I just went to the ESPN website and not a word about the firings. I had heard that the on air people and the writers were just the first to go. They will be laying off cameramen and technicians too and no telling who else. So how are they going to fill all that air time? 24 hours a day of ESPN, ESPN 2, U, Deportes, and however many radio channels they have. The are not like an oil company who can simply produce less gasoline when prices are down. Most importantly are they going to show fewer football games with fewer cameras per game? Are they going to dust off old tapes of the X Games, World Series of Poker and beach volleyball?
This has been coming for years. And it has everything to do with a business model that projected expansion every year profit-wise based on the past increase in revenue to make big deals to televise games. Most notably they paid huuuuuge money for college football, and they expected to keep increasing profits. Problem? People cut the cord. And keep cutting it.. So actually they started losing money each year not increasing revenue as cable subscribers have shrunk. It was a poor projected business model on ESPN's part. So what does any company do first? Cut labor! Yes, the annoying "hot take," an overly saturated shout from the mountain tops at every possible moment and have an opinion that seems worth, well, shouting to express, philosophy has been a major problem and has turned off viewers wanting actual sports journalism and news with less pointed views for years. Still, it is much akin to the piracy/CD epidemic because the recording industry was ripping people off for ages. People didn't stop wanting and liking music. Listening to music didn't go away. The medium and an overly inflated price point was the causality behind a different way to acquire that desire. We all still want sports. Watch sports. And even enjoy perspectives expressed in an effective manner. The difference is we don't all want to pay for channels we do not use. Most don't. ESPN has been profiting since its inception from cable subscribers who NEVER watched the channel and don't watch sports. Those people are cutting the cord and so profits go down and cuts come. I miss the days when someone provided the facts of what transpired, both sides of the situation, and gave enough information that the viewer/reader/listener/sport fan could then make up his own mind. Now? They shout at you what you should think and why they think you should think it. And people who are ardent sport fans but dislike the new fast food hot take dogma of sports entertainment don't mind letting that go when they can find other ways to watch the games and acquire the information to make their own decisions. Thinking for yourself. How draconian. Who would have seen that coming?
Well said. As obnoxious as they have gotten to be, most sports fans still depend on ESPN to a large degree for college football but the gravy train of making money off non sports fans in coming to a halt as more and more people depend on other options for movies. I know how they feel. For years I have been paying for crap like the Lifetime Network and other shit I never watch. I am tempted to cut the cable now but I'm just hanging on for SECN to watch LSU baseball but the way they are playing I probably should go ahead and give up on them now. (but I probably won't) For sure will cut it in he fall and just go with Sling for ESPN through the football season and cancel until next season. I think Sling is still only $20 a month.
Still $20 but the $5 SEC package doesn't seem to be worth a shit for baseball. I canceled since I couldn't get em. Will renew come football season. Thats the beauty of cutting the wire.
I can also tell you that the reason (or at least a good chunk of) the reason people cut the cord is in fact ESPN. They charge a stupid amount for their services. Drives the price of your bill way up.
I just stopped listening to them. Got tired of "sports" guys telling me how awful whitey is to minorities while sports are primarily played by minorities making ridiculous amounts of Money. I never knew I was racist while watching sports wishing I had 1/10th the talent those guys had.
People forget, ESPN is part of ABC which is part of Disney. There is a fairly pervasive agenda though out this and most other media conglomerates. They really do believe they have the right to tell you what you should believe. Definitely biting them in the azz now though Marvel and Starwars is their new cash cow till they fk that up too.
