ESPN Layoffs

[jkeerie]

Part of the problem with ESPN of late, which makes it less enjoyable to watch, is all the bias among commentators.  I won't watch the morning shows because of that bias.  Mike Greenburg is insufferable with his Jets fandom.

[SCBills]

ESPN’s NFL Live team are the only ones worth protecting at all costs. 
 

Orlovsky, Kimes, Rutledge, Spears and Clark do a pretty good job, imo. 

[gobilz]

3 hours ago, \GoBillsInDallas/ said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Would ya?

 

 

Think I just did 

[Augie]

15 minutes ago, jkeerie said:

Part of the problem with ESPN of late, which makes it less enjoyable to watch, is all the bias among commentators.  I won't watch the morning shows because of that bias.  Mike Greenburg is insufferable with his Jets fandom.

 

When the wheels fell off Mike & Mike I basically stopped watching ESPN. Golic would rein him in, or at least balance them out. I think that was the last good thing they had, and that’s been a while. 

 

EDIT:  Dan Patrick is as good as anything out there now, IMO. Listen in car or on phone, but for some reason streaming on Peacock recently started running one day behind. What’s up with that???  Grrr! 

 

 

.

Edited June 30, 2023 by Augie

[Mike in Horseheads]

2 hours ago, boyst said:

and they will be able to go be free of their burden of espn.

yup Dan Patrick, jim Rome and Rich Eisen all did well. not sure about Dan Lebatard

[leonbus23]

58 minutes ago, Back2Buff said:

 

It's exactly how it works.  It has gotten way too expensive to keep up with the increased costs the NFL demands to host MNF.  NFL and the players are greedy as heck and will do anything for an additional dime in their pocket.

 

Just waiting for the day for the NFL to price themselves out of more networks and they will end up on some dumb streaming platform that will kill their audience.

 

NFL is playing with fire with the amount of greed they are trying to obtain.  I can assure you, the NFL isn't what it is today, without MNF for all these years on ESPN or ABC.  They are currently biting the hand that is feeding them.  It may not seem like its an issue now because the money is flowing, but the harder it is to find the games or buy a service to watch the game, the more future fans you are throwing away.

 

Upside down Marxian economics. 

 

Capitalism is the problem of capitalism. 

 

As the de-industrialization of Buffalo shows, workers will be eliminated in favor of cheaper labor for maximum profits. 

[PonyBoy]

3 hours ago, HOUSE said:

Mike Schopp will work for 50 bucks

 

Don't forget about old Sully! He's looking for work 😃

[LABILLBACKER]

4 hours ago, The Wiz said:

Not at all surprised about Kellerman and Keyshawn.  Has to be one of the worst shows they had.

Keyshawn was nails on the chalkboard.  No loss there.

[Coach Tuesday]

Feels like the appropriate place to say that I’ve never seen a single Marvel movie - not one.

[HappyDays]

I'm surprised by how many people actively hate ESPN and want them to fail. Me, I don't care about them at all one way or the other. There are vastly superior ways to consume sports news these days than turning on a television channel. All TV journalism is going to suffer the same fate eventually. It simply isn't profitable anymore. It's been replaced by a more consumer-friendly product.

 

Edited June 30, 2023 by HappyDays

[LABILLBACKER]

42 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

When the wheels fell off Mike & Mike I basically stopped watching ESPN. Golic would rein him in, or at least balance them out. I think that was the last good thing they had, and that’s been a while. 

 

EDIT:  Dan Patrick is as good as anything out there now, IMO. Listen in car or on phone, but for some reason streaming on Peacock recently started running one day behind. What’s up with that???  Grrr! 

 

 

.

I agree Dan & the Danettes are fun to listen to.  The problem with most LA sports talk,  it's so much less sports and more fluff.  That's why I have to tolerate the Terd. He mostly sucks but at least he mentions Bills football weekly. I will not miss Max & Key in the morning drive.

