If you want to talk ASUN smack or ramble ad nauseum about your favorite pro or major college teams, this is the place to let it rip.

Moderators: jcmanson, Sly Fox, BuryYourDuke

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By Sly Fox
Registration Days Posts
#530046
The four-letter network is laying off a ton of talent today. At least 100 on-air staffers are supposedly receiving their pink slips this morning. I've been through this situation back when news was going through a similar market correction. It sucks and I feel for those impacted today.

This is all a result of overspending on programming contracts the past decade or so as well as the cord-cutting the net execs didn't expect to be so dramatic. Cable subscription fees forced on all folks with cable or satellite service built the revenue that drove all of those ridiculous deals with pro leagues and college sports. Now that the house of cards is tumbling the repercussions are likely to continue for the next year or so until revenue models can be restored.

Live sports was always considered to be the last mecca of guaranteed TV revenue while traditional network programming became less significant with the splintering of affinity-based content. But it appears even the most valuable commodities are nowhere near as valuable in 2017 as they were in 2014.
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By VAGolf
Registration Days Posts
#530047
There's a few things going on here, some of which you mentioned.

The first and most important is that ESPN's business model is failing. They built a business around charging a premium rate to cable providers and extending that cost to the consumer. That was fine when the only way to consumer certain games was through cable. Now, there are multiple ways to consume games. Fox Sports is built completely differently and is actually thriving.

Secondly, ESPN overpaid for two huge products that really haven't provided the proper ROI. They spent $2 billion on the NBA, and currently spend $1.9 billion on the NFL...per year. NBA ratings have plummeted, particularity this year. The NFL continues to place some of the least watchable games on Monday night. This year's MNF schedule really only features three solid games. The NFL constantly rewards Fox, CBS and NBC with the best games of the week, and stiffs ESPN. Even if the NBA and NFL delivered, ESPN overpaid. Throw in the two factors above, and you have a real problem.

The demand for sports has actually increased but the way we consume sports has changed completely. Other networks have figured this out and made adjustments, ESPN has simply become more rigid.

Lastly and probably least importantly, ESPN has become incredibly left-wing. I don't believe this has had a massive effect on numbers, but it's undeniably had some effect. A majority of NFL and MLB fans are conservative, and many fans consume sports as a way to relax.
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By VAGolf
Registration Days Posts
#530056
Additionally, The Hollywood Reporter reports that Karl Ravech, Ryen Russillo, and Hannah Storm will see their roles at the network “significantly reduced.” They also initially reported that SportsCenter anchor John Buccigross wouldn’t have his contract renewed, but have walked that reporting back.
Someone actually edited Russillo's wikipedia page with this:
On April 26, 2017, Russillo was informed his contract with ESPN would not be renewed for the upcoming year.



The other part of this situation is who gets ticked off because ___ was laid off. I wouldn't be surprised to see a few employees leave ESPN after the layoffs have ceased.
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By BJWilliams
Registration Days Posts
#530057
I actually liked him on Russillo and Kanell (and SVP and Russillo before that) so Id hate to see him leave...Ravech has been a blast on baseball and I loved hearing him doing LLWS games the last few years
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By thepostman
Registration Days Posts
#530058
VAGolf wrote:There's a few things going on here, some of which you mentioned.

The first and most important is that ESPN's business model is failing. They built a business around charging a premium rate to cable providers and extending that cost to the consumer. That was fine when the only way to consumer certain games was through cable. Now, there are multiple ways to consume games. Fox Sports is built completely differently and is actually thriving.

Secondly, ESPN overpaid for two huge products that really haven't provided the proper ROI. They spent $2 billion on the NBA, and currently spend $1.9 billion on the NFL...per year. NBA ratings have plummeted, particularity this year. The NFL continues to place some of the least watchable games on Monday night. This year's MNF schedule really only features three solid games. The NFL constantly rewards Fox, CBS and NBC with the best games of the week, and stiffs ESPN. Even if the NBA and NFL delivered, ESPN overpaid. Throw in the two factors above, and you have a real problem.

The demand for sports has actually increased but the way we consume sports has changed completely. Other networks have figured this out and made adjustments, ESPN has simply become more rigid.

