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ESPN Layoff

Started by Next1_04, April 26, 2017, 12:42:23 pm

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Kenny Dowell Loggains

Quote from: woodhog14 on April 26, 2017, 03:30:14 pm
You must of missed the tweet he posted one minute after this one...it was all class.

THIS ^^^^^

Despite Kanell's ACC bias and SEC disdain, he thanked ESPN for all the time and knew that this is part of business.  Also, he said that in times like this he's got his faith and family.

Always loved Danny's takes on Rusillo/Kanell.

Karma

You know a lot of things on the Hill are paid for with ESPN money. Rights fees will go down in future contracts, which means so will payouts to the schools.

 

hogsanity

Quote from: ricepig on April 26, 2017, 02:53:50 pm
My 25yr old still watches some sports, he uses mine or his mom's log-ins, more important things to spend his money on in Chicago than cable. The 15yr old watches very little, and usually streaming on his phone. I'll ask if he watched an away game, his usual response is I watched half and we were ahead.......

Much of the issue with ESPN is not fewer people watching sports, it is fewer people subscribing to cable. ESPn gets fees per cable subscriber, regardless of if they watch the channel or not. With so many people "cutting the cord" it has really impacted carriage fees and ad rates. Ad rates are down because ESPN reaches fewer eyeballs now with the decline in cable customers.

People ask me what I do in winter when there is no baseball.  I will tell you what I do. I stare out the window, and I wait for spring.

"Anything goes wrong, anything at all, your fault, my fault, nobodies fault, I'm going to blow your head off."  John Wayne in BIG JAKE

NaturalStateReb

How Stephen A. Smith manages to hang on to a job at ESPN will forever baffle me.
"It's a trap!"--Houston Nutt and Admiral Ackbar, although Ackbar never called that play or ate that frito pie.

Peter Porker

Quote from: NaturalStateReb on April 26, 2017, 04:03:43 pm
How Stephen A. Smith manages to hang on to a job at ESPN will forever baffle me.

Pretty easy to figure out if you read the link I posted.
Quote from: Peter Porker on January 08, 2014, 04:03:21 pm
Notice he says your boy instead of "our coach". Very telling.

I'm not worried. If he recruits like he did here Louisville will fire him in about 5 years.

Jackrabbit Hog

Quote from: NaturalStateReb on April 26, 2017, 04:03:43 pm
How Stephen A. Smith manages to hang on to a job at ESPN will forever baffle me.

He's got compromising pictures of Chris Berman and Scott Van Pelt hidden away.
Quote from: JIMMY BOARFFETT on June 29, 2018, 03:47:07 pm
I'm sure it's nothing that a $500 retainer can't fix.  Contact JackRabbit Hog for payment instructions.

bennyl08

Quote from: NaturalStateReb on April 26, 2017, 04:03:43 pm
How Stephen A. Smith manages to hang on to a job at ESPN will forever baffle me.

Look at some of the highest viewing shows on TV and it will make sense. People want to see drama and controversy. Facts and detailed explanations are boring to the general public and don't receive high viewership.

Have one show that 30min long diagramming highlight plays and the strategies and techniques used to make those plays successful vs a 30min long show about singling controversial topics against the wall, "debating" them, and seeing what sticks. The latter will easily have 3-5 times more viewers than the first.
Quote from: PorkSoda on May 05, 2016, 09:24:05 pm
damn I thought it was only a color, didn't realize it was named after a liqueur. leave it to benny to make me research the history of chartreuse

bennyl08

However, Skip Bayless was exactly the same and arguably worse than Stephen A Smith. However, Skip, if google served me correctly is now with fox sports which TMK isn't part of espn. If ESPN could have those two saying as much controversial stuff on first take again, they'd do it in a heartbeat.
Quote from: PorkSoda on May 05, 2016, 09:24:05 pm
damn I thought it was only a color, didn't realize it was named after a liqueur. leave it to benny to make me research the history of chartreuse

hogbud

Big corporate layoffs are simply brutal. People who get canned rarely receive good explanation and some who survive are truly head scratchers. ESPN is no different.

