ESPN woes continue

[dlavender]

RUMOR

More bad news for ESPN, looks like "tens of millions" of salaries are looking to be cut. Supposedly they will be cutting some of the main "talent".

http://www.si.com/tech-media/2017/0...countdown-replacement-chris-berman-sam-ponder

Have to scroll down to "noise report" section.

 

[rteetz]

RUMOR

More bad news for ESPN, looks like "tens of millions" of salaries are looking to be cut. Supposedly they will be cutting some of the main "talent".

http://www.si.com/tech-media/2017/0...countdown-replacement-chris-berman-sam-ponder

Have to scroll down to "noise report" section.

Not unexpected I guess. I'm sure some of them are paid a bit more than they're worth.

 

[STLstone]

Not unexpected I guess. I'm sure some of them are paid a bit more than they're worth.

In addition to these cuts, they'll have to find some other revenue stream because they'll be approaching a huge problem if subscriptions keep dropping. It's simple math when they owe X amount each year for all of their sports league contracts but the money the bring in doesn't total up to X.

 

[rteetz]

In addition to these cuts, they'll have to find some other revenue stream because they'll be approaching a huge problem if subscriptions keep dropping. It's simple math when they owe X amount each year for all of their sports league contracts but the money the bring in doesn't total up to X.

That's likely why they are working to put out a stand alone option for ESPN later this year.

 

[LSLS]

That's likely why they are working to put out a stand alone option for ESPN later this year.

Yup, but I don't think it's going to help too much (didn't we hear rumors of like $20 for the service). It might for half the price, but I'm still not convinced of that.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

RUMOR

More bad news for ESPN, looks like "tens of millions" of salaries are looking to be cut. Supposedly they will be cutting some of the main "talent".

http://www.si.com/tech-media/2017/0...countdown-replacement-chris-berman-sam-ponder

Have to scroll down to "noise report" section.

I was gonna post this too...this is as big of "park news" as there is...

Nobody should wonder why their room at Caribbean is gonna cost $325 moving forward.

 

[dlavender]

I was gonna post this too...this is as big of "park news" as there is...

Nobody should wonder why their room at Caribbean is gonna cost $325 moving forward.

I guess ESPN has finally realized what the numbers and masses have been telling them for a while.

Their core mid-90's crowd grew up. No one puts stock into what those blow hards are selling anymore.

Just air the games. Might want to take a look at those contracts while they are at it........

 

[lockedoutlogic]

I guess ESPN has finally realized what the numbers and masses have been telling them for a while.

Their core mid-90's crowd grew up. No one puts stock into what those blow hards are selling anymore.

Just air the games. Might want to take a look at those contracts while they are at it........

The only way to save espn is to buy an NFL contract away from fox or cbs...and they won't do it.

Baseball is going to expand again...partner up with MLB...

And taking the NHL away from Comcast as a block might not be a terrible idea either to expand a Canadian market.

But they're too cheap for all of that.

 

[LSLS]

The only way to save espn is to buy an NFL contract away from fox or cbs...and they won't do it.

Baseball is going to expand again...partner up with MLB...

And taking the NHL away from Comcast as a block might not be a terrible idea either to expand a Canadian market.

But they're too cheap for all of that.

They spurned the NHL pretty badly. First, they refused to even offer a contract. Next time the contract came up, they said they would broadcast playoffs, but only one game a week on ESPN2 for the regular season. NHL has taken it personally. Not to mention they won't even get a chance until 2021.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

They spurned the NHL pretty badly. First, they refused to even offer a contract. Next time the contract came up, they said they would broadcast playoffs, but only one game a week on ESPN2 for the regular season. NHL has taken it personally. Not to mention they won't even get a chance until 2021.

Well...this hits home because the NHL destroyed itself and espn drove the getaway car with the AWFUL clutch and grab...

But Comcast pays nothing for it and it's the flagship for NBCSN and that station has managed to gain some traction as the anti-espn.

Sad tales.

 

[dlavender]

Well...this hits home because the NHL destroyed itself and espn drove the getaway car with the AWFUL clutch and grab...

But Comcast pays nothing for it and it's the flagship for NBCSN and that station has managed to gain some traction as the anti-espn.

Sad tales.

It all relates back to the lockout, right?

Which is how the world series of poker came about (or how it gained fame). NHL locked out, ESPN was left with dead air time, had to throw something on. But for that, they swore off the NHL.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

It all relates back to the lockout, right?

Which is how the world series of poker came about (or how it gained fame). NHL locked out, ESPN was left with dead air time, had to throw something on. But for that, they swore off the NHL.

No...they realized how they had overpaid for the NHL because Of the lockout...

But the product was killed because they took the skilled/talent based hockey of the 80's and 90's, diluted it with teams in ft lauderdale and Phoenix (nothing says "let it snow" like the desert), and allowed clutch and grab devil hockey which was painful to watch. Root canals on skates.

 

[Tigger's ally]

No...they realized how they had overpaid for the NHL because Of the lockout...

But the product was killed because they took the skilled/talent based hockey of the 80's and 90's, diluted it with teams in ft lauderdale and Phoenix (nothing says "let it snow" like the desert), and allowed clutch and grab devil hockey which was painful to watch. Root canals on skates.