Lastly and probably least importantly, ESPN has become incredibly left-wing. I don't believe this has had a massive effect on numbers, but it's undeniably had some effect. A majority of NFL and MLB fans are conservative, and many fans consume sports as a way to relax.

All your points are good ones and I agree with them but just to tack on a bit about the politics aspect we have had this conversations many times at work. Even the liberal guys in the shop can only having ESPN on for so long. We are drummed over the head with politics everywhere we turn. Sports is suppose to be a way to escape. ESPN has slowly destroyed that.
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By VAGolf
Registration Days Posts
#530067
Updated lists show the following have now been laid off:

Trent Dilfer
Jason Stark
Jane McManus

I would fully expect Trent Dilfer to be picked up by Fox Sports. Stark is going to get lots of calls too.
By lynchburgwildcats
Registration Days Posts
#530089
VAGolf wrote:There's a few things going on here, some of which you mentioned.

The first and most important is that ESPN's business model is failing. They built a business around charging a premium rate to cable providers and extending that cost to the consumer. That was fine when the only way to consumer certain games was through cable. Now, there are multiple ways to consume games. Fox Sports is built completely differently and is actually thriving.

Secondly, ESPN overpaid for two huge products that really haven't provided the proper ROI. They spent $2 billion on the NBA, and currently spend $1.9 billion on the NFL...per year. NBA ratings have plummeted, particularity this year. The NFL continues to place some of the least watchable games on Monday night. This year's MNF schedule really only features three solid games. The NFL constantly rewards Fox, CBS and NBC with the best games of the week, and stiffs ESPN. Even if the NBA and NFL delivered, ESPN overpaid. Throw in the two factors above, and you have a real problem.

The demand for sports has actually increased but the way we consume sports has changed completely. Other networks have figured this out and made adjustments, ESPN has simply become more rigid.

Lastly and probably least importantly, ESPN has become incredibly left-wing. I don't believe this has had a massive effect on numbers, but it's undeniably had some effect. A majority of NFL and MLB fans are conservative, and many fans consume sports as a way to relax.
Politics angle is BS. The same people cord cutting are also cord cutting right-wing Fox News...

And while this is four years old, according to Business Insider, MLB and NFL fans are fairly centrist, just barely in Republican territory. Not sure how much the demographics could have changed in those four years

http://www.businessinsider.com/politics ... ike-2013-3

By far the most complaints I see about ESPN are about the screaming head hot take personalities and more recently, the new SC6 which sounds to be hot garbage.
By ALUmnus
Registration Days Posts
#530099
lynchburgwildcats wrote:
VAGolf wrote:There's a few things going on here, some of which you mentioned.

The first and most important is that ESPN's business model is failing. They built a business around charging a premium rate to cable providers and extending that cost to the consumer. That was fine when the only way to consumer certain games was through cable. Now, there are multiple ways to consume games. Fox Sports is built completely differently and is actually thriving.

Secondly, ESPN overpaid for two huge products that really haven't provided the proper ROI. They spent $2 billion on the NBA, and currently spend $1.9 billion on the NFL...per year. NBA ratings have plummeted, particularity this year. The NFL continues to place some of the least watchable games on Monday night. This year's MNF schedule really only features three solid games. The NFL constantly rewards Fox, CBS and NBC with the best games of the week, and stiffs ESPN. Even if the NBA and NFL delivered, ESPN overpaid. Throw in the two factors above, and you have a real problem.

The demand for sports has actually increased but the way we consume sports has changed completely. Other networks have figured this out and made adjustments, ESPN has simply become more rigid.

Lastly and probably least importantly, ESPN has become incredibly left-wing. I don't believe this has had a massive effect on numbers, but it's undeniably had some effect. A majority of NFL and MLB fans are conservative, and many fans consume sports as a way to relax.
Politics angle is BS. The same people cord cutting are also cord cutting right-wing Fox News...

