ESPN Announces Layoffs as Part of Cost Cutting by Disney

#3
#3
JL24 said:
ESPN announces layoffs as part of cost cutting by Disney
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I don't know how much the salaries of the announcers are, but from my "worms eye view" of the world, there is so much money being made from College football that laying off a few people seems to be a smokescreen. Sometimes layoffs are a great time to get rid of the dead wood, and that may be what is happening, but also, with Disney as the parent and the social direction that their execs are making with other products under the Disney umbrella, it wouldn't surprise me that sports, especially ones where alpha males excel, would take a back seat to other priorities. I could be wrong.
 
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#4
#4
I follow Disney closely as part of my job.

Two months ago, Disney’s CEO Bob Igor moved ESPN into their own operating division with their own P&L. They used to be hid in the public reporting of the Broadcast & Streaming division.

There are now lots of eyes on their profitability.

Expect the big contracts for personalities to change going forward.

It appears they recently walked away from bidding on some NFL games because the $$$s got more expensive than what they wanted to pay.
 
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#5
#5
ptcarter said:
I don't know how much the salaries of the announcers are, but from my "worms eye view" of the world, there is so much money being made from College football that laying off a few people seems to be a smokescreen. Sometimes layoffs are a great time to get rid of the dead wood, and that may be what is happening, but also, with Disney as the parent and the social direction that their execs are making with other products under the Disney umbrella, it wouldn't surprise me that sports, especially ones where alpha males excel, would take a back seat to other priorities. I could be wrong.
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It's 100% driven by cord cutting. ESPN's base of subscribers is 25% smaller than it was just 5 years ago.

It's been an underperforming part of Disney for multiple years now, and every expense is being really scrutinized.
 
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#6
#6
"Dan Levy told CNBC he thinks Disney could get 30 million customers to pay $30 a month for streaming ESPN — double the cost of a standard Netflix subscription. That would bring in $10.8 billion annually — more than Disney makes today from pay-TV affiliate revenue — but that’s assuming subscribers actually pay $30 for an ESPN Direct To Consumer service and ditch their TV subscriptions."

Would you pay $30?
 
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#7
#7
WillisWG said:
"Dan Levy told CNBC he thinks Disney could get 30 million customers to pay $30 a month for streaming ESPN — double the cost of a standard Netflix subscription. That would bring in $10.8 billion annually — more than Disney makes today from pay-TV affiliate revenue — but that’s assuming subscribers actually pay $30 for an ESPN Direct To Consumer service and ditch their TV subscriptions."

Would you pay $30?
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Disney has to cut the cord from the cable subscribers first and then it will take a lot more than 30 million subscribers to make up what they get from cable. Their cable contract prevents them from having the same thing stream that the cable companies pay for.

The economics are not there, don’t care what Levy said. Old article that explains the economics….ESPN Lost 8 Million Subscribers in 2021, 10% of its overall subscriber base
 
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#8
#8
Dadof2Vols said:
I follow Disney closely as part of my job.

Two months ago, Disney’s CEO Bob Igor moved ESPN into their own operating division with their own P&L. They used to be hid in the public reporting of the Broadcast & Streaming division.

There are now lots of eyes on their profitability.

Expect the big contracts for personalities to change going forward.

It appears they recently walked away from bidding on some NFL games because the $$$s got more expensive than what they wanted to pay.
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They brought Robert Iger back as CEO, I believe.
 
#13
#13
I enjoy watching shows like Sports Center and NFL Live.

Makes me wonder if they will stop televising events like the NFL Draft in the future.
 
#15
#15
OrangeVolMan said:
Maybe they will start with Stephen A Smith. His $12 million salary is ridiculous. Whether you like him or not why pay him that much. There is no real competition for his services.
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He supposedly is one of the few people there who is untouchable. His show and content overall is vapid and stupid, but he's also like the only person who brings eyeballs to their non-live sports content.

Aside from cord cutting generally, ESPN's fundamental problem is that almost anything they air outside of live sports (any highlights show, any "debate" show, etc.) just doesn't have much value in an internet/social media world. You don't have to wait until the 11 PM SportsCenter to see if the Braves won. You did in 1995, and it's why that show was so popular.
 
