ESPN Cleaning House

[dsallupinyaarea]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bigg Cee

Here is a complete list of people who got laid off by ESPN College Football Analyst Charles Arbuckle NFL Contributor Jarrett Bell Big Ten Reporter Brian Bennett ESPN 710 Host Jeff Biggs MLB Analyst Jim Bowden MLB Analysts Dallas Braden College Basketball Writer Eamonn Brennan College Basketball Reporter C.L. Brown NHL Columnist Scott Burnside Columnist Jim Caple Premier Boxing Champions Host Marysol Castro SEC Football Reporter David Ching Legal Analyst Roger Cossack College Football Recruiting Reporter Jeremy Crabtree SportsCenter Anchor Jay Crawford “Outside the Lines” Reporter Steve Delsohn NFL Analyst Trent Dilfer College Basketball Analyst Len Elmore Enterprise Reporter Tom Farrey ESPNU Anchor Brendan Fitzgerald NFL Analyst Ashley Fox MLB Analyst Doug Glanville Soccer Writer Mike Goodman SportsCenter Anchor Chris Hassel Soccer Writer David Hirshey Columnist Johnette Howard SportsCenter Anchor Darren Haynes MLB Analyst Raul Ibanez ESPNW and ESPN Chicago Columnist Melissa Isaacson College Sports Reporter Chantel Jennings Radio Host Danny Kanell College Basketball Reporter Andy Katz NFL Reporter Paul Kuharsky NHL Columnist Pierre LeBrun College Football Reporter David Lombardi Radio Host Robin Lundberg SportsCenter Anchor Jade McCarthy Hockey Writer Joe McDonald Soccer Writer Doug McIntyre ESPNW Reporter Jane McManus College Football Reporter Brett McMurphy Reporter Britt McHenry Pac 12 Reporter Ted Miller Big 12 Reporter Max Olson College Basketball Reporter Dana O’Neil SEC Reporter Greg Ostendorf Dodgers Reporter Doug Padilla ESPNU Producer Josh Parcell Predictive Analytics Expert Rufus Peabody Golf Commentator Dottie Pepper Auto Racing and College Football Commentator Jerry Punch Baseball Reporter Mark Saxon SportsCenter Anchor Jaymee Sire MLB Writer Jayson Stark NBA Reporter Ethan Sherwood Strauss ESPN Dallas Columnist Jean-Jacques Taylor Big Ten Football Reporter Jesse Temple Sports Gambling Writer Dave Tuley SEC Recruiting Analyst Derek Tyson New Orleans Pelicans Reporter Justin Verrier Big Ten Football Reporter Austin Ward Correspondent Reese Waters Houston Rockets Reporter Calvin Watkins NFL Reporter Ed Werder

I'm starting to think the people celebrating and claiming this is about hot takes or politics haven't actually looked at the list of people let go. There are no "hot take" artists here. Hell, there isn't even a lot of TV talent. I see one Sportscenter anchor.

What is on this list? Beat reporters, national CFB guys, the entire NHL, several prominent ESPNW people, writers in general.

What this is about? Exploding TV rights fees and the difficulty of monetizing content in the internet era and cord cutting.

FOX pays the NFL 1.1B for TV rights. For that, they get a 1pm game, a 4pm game every Sunday and most Sundays the 4pm game is national, 2 out of the next 4 SBs and, I believe, a Pro Bowl here and there.

ESPN pays the NFL 1.9b for TV rights. They get 1 terrible MNF game a week and some highlight packages in the age where highlights don't draw viewers.

Last year ESPNs NBA package went from 400 million to 1.4 billion. TRIPLING expenses.

I read somewhere that a huge publication like the NYT gets $10 per 1,000 unique hits on a story (paraphrasing numbers). So you could spend however much on salary plus 5k in expenses flying a reporter around chasing this amazing story to only get back a grand in advertising revenue and that's if it EXPLODES. Studies show that people just aren't willing to pay subscription fees so you're kinda just stuck.

