Media: Big layoffs at ESPN include familiar names
ESPN laid off scores of journalists and on-air people Wednesday, showing that even the most formidable media kingdom is vulnerable to the transformation upending the sportsbroadcasting industry as more and more people turn away from cable television.
Among the prominent people let go were former NFL quarterbacks Trent Dilfer and Danny Kanell, former NBA forward Len Elmore, longtime baseball reporter Jayson Stark and longtime NFL reporter Ed Werder.
ESPN is the biggest and most powerful entity in the sportsmedia industry, and it also might feel the sting more as viewers switch from traditional ways of consuming sports.
The network has lost more than 10 million subscribers over the past several years. At the same time, the cost of broadcasting major sports has continued to rise. ESPN committed to an eight-year, $15.2 billion contract extension with the NFL in 2011; a nine-year, $12 billion deal with the NBA; and a $7.3 billion deal for the College Football Playoff, among many others.
“ESPN was wrapped in Teflon for many years, but big payouts for rights fees plus significant losses in their subscriber base were like punches to the gut and head, and now the company is trying to make sure they are strong enough to fight in the future,” said James Andrew Miller, who wrote a book on ESPN.
“They’ve decided one way to do this is to change their approach to content and rely more heavily on digital; this has enabled them to let go of a big chunk of their talent base.”
In October 2015, ESPN laid off about 300 people, most of whom were not well-known.
Fans increasingly are watching video clips on their smartphones at the expense of traditional highlight shows like “SportsCenter.” With ESPN locked into long-term contracts for programming rights with various sports leagues, savings must come primarily from a reduced staff.
In a letter to employees Wednesday, ESPN President John Skipper acknowledged the “difficult decisions” ahead, and suggested what the network is seeking as it reshapes itself.
“Dynamic change demands an increased focus on versatility and value, and as a result, we have been engaged in the challenging process of determining the talent — anchors, analysts, reporters, writers and those who handle play-by-play — necessary to meet those demands,” Skipper said in the statement.
In the most recent quarter, Disney’s cable networks division reported $864 million in operating income, an 11 percent drop from the same period a year ago, with ESPN the reason for the entire decline, Disney said at the time. The company blamed higher NBA and NFL programming costs and lower ad sales for the weak results.
This month, Amazon paid $50 million for streaming rights to 10 of the NFL’s Thursday night games for the 2017 season — or five times more than what Twitter paid a season ago, according to SportsBusiness Journal.
Some other ESPN employees who announced via social media that they had lost their jobs: “SportsCenter” anchors Jay Crawford and Jaymee Sire, college basketball reporters Dana O’Neil and Eamonn Brennan, Pac-12 reporter Ted Miller, writer Jane McManus, NBA reporter Ethan Strauss and baseball analysts Dallas Braden and Jim Bowden.