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ESPN announces 300 layoffs, citing 'disruption' amid virus
ESPN announced Thursday it is laying off about 300 employees and cutting about 500 jobs from its global workforce.
The cuts amount to about 10% of the employees at the sports network and are due largely to the impact of the pandemic on its business and the “tremendous disruption in how fans consume sports.”
“In the short term, we enacted various steps like executive and talent salary reductions, furloughs and budget cuts, and we implemented innovative operations and production approaches, all in an effort to weather the COVID storm,” Jimmy Pitaro, ESPN’s chairman, wrote in an email to employees. “We have, however, reached an inflection point.”
In addition to the layoffs, the company is planning to leave about 200 vacant positions unfilled.
ESPN did not say how many of the job cuts would come at its Bristol, Connecticut, campus, but said they would not be concentrated in any one area. On-air talent, the vast majority having personal contracts, is not expected to be heavily affected. But some of those contracts could be allowed to expire.
The company said it has more than 5,000 employees, including about 4,000 in Bristol.
The Disney subsidiary has recently been moving toward more direct-to-consumer offerings, including its ESPN+, a streaming service that has grown to about 8.5 million subscribers.
Pitaro said the discussions on how to reposition the company in a changing media landscape predate COVID-19, but said the pandemic had accelerated those discussions.
– and, as always, in the most efficient way possible — is by far the most challenging job of any leadership team.”
The layoffs come three years after ESPN cut about 250 jobs, including journalists and on-air talent.
https://www.startribune.com/espn-announc...572980322/
Maybe if they didn't spend money creating those idiotic commercials with their own staff they wouldn't have to fire people. The old commercials were funny, but these new ones are brutal and I'd bet they aren't cheap.
maybe if they had stuck to sports and not alienated half the country by getting into politics and social justice slants they wouldn't have become unwatchable for most sports fans. oh well... bye!
Viewing habits are different, people consume things on many platforms and traditional cable TV is shrinking. The idea of watching Sportscenter seems laughable now and it was their flagship product not that long ago. Disney, their parent company, is also suffering. Also: their on-air staff seems to be about the most un-cool group ever that are trying desperately to be so.
How the blame covid for this is beyond me. Covid has caused more people to stay home watch TV and consume entertainment. There might be a ton of reasons they are failing but a pandemic that forces people to stay home and watch TV is not one of them.
Things are tough all over. I'm not surprised by it. It is definitely a bummer for the employees and their families. Sports viewing and accessibility are changing. Adapt or die.
Quote: @purplefaithful said:
ESPN announces 300 layoffs, citing 'disruption' amid virus
ESPN announced Thursday it is laying off about 300 employees and cutting about 500 jobs from its global workforce.
The cuts amount to about 10% of the employees at the sports network and are due largely to the impact of the pandemic on its business and the “tremendous disruption in how fans consume sports.”
“In the short term, we enacted various steps like executive and talent salary reductions, furloughs and budget cuts, and we implemented innovative operations and production approaches, all in an effort to weather the COVID storm,” Jimmy Pitaro, ESPN’s chairman, wrote in an email to employees. “We have, however, reached an inflection point.”
In addition to the layoffs, the company is planning to leave about 200 vacant positions unfilled.
ESPN did not say how many of the job cuts would come at its Bristol, Connecticut, campus, but said they would not be concentrated in any one area. On-air talent, the vast majority having personal contracts, is not expected to be heavily affected. But some of those contracts could be allowed to expire.
The company said it has more than 5,000 employees, including about 4,000 in Bristol.
The Disney subsidiary has recently been moving toward more direct-to-consumer offerings, including its ESPN+, a streaming service that has grown to about 8.5 million subscribers.
Pitaro said the discussions on how to reposition the company in a changing media landscape predate COVID-19, but said the pandemic had accelerated those discussions.
– and, as always, in the most efficient way possible — is by far the most challenging job of any leadership team.”