Unless Stephen A literally makes you cancel your cable package, he's not really impacting cord cutting. ESPN gets $6 for every cable bill paid in this country. That is a baseline for revenue and it's received whether anyone watches or not. Sports fans don't cancel cable packages. Cord cutting is about your aunt that can get her news on her ipad and just has Netflix now or your girlfriend that has satellite TV and HBOGo. ESPN is no longer getting THEIR $6. Our $6 is still rolling in.

All of this is clearly shown by who was let go. Stephen A is still around, LeBatard is still around, Bo isn't going anywhere. This was a blow to all the "gritty" journalism folks claim will save the day.

This is about share price and putting on a dog and pony show for investors so people don't think John Skipper is just sitting on his hands. This will have little to no impact on where ESPN is headed. Any analysis that doesn't start with those points is just an agenda.

[mgoblue]

I can't stand SC6 with Jemele and Michael...

[DamnYanks2]

ESPN turned me off with their political, tmz oriented show. I don't give a damn about that stuff, when it comes to sports.

I'm not trying to watch Fox news or CNN, I just want highlights, and thoughtful analysis. And for the most part they fail.

First Take is kind of entertaining. But, Jalen and Jacoby, PTI, The 6, Dan Lebetard, and his dad are all garbage imo.

To me the only thing ESPN has going for it is Sportscenter, the college basketball guys, and the college football team.

Can't stand their NBA team, NFL team, MLB team.... Well you get it.

Basically if you want to learn about sports with substance, don't watch ESPN.

I have no idea how they do the 30 for 30's so well, but that's literally their best work.

Sent from my HTCD200LVWPP using Tapatalk

[Jr.]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bigg Cee

Here is a complete list of people who got laid off by ESPN MLB Analyst Jim Bowden MLB Analysts Dallas Braden Legal Analyst Roger Cossack SportsCenter Anchor Jay Crawford NFL Analyst Trent Dilfer College Basketball Analyst Len Elmore ESPNU Anchor Brendan Fitzgerald MLB Analyst Doug Glanville SportsCenter Anchor Chris Hassel SportsCenter Anchor Darren Haynes MLB Analyst Raul Ibanez Radio Host Danny Kanell College Basketball Reporter Andy Katz SportsCenter Anchor Jade McCarthy Reporter Britt McHenry Golf Commentator Dottie Pepper Auto Racing and College Football Commentator Jerry Punch SportsCenter Anchor Jaymee Sire MLB Writer Jayson Stark Correspondent Reese Waters NFL Reporter Ed Werder

Quote: Originally Posted by dsallupinyaarea

I'm starting to think the people celebrating and claiming this is about hot takes or politics haven't actually looked at the list of people let go. There are no "hot take" artists here. Hell, there isn't even a lot of TV talent. I see one Sportscenter anchor.

Those are all primarily TV personalities from what I can tell. Some of the names I deleted are more of radio personalities, or have limited TV appearances. I agree that the "hot takes" people aren't really on this list, so I'm not sure where all of that sentiment is coming from either. But there is plenty of TV talent that was let go.

[dsallupinyaarea]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jr.

Those are all primarily TV personalities from what I can tell. Some of the names I deleted are more of radio personalities, or have limited TV appearances. I agree that the "hot takes" people aren't really on this list, so I'm not sure where all of that sentiment is coming from either. But there is plenty of TV talent that was let go.

Fair enough. Overarching point of my post still stands, though.

[Blzer]

Britt McHenry's name caught my eye on the reduced list.

I tried to look it up, but couldn't find anything (because the past 72 hours has nothing but the lay-off material)... but was she the one put on leave for berating a service employee on camera or something?

[LowerWolf]

Quote: Originally Posted by Blzer

Britt McHenry's name caught my eye on the reduced list. I tried to look it up, but couldn't find anything (because the past 72 hours has nothing but the lay-off material)... but was she the one put on leave for berating a service employee on camera or something?

Her car got towed and she was caught on camera being nasty to an employee.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...owing-company/

[MJDrocks]

Nice to see Brian Windhorst, the 400 lb NBA "Insider" who looks like he's never played a game of basketball a day in his life, made the cut when experienced vets like Ed Werner and Danny Kanell got cut.