Why do we need ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU,ESPN3, ESPNwhatever ... again? isn't ESPN and ESPN2 good enough just like the good old dasys?
Wouldn't surprise me. They were great analysts, and NFL matchup was the best program on the entire channel. But we can't have any crap like good, balanced analysis. I can just see the ESPN boardroom pounding their fists screaming "We need to get stupider, we need to get louder".
Really interesting post on Medium today from Kerith Burke, a former on-air reporter for New York's SNY, on the ESPN cuts, and more broadly, how tough it is for her and how tough it might be for all of those who now find themselves unemployed. We (or at least, I) have seen tons of Twitter posts directed to those laid off over the last week that went something along the lines of "(So and so) is one of the best in the business. Congrats to the whoever scoops him/her up next!" But what Kerith lays out there is that it's realllllly tough to be in that business right now if you're not an A-list personality.
Two guys who actually provide in-depth analysis get dropped, probably replaced by TMZ style reporters.
As part of a 76-minute podcast on ESPN’s recent layoffs—about 100 on-air and online staffers involuntary lost their jobs last week—ESPN oral history author James Andrew Miller offered his biggest takeaways from one of the darkest days in sports media in recent years. “There are two headlines for me: It turns out they way overreacted to FS1 getting into cable sports,” Miller said. “It caused them to make a lot of talent deals at prices they would have not have done. I think it also made them much more ready to spend big dollars, particularly with the NBA to make sure other people did not have it. I think they paid way too much and it’s not like we are just saying it now. As a result, things have not flowed particularly coherently from that point. One of the ways to gauge that is to look at some of these names. Some of these people have long-term deals. These are not buyouts. What they are saying to these people is: Look, we are going to sideline you. You will not have to work and we will keep paying you. But if you go get a job, we will release you but we will not pay you for the rest of the contract. So they are betting and hoping that these people will get other jobs. “As much as they are trying to push the words versatility and value, I think in some ways they have cut off their nose to spite their face,” Miller continued. “Because they are really taking important people who were able to give the audience and people on the web real detailed and deep background on certain sports. Andy Katz on college basketball, Jayson Stark on baseball, and the list goes on and on and on. So as a result, you start to think that was a level of expertise the network had that I think people were brought to and attracted to and now they are not going to have that." Miller suggested there could be more layoffs this year. “The 300 people who were let go two years ago, the 100 people that were laid off this month, this doesn’t solve their bigger problem,” Miller said. “This is just one domino that has to happen in a continuum in order for them to reinvent their business to be in a better position. It’s no mystery that Disney has called out ESPN for being a drag on its earnings in the media group. The question is how much time does ESPN have to get things on a better trajectory and also create a narrative where people understand it is a growth story and that that they have a positive future. How patient will Disney be? … I think that the next two years of ESPN are going to be probably two of the most critical years in its history because the next two years are going to in some way inform what the network will look like for the next 10 years.”
I hope there's an ESPN 30 for 30 about these layoffs and the changing landscape of sports television.
What if I told you... A dogsh*t sports entertainment empire decided to become a liquid dogsh*t sports entertainment empire
One of the main reasons for the layoffs is that ESPN has to pay more for content (like NBA rights fees) than ever before. So those at ESPN who lost their jobs have Ryan Anderson's $18.74 million to blame.
But ESPN is to blame for the higher rights fees. They overpaid for a terrible MNF package, then they came in heavy to secure the NBA package... when nobody was close to offering what they were. Ryan Anderson makes what he makes, and the NBA cap is what it is, due to the media deals... not the other way around.
Never heard of her, is she hot? That's the only way I can judge the intelligence of my TV talking heads. #foxnews #espn
This seems to be the real issue, not the window dressing political and entertainment-focused content. The layoffs account for less than the rights to broadcast one half of one MNF game. They're paying an astronomical amount of money for Monday Night Football, the one NFL playoff game they get per year and the NBA. I don't know how you make people watch stuff outside of that when HD highlights are available, without a talking head's commentary, within seconds on Twitter and Reddit. ESPN's production value has always felt stale, too. Their studio shows pale in comparison to NBA on TNT and NBCSN's Premier League coverage.