TexArkHogFan

If they want to save money they should can the Longhorn Network.  Too much money just to benefit one college program.
There are all kinds of Lions, Tigers and Bears in college football.  But there is only one Razorback.  Beware the Tusks!!! They are coming

younghog

Hate that Dr Jerry Lee Punch‏ is out.. He was descent..

GO HOGS
GO HOGS

jjdlc

Quote from: hogsanity on April 26, 2017, 04:01:42 pm
Much of the issue with ESPN is not fewer people watching sports, it is fewer people subscribing to cable. ESPn gets fees per cable subscriber, regardless of if they watch the channel or not. With so many people "cutting the cord" it has really impacted carriage fees and ad rates. Ad rates are down because ESPN reaches fewer eyeballs now with the decline in cable customers.

It's kind of ironic really, since ESPN has played a huge part in the primary reasons for many of those cutting the cord.  I'm a cord cutter, and like many a driving factor is ever increasing cable bill, multiplied by the fact that I'm sick and tired of paying for a bunch of garbage channels I'll never watch.  ESPN is one of, if not the worst about inflating the price they charge to TV Providers, which gets passed on to the customer, who may or may not ever even watch sports.  I'd much rather pay Netflix and Hulu, and maybe one or two others.  If ESPN had an option to subscribe to WatchESPN I'd do that too, but I can get it through Sling.

razorbrass

Sad for these folks but don't lose sight of the big picture.  This is just the first in a series of market corrections.  Enjoy the big conference payouts now because those will go away soon.  That plus paying players is going to change the landscape of college athletics over the next ten years.  Expect 4 large conferences with the "haves" and all the rest will reorganize based on regions to cut down on travel expenses. 
Ladies and Gentlemen can I please have your attention.  I've just been handed an urgent and horrifying news story and I need all of you to stop what you are doing and listen!

 

Poker_hog

Quote from: hogsanity on April 26, 2017, 04:01:42 pm
Much of the issue with ESPN is not fewer people watching sports, it is fewer people subscribing to cable. ESPn gets fees per cable subscriber, regardless of if they watch the channel or not. With so many people "cutting the cord" it has really impacted carriage fees and ad rates. Ad rates are down because ESPN reaches fewer eyeballs now with the decline in cable customers.


Sports is one of the few things I and many others will watch live and will sit through commercials.  From that standpoint they should be killing it financially.  I think people underestimate the impact of them alienating their key demographic. 
Sometimes wrong, but never in doubt

Inhogswetrust

Quote from: HF#1 on April 26, 2017, 01:11:49 pm
I actually respect him more for that Tweet. While I disagree with most everything that comes from his mouth, I respect the fact that he is willing to say what most won't. There wasn't anything unclassy about it.

Yes I'm sure any potential employers love reading about him doing a former employer like that.....................................no wonder he followed it up with something more respectful.
If I'm going to cheer players and coaches in victory, I damn sure ought to be man enough to stand with them in defeat.

"Why some people are so drawn to the irrational is something that has always puzzled me" - James Randi

Inhogswetrust

Quote from: Jackrabbit Hog on April 26, 2017, 02:29:12 pm
That's a great point and one I don't hear brought up very often.  "Kids" today, and by that I mean anyone under 20, just don't have the same passion for viewing sports that we did when we were that age.  Of course there are exceptions, but I think the percentage of teens that would call themselves true sports fans is much lower today.  There's just too much in the way of technology and alternative entertainment that commands their attention.

It isn't just those under 20. Neither our daughter or son and his family have regular TV service of any type and they are late 2o's and 30 respectively. A lot of their friends don't either.
If I'm going to cheer players and coaches in victory, I damn sure ought to be man enough to stand with them in defeat.

"Why some people are so drawn to the irrational is something that has always puzzled me" - James Randi

Inhogswetrust

Quote from: hogbud on April 26, 2017, 05:02:32 pm
Big corporate layoffs are simply brutal. People who get canned rarely receive good explanation and some who survive are truly head scratchers. ESPN is no different.

No different in small companies and they have a greater probability of going under and everyone losses their job.
If I'm going to cheer players and coaches in victory, I damn sure ought to be man enough to stand with them in defeat.

