ESPN Faces Major Layoffs After Downplaying Cord Cutting ESPN is implementing another round of major layoffs in the wake of continued subscriber defections. The company announced it would be laying off another 100 employees this week as the company continues to struggle with cord cutting and the rise of so-called "skinny bundles" the increasingly remove sports programming from the equation. The moves come after ESPN lost more than 10 million subscribers in just the last few years.

In a memo sent to employees, ESPN executive John Skipper stated the layoffs were part of "a strategic vision that will propel our vast array of networks and services forward." "Our objective in all we do is to best serve fans and their changing consumption habits while still maintaining an unparalleled and diverse talent roster that resonates with fans across all our platforms," said Skipper. "We will continue to foster creativity and investment in the products and resources necessary to embrace the opportunities that lie ahead." Skipper will of course remain employed, despite sharing much of the responsibility for ESPN's failure to adapt to changing markets. Earlier this year Skipper downplayed the cord cutting threat, strongly implying that departing customers "tended to be older and less affluent" (read: not important). Additional reports have suggested that Skipper is part of an ESPN executive leadership team that utterly failed to see cord cutting coming. Skipper also doubled down on the bad ideas you usually see exhibited by myopic legacy companies, including ESPN's decision to sue Verizon for trying to offer skinny bundles. Instead, of, you know, adapting. Things have been so bad for ESPN, it made an ugly and public stink about Nielsen's estimates last October, claiming they simply had to be in error. But Nielsen stood by the numbers after temporarily pulling them to confirm accuracy. The numbers continue to highlight a huge swath of people who don't watch sports, and are tired of paying for it. ESPN's been losing 2-4% of its subscriber base annually, with one recent survey suggesting that 56% of consumers would drop ESPN in a heartbeat if it meant saving the estimated $8 more the channel costs cable subscribers each and every month. All told, gutting the company's stable of workhorse reporters (like Ed Werder) won't magically make up for the company's lack of foresight and adaptability, and it's curious that the executives most responsible for the company's failure to adapt and innovate...somehow remain employed. All told, gutting the company's stable of workhorse reporters (like Ed Werder) won't magically make up for the company's lack of foresight and adaptability, and it's curious that the executives most responsible for the company's failure to adapt and innovate...somehow remain employed.







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Most recommended from 40 comments

Slagish

Premium Member

join:2010-09-07

Joliet, IL 27 recommendations Slagish Premium Member Re: Verizon wants me back... Looks like Disney's golden goose is drying up...



Won't be long until sport franchise fees goes up I'm sure. InvalidError

join:2008-02-03 17 recommendations InvalidError Member Spring Cleaning Start firing from the top with overpaid, incompetent and short-sighted direction, executives, managers, etc. That would likely be 10X more effective at straightening ESPN than firing 100 random people in lower ranks. hescominsoon

join:2003-02-18

Brunswick, MD 14 recommendations hescominsoon Member Cord cutting is only part of the problem I got tired of all the political commentary. Stick to sports and folks might stick around.

camper

just visiting this planet

Premium Member

join:2010-03-21

Bethel, CT 13 recommendations camper Premium Member The operative point... ... it's curious that most of the executives most responsible for the company's failure to adapt and innovate...somehow remain employed. ...



Unless and until those executives are held accountable by Disney management for their complete mismanagement, ESPN will just continue to circle the bowl as it heads downward.... me2153

join:2013-12-03

Dublin, OH 10 recommendations me2153 Member doomed to fail The major problem is they ignored competition at their doorstep. They in their minds could do no wrong having the attitude we are number 1 and are staying there. plus bringing in politics didn't help either. so many mistakes so many. I have no symphony for them what so ever. They brought this upon themselves. qworster

join:2001-11-25

Bryn Mawr, PA ·Verizon FiOS

8 recommendations qworster Member Cable and satellite are simply too expensive today. Cable and satellite have priced themselves out of the market. I pay Comcast over 100 dollars a month for Internet and TV and my package is far from the most expensive (I don't