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#16
#16
05_never_again said:
He supposedly is one of the few people there who is untouchable. His show and content overall is vapid and stupid, but he's also like the only person who brings eyeballs to their non-live sports content.

Aside from cord cutting generally, ESPN's fundamental problem is that almost anything they air outside of live sports (any highlights show, any "debate" show, etc.) just doesn't have much value in an internet/social media world. You don't have to wait until the 11 PM SportsCenter to see if the Braves won. You did in 1995, and it's why that show was so popular.
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Exactly. Sportscenter used to be huge . It was appointment television. Everyone had their own personalities and added their own twist to the show. Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann were great together (before Olbermann became a complete psycho). They now have Van Pelt and that’s it. He does a great job, but I couldn’t tell you anyone else who does SC. There’s just no need for it now, I can twitter search Braves Walkoff and see it in seconds from about 40 different perspectives.
 
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#17
#17
RDU VOL#14 said:
Exactly. Sportscenter used to be huge . It was appointment television. Everyone had their own personalities and added their own twist to the show. Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann were great together (before Olbermann became a complete psycho). They now have Van Pelt and that’s it. He does a great job, but I couldn’t tell you anyone else who does SC. There’s just no need for it now, I can twitter search Braves Walkoff and see it in seconds from about 40 different perspectives.
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Yep. That's the best way to describe it. There isn't a need for it anymore, and honestly there hasn't been a need for it in close to 15 years. At least since the internet on your smartphone got as good as the internet on your desktop/laptop computer. If you aren't watching the game, you can follow it as it happens, at your leisure, on a small computer you keep in your pocket.

SC is skating on purely on inertia and name recognition at this point, which is a gigantic problem for ESPN because it was their flagship product.
 
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#18
#18
05_never_again said:
He supposedly is one of the few people there who is untouchable. His show and content overall is vapid and stupid, but he's also like the only person who brings eyeballs to their non-live sports content.

Aside from cord cutting generally, ESPN's fundamental problem is that almost anything they air outside of live sports (any highlights show, any "debate" show, etc.) just doesn't have much value in an internet/social media world. You don't have to wait until the 11 PM SportsCenter to see if the Braves won. You did in 1995, and it's why that show was so popular.
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That’s my point. Why pay him $12 million. They can keep him if they want but pay him $5 million, for example because there is no real value there. He may bring a certain demographic but the people I know change the channel when he comes on because we don’t want to be screamed at and he brings no real information.
 
#19
#19
OrangeVolMan said:
That’s my point. Why pay him $12 million. They can keep him if they want but pay him $5 million, for example because there is no real value there. He may bring a certain demographic but the people I know change the channel when he comes on because we don’t want to be screamed at and he brings no real information.
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I have honestly have never heard him speak for more than a sentence or two because was an automatic change the channel. I haven't had cable since 2014. ESPN is not something I have paid for in a very long time.
 
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#20
#20
OrangeVolMan said:
That’s my point. Why pay him $12 million. They can keep him if they want but pay him $5 million, for example because there is no real value there. He may bring a certain demographic but the people I know change the channel when he comes on because we don’t want to be screamed at and he brings no real information.
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I can see a pay cut when the contract comes up for renewal, sure, but everything I've heard is that he's one of the probably 3-4 people there who they wouldn't let go, no matter what.

Anybody at ESPN in the business of transmitting information/facts is on the chopping block, because those roles aren't really needed anymore.

The reason Stephen A still has a job there is because doesn't do that - he's a "personality" who is there for entertainment reasons. In fact, look at their lineup of personnel on any show that isn't live sports. Outside of Adam Schefter, it's all people who are paid for an opinion, and usually delivered in an over-the-top way that is supposedly entertaining. There's no point for ESPN to employ people who get in front of the camera to report things.
 
#21
#21
Would I pay $30/mo for ESPN? Heck no. However, while it’s on Directv all I ask is they leave Ashley Brewer in that late night slot. Mercy.

As for firings, the first person I’d fire is the guy that hired Booger McFarland. The next person I’d fire is Booger McFarland.
 
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