"Why some people are so drawn to the irrational is something that has always puzzled me" - James Randi

MuskogeeHogFan

Quote from: HF#1 on April 26, 2017, 01:11:49 pm
I actually respect him more for that Tweet. While I disagree with most everything that comes from his mouth, I respect the fact that he is willing to say what most won't. There wasn't anything unclassy about it.

No job is forever and from the first day that you land a big job like that, you need to be formulating your exit plan, knowing full well that it isn't going to last forever and, if your ratings aren't among the highest, you are probably on the bubble for replacement. Trust me, if viewer ratings indicated that they were hanging on every word he spoke and he was well liked among viewers, he would still be employed and might even have a raise. It's all about ratings, from what I understand.

And for him to take a shot across the bow of ESPN for letting him go just makes him less desirable to make a deal with another network. No one wants to inherit someone like that. So he possibly just shot himself in the foot. I understand there is an opening for a QB Coach at Mount Union. :)
Go Hogs Go!

Porked Tongue

Missed chance to get rid of Dickie V.

I figure they'll announce Bruce K Jenner as part of their "new talent" any day now. 

I see their issues as being:
>Many young people don't subscribe to any tv service where ESPN gets a cut but still watch games.
>Overpaid for several packages of programs.
>Arrogance.
>Political stances.
>Out of touch
>saturated

I figure you'll see them try to shed one of their channels next. I wouldn't doubt that some day they have a channel that exists only to show games and they don't try fill the other air time.


ricepig

Quote from: razorbrass on April 26, 2017, 08:09:51 pm
Sad for these folks but don't lose sight of the big picture.  This is just the first in a series of market corrections.  Enjoy the big conference payouts now because those will go away soon.  That plus paying players is going to change the landscape of college athletics over the next ten years.  Expect 4 large conferences with the "haves" and all the rest will reorganize based on regions to cut down on travel expenses. 

Depends on one's definition of soon, and Disney and others will find a way to get paid for their content.

Kevin

Notice they are getting rid of reporters, game personnel, and sportcenter anchors.

They are going to Programs like first take. All banter shows.

That is why none of those guys got the ax.

There about to give mike Greenberg a new morning tv show
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.<br />James 4:7
Reject Every Kind Of Evil 1 Thessalonians 5:22

hobhog

Quote from: TexArkHogFan on April 26, 2017, 05:09:20 pm
If they want to save money they should can the Longhorn Network.  Too much money just to benefit one college program.

Lots of people lost their jobs due to that venture. Longhorns are poison to everybody eventually. Even themselves.

hobhog

Quote from: Kevin on April 26, 2017, 09:29:32 pm
Notice they are getting rid of reporters, game personnel, and sportcenter anchors.

They are going to Programs like first take. All banter shows.

That is why none of those guys got the ax.

There about to give mike Greenberg a new morning tv show

MTV of sports.


 

hoghearted

Quote from: hogsanity on April 26, 2017, 04:01:42 pm
Much of the issue with ESPN is not fewer people watching sports, it is fewer people subscribing to cable. ESPn gets fees per cable subscriber, regardless of if they watch the channel or not. With so many people "cutting the cord" it has really impacted carriage fees and ad rates. Ad rates are down because ESPN reaches fewer eyeballs now with the decline in cable customers.



I would love to see UA align with a internet provider, like Sling or Apple tv, rather than chain itself to cable.
It really is this simple. Unchecked government power leads to corruption, and lack of accountability for it is drastically eroding confidence in our institutions.    aristotle

str8volfan

the final nail in ESPNs coffin was when they tried to bring politics into sports. It been going downhill fast since. Fox is killing them.

3kgthog

As long as Freddie and Fitz remains on the radio and Joe Tess is still available to always make our games more interesting than they have to be, I'm good.

Torqued pork

April 27, 2017, 03:58:37 am #77 Last Edit: April 27, 2017, 04:15:45 am by Torqued pork
ESPN has been a bloated and pretentious outfit for years. Hopefully it will be a leaner and better network after this. It still serves a purpose for us that find sports more interesting than food shows or pop culture crap.