[HappyDays]

3 hours ago, Buffalo619 said:

Anything Disney is as toxic as it gets.  Americans have had enough with these type of companies and will not continue to support them. Look for more layoffs and a tank in stock. 

 

It has nothing to do with Disney or politics or anything like that. It's just the new reality that people don't watch live TV.

[Augie]

13 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

It has nothing to do with Disney or politics or anything like that. It's just the new reality that people don't watch live TV.

 

Well, it can be ALL of these things, and some things we never even imagined. 

 

Oh! Looking at some show I’m not familiar with on YouTube TV (because I’m often gonna need them to get my Bills games) and they are doing a segment on the BILLS! I miss ESPN even less.

 

They (ESPN) were ground breaking game changers back in the day. They are now dinosaurs, the love child of the slide rule and the Kodak film empire.  The world is moving on, and ESPN has not done a great job of staying ahead of the game. 

 

.

Edited June 30, 2023 by Augie

[LABILLBACKER]

4 hours ago, davefan66 said:

McShay gone.  
 

Hate Kolbet is gone.  Love her!

.....so does Joe....

[Augie]

3 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

.....so does Joe....

 

He certainly seemed to have high hopes. 

[The Wiz]

7 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

Well, it can be ALL of these things, and some things we never even imagined. 

 

Oh! Looking at some show I’m not familiar with on YouTube TV (because I’m often gonna need them to get my Bills games) and they are doing a segment on the BILLS! I miss ESPN even less.

 

They (ESPN) were ground breaking game changers back in the day. They are now dinosaurs, the love child of the slide rule and the Kodak film empire.  The world is moving on, and ESPN has not done a great job of staying ahead of the game. 

 

.

I agree with you on everything.  The problem is anyone with a capture device and microphone has turned the internet into clickbait titles with different videos from the actual topic to promote themselves.

 

I'm sure you and everyone else has seen it on YouTube.  That's the bigger problem.  They are taking others content and show it off and get more attention than the actual creators.

[HappyDays]

12 minutes ago, Buffalo619 said:

It has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with protecting children. The US has had enough of these companies and their conditioning. People are still watching tv, just not any Disney affiliated ones. 

 

What are you even talking about? Protecting children? From Disney? I have no clue what you're on about. Avatar 2, a Disney movie, was recently the 3rd highest grossing movie of all time. Disney is still a massive entertainment conglomerate.

 

The reality is that people just aren't watching live TV anymore. And it's only going to continue trending downwards with each new generation. Live sports is really the only exception. Used to be if you wanted breaking sports news you would keep the TV tuned to ESPN. Now you just open Twitter.

[Augie]

6 minutes ago, The Wiz said:

I agree with you on everything.  The problem is anyone with a capture device and microphone has turned the internet into clickbait titles with different videos from the actual topic to promote themselves.

 

I'm sure you and everyone else has seen it on YouTube.  That's the bigger problem.  They are taking others content and show it off and get more attention than the actual creators.

 

AND, right on cue, the national news has a bit about the writer’s strike. How they defend themselves against AI in the years ahead will be interesting. Will “people written scripts” be the next organic food? The world be a changin’! 

[Shemp]

When you get 100,000 - 300,000 viewers to watch you per show, you're not going to be commanding an exhorbitant salary that these guys have been getting. I think it's more of a sign that Cable is dying than anything.

[The Wiz]

26 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

AND, right on cue, the national news has a bit about the writer’s strike. How they defend themselves against AI in the years ahead will be interesting. Will “people written scripts” be the next organic food? The world be a changin’! 

I mean they literally made a movie about this!

 

Start thanking and saying please to your Alexa so you might be spared.

[78thealltimegreat]

2 hours ago, jkeerie said:

Part of the problem with ESPN of late, which makes it less enjoyable to watch, is all the bias among commentators.  I won't watch the morning shows because of that bias.  Mike Greenburg is insufferable with his Jets fandom.

