ESPN cutting hundreds of jobs

[MOFO]

I would give up ESPN for the old Empire Sports Network in a heartbeat..a heartbeat...I guess I'm too slow, yes I'm too, yes I'm too slow But you said "Anytime of the day was fine" You said "Anytime of the night was also fine...

[first_and_ten]

This is just the suits at Disney feeling like they need another fat bonus. It's happening every day.

 

Management figures out that people will work harder to hang on to their jobs. So you blow out 4% of your workforce, wait and see if stuff still gets done, then give yourself a bonus for being such an awesome manager.

 

PTR

 

Have to agree with this sentiment. Where is the compassion from big business today? Who cares about the impact these moves have on the people and their families. We know the suits don't care as long as they get the big bonus.

[Chandler#81]

Many good points here. My biggest knock against ESPN is their insistence on having ex-jocks predict games. It's just so bush-league. It be one thing if their continued employment hung in the balance of their predictions -then I'd like it! Bruschi would be long gone.

 

Anyway, I think the biggest reason for these changes is the new competition. NBCSports channels are great. I watch them much more than ESPN. Now, with FOX moving into this 24/7 Sports, we will at least be given alternatives on OUR schedules. Keep remote batteries at the ready.

[peterpan]

This is just the suits at Disney feeling like they need another fat bonus. It's happening every day.

 

Management figures out that people will work harder to hang on to their jobs. So you blow out 4% of your workforce, wait and see if stuff still gets done, then give yourself a bonus for being such an awesome manager.

 

PTR

 

Maybe I am cold hearted, but if you can operate without those employees, why keep them on staff? It would seem you don't really need them, right?

 

If you don't make these cuts, when their ratings/viewers are likely down (internet, NFL Network) then eventually they will get into trouble.

 

I know I know, 'they aren't going anywhere' - 'they are too big to fail' Well tell that to GM and Chrysler, both of whom, DID fail, and Chrysler did TWICE! Two times in the last 40 years.

 

I guess those job-banks weren't such a good idea after all? The job banks where instead of firing people GM just paid them to sit in a room and play checkers....for 30 years!

[first_and_ten]

Maybe I am cold hearted, but if you can operate without those employees, why keep them on staff? It would seem you don't really need them, right?

 

If you don't make these cuts, when their ratings/viewers are likely down (internet, NFL Network) then eventually they will get into trouble.

 

I know I know, 'they aren't going anywhere' - 'they are too big to fail' Well tell that to GM and Chrysler, both of whom, DID fail, and Chrysler did TWICE! Two times in the last 40 years.

 

I guess those job-banks weren't such a good idea after all? The job banks where instead of firing people GM just paid them to sit in a room and play checkers....for 30 years!

 

His point is they would rather make the work load harder on the workers so that they can increase their bonuses. The average CEO now makes 350 times what the average worker makes. Do You think they would cut their own salary to make budget? No way. They would rather make it more difficult on the workers who are left. What may well happen is that the quality of the programming may suffer and ultimately lead to the need for more layoffs to meet budget. Why is the first decision these suits usually make is to cut people? Can't they earn that huge salary and be creative? Or better yet cut their own salaries so that people don't have to be unemployed. Most of the cuts are in technology. They didn't work there because they were not needed. The product will suffer. Cutting people can be so shortsighted.

[xsoldier54]

http://news.yahoo.co...-203646386.html

I moved to Newfoundland almost 10 years ago and at first I missed ESPN. Sister station TSN is not the same as all they talk about is hockey, almost non-stop almost year round. After having lived here awhile and receiving some of the ESPN programming on TSN, I must say that I don't miss it in the least. In fact I don't watch TSN highlight shows either. I get my sports news from the internet, what I want, when I want it.

[DasNootz]

You can grow without a plan, but it rarely works to make broad based cuts without one. To simply say "we're cutting 10% across the board... make it work" doesn't work because you end up cutting muscle and bone along with the fat. That said, if there is a rhyme and reason to the decision, an employer does not owe it to the employee or a community to keep a job that is not productive. Has ESPN become bloated? Is the entire "campus" atmosphere really necessary to offer quality programing? How many of the 50 variations of ESPN are profitable (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, Deportes...)?

[Homey D. Clown]

anyone who has been cut so that an executive can receive his yearly bonus knows this is a real scumbag move. It generally burdens the remaining employees to shoulder the workload, while reducing morale and the feeling of job security. The bottom line is that you feel that you can lose your job no matter how hard you work.

[DasNootz]

"so that an executive can receive his yearly bonus"... the more accurate statement is "so shareholders in Disney can receive their anticipated earnings and/or dividends". This includes executives, individual investors, mutual fund owners, etc.

[Mr. WEO]

Everyday I hope we are one day closer to this 24/7 news crap burning out. Sooner or later the people have to realize the damage it is doing, and the absolute worthless nonsense it is causing. There is no bigger threat to society than the 24/7-Cycle Media Entertainment industry.