Pork Twain

Go back to what made you great, not farther away from it.
"It is better to be an optimist and proven wrong, than a pessimist and proven right." ~Pork Twain

https://www.facebook.com/groups/sweetmemes/

hogsanity

Quote from: hoghearted on April 26, 2017, 10:42:58 pm
I would love to see UA align with a internet provider, like Sling or Apple tv, rather than chain itself to cable.

Can't do that, at least not for Conf games.
People ask me what I do in winter when there is no baseball.  I will tell you what I do. I stare out the window, and I wait for spring.

"Anything goes wrong, anything at all, your fault, my fault, nobodies fault, I'm going to blow your head off."  John Wayne in BIG JAKE

go hogues

THINGS THE LONGHORNS HAVE RUINED:
1. Southwest Conference
2. Big 12 Conference
3. ESPN
4. Their own recruiting prowess
5. ....
Quote from: Leadbelly on September 24, 2019, 09:05:22 pm<br />Dude, our back has been against the wall so long, we are now on the other side of the wall!<br />

The NewEra

Quote from: str8volfan on April 26, 2017, 11:44:23 pm
the final nail in ESPNs coffin was when they tried to bring politics into sports. It been going downhill fast since. Fox is killing them.

Just as it's not wise to mix Politics and Religion, it's equally unwise to mix Politics and Sports.  ESPN broke a golden rule and they are paying for it.  As you said, it was the final nail.

RazorWest

It's a new age.  Just like piracy and Itunes completely changed the music industries by squashing the ability to make margin on albums, cable channels are going to have to find a way to stay relevant.  Netflix (not a cable channel but in the industry) and HBO are doing it thru original programming.  ESPN is following that lead. 

hawganatic

Quote from: str8volfan on April 26, 2017, 11:44:23 pm
the final nail in ESPNs coffin was when they tried to bring politics into sports. It been going downhill fast since. Fox is killing them.

^^THIS^^

If I want politics I'll watch Foxnews or CNN.  I watch sports to get away from that garbage.

Biggus Piggus

They whacked Andy Katz, the college hoop reporter. When they go cutting people like Katz, Jeremy Crabtree and Jayson Stark, you know something big is going on.

When ESPN signed those megadeals for pro and college broadcast rights, they never imagined that the cable TV model would start breaking down. That moron Clay Travis blames ESPN for its decline in subscribers (because he is shallow + claims the work of others as his own without understanding it), but that's entirely driven by the slide of cable and satellite TV subscribers.

A lot of head-in-sand thinking was going on for a very long time. They never confronted the disruptive influence that broadband Internet was going to have on TV. And believe it or not, what's happened to date only scratches the surface.

ESPN is frantically cutting now because it knows its entire business model is in trouble. At some point, ESPN will have to subsist primarily on direct-to-consumer subscriptions and pay-per-view.

ESPN gets more than $7/month per cable and satellite TV subscriber. What percentage of the market actually wants ESPN and is willing to pay for it a la carte? Here is an example. The college football championship game had an audience of 26 million -- about 12 million households -- vs. ESPN's subscriber base of 88 million households.

That's an example of peak demand. Another measure - Fox's free-TV broadcast of the Super Bowl drew 111 million viewers (50 million households). You know the Super Bowl brings in the peak audience of any event.

The number of households willing to pay for annual subscriptions to ESPN content is probably a small fraction of ESPN's past peak of 100 million. To get the same revenue selling direct to consumer, ESPN would have to charge a huge monthly subscription fee. But I bet they would be challenged to find a large number of people willing to pay that $7/month.

ESPN's go-to-market strategy must change very fast, or they're going to bathe in their own blood. And pro sports leagues and college athletic conferences need to confront this problem today. They are not going to get all the revenue they had expected in the future. Nobody will be able to afford to pay the broadcast rights obligations they owe to the major sports.

It was a bad time for the U of A to take on more debt and expand football facilities (though if you're going to do it, the sooner the better). The SEC's TV contracts are destined to fall apart.
[CENSORED]!

bphi11ips

Quote from: Biggus Piggus on April 27, 2017, 09:10:56 am
It was a bad time for the U of A to take on more debt and expand football facilities (though if you're going to do it, the sooner the better). The SEC's TV contracts are destined to fall apart.

