ESPN to lay off $100 million in on air talent

[IWB]

Reports from CNN, Deadspin and this gem from Out Kick the Coverage (http://www.outkickthecoverage.com/espn-cutting-nearly-100-million-in-on-air-talent-030617) say that ESPN will lay off $100 million in on air talent.

Hmm...Two problems perhaps?

First off, they have over $100 million in on air talent? Wow. Need to cut that down.

Next....ESPN pays college football conferences & playoff system about $1.5 billion per year. Even if they pay the on air talent way too much, I think it is their college contracts that are killing them.

[MKE_GoldenEagleFan]

Wow that's crazy... they are definitely struggling, my guess is these college conferences may want to consider their spending because when these deals are up I doubt they will be as significant.

[MUBasketball]

Without even clicking on the link, if ESPN is struggling how bad must FS1 be doing? I know they just got rid of Jay and Dan who I liked - no idea why they got rid of their highlight show to replace it with a talk show format in that cramped studio. Obviously won't get many eye balls without more live content, so I suppose maybe things aren't too bad because they don't have lots of $$$ tied up to contracts like ESPN does?

[DCwarrior]

Without even clicking on the link, if ESPN is struggling how bad must FS1 be doing? I know they just got rid of Jay and Dan who I liked - no idea why they got rid of their highlight show to replace it with a talk show format in that cramped studio. Obviously won't get many eye balls without more live content, so I suppose maybe things aren't too bad because they don't have lots of $$$ tied up to contracts like ESPN does?

FS1 is in a better place going forward because they don't have the huge guaranteed contacts with the NBA, MLB, BCS, NFL, ACC and all the other conferences. The Big East money they pay isn't all that much. They should stick to UFC, soccer, Big East, and try to find some value deals with other conferences for football and hoops as ESPN sheds them as their contracts expire.

That said, you're going to see a lot more telecasts of live games where the announcers are in the studio and not actually at the games.

[Goose85]

Wow that's crazy... they are definitely struggling, my guess is these college conferences may want to consider their spending because when these deals are up I doubt they will be as significant.

Some of the football teams in the big conferences better start looking at what costs they can cut. They currently spend a ton of money because they get a ton of money. I don't think they will have trouble cutting back in a lot of areas. Donors need to get ready for requests for more money.

[TedBaxter]

I listened to their 2 hour radio show First and Last today with Lunberg and Golic Jr. between 3:00-5:00. I wanted to listen to the whole show to see if they talked about anything worthwhile and as I suspected, they didn't. Just brutal. They could cut that show and save some money.

[TheSultan]

I would like to see who they are cutting and the role they played. My guess is that it is a lot of those former athletes who show up for a couple "Baseball Tonight" type shows a week and say some pablum that doesn't mean anything.

The live sports broadcasts are actually what brings in the viewers so I think that is always going to be part of the mix. They may not pay the same $$$ the next contract go around, but I don't think it is going to dry up completely. They will also keep people like Skip Bayless around but I think the explosion of "hot takes" kind of shows have made him more of a mockery than a ratings draw.

[mufan2003]

https://heatst.com/culture-wars/is-espns-liberal-political-agenda-contributing-to-its-serious-viewer-slump/

[Goose85]

https://heatst.com/culture-wars/is-espns-liberal-political-agenda-contributing-to-its-serious-viewer-slump/

I think their ratings slump has nothing to do with politics, but instead availability to information.

I am what ESPN was built on. I'm over 50 and have been watching ESPN since it started.
I watched sports center, I watched baseball tonight, I watched games on ESPN, watched college game day, watched NFL pre game, some of their shows, and NFL wrap up shows for highlights. When I would turn on the TV, my first click of the remote was to ESPN.

I haven't cut the chord, but I find myself hardly watching ESPN at all anymore, and I still love and follow the big 3 sports. It has now become just another channel in my normal surfing rotation, not the go to channel. Many of the college games I watch are not on ESPN, but instead on Fox or other networks. I don't watch sports center anymore as I already have scores and updates. I used to watch baseball tonight and web gems but don't do that as much. About all I watch is College Football Game Day, a sporting event I'm interested in, and some of the 30 for 30 shows.

Most young people I know are the chord cutters, and don't really depend on cable like I always have. That, and not being the only outlet for fans to watch their favorite teams play is what is affecting ESPN. It is all about live events, and right now almost every game is on tv somewhere, so no longer the need to watch whatever ESPN has on, because there are so many choices.

Most like me don't watch live tv anymore and dvr everything. We are less and less apt to record a show with talking heads going on for an hour, as we can get the same information easily on websites, or enjoy the ability to comment on sites such as this one more than watching two guys talk for an hour.

[Mark Miller]

They could lay off Dick Vitale and I would consider that an upgrade.

[MUWhistler]

Amen!!!

[The Reptile]

On the contract side, ESPN tried to lock in as many of the top leagues as the could when ratings were up. Now that they're down it looks like a bad bet.

On ratings. Their problem is twofold - their shows are really bad and offend some of their base. And perhaps the bigger issue is that they compete with mobile apps for information. Why sit through 60 min of Sports Center when you can see the scores and highlights on mobile.

As far as the on air talent is concerned, who really stands out today. There's no Al, no Madden doing something new or different. Just guys who talk a lot being told to take a side in a talk radio-like conversation. Is that something you need to tune into when there are plent of radio stations where they do the same thing.

Finally, there is no quality too many LeBron reports or Brady reports and no coverage of most teams in any sports - unless they play Brady or LeBron.