ESPN will cut 100 on-air personalities today

Yahoo News ^ | 26 Apr 2017 | Daniel Roberts

[mandaladon]

ESPN will cut more than 100 employees today, Yahoo Finance has learned.

That number is much bigger than the 40-50 that was initially reported. ESPN aims to notify all of the people today, if it can do so.

It has been widely reported for weeks that big cuts are coming to ESPN—so widely reported, and dissected, and gossiped about, in fact, that ESPN moved up its schedule and is notifying people earlier than it originally planned.

The 100 people getting cut are all “on-air talent,” a label ESPN uses for TV personalities, radio hosts, and writers who regularly appear on TV and radio. (ESPN says it has 1,000 such people, prior to these cuts.)

In addition to those 100, a “limited number of other positions will also be affected,” according to a note sent to all employees on Wednesday morning from ESPN president John Skipper.

A source tells Yahoo Finance the number of non-talent getting cut is indeed a “very limited” number, but nonetheless, the number is on top of the 100 on-air talents.

In his companywide memo, posted publicly, Skipper frames the cuts around a shifting content strategy. ESPN’s content strategy, he writes, “still needs to go further, faster… and as always, must be efficient and nimble. 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. We will implement changes in our talent lineup this week.”

The company also posted a public statement on its content strategy to its press page. The statement says that ESPN’s “content is evolving,” and that, “given how fans’ habits are changing, our focus continues to be providing high-quality,

[Red Badger]

Mohels.................

[Constitution Day]

Yep. A total whitewashing.

[deport]

The pattern I see is that ESPN is cutting actual reporters that report on stuff....vs. cutting ex-jocks and “personalities”

***************

And most are focused on a particular sport or even a region, etc. Keeping the
big names for on air draw and maybe use a few named people to do the daily across
the board reports. For me I watch ESPN for events, not the daily sports news reports.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

And there job will be to read tweets on air from other lefties and regurgitate recycled leftist jokes they heard in comedy central

[PLMerite]

Softball players have bigger...balls.

...or something like that.

[gubamyster]

Those are probably a couple of reasons they let her hang around.

[Jumper]

The same could be said for replacing Fox. If ABC, CBS, CNN, MS/NBC can all share 1/2 the pie that Fox has, then a conservative network taking even 15% from Fox would be YUGE.

[Waryone]

Are you talking about Popi, his son Dan Le Batard and Bomani Jones on Highly Questionable? Popi and Dan are Cubans, though Dan was probably born in this country. Most likely all three are American citizens.

It is the only show I watch on ESPN because it is entertaining. It is refreshing to see Popi say things that everyone is thinking but too PC to say. It is also fun to watch his son, Dan try to make excuses and cover for him while he re-lives embarrassment his dad caused him while growing up.

I know that the show may be highly scripted, but I love the fact that they seem like real people. Popi was a Miami Heat fan and now he goes after LeBron James and Dwayne Wade every chance he gets because he resents the fact they both left the team. Just like a real Heat fan.

[jiggyboy]

That’s probably what it is. The name “Bomani Jones” rings a bell. There’s only the video without audio; all I know from the occasional glance at the screen is that they’re discussing things like “DID [player] GO TOO FAR?” or “WHAT’S NEXT FOR [team]?”