Diamond RSNs cutting cameras and other costs as they operate in bankruptcy

IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, at least one Bally Sports

RSN will cut the number of cameras that it will use to produce its MLB games, sources said. Plans are to shelve a robotic camera and a smaller handheld camera that’s used for crowd shots as a way to save money.

Another Bally Sports RSN has tried to cut costs by moving its studio show from outside the stadium to inside the stadium.

Two months after Diamond Sports Group filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection, its RSNs quietly have been trying to save money in ways that they believe are imperceptible to viewers.

Diamond’s corporate office has not given its 19 RSNs specific guidelines about where they should cut costs, leaving it up to each region to figure out ways to save. Diamond didn’t even specify how much RSNs should look to save.

The idea is to cut back in areas considered nice-to-have — like a robotic camera — and continue to invest in areas that are necessary to keep high-quality productions.

There is no overarching corporate strategy to scale back on production, even though some RSNs have responded by simplifying their productions.

Other RSNs have started cutting back marketing expenses.

The changes are designed to save money and make the RSNs more competitive in a media world that has been contracting.

No jobs are getting cut during this period of cost cutting. Diamond has been in a hiring mode even though it filed for bankruptcy protection on March 14.

In the past nine months alone, Diamond has hired at least eight senior executives with titles of vice president or higher — an unusual hiring spree for a company in bankruptcy, including distribution President Eric Ratchman, who joined from Amazon, and George Yeung, senior vice president of financial planning and analysis, who joined from NBCUniversal. — J.O.