And while this is four years old, according to Business Insider, MLB and NFL fans are fairly centrist, just barely in Republican territory. Not sure how much the demographics could have changed in those four years

http://www.businessinsider.com/politics ... ike-2013-3

By far the most complaints I see about ESPN are about the screaming head hot take personalities and more recently, the new SC6 which sounds to be hot garbage.
Maybe it's BS for you, but espn's liberalism and the body issue are the reasons I completely cut them off from my sports diet, both broadcast and online. They've been building animosity for years, I wouldn't discount it.
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By VAGolf
Registration Days Posts
#530100
Seriously. Research before you post. Fox News just had their most-watched quarter ever and it's an off-election year. They also don't rely on cable subscriptions.

Apparently, you didn't read what I wrote either. I said I didn't believe it's had a massive effect on numbers but it's certainly had some effect.

The article you posted is four years old and based on a study that was a year old at the time. The survey was conducted of 200,000 interviews. They interviewed an equal number of "Republican" voters and an equal number of "Democrat" voters to see which sports they like. That's incredibly different than interviewing baseball and football fans to find out which way they lean politically.
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By RubberMallet
Registration Days Posts
#530102
VAGolf wrote:There's a few things going on here, some of which you mentioned.

The first and most important is that ESPN's business model is failing. They built a business around charging a premium rate to cable providers and extending that cost to the consumer. That was fine when the only way to consumer certain games was through cable. Now, there are multiple ways to consume games. Fox Sports is built completely differently and is actually thriving.

Secondly, ESPN overpaid for two huge products that really haven't provided the proper ROI. They spent $2 billion on the NBA, and currently spend $1.9 billion on the NFL...per year. NBA ratings have plummeted, particularity this year. The NFL continues to place some of the least watchable games on Monday night. This year's MNF schedule really only features three solid games. The NFL constantly rewards Fox, CBS and NBC with the best games of the week, and stiffs ESPN. Even if the NBA and NFL delivered, ESPN overpaid. Throw in the two factors above, and you have a real problem.

The demand for sports has actually increased but the way we consume sports has changed completely. Other networks have figured this out and made adjustments, ESPN has simply become more rigid.

Lastly and probably least importantly, ESPN has become incredibly left-wing. I don't believe this has had a massive effect on numbers, but it's undeniably had some effect. A majority of NFL and MLB fans are conservative, and many fans consume sports as a way to relax.
100% correct on all parts. even the last part. people are clamouring its the sole reason. its not. but it is a reason. its a reason people are cutting the chord. i know a number of guys who held onto their cable/dish packages because of how good ESPN was. its the dish/cable anchor. always has been.

but cable cutting doesn't mean you can't have espn. almost every channel streaming service (sling/youtube/vue) offer espn as part of a package. people are choosing it. the only ones that don't are netflix and hulu.

espn did itself a disservice by chaining its watchespn app to cable/dish companies.
User avatar
By RubberMallet
Registration Days Posts
#530103
thepostman wrote:
VAGolf wrote:There's a few things going on here, some of which you mentioned.

The first and most important is that ESPN's business model is failing. They built a business around charging a premium rate to cable providers and extending that cost to the consumer. That was fine when the only way to consumer certain games was through cable. Now, there are multiple ways to consume games. Fox Sports is built completely differently and is actually thriving.

Secondly, ESPN overpaid for two huge products that really haven't provided the proper ROI. They spent $2 billion on the NBA, and currently spend $1.9 billion on the NFL...per year. NBA ratings have plummeted, particularity this year. The NFL continues to place some of the least watchable games on Monday night. This year's MNF schedule really only features three solid games. The NFL constantly rewards Fox, CBS and NBC with the best games of the week, and stiffs ESPN. Even if the NBA and NFL delivered, ESPN overpaid. Throw in the two factors above, and you have a real problem.

The demand for sports has actually increased but the way we consume sports has changed completely. Other networks have figured this out and made adjustments, ESPN has simply become more rigid.

Lastly and probably least importantly, ESPN has become incredibly left-wing. I don't believe this has had a massive effect on numbers, but it's undeniably had some effect. A majority of NFL and MLB fans are conservative, and many fans consume sports as a way to relax.

