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ESPN begins purging talent today

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Falchion

Falchion

Member
They should film a Hard Knocks segment where they follow on-air talent around on cutting day as they send emails or get coffee and then some of them get called into management's offices to get fired.
 
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Steejee

Member
PTI and Live Sports are basically all I watch on there. PTI gives me just enough sports news in 10-20 minutes of actual TV viewing (typically skipping NBA and most college stuff) to satisfy that itch. Around the Horn and occasionally Lebatard's show I'll leave on if they're playing. Everything else I actively turn away from.

They had that mock NFL draft thing going last night and I caught pieces of it between watching shows on my DVR and it was just painful.
 
M

mightynine

Member
I'm really wondering what, if anything, Fox Sports would pick up from this for FS1. It's not like they need anchors, do they have any highlight shows beyond MLB and NASCAR? Fox Sports Live is dead.

Maybe their regional networks could grab of the writers for web?
 
J

Jamie OD

Member
Falchion said:
They should film a Hard Knocks segment where they follow on-air talent around on cutting day as they send emails or get coffee and then some of them get called into management's offices to get fired.
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Sounds like the most grim This Is Sportscenter ad ever.
 
P

Patryn

Member
EASTC0AST_GH05T said:
So its our "The Cord Cutters" fault? great now I feel bad but fuck paying for over priced cable.
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No, it's that ESPN is over-relying on the carriage fees from satellite and cable providers and over-paying for live sports.

As has been pointed out, they could have attempted to diversify their revenue streams even more and possibly offered a HBO Go style subscription streaming option.
 
C

cartographer

Member
Karl2177 said:
McMurphy? Damn. His Twitter account is one of the best when it comes to CFB. Hopefully he finds work somewhere else because he's really good.
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He's one I wouldn't worry about. He'll have his pick of jobs writing for some CFB site.

I don't know much about him personally but I know SIDs say he's the nicest guy.
 
S

Saganator

Member
MLB TV means I pretty much never change it to ESPN anymore except when they have an NFL game I want to see. I love my MLB TV.
 
E

EASTC0AST_GH05T

Member
PS Vue has been such a great asset to have now and days. Yesterday I watched both NBA Playoff games using the multi screen option and it was awesome.
 
E

esmith08734

Member
Sad but what do they expect when they spend 30 minutes a night talking about LeBron James and another 30 minutes taking about 'exit velocity.'
 
L

Lomax

Member
All the people who think "I don't care I don't like sports I'm glad I don't have to pay for espn now" you have no idea how many channels have been completely subsidized by espn for years now, coming in packages to the cable companies, and this could very easily result in the death of plenty of things you do like. The primary reason Disney merged with ABC was to get espn and as that diminishes, so will Disney's willingness to do less profitable or more niche projects. We've already seen them basically completely bail on making video games because it wasn't profitable enough. So yes, this is a very bad sign for things across the board whether you care about sports or not.
 
2

2Smashed4U

Banned
I wonder if Lindsay Czarniak was already fired months ago

She just kinda disappeared from primetime Sportscenter and then bam, a month or two later Michael Smith and Jemele Hill are the new cohosts.
 
M

Malleymal

You now belong to FMT.
Bomani stays or I go....

I know they just re-upped his contract. So I am just posting to get Bomani's name out there.

Also they better not think of charging for the podcasts
 
S

SolidSnakex

Member
EASTC0AST_GH05T said:
So its our "The Cord Cutters" fault? great now I feel bad but fuck paying for over priced cable.
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I'd say the rise of networks dedicated to single sports have hurt them quite a bit. I've seen a number of major ESPN talent go over to those networks. Their programming also tends to be much better than ESPN's for any given sport. So unless you're just looking for a mix of coverage for various sports, you really are better off just going to the dedicated networks.
 
J

Jeff-DSA

Member
ESPN is going to end up cutting loose all their experts that the personalities check in with to get ammo for their talking points. Look for more INSTANT REACTION rather than analysis...which was already in short supply at ESPN.
 
N

Nathan_Drake

Member
Wow didnt see Ryen Russillo being touched. Diminished role apparently. Figured Kanell would get yanked first.

As long as Stugotz gets paid its all okay.
 
C

Christian

Member
All these layoffs. Three large sets of layoffs in the last five years. And yet, John Skipper is still president through all of it. Gotta love the corporate life.
 
K

Kastrioti

Persecution Complex
No more Cowboys propaganda from Ed Werder.

It's going to be interesting to see how all cable companies react to cord cutters and the future of cable TV.

Hope nothing happens to LeBetard, but he'll be fine one way or another.
 
L

lt519

Member
SVP, PTI, and Baseball Tonight are the only saving graces of ESPN these days.

Actually I liked Eammon Brennan too.
 
S

SafeinSound

Member
People start finding alternatives when they realize they are over paying for a service. Have never been a big fan of ESPN. Pretty much only time I pay attention to it is first thing in the morning st work.
 