even have any premium channels). The days of being able to charge people for what they don't watch disappeared when the prices hit this level. Cable and satellite have been raising their rates far more than inflation, salaries aren't going up like they used to -and when you can get much of what they offer for free then why pay? Now we have streaming cable from Youtube, Sling, and Hulu, among others which increase supply while demand is dropping. Something has to give and for many non sports watchers that's sports. tigernike23

join:2006-03-26

Decatur, IL 7 recommendations tigernike23 Member Content may be a factor My two cents are this: one problem of ESPN is that outside of live sports, it has become an echo chamber. "Embrace Debate", which may or may not be a slogan of another network, is exactly what they are doing. Also, someone else mentioned the INSANE price of sports rights and I'd like to add the fragmentation of cable has made it suffer. If you like hockey, you won't be watching ESPN. And frankly, using hockey as another example, ESPN knows you won't be watching, as they let go their top two reporters for that sport yesterday. It's a sad example of how things have changed over the years.

kfsutops

Premium Member

join:2002-08-19

Lutz, FL 6 recommendations kfsutops Premium Member Their programming just sucks Every has brought some very good reasons. All could be valid.



To me, at the end of the day, the programming just sucks. I don't even tune in unless there is a game I am interested in seeing. None of the "hosts or personalities" interest me enough to watch any of their shows.

The Beer

I Love It When A Plan Comes Together

Premium Member

join:2001-07-24

Lincoln, NE 5 recommendations The Beer Premium Member Really I count more on ESPN (and other sports networks) more than ever. I am a Nebraska football season ticket holder. If you don't know every home Nebraska football game has been sold out since 1962.



Every year I question that purchase as I live 120 miles from Lincoln. I typically sell my late season games because well I would rather sit in front of my 70in HDTV in the warm eating hot food and drinking a beer.



Not until our entry in the BIG 12 could you be assured every game would be on TV so this brings some complex things into play. I don't mind paying for ESPN but I understand the reality that others don't want to subsidize my viewing either... just like I am tired of my donation to the university.



Really in the end ESPN's products (games) are too expensive for just those who watch them to consume. NFL, MLB, College sports are all coming for a day of reckoning.



The problem in our house after cutting the cord is starting to hit bandwidth limits. I created an overly complex system to deal with this using QOS on our streaming devices but the whole darn thing is about to go up in smoke... even the streaming services.



Will be sad to watch this all play out, I doubt 10 years from now I will be watching any football in person or on TV. campyguy

join:2014-09-08

portlandia 4 recommendations campyguy Member Unapolgetic ESPN content fan... IMHO, Disney/ESPN did not underestimate cord cutting - they underestimated the number of people that do not want to pay for their product. Considering what the premium channels do, and they're reasonably successful - HBO, Showtime, etc. - you pay for what you want, or not. My mom, with DirecTV, simply hates that she has to pay for sports channels; myself, with Comcast, would gladly pay for what I want to see - I would pay $25/30 per month for all that I consume with ESPN and BeIN Sports, $25 is less coin than the price of two drinks and two hot dogs at a venue (never mind the cost of the gas and tickets to get there!).



Plus, ESPN gives me access via apps and the web, pretty much on demand. Gawd, I just wish that they would have simply moved to opt-in and charged what their service costs. Yes, it's just like the pick-and-choose "a la carte" option that many of us have been clamoring for for years.



There's a bunch of writers and contributors that have been fired, and I have enjoyed work by a bunch of them (Len Elmore, Chantel Jennings, Ted Miller). I pay for services I use, and would have gladly done so with ESPN. Cable's force-feeding of not-desired content has just got to stop - on that note I would gladly cut ties with any channel that offers shi..., er, crap programming like "Say Yes To The Dress" and "My 600 lb Life" in a half-heartbeat! Tlamming

join:2001-08-21

Howell, MI 2 recommendations Tlamming Member cord cutting is the new cable soon Dont worry, cord cutters. Soon youll just be paying cable prices for internet bandwidth. Especially when net neutrality falls, the other shoe will drop.

Dsm1995

join:2010-04-14

San Diego, CA 2 recommendations Dsm1995 Member good, but thy shd scrap that whole eports bullshit department, its the reason I stopped watching espn in first place along with not airing f1 late at night