ESPN Layoffs

#101
#101
Remy said:
It's the same thing we get from our politicians these days. They, being politicians and the elites, promote what they think we should lap up. The problem is we are in effect customers. The elites don't listen to us. As stated from a previous poster they are going to personality driven programming. Most of us watch ESPN for sports, not the on air personalities, yet they are going to cram it down our throats whether we like it or not ... and their viewership rather then decline will rocket toward zero IMO.
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Elites???? NM....you wouldn't believe me if I told you.
 
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#104
#104
As a teenager in the 1990's, I will always remember the TV being set on SportsCenter all morning long. Watching repeats as background noise, but never getting bored with it. It was great.

I don't know what changed more - myself or ESPN, but I know now that I make it a point to avoid that network unless I absolutely have to watch it (good game on MNF, for examble).
 
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#105
#105
HoleInTheRoof said:
As a teenager in the 1990's, I will always remember the TV being set on SportsCenter all morning long. Watching repeats as background noise, but never getting bored with it. It was great.

I don't know what changed more - myself or ESPN, but I know now that I make it a point to avoid that network unless I absolutely have to watch it (good game on MNF, for examble).
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it is catering to a younger crowd...it is what it is.
 
#106
#106
Ttucke11 said:
Obviously cord cutting is impacting their subscriptions, but their viewership is down at a higher percentage than that. The reason for that is clearly their insanely liberal agenda. I still naturally turn to ESPN after having it programmed into my brain for years, but as soon as Lebatard, Stephen A., Jemele Hill, Bomani Jones, or Beadle pop up on the screen I immediately turn it. I don't want personalities, politics, or BS I just want sports. Fox Sports gets 99% of my non live sports viewership these days. Side note: I see they've cut every white anchor they have. Bye bye ESPN, I sincerely hate you.
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ESPN might be better served to go back to Australian Rules Football and Hockey over their current "personality" line up.

What they should definitely do is have more European soccer. They can show those games live in the early afternoon time slots. Soccer isn't necessarily my thing, but it is very popular among a lot of other people.
 
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#109
#109
VolnJC said:
That's not a model for success imo..my college age students watch very little tv..mostly just Netflix on their phone
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I think that's what they're talking about. Watching content on a TV is getting less and less each year. Not by us old folks but by the younger generation.

A great example is the O & W gameday thread. The SEC N continued to show UGA's spring game and the posters were rightfully upset.

A few of the more tech savvy posters chimed in with "what's the big deal? Just watch it on the app."
 
#111
#111
TheDeeble said:
ESPN president said they're going to personality oriented programming. I personally think it blows up in their face. I go to a sports channel for sports. Not personalities they want to feature.

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/ed-werder-trent-dilfer-among-025022909.html
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ESPN has always had personalities....Stuart Scott, Rich Eisen, Keith Olberman, Chris Berman. There are just different personalities now. Society has changed. You've got "Reality" TV stars, Youtube stars, people are defined how many followers, subscribers or likes they get.
 
#112
#112
It amazes me how many people both public and executives at espn completely ignore the millions of people that say "I don't want espn because of politics". Disagreeing with them does not change why those millions avoid espn. Calling it stupid or silly does not change that reason. Their downfall started when folks started to complain about certain social decisions espn made. It's not rocket surgery.

The executives ignoring it has gotten them to this point. It isn't surprising at all and it is not the end. They laid off the wrong group of people to fix it and they have doubled down. They are about to fall flat.
 
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#113
#113
utvols88 said:
It amazes me how many people both public and executives at espn completely ignore the millions of people that say "I don't want espn because of politics". Disagreeing with them does not change why those millions avoid espn. Calling it stupid or silly does not change that reason. Their downfall started when folks started to complain about certain social decisions espn made. It's not rocket surgery.

The executives ignoring it has gotten them to this point. It isn't surprising at all and it is not the end. They laid off the wrong group of people to fix it and they have doubled down. They are about to fall flat.
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I am not saying that their editorial decisions have always been wise, but no one is cutting the cord because ESPN went left. Ratings are still strong for their key programming, so ad revenue is holding steady. The loss in revenue is primarily due to cord cutting.
 
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#115
#115
HoptownVol said:
Nonsense, its totally political. And just look at the ratio of the layoffs if you think this is not politically motivated...ABC/Disney not driven by liberal horsecrap? Please.

Unfortunately, Danny Kannel who was the last guy worth listening to was also let go, and ironically he dropped a 3 minute blurb a few weeks ago about how he didn't know what he was allowed to say anymore and felt like his opinions were being silenced. WHACK!

People are cancelling ESPN over politics, don't even try and deny it.
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This is just wrong. Business Insider gave a very good explanation of why changes are taking place at ESPN yesterday. The people who are cancelling ESPN weren't ever watching it anyway. The ratings for the live events at ESPN have remained steady and strong despite the 12% loss of subscriptions that have taken place over the last 6 years which proves that people who were watching ESPN 6 years ago are still subscribers and also still watching their live events. So, even though subscription revenue is down, advertising revenue is still great.

ESPN's problem is that their signature program (SportsCenter) is now obsolete. Sports fans no longer need television to check scores, view highlights and get commentary on outcomes. The people complaining about the political slants of the opinion shows are misguided. The programming from noon to 6 pm on weekday afternoons is never what drove the popularity of the network to begin with. SportsCenter in the morning and evening and late at night and their live events are what made it the giant it is. They are scrambling to adjust to a changing consumer and having a hard time finding a way to make their signature program relevant again... but as long as they have the ad revenue flowing in (which they do!), they aren't going anywhere.
 