 

Really?? Describe to me your society where the entertainment industry is the biggest threat. They must not worry about much in your world.

 

On a real note - they've been heavily spending on live rights for sporting events, and that (coupled with Disney mandating cuts across the entire brand) likely has more to do with if than anything else.

 

You're gonna really bring the Norma Raes down with this bit of reality, NS.

 

Many good points here. My biggest knock against ESPN is their insistence on having ex-jocks predict games. It's just so bush-league. It be one thing if their continued employment hung in the balance of their predictions -then I'd like it! Bruschi would be long gone.

 

Anyway, I think the biggest reason for these changes is the new competition. NBCSports channels are great. I watch them much more than ESPN. Now, with FOX moving into this 24/7 Sports, we will at least be given alternatives on OUR schedules. Keep remote batteries at the ready.

 

Then you must have the same knock against CBS (Marino, Esiason, Sharpe, Cowher), Fox (Bradshaw, Strahan, Long, Jimmy Johnson), NFLN (Mikchael Irvin, Faulk, Sapp, Marriucci--by the worst team).

 

NBCSN? After hockey is over, you will enjoy watching what's left of their programming, no doubt: fishing, formula 1, more fishing, "paid programming", Dan Patrick (ESPN leftover), Michelle Beadle (ditto), "Sexiest bodies of 2013", darts, "landscaping secrets". That network is doomed.

 

Fox sports will never make a dent either--both of these networks will fail because of the huge fees charged to broadcast the 3 major sports in this country. There is no way News Corp (and Rupert Murdock) will pour endless streams of cash down the drain trying to compete with ESPN. Neither will NBC Universal. They all have shareholders too.

 

The criticisms of ESPN are predictable (as are the claims of "I don't watch it") because it is so dominant in the sports media. Easy target. It's not a great product, but for what it is (entertainment), it's the best at what it does.

[TakeYouToTasker]

I'm going to wait until this gets moved to PPP before I beat up on the fist full of anti-capitalist jack-asses in this thread.

[Just in Atlanta]

Corporate America at its finest..must maximize gain! Who cares whose lives we destroy in the process! Keep stockholders happy!

The purpose of a business is to make money for stockholders, not to employ people. It's a cold fact of life. But the alternative system is far worse.

 

That said, I echo nearly everyone else: ESPN is near unwatchable.

[mitchmurraydowntown]

I only watch ESPN if there's a game on, otherwise it's a bunch of self-serving dweebs pretending to know something.

[ExiledInIllinois]

Question... Does anybody really subscribe to their (ESPN) "inside" subscriptions? I ask myself, you gotta be kidding that there are such suckers in this world! Why?

Edited May 22, 2013 by ExiledInIllinois

[BringBackFergy]

I'm going to wait until this gets moved to PPP before I beat up on the fist full of anti-capitalist jack-asses in this thread.

Ditto that.

 

I only watch ESPN if there's a game on, otherwise it's a bunch of self-serving dweebs pretending to know something.

Kinda like us?

[PromoTheRobot]

 

The purpose of a business is to make money for stockholders, not to employ people. It's a cold fact of life. But the alternative system is far worse.

 

That said, I echo nearly everyone else: ESPN is near unwatchable.

In that case the Egyptians were management wizards by using slaves to build their pyramids.

 

Ironically you have just made the argument why there needs to be unions. Something to balance the interests of workers against managements imperitive to bleed rocks.

 

Now like any imbalance , unions can be just as bad as business when they have too much power

 

But the reason we have 40 hour, 5 day work weeks, no child labor, and safety rules is because labor won those protections, not because business owners were feeling generous.

 

PTR

[Canadian Bills Fan]

Mel Kiper!

 

Please fire Mel Kiper!

 

I know it will never happen but hey I guy can wish right?

 

CBF

[DasNootz]

In that case the Egyptians were management wizards by using slaves to build their pyramids.

I think Moses would disagree. Their poor "management" skills led them to lose control of their workforce. Ultimately, their business plan was unsustainable, and the relatively high cost of the niche product they created left them with very limited exit options.

[mitchmurraydowntown]

 

 

 

Kinda like us?

 

Bingo !!

 

ESPN isnt going anywhere, but they will keep losing fans if they get thrid rate actors as guest hosts

 

I was referring to the Oregon duck mascot's job, just to be clear.

[Just in Atlanta]

In that case the Egyptians were management wizards by using slaves to build their pyramids.

 

Ironically you have just made the argument why there needs to be unions. Something to balance the interests of workers against managements imperitive to bleed rocks.

 

Now like any imbalance , unions can be just as bad as business when they have too much power

 

But the reason we have 40 hour, 5 day work weeks, no child labor, and safety rules is because labor won those protections, not because business owners were feeling generous.

 

PTR

The pyramids would be just about finished -- today -- if unions were involved.