D

dskillzhtown

keep your strippers out of my American football
EASTC0AST_GH05T said:
So its our "The Cord Cutters" fault? great now I feel bad but fuck paying for over priced cable.
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Somewhat, but the issue is alot more complex than that. Cable is losing subscribers which effects more channels than ESPN. But ESPN employs so many more people. They have on-screen and production talent all over the place. They have a ton of reporters, and in-studio "experts" that are on the payroll. So when they lose subscribers, it hurts more. Plus they are producing new content daily, unlike NatGeo when 70% of their daily content is a repeat. Trying to run ESPN is expensive as hell, then you have to add the broadcasting rights costs as well. I think this is more of a correction than anything. Getting that staff to a realistic level.

They don't NEED all these people there. I would welcome Sportscenter cutting out all of the "Experts" and having longer highlight packages.
 
V

Vanillalite

Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Nathan_Drake said:
Wow didnt see Ryen Russillo being touched. Diminished role apparently. Figured Kanell would get yanked first.

As long as Stugotz gets paid its all okay.
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Kanell should be fine. He performs multiple roles.

If you notice so far a lot of people getting cut are single role people that probably in all seriousness don't bring much added dollar value to the network.

Russillo probably being cut back to being more of just a radio guy as they don't need him for their actual NBA coverage.

Kanell works cause he can do all of the CFB stuff which is one area ESPN actually makes money cause they've kinda cornered the market outside of the 1 big CBS SEC game each week.

Also I'd worry less about radio guys who carry a show, and I'd worry more about columnists and reporters which is harder to measure a clear return on the investment.
 
E

effzee

Member
esmith08734 said:
Sad but what do they expect when they spend 30 minutes a night talking about LeBron James and another 30 minutes taking about 'exit velocity.'
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LOL this isn't true (they talk NFL year long far more than anything else) but where is your proof of this? Which show are you referring to?

What should they be talking about?

Lomax said:
All the people who think "I don't care I don't like sports I'm glad I don't have to pay for espn now" you have no idea how many channels have been completely subsidized by espn for years now, coming in packages to the cable companies, and this could very easily result in the death of plenty of things you do like. The primary reason Disney merged with ABC was to get espn and as that diminishes, so will Disney's willingness to do less profitable or more niche projects. We've already seen them basically completely bail on making video games because it wasn't profitable enough. So yes, this is a very bad sign for things across the board whether you care about sports or not.
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This.

TarpitCarnivore said:
No, it's because ESPN can't evolve. They're way behind the times on high level analysis and most of their talking heads are the equivalent of baseball fans who think bunts and saves are super important.
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What hard hitting analysis are they missing out on? On which subject?

2Smashed4U said:
I wonder if Lindsay Czarniak was already fired months ago

She just kinda disappeared from primetime Sportscenter and then bam, a month or two later Michael Smith and Jemele Hill are the new cohosts.
Click to expand...

I believe she is on maternity leave and will be back.
 
nillapuddin

nillapuddin

Member
Haven't watched SC since I was in middle school, early 2000's Baseball Tonight with HR and Kruk was legit, but all the other programming, meh.

I love being a small market fan, watching a 4 hour Reds game where we win an epic extra inning game with multiple lead changes and game saving plays, only to show some random strikeout from the fourth inning, a defensive play from somewhere in the middle and the game winning run, all in one take. There's your 90 seconds Reds fan, now let's do a 4 minute piece on something with a bigger market.

Even as a UK basketball fan their analysis and highlights of the games are pathetic, they never cover the actual important parts of games, find one or two 'highlight' plays (which are not even relevant to the game flow or final score most of the time) and call it good.

My life has only gotten better since I stopped watching ESPN, I find the highlights and analysis I want on the web for free.
 
O

outunderthestars

Banned
Lomax said:
All the people who think "I don't care I don't like sports I'm glad I don't have to pay for espn now" you have no idea how many channels have been completely subsidized by espn for years now, coming in packages to the cable companies, and this could very easily result in the death of plenty of things you do like. The primary reason Disney merged with ABC was to get espn and as that diminishes, so will Disney's willingness to do less profitable or more niche projects. We've already seen them basically completely bail on making video games because it wasn't profitable enough. So yes, this is a very bad sign for things across the board whether you care about sports or not.
Click to expand...

Those channels can go away as well for all I care.
 
M

Meier

Member
Ninja Scooter said:
Skip, as shitty as he is, draws viewers and money. Ed Werder doesn't.

The more people are cutting cords and looking to social media for up to the minute news and highlights, the more ESPN needs to invest in personalities that people want to watch. What good is running highlights or top plays when that shit is all over twitter and Instagram the second it happens? Expect more Hot Takes.
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I go out of my way to keep on the Scott Van Pelt version of Sportscenter when MNF finishes. Dude is a legit good watch and worth my time. Otherwise, I never watch ESPN outside of sporting events themselves.
 
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