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#116
#116
BowlBrother85 said:
This is just wrong. Business Insider gave a very good explanation of why changes are taking place at ESPN yesterday. The people who are cancelling ESPN weren't ever watching it anyway. The ratings for the live events at ESPN have remained steady and strong despite the 12% loss of subscriptions that have taken place over the last 6 years which proves that people who were watching ESPN 6 years ago are still subscribers and also still watching their live events. So, even though subscription revenue is down, advertising revenue is still great.
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Exactly. Cable and satellite have lost almost 10 million households over the past three years, and pretty much every one of those households had ESPN. Despite that, the 5 highest rated broadcasts in the history of cable occurred during the same three year span, all on ESPN. Those that were viewers are still viewers. The subscribers ESPN lost were never viewers.
 
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#117
#117
TheDeeble said:
I quit watching sportscenter entirely when they went to the "hosted by" format.

I want to see sports. Not some annoying personality. She's terrible.
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I just googled "Jemele Hill" to see what what everyone is talking about. I'm pleased to say, that when her face popped up on my screen, I'd never seen her on TV ever.

Perhaps I'm one of the Southerners that could be considered a "lost viewer".

I'm pretty sick of just about everything on TV, especially the drama at the news networks. Lately, I've downloaded audio, like old radio shows from the 40's and 50's (These are quite good - a lot of production went into these when there was no TV, only radio and the movies). No cussing, and if there is a steamy plot line, it's implied, but not in your face. Very tactful.

So instead of TV, I put the audio on and can work around the house without having to be anchored to a chair. And.. I wonder if my parents ever listened to the any of these shows.


You can check it out here: https://archive.org/

P.S. I never miss a podcast of Big Orange Sunday either.
 
#118
#118
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
Actually ESPN's demise has nothing to do with politics. Its all about how technology is changing industry. ESPN just couldn't adjust to the new era of streaming media over the internet. More and more people are cutting the cord and going total internet for the media needs. ESPN's built a business model on cable subscribers. They also overpaid mightly for the NBA and NFL.

They just made the mistake of thinking their business model would always stay the same.
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Yeah, no... you're wrong.

Programs like this is why...

250px-HisandHers.jpg
 
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#120
#120
HoleInTheRoof said:
As a teenager in the 1990's, I will always remember the TV being set on SportsCenter all morning long. Watching repeats as background noise, but never getting bored with it. It was great.

I don't know what changed more - myself or ESPN, but I know now that I make it a point to avoid that network unless I absolutely have to watch it (good game on MNF, for examble).
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Indeed. That's almost all I watched. I've only watched games on espn in the last few years. I've caught a few minutes of other programming and they suck ass like the "new" sportscenter. It blows.
 
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#122
#122
bamawriter said:
I am not saying that their editorial decisions have always been wise, but no one is cutting the cord because ESPN went left. Ratings are still strong for their key programming, so ad revenue is holding steady. The loss in revenue is primarily due to cord cutting.
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BW,

It is true that cord cutting has led to BSPN's woes; however, their programming (which is just an extension of the daily storyline set forth by Bristol) has had an impact. It's awful, contrived, and overly political/social. Sports fans like you or me are still going to watch BSPN...it's losing the casual fans to cord cutting that are hurting them.

BSPN's business model is built on huge fixed costs, which means that every subscriber over a certain # is almost pure profit. You can compare that to another company that has had issues with being too left on social issues (Target). Since most of Target's costs are variable, they can weather a 2% reduction in number of customers since they have other avenues for make up for lost profitability (reduce inventory, reduce payroll, etc.). If 2% of cable subscribers decide to cut ESPN because they don't like the programming, that's over $200MM in profit per year.

I don't think casual sports fans are cutting BSPN because it's liberal but because the non live programming is awful, contrived and too social/political.
 
#123
#123
HoleInTheRoof said:
As a teenager in the 1990's, I will always remember the TV being set on SportsCenter all morning long. Watching repeats as background noise, but never getting bored with it. It was great.

I don't know what changed more - myself or ESPN, but I know now that I make it a point to avoid that network unless I absolutely have to watch it (good game on MNF, for examble).
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Some of it could possibly be that it's - Sportscenter - also not as needed as it used to be. It was one thing back when the only other way you could catch sports scores (and news) was having to either wait until the next day's newspaper came out, catching one of the 3 local news broadcasts, or using an (at the time) basic/slow internet system.

Now, with both smartphones and how fast the internet is, you and I are able to get sports scores and recaps almost instantly. We could do such at any point during the day - before we go to sleep, when we wake up, at lunch, even while in the bathroom - and we can do such at a much quicker timeframe than the amount of time that was needed watching that show.
 
#124
#124
BigOrangeMojo said:
I don't think casual sports fans are cutting BSPN because it's liberal but because the non live programming is awful, contrived and too social/political.
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The bold is the issue. No one is cutting ESPN. You can't just cut ESPN. You cut cable all together. And no one's decision to cut the cord hinges on their enjoyment of ESPN's daytime programming.
 
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#125
#125
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
Actually ESPN's demise has nothing to do with politics. Its all about how technology is changing industry. ESPN just couldn't adjust to the new era of streaming media over the internet. More and more people are cutting the cord and going total internet for the media needs. ESPN's built a business model on cable subscribers. They also overpaid mightly for the NBA and NFL.

They just made the mistake of thinking their business model would always stay the same.
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Yeah...said the CEO of Target stores and Dayton Cooperation....your statement is naive AT BEST...OF COURSE IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THE LIBERALIZATION OF ESPN...but hey let's appeal to that 10% and go broke...MORONS!!!
 
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