In all fairness, I think the demise of Canadian teams have hurt ratings as much if not more than anything. Just look at the playoff ratings when there is a Canadian team and when there isn't. Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Montreal are all trying to buck that trend with Winipeg and Toronto inching closer.

 

[LSLS]

No...they realized how they had overpaid for the NHL because Of the lockout...

But the product was killed because they took the skilled/talent based hockey of the 80's and 90's, diluted it with teams in ft lauderdale and Phoenix (nothing says "let it snow" like the desert), and allowed clutch and grab devil hockey which was painful to watch. Root canals on skates.

This could easily dive into a NHL debate, but moving teams to the south was a smart business decision. Expansion is not (in other words, moving some teams around to get there would be smart), but getting athletes from the south to play hockey makes all the sense in the world, and you are seeing the reasoning for this in the recent drafts (Ghost, and Mathews for example). The clutching/grabbing and the rise of the Devils, you are spot on there.

At any rate, I don't think ESPN will get it back in 2021, and that may be too late by then anyways. I think ESPN very well might have a legit bias issue with a lot of sports fans now, and they don't tune in because of it (at least that is the case with a lot of my friends as well as myself), along with just a general programming issue. It's interesting to compare to the ESPN of the 90s. I was young, so I may remember wrong, but I felt like that was a lot more about the sports. Last time I watched ESPN it was just manufactured reality TV, and as a die hard sports fan who DESPISES the garbage we normally see, I ran as fast I could away from the TV. I don't want to tune in to watch some loud mouth bash a great player as not good just to start some drama.

 

[crazy4wdw]

RUMOR

More bad news for ESPN, looks like "tens of millions" of salaries are looking to be cut. Supposedly they will be cutting some of the main "talent".

http://www.si.com/tech-media/2017/0...countdown-replacement-chris-berman-sam-ponder

Have to scroll down to "noise report" section.

Similar info on CNN: http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/06/news/companies/espn-layoffs-talent/index.html

 

[lockedoutlogic]

At this rate...espn is gonna be lucky to survive till 2021...

They are likely to be spun off/sold and may just collapse into the NBA network and the college regional sports networks.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

In all fairness, I think the demise of Canadian teams have hurt ratings as much if not more than anything. Just look at the playoff ratings when there is a Canadian team and when there isn't. Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Montreal are all trying to buck that trend with Winipeg and Toronto inching closer.

Realizing that US ratings don't take into account Canadian tv and never did, correct?

 

[LeeAndRobin]

... but getting athletes from the south to play hockey makes all the sense in the world...

Moving hockey teams to the South had way less to do with "getting athletes from the south to play hockey" than it did with the fact tons of people have moved to the South from the North (same reason they can't build Catholic churches and schools fast enough around Charlotte where I grew up). Unlike Pittsfield, MA where the lake freezes over every winter and you can ice fish and play hockey for much of the winter, that doesn't happen in the South. Ever. And never has. The only place to play hockey in the south is at an indoor rink, which involves spending money. Kids don't grow up playing hockey in the South, unless perhaps their parents are from up North and encourage it. That said, many years ago when I was growing up there was a convenient indoor rink in Eastland mall where we would go to ice skate a few times a year, along with a minor league hockey team called the Charlotte Checkers which we occasionally went to see. However, because you can't just walk out your back door and play hockey down here, those two things didn't inspire anyone I knew growing up to want to play hockey. Hockey is not a Southern sport for these reasons (and probably lots of others).

 

[Rusty2rules]

I've watched PTI (Pardon The Interruption) for years. That leads right into the 6 o'clock EST Sportscenter. Now they've changed that to "Sportscenter with Michael (Smith) and Jemele (Hill)", neither of which I can stand. Not to mention, they've got ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPN Classic, ESPN News, ESPNU, ESPN Deportes, and the list goes on. Along with with on-air talent, maybe they should look at pairing down some channels, too.

BTW, hockey isn't going to save ESPN, not even close. Hockey is the least watched sport in the US of the four major sports (basketball, baseball, football, hockey). I don't know why or how this evolved into an NHL debate. Maybe y'all should find a Yahoo chat room and debate the merits of NHL on ESPN because I for one could care less about the NHL. Maybe EPSN can start an ESPN NHL channel, another channel that nobody will watch.

 

[Josh Hendy]

Bad for the theme parks no doubt ... until ESPN is finally written off.

But it should be good for true sports fans once the networks can't rip off both consumers by forcing them to pay for bundles of channels most of which they don't watch, and rip off advertisers either by presenting them with fake viewership numbers (exaggerated claims based on the number of cable subscribers) or else by forcing advertisers to subsidize the regular season in order to have "access" to spots during the playoffs.

Actually I don't know what is the exact nature of the scam going on between networks and advertisers, but I'm sure that it is a scam and that nobody except a relatively tiny number of true sports fans is actually glued to their set watching all those endless, ridiculous timeouts i.e. ad breaks during all those hundreds of boring and meaningless regular season games.

When the business deals governing sports broadcasts are finally flushed down the drain for the scams that they are ... then sports will very quickly revert to something that is an "actually" exciting product that has to really compete for fans' eyeballs. Probably that means some combination of shortened regular seasons, the disappearance of timeouts, no more ridiculous endless fouls in the last 60 seconds of NBA games, the decline of video reviews, and a lot less delay-of-game choreography indulged in by pitchers and batters.

Thank God, and about time too.