All your points are good ones and I agree with them but just to tack on a bit about the politics aspect we have had this conversations many times at work. Even the liberal guys in the shop can only having ESPN on for so long. We are drummed over the head with politics everywhere we turn. Sports is suppose to be a way to escape. ESPN has slowly destroyed that.
I truly think espn saw the boon 24/7 news sites are and tried to replicate that on their station. and it failed. the problem i'm seeing looking at the list is that none of the problems are being fired. its like espn is doubling down on its agenda.

you saw this in 2016. espn (democrats) thinks their agenda is foolproof and anyone who disagrees is some sort of bigot and while they are loud they don't have the numbers to stop the agenda, and then before you know it you are laying off 100 employees because your numbers are horrible (or cheetojesus becomes president).
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By RubberMallet
Registration Days Posts
#530105
or just see lynchburgwildcats post above me as a perfect example. they still don't get it. THATS NOT IT YOU GUYS!!!

sorry, their ratings are even lower than subscriber losses as a percentage. its not just cablecutting. the percentage of people with access and watching is dropping.
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By thepostman
Registration Days Posts
#530106
It isn't the main reason like has been expressed already in this thread but that amount of political conversation going on a regular basis on ESPN is out of hand. I don't care if it is right or left leaning, it doesn't matter. People watch sports to escape that crap, not hear more about it. There are plenty of other outlets I can go to to get political commentary.
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By BJWilliams
Registration Days Posts
#530108
Agreed postie...I mean Im a lifelong ESPN fan (and still dream of working there one day) but I go to ESPN to watch football, baseball, basketball, auto racing and maybe the occasional documentary that is sports themed...not hear more politics that I could just as easily get from Fox News or CNN
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By VAGolf
Registration Days Posts
#530110
Andy Katz is now among the ESPN casualties. That's a big college bball name. He'll be picked up somewhere soon. My guess would be CBS to fill Gottlieb's void.
Last edited by VAGolf on April 27th, 2017, 11:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
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By R i
Registration Days Posts
#530111
They no longer report sports, they react to sports.
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By Purple Haize
Registration Days Posts
#530112
I need to find out more about this 'cord cutting' thing. I have DirecTv and when I first looked into it the options were limited maybe it's improved
By ALUmnus
Registration Days Posts
#530116
Purple Haize wrote:I need to find out more about this 'cord cutting' thing. I have DirecTv and when I first looked into it the options were limited maybe it's improved
Cord-cutting is much easier if you live in a bigger metropolitan area with real internet service. It's a little more difficult in the Lynchburg area when you have to rely on the cable companies for internet.
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By Purple Haize
Registration Days Posts
#530120
ALUmnus wrote:
Purple Haize wrote:I need to find out more about this 'cord cutting' thing. I have DirecTv and when I first looked into it the options were limited maybe it's improved
Cord-cutting is much easier if you live in a bigger metropolitan area with real internet service. It's a little more difficult in the Lynchburg area when you have to rely on the cable companies for internet.
That's what I'm thinking. Plus I have to run wireless through the house and it keeps dropping out. I run The heck out of my DVR though that's for sure! Netflix and Amazon for the road!
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By Class of 20Something
Posts
#530121
Purple Haize wrote:
ALUmnus wrote:
Purple Haize wrote:I need to find out more about this 'cord cutting' thing. I have DirecTv and when I first looked into it the options were limited maybe it's improved
Cord-cutting is much easier if you live in a bigger metropolitan area with real internet service. It's a little more difficult in the Lynchburg area when you have to rely on the cable companies for internet.
That's what I'm thinking. Plus I have to run wireless through the house and it keeps dropping out. I run The heck out of my DVR though that's for sure! Netflix and Amazon for the road!
PS Vue is really the only option for sports if you get the Majors OverTheAir. $35 a month gets ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPNU, (And Access to the ESPN APP For Longhorn and ACC) FS1, FS2, Big Ten Network, CSN, Comcast Sports, NBC Sports, SEC Network, MLB Network, NBA TV, NFL Network, CBS(WDBJ7), TBS, TNT. You can't beat it.
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By BJWilliams
Registration Days Posts
#530122
Sad to see Dr Jerry Punch go...I found him very informative on the various racing broadcasts...and he did pretty decent calling races occasionally too
By lynchburgwildcats
Registration Days Posts
#530123
R i wrote:They no longer report sports, they react to sports.
They don't even do that. They create their own nonsense stories, or sensationalize minor ones that already existed, and then react to it.
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