Shhhhhhh.  You're going to wake up rice.
Life is too short for grudges and feuds.

311Hog

Such a good post Biggus as always.

We are in pretty stark times all around honestly.  Who could have forseen this? i mean in the next few years here are some of the things we might see.

1. Fracking in Yellowstone
2. Huge increase in homeless people on the corner begging for money
3. major contraction in services/ price increases for pretty much any and all goods even cable and internet.
4. Maybe even open conflict within our country.

The list could go on i just see the pillars of what we have all become "accustom" to are being rocked.  And the house on top may not be able to withstand it.  As our corporate overlords wring the populace for everything they have.  Something people are not talking about but you know is coming. As everyone ditches cable for internet, what do you think is going to happen to the price of the internet?

Are we willing to pay an individual sub fee for every channel we may want to watch individually? and just watch when that is twice as much as a "cable" package is now.  These people hold all the cards they will not be behind this movement (if they are even behind the curve now).

Edit: i wanted to say i wasn't trying to take this to political with my post. Just that is "part" of this discussion in terms of what people believe and what we are witnessing in our world.  Use to think Sports and Cable were untouchable (they wanted to keep us in our homes entertained on our couches), now it seems nothing is safe

Lanny

Politics forum is open.  Leave this thread to sports
"It's only a game if you win but if you lose it's a stinking waste of time."

Al Bundy

str8volfan

Quote from: Lanny on April 27, 2017, 09:43:35 am
Politics forum is open.  Leave this thread to sports
you work for ESPN. NO?


bphi11ips

Quote from: 311Hog on April 27, 2017, 09:37:30 am
Such a good post Biggus as always.

We are in pretty stark times all around honestly.  Who could have forseen this? i mean in the next few years here are some of the things we might see.

1. Fracking in Yellowstone
2. Huge increase in homeless people on the corner begging for money
3. major contraction in services/ price increases for pretty much any and all goods even cable and internet.
4. Maybe even open conflict within our country.

The list could go on i just see the pillars of what we have all become "accustom" to are being rocked.  And the house on top may not be able to withstand it.  As our corporate overlords wring the populace for everything they have.  Something people are not talking about but you know is coming. As everyone ditches cable for internet, what do you think is going to happen to the price of the internet?

Are we willing to pay an individual sub fee for every channel we may want to watch individually? and just watch when that is twice as much as a "cable" package is now.  These people hold all the cards they will not be behind this movement (if they are even behind the curve now).

Edit: i wanted to say i wasn't trying to take this to political with my post. Just that is "part" of this discussion in terms of what people believe and what we are witnessing in our world.  Use to think Sports and Cable were untouchable (they wanted to keep us in our homes entertained on our couches), now it seems nothing is safe

Cable providers are in the same position that record labels and brick-and-mortar retail outlets were in at the turn of the century.  Remember Tower Records? 
Life is too short for grudges and feuds.

311Hog

Quote from: bphi11ips on April 27, 2017, 09:53:12 am
Cable providers are in the same position that record labels and brick-and-mortar retail outlets were in at the turn of the century.  Remember Tower Records? 

Yeah i do, what i mean is the same "giant" corp that use to own that now owns Itunes or Spotify or what ever other "new medium" we use to garner/acquire music.

remember before Itunes and before Tower records collapsed what did everyone do? they basked in the glory of unlimited "free" music. Kind of how people did with tv/sporting programing being on the internet for virtually nothing.

There is always a "transition" period where the people with all the $$ buy up/herd the masses into the new delivery system.  And the scary thing to me is that usually means less actual people, less actual jobs.  Then everyone is left pointing the finger

bphi11ips

Quote from: 311Hog on April 27, 2017, 10:01:37 am
Yeah i do, what i mean is the same "giant" corp that use to own that now owns Itunes or Spotify or what ever other "new medium" we use to garner/acquire music.

remember before Itunes and before Tower records collapsed what did everyone do? they basked in the glory of unlimited "free" music. Kind of how people did with tv/sporting programing being on the internet for virtually nothing.