You aren’t kidding if you literally became rip van winkle and took a 3 month nap you can almost guarantee Get Up will chronically talk about the Jets and Cowboys and they’ll wonder what Lebron had for breakfast 

[Mr. WEO]

1 hour ago, Augie said:

 

Well, it can be ALL of these things, and some things we never even imagined. 

 

Oh! Looking at some show I’m not familiar with on YouTube TV (because I’m often gonna need them to get my Bills games) and they are doing a segment on the BILLS! I miss ESPN even less.

 

They (ESPN) were ground breaking game changers back in the day. They are now dinosaurs, the love child of the slide rule and the Kodak film empire.  The world is moving on, and ESPN has not done a great job of staying ahead of the game. 

 

.

 

 

They have outlasted any and all competition in their niche.  Sure cable may have been dying na slow death, but ESPN has been all alone in national sports broadcasting for 50 years.  Still are. But hey, Disney doesn't have infinite cash.  They took a huge bad gamble on streaming content exclusively on their own streamers and they got clobbered. Now they are crawling back to the legacy streamers (Netflix, Max) again offering licensing deals to stream their IP.

 

Vna Gundy is the only pro sports analytics guy worth listening to.  Dumping him and keeping Mark Jackson makes zero sense.  Jackson was only there to argue with Van G.  They made an entertaining pair.

[JakeFrommStateFarm]

David Pollack was laid off.

 

This is getting serious...

[wppete]

This is Great news! Kellerman, Keyshawn and Rose were unbearable to listen to to. Divisive and negative people. Hopefully they are replaced with decent people. 
 

 

Edited July 1, 2023 by wppete

[BillsDad51]

1 hour ago, LABILLBACKER said:

Keyshawn was nails on the chalkboard.  No loss there.

According to NY Post (via PFT) Keyshawn signed multi-year $18 million contract last year. He gets paid anyway despite layoff. Who at ESPN negotiated  that kind of deal?

[jkeerie]

1 hour ago, HappyDays said:

I'm surprised by how many people actively hate ESPN and want them to fail. Me, I don't care about them at all one way or the other. There are vastly superior ways to consume sports news these days than turning on a television channel. All TV journalism is going to suffer the same fate eventually. It simply isn't profitable anymore. It's been replaced by a more consumer-friendly product.

 

I don't want them to fail.  They were a much better network before bringing in all these ex-sports figures.  They were fun and objective.  I still remember when they used to cut up and laugh uncontrollably when something absurd happened.  Who was the guy that lost it when Carl Lewis sang the national anthem?  Charlie????

[BillsPride12]

1 hour ago, Augie said:

 

Well, it can be ALL of these things, and some things we never even imagined. 

 

Oh! Looking at some show I’m not familiar with on YouTube TV (because I’m often gonna need them to get my Bills games) and they are doing a segment on the BILLS! I miss ESPN even less.

 

They (ESPN) were ground breaking game changers back in the day. They are now dinosaurs, the love child of the slide rule and the Kodak film empire.  The world is moving on, and ESPN has not done a great job of staying ahead of the game. 

 

.

I actually think at some point an executive decision was made at the top to turn ESPN into a more "hip and edgy" Network catering to the youth but all it did was fail miserably and alienate it's core audience 

[JimBob2232]

Gameday is going downhill.  Corso has at most 2 years left (and arguably should have zero left).  Pollock is now gone.  Bear is gone.  Never a big fan of Desmond Howard....

 

Herbstreit is great. But he is now doing NFL stuff too.

 

I am not a big McAfee fan.  Will be interesting to see where this goes.

 

 

[Einstein]

49 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

Disney doesn't have infinite cash.  They took a huge bad gamble on streaming content exclusively on their own streamers and they got clobbered. Now they are crawling back to the legacy streamers (Netflix, Max) again offering licensing deals to stream their IP.

 

Not sure why you thought that but Disney’s streaming has been a massive success. Across their streaming platforms they have over 230 Million subscribers. That’s more than Netflix.

