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It’s the most wonderful time of the year...
Will VanPelt issue another statement defending all things ESPN while also saying how the haters have it all wrong??
They pay Gruden $6.5 million/year. That's nuts.60 jobs=$80million in salaries
No wonder every ex professional althlete fights to get a job at ESPN. Wow they sure were paying these people well.
To have any level of success, they need to get back to their roots and drop all the political crap. We get enough of that else where...
His version of life without ESPN is reading books by candlelight. Talk about delusional.
I didn't read his remarks in their entirety, but comments like that are insulting and he can go f himself.
That said, I don't think the political angle is the major reason for the loss of subscribers. Speaking for myself, the Sandusky scandal and they way they covered it means I only watch when our team is on, otherwise, those talking heads don't get on my TV.
All I want for Christmas is Jemele Hill's and Desmond Howard's jobs. I'd like some others too but I'm trying not to be greedy. Do you hear that Santa?
Anyway, political protests are only part of the reason people are tuning out - we've discussed it a bunch here, but in ESPN's case, I think they overpaid for content people aren't super interested in (NBA).
The other thing that the overpayment for content did is reduce ESPN's coverage of other sports to the exclusion of ESPN's coverage of sports that they paid huge rights for. Good luck getting any meaningful hockey coverage on that channel, for example.
But really, ESPN is falling victim to what MTV did to itself 20 years ago when they stopped playing music videos. ESPN would generate more goodwill by televising Aussie Rules Football again than they can imagine. Sports fans want to see sports, not hear obnoxious "personalities" talk about social issues tangentially associated with sports.
The other thing that the overpayment for content did is reduce ESPN's coverage of other sports to the exclusion of ESPN's coverage of sports that they paid huge rights for. Good luck getting any meaningful hockey coverage on that channel, for example.
But really, ESPN is falling victim to what MTV did to itself 20 years ago when they stopped playing music videos. ESPN would generate more goodwill by televising Aussie Rules Football again than they can imagine. Sports fans want to see sports, not hear obnoxious "personalities" talk about social issues tangentially associated with sports.
I have to think that if you are celebrating the fact that 80 people you don't know, many with families, are about to lose their jobs around the holidays that you need to really re-think your priorities in life.
60 jobs=$80million in salaries
No wonder every ex professional althlete fights to get a job at ESPN. Wow they sure were paying these people well.
60 jobs=$80million in salaries
No wonder every ex professional althlete fights to get a job at ESPN. Wow they sure were paying these people well.
Some of those people took great joy in smearing the entire Penn State family with a huge broad brush. Some of them had wives tweeting to the world how awful we were and still are. I have no sympathy for those individuals whatsoever.
I loved watching Aussie Rules in the early days of ESPN. It's a great sport. Sort of like American football, but not really. Sort of like rugby, but not really. Not much like soccer at all. It's kind of like a glorified game of smear the queer and I certainly do not mean that in a derogatory way. It's a contact sport with no pads. You have to be a tough hombre of you want to play serious footy.But really, ESPN is falling victim to what MTV did to itself 20 years ago when they stopped playing music videos. ESPN would generate more goodwill by televising Aussie Rules Football again than they can imagine. Sports fans want to see sports, not hear obnoxious "personalities" talk about social issues tangentially associated with sports.
I have to think that if you are celebrating the fact that 80 people you don't know, many with families, are about to lose their jobs around the holidays that you need to really re-think your priorities in life.
me neither... they had no issue and in fact cheered on the slander and sanctions at PSU... did they stop and think for 10 seconds about the 1000s of jobs that would be lost due to a smear campaign that had no merit? honestly think what would have happened if the predictions had come to pass - there are 1000s of jobs and dozens of businesses that rely on PSU football weekends. But if they got clicks they would yell it, print it, scroll it... facts and impact be damned. It is called karma.Some of those people took great joy in smearing the entire Penn State family with a huge broad brush. Some of them had wives tweeting to the world how awful we were and still are. I have no sympathy for those individuals whatsoever.
Sometimes karma is a sweet thing....forgive us if we enjoy it.So your response to having an organization painting your 'group' with a broad brush and blaming everyone in that group for the actions of the few is to paint that organization with a broad brush and blame everyone in that organization for the actions of the few? Do I have that right?
It is a great analogy. So, would the hot mess that features Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman be ESPN's version of the "Real World" or one of those incredibly awful game shows that MTV gave us?That is a great analogy and spot on.
Instead of taking an hour to talk about the possible scenarios if any of the top 4 college football teams lose and what happens next...just show some sports.
So your response to having an organization painting your 'group' with a broad brush and blaming everyone in that group for the actions of the few is to paint that organization with a broad brush and blame everyone in that organization for the actions of the few? Do I have that right?
Actually, it was virtually ALL of espn that jumped on that wagon and hurled bombs at this school. The only thing that program is good for is the actual game... the rest of them are overpaid, useless, and many are -- thankfully -- gone.So your response to having an organization painting your 'group' with a broad brush and blaming everyone in that group for the actions of the few is to paint that organization with a broad brush and blame everyone in that organization for the actions of the few? Do I have that right?
No. My response to an organization painting everyone in a group with a broad brush was to do everything in my power to correct that narrative. But I don't have a bully pulpit to do so, so I was ineffective and shouted down. ESPN has a platform for disseminating facts. They could have had healthy debate... reported both sides... corrected the lies. They, everyone there who had a chance (which is every on air personality and probably 100s off air) chose not to. They are getting what they deserve.So your response to having an organization painting your 'group' with a broad brush and blaming everyone in that group for the actions of the few is to paint that organization with a broad brush and blame everyone in that organization for the actions of the few? Do I have that right?
Since the money is already spent and they do have a valuable asset, Disney will continue making ESPN “more efficient” but also has the funds to prop it up and keep it in tact. What’s happening there is very real and there’s a lot of fat to trim, but anyone predicting the death of ESPN anytime soon is overestimating the situation.The article points out the issue. Loss of subscribers (mainly due to people cutting cord of cable TV, not because of ESPN, but because they dont' want to pay for TV anymore) and overpay for content (sights billions spent on Monday Night Football and NBA, and overpaid for broadcasters for fear they would leave to goto another network. Throw in the big money maker of Sportscenter that took ESPN really to 'must watch TV" is no longer relevant as anybody can goto the Internet for updates and recaps and doesn't have to turn to ESPN to get that information. Throw in a lot more competition from Fox, CBS, NBC on their own sports and regional networks and ESPN is losing a lot of money.
The funny thing is they think firing 100 people is going to move the needle at all. Based on the number they are saying, ESPN needs to cut a whole lot more than 100 people. They are sort of stuck as they already paid for the content. And competition isn't allowing them to charge more for their product. And their product is of ever constant less value due to cord cutters and less sports enthusiasm. So this 100 person layoffs are going to happen every 6 months at ESPN as they are going to continue to show no profit and Disney will continue to cut costs.
Sometimes karma is a sweet thing....forgive us if we enjoy it.
No. My response to an organization painting everyone in a group with a broad brush was to do everything in my power to correct that narrative. But I don't have a bully pulpit to do so, so I was ineffective and shouted down. ESPN has a platform for disseminating facts. They could have had healthy debate... reported both sides... corrected the lies. They, everyone there who had a chance (which is every on air personality and probably 100s off air) chose not to. They are getting what they deserve.