The layoffs come three years after ESPN cut about 250 jobs, including journalists and on-air talent.
https://www.startribune.com/espn-announc...572980322/
Gotta Agree. I think they're just laying off a bunch of these reporters as the election draws to a close. More politics than sports nowadays.
Quote: @Waterboy said:
@ purplefaithful said:
ESPN announces 300 layoffs, citing 'disruption' amid virus
ESPN announced Thursday it is laying off about 300 employees and cutting about 500 jobs from its global workforce.
The cuts amount to about 10% of the employees at the sports network and are due largely to the impact of the pandemic on its business and the “tremendous disruption in how fans consume sports.”
“In the short term, we enacted various steps like executive and talent salary reductions, furloughs and budget cuts, and we implemented innovative operations and production approaches, all in an effort to weather the COVID storm,” Jimmy Pitaro, ESPN’s chairman, wrote in an email to employees. “We have, however, reached an inflection point.”
In addition to the layoffs, the company is planning to leave about 200 vacant positions unfilled.
ESPN did not say how many of the job cuts would come at its Bristol, Connecticut, campus, but said they would not be concentrated in any one area. On-air talent, the vast majority having personal contracts, is not expected to be heavily affected. But some of those contracts could be allowed to expire.
The company said it has more than 5,000 employees, including about 4,000 in Bristol.
The Disney subsidiary has recently been moving toward more direct-to-consumer offerings, including its ESPN+, a streaming service that has grown to about 8.5 million subscribers.
Pitaro said the discussions on how to reposition the company in a changing media landscape predate COVID-19, but said the pandemic had accelerated those discussions.
– and, as always, in the most efficient way possible — is by far the most challenging job of any leadership team.”
The layoffs come three years after ESPN cut about 250 jobs, including journalists and on-air talent.
https://www.startribune.com/espn-announc...572980322/
Gotta Agree. I think they're just laying off a bunch of these reporters as the election draws to a close. More politics than sports nowadays.
No, these layoffs are almost all people behind the scenes, not in front of the camera. But some on-air personalities with expiring contracts soon could be in trouble.
Quote: @StickyBun said:
Viewing habits are different, people consume things on many platforms and traditional cable TV is shrinking. The idea of watching Sportscenter seems laughable now and it was their flagship product not that long ago. Disney, their parent company, is also suffering. Also: their on-air staff seems to be about the most un-cool group ever that are trying desperately to be so.
^^^
This is very true...Viewers are flocking to streaming platforms which means far less eyeballs and $ for live tv.
Disney + is actually a pretty good platform and we're enjoying that along with HBO Max, Apple TV+, Hulu and Netflix.
Outside of sports and election coverage, live viewing is less than 50% in our hh now - and trending downward.
Quote: @purplefaithful said:
@ StickyBun said:
Viewing habits are different, people consume things on many platforms and traditional cable TV is shrinking. The idea of watching Sportscenter seems laughable now and it was their flagship product not that long ago. Disney, their parent company, is also suffering. Also: their on-air staff seems to be about the most un-cool group ever that are trying desperately to be so.
^^^
This is very true...Viewers are flocking to streaming platforms which means far less eyeballs and $ for live tv.
Disney + is actually a pretty good platform and we're enjoying that along with HBO Max, Apple TV+, Hulu and Netflix.
Outside of sports and election coverage, live viewing is less than 50% in our hh now - and trending downward.
i know I am cutting my dish down ( picture Clark Griswold with a chain saw fixing the newel post) the day i get that shiny new fiberoptic cable into my house ... its sitting there coiled up on the back of my house just taunting me, teasing me, with the promise of lightning fast internet for an awesome streaming experience.
No more chiseling ice, or sweeping snow off the dish after every winter storm, no more losing signal with every thunder storm, no more adjustments after major wind events, no more sitting on hold for hours on end trying to renegotiate my damn bill every year just to get it back to a number higher than what they give new users... I will be so fucking happy to see that fiber get up and running I cant even tell you. ( I wont even need that herbal stuff to make me happy)
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