 

What you may be referring to is their negative cash flow on the streaming side, but that is to be expected with all new streaming platforms. Netflix lost money for half a decade before reporting a profit.

 

Therefore, while Disney's streaming platforms might not be as profitable as they could be right now, it doesn't mean they aren't successful. They've captured a huge portion of the market and continue to grow. In terms of their financial performance, it's likely that they're following a long-term strategy where they'll eventually become profitable as they continue to add subscribers and increase their average revenue per user. This is a common strategy in tech-oriented businesses and not necessarily a sign of weakness or failure.

 

Now that they have a massive subscriber base, they can rent some IP to other providers and make money on both ends.

[LittleSammy]

6 hours ago, davefan66 said:

McShay gone.  
 

Hate Kolbet is gone.  Love her!

Joe Namath said the same thing!

[Florida Bills Fanatic]

ESPN and their parent company forgot what made them successful.  For ESPN, it was good sports coverage and excellent sports news content.  They provide little of that anymore.  Somewhere along the line they felt it was their duty to instruct all of us on their view of social morality whether the viewers wanted it or not.  People didn't fight them, they merely found a different source of their sports entertainment.  As the cost of content from the professional/college sports leagues went up and viewership went down, advertising revenue and cable fees could not keep pace.  Their economic model is increasingly unsustainable.

[Augie]

36 minutes ago, BillsPride12 said:

I actually think at some point an executive decision was made at the top to turn ESPN into a more "hip and edgy" Network catering to the youth but all it did was fail miserably and alienate it's core audience 

 

They came out with ESPN the magazine, right?  Went into print right before print died. One bad decision after another. I don’t want to sound like Bills basher, but that’s a lot of whiffs!   😂 

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

6 hours ago, Einstein said:

 

Correct.

 

But the other side of the coin is networks can no longer demand the fees from cable/satellite providers that they need to float. Cable/satellite is hemorrhaging from people moving to internet based media.

 

I have a subscription to Hulu/ESPN+, Paramount, and Peacock all with commercials.  I also have a subscription to YTTV mainly for content from ESPN/ESPN2, etc.  Watch a little bit of TNT, etc, but mainly have it for the sports.  I have a TIVO DVR with an antenna hook up that I use to record shows on network TV. 

 

I was saying the other day, I could for likely much less money switch Hulu, Paramount, and Peacock to the commercial free version and dump YTTV.  But I don't mainly so I can watch live coverage of games on ESPN.  I can watch the live game via the ESPN app, but you need to list who your cable/streaming provider is to show that you have existing access to ESPN in order to watch it.

 

So my question is why doesn't ESPN come out with it's own streaming service of all the ESPN channels.  Say $20 a month gets you the 4 or 5 ESPN stations.  What is legally, practically, or financially preventing them?

[Nextmanup]

How does the creepy bald guy with the glasses manage to avoid all these layoffs, and remain the face of the network?  What photographs is he in possession of?

 

 

[Einstein]

5 minutes ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

So my question is why doesn't ESPN come out with it's own streaming service of all the ESPN channels.  Say $20 a month gets you the 4 or 5 ESPN stations.  What is legally, practically, or financially preventing them?

 

Your wish is their command.

[WotAGuy]

3 minutes ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

 

I have a subscription to Hulu/ESPN+, Paramount, and Peacock all with commercials.  I also have a subscription to YTTV mainly for content from ESPN/ESPN2, etc.  Watch a little bit of TNT, etc, but mainly have it for the sports.  I have a TIVO DVR with an antenna hook up that I use to record shows on network TV. 

 

I was saying the other day, I could for likely much less money switch Hulu, Paramount, and Peacock to the commercial free version and dump YTTV.  But I don't mainly so I can watch live coverage of games on ESPN.  I can watch the live game via the ESPN app, but you need to list who your cable/streaming provider is to show that you have existing access to ESPN in order to watch it.

