcast by FOX or whoever else, but they have their own announcers. Seems as cheap as a studio show. I have no idea how much Australian's version of NBC or whatever would charge ESPN for airing an Aussie rules football match.
October 21st, 2015 at 12:25 PM ^
I'm convinced that outside of live sporting events that 80% of ESPN's "viewers" are restaurants, hotel lobbies and other random business venues where there's closed captioning rolling and the audio is muted.
October 21st, 2015 at 12:30 PM ^
is unwatchable during the day. Talking heads, talking heads, talking heads.
October 21st, 2015 at 12:37 PM ^
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October 21st, 2015 at 2:02 PM ^
The website espn980.com has podcasts of his daily two hour show. Very entertaining and smart show. He calls it "nominally a sports show". They do have non sports guests regularly like Chris Cilizza and Howard Fineman and the Washington Post movie reviewer. Plus Thursday's durning football season they have James Carville and a porn star named Courtney picking games. I highly recommend it!