There is always a "transition" period where the people with all the $$ buy up/herd the masses into the new delivery system.  And the scary thing to me is that usually means less actual people, less actual jobs.  Then everyone is left pointing the finger

You got it.  Advances in technology have been transforming the way we consume entertainment content for centuries.  The vinyl record industry and Victrolas were thriving 100 years ago.  Then radio came along.  Who thought anyone would ever pay for recorded music again?  Instead, radio became the greatest promotion tool music has ever had.

In the music industry, streaming and subscriptions to internet providers like Spotify are now the leading source of revenue from recorded music.  The same thing will happen with cable. It will just take a while, and the content will suffer as a result.
Life is too short for grudges and feuds.

ricepig

Quote from: bphi11ips on April 27, 2017, 09:32:43 am
Shhhhhhh.  You're going to wake up rice.

Well, if it's not on TV, we'll just raise the ticket prices to get our income. Disney put a $1B in BamTech, MLB's streaming division, they won't go down without a fight.

goodguytex

Quote from: younghog on April 26, 2017, 05:35:54 pm
Hate that Dr Jerry Lee Punch‏ is out.. He was descent..

GO HOGS
Agreed on Punch. He really knows his stuff. I hope fox or CBS pick him up.

It's been said here by someone Hannah Storm got let go. She didn't. Her presence on the network will be reduced, from what I read.

311Hog

Quote from: goodguytex on April 27, 2017, 10:25:43 am
Agreed on Punch. He really knows his stuff. I hope fox or CBS pick him up.

It's been said here by someone Hannah Storm got let go. She didn't. Her presence on the network will be reduced, from what I read.

My understanding is that some will be allowed to "play out the string" and then their contracts won't be renewed.  Its as good as being let go.

311Hog

Quote from: bphi11ips on April 27, 2017, 10:16:46 am
You got it.  Advances in technology have been transforming the way we consume entertainment content for centuries.  The vinyl record industry and Victrolas were thriving 100 years ago.  Then radio came along.  Who thought anyone would ever pay for recorded music again?  Instead, radio became the greatest promotion tool music has ever had.

In the music industry, streaming and subscriptions to internet providers like Spotify are now the leading source of revenue from recorded music.  The same thing will happen with cable. It will just take a while, and the content will suffer as a result.

Oh yeah definitely man.  It is a high stakes game of Highlander Monopoly mixed with Hunger Games.

oldman1015

Quote from: Inhogswetrust on April 26, 2017, 08:25:32 pm
It isn't just those under 20. Neither our daughter or son and his family have regular TV service of any type and they are late 2o's and 30 respectively. A lot of their friends don't either.
My son is 26 and when he moved 2 years ago he didn't want the satellite hooked back up that I was paying for.
Arkansas, the left lane state.

Suidae Suis Scrofa

Quote from: bphi11ips on April 27, 2017, 09:53:12 am
Cable providers are in the same position that record labels and brick-and-mortar retail outlets were in at the turn of the century.  Remember Tower Records?
I enjoyed going into Tower Records on Mass. Ave. in Boston, but being a poor college student I couldn't afford to buy anything there.  The only thing I remember purchasing there was GnR's Use Your Illusion. Hated to see that store go.

Back to the subject, the only thing I watch on ESPN channels is Razorback football and baseball, and the occasional special programming (NCAA FB playoffs).  These layoffs are of interest but little concern to me for now.  In the future I think even Disney's deep pockets won't be enough to save ESPN's business model and things will have to change, as will the licensing fees that sports organizations will be able to demand in the market.

Esports will become a bigger player in the sports marketplace, and more traditional sports will become less financially sucessful.

-phil

Jackrabbit Hog

Quote from: younghog on April 26, 2017, 05:35:54 pm
Hate that Dr Jerry Lee Punch‏ is out.. He was descent..

GO HOGS

Since he got laid off, you don't know how right you are..

But perhaps he'll ascend at another network.
Quote from: JIMMY BOARFFETT on June 29, 2018, 03:47:07 pm
I'm sure it's nothing that a $500 retainer can't fix.  Contact JackRabbit Hog for payment instructions.