 

So my question is why doesn't ESPN come out with it's own streaming service of all the ESPN channels.  Say $20 a month gets you the 4 or 5 ESPN stations.  What is legally, practically, or financially preventing them?

Maybe their agreements with the cable companies and other entities that carry ESPN want to ensure that viewers are forced to use their venue to watch?  If ESPN went to their own platform, they would only be paid for viewers that specifically want to watch.  As it is now, they get paid by a lot of cable subscribers that never turn ESPN on. Just spitballing here…

[Since1981]

Happens at companies everyday. I’ve had to argue with a teacher that they can fire me for wearing a green shirt. Teacher just couldn’t comprehend “employment at will” 

[Dr.Sack]

Hot take: Pat McCafee is to blame. 

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

18 minutes ago, Einstein said:

 

Your wish is their command.

 

17 minutes ago, WotAGuy said:

Maybe their agreements with the cable companies and other entities that carry ESPN want to ensure that viewers are forced to use their venue to watch?  If ESPN went to their own platform, they would only be paid for viewers that specifically want to watch.  As it is now, they get paid by a lot of cable subscribers that never turn ESPN on. Just spitballing here…

 

Good article!  Don't like the suggested price though, not sure it would make sense to go that high, then would be cheaper to keep what I have.  That's their challenge will have to still make it cheap enough that keeping a cable/streaming subscription with all the additional content isn't still cheaper or close enough that not worth switching.

[Mr. WEO]

42 minutes ago, Einstein said:

 

Not sure why you thought that but Disney’s streaming has been a massive success. Across their streaming platforms they have over 230 Million subscribers. That’s more than Netflix.

 

What you may be referring to is their negative cash flow on the streaming side, but that is to be expected with all new streaming platforms. Netflix lost money for half a decade before reporting a profit.

 

Therefore, while Disney's streaming platforms might not be as profitable as they could be right now, it doesn't mean they aren't successful. They've captured a huge portion of the market and continue to grow. In terms of their financial performance, it's likely that they're following a long-term strategy where they'll eventually become profitable as they continue to add subscribers and increase their average revenue per user. This is a common strategy in tech-oriented businesses and not necessarily a sign of weakness or failure.

 

Now that they have a massive subscriber base, they can rent some IP to other providers and make money on both ends.

 

That Netflix-type success won't happen again in streaming--the whole industry is in crisis.  They created tons of expensive content yet they are maxed out on subscribers.  Wall street initially heavily rewarded their growth (subscription)...until investors woke up and said no money is being made.

 

This is a solid piece:https://www.vulture.com/2023/06/streaming-industry-netflix-max-disney-hulu-apple-tv-prime-video-peacock-paramount.html

 

"It’s easy to see this now as self-immolation, but at the time, investors rewarded the spending as an investment in the future and a hedge against the trend of cord-cutting. Disney’s share price — which had been trading in the $100 range when the company announced its streaming strategy — flirted with $150 in the weeks after Disney+’s launch. COVID further juiced the value of companies whose primary market is serving shut-ins. Netflix added 36.6 million subscribers in 2020 — its biggest annual gain ever — and Disney+ did even better, finishing its first full year of operations with 86.8 million customers. Iger retired on the last day of 2021. All that was missing was a MISSION: ACCOMPLISHED banner.

 

For the company’s rivals, Netflix’s woes begot a mix of Schadenfreude and relief: Maybe sanity had prevailed. But what at first looked like a Netflix correction was in fact a streaming correction. Investors started punishing Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and other Netflix wannabes. “Wall Street woke up and said, ‘Actually, profitability is the only metric,’” says a senior executive at a major streamer. “The idea that you could have the optics of success, where you could add 5 million subscribers and you gained 10 percent in value? It was over.”

 

Iger unretired to retake the CEO job at Disney.

 

" And six years after Iger convinced most of Hollywood to lock up their library titles on their own platforms, Disney and others have said they’re open to licensing some shows again — even to their old nemesis Netflix."