By Mark W. Sanchez
April 25, 2017 | 3:04pm
The mass firings can turn into a blaze.
The 40 to 50 pink slips that ESPN insider Jim Miller expected to be dished out may escalate to about 70 at the Worldwide Leader, according to the Sporting News. Talent from all over — from front-facing TV personalities to online writers — is in jeopardy as parent company Disney looks to slash costs.
“This could be a bloodbath,” one source said, according to the report. And the carnage is coming soon: ESPN will start its Bristol-based layoffs as soon as Wednesday, according to Sports Illustrated.
The writing has been on the wall for years with the sports entertainment behemoth dealing with declining revenues as more viewers cut the cord. The first victim in ESPN’s far-flung coverage was NFL reporter Paul Kuharsky, who announced Monday he will be let go in July. Former Mets beat writer Adam Rubin said in a Q&A last month that he jumped ship after ESPN told him he would be a casualty of the layoffs.
In response to the grim reaper’s presence around campus, ESPN personalities have begun bargaining. Network anchors, according to Sporting News, have talked with management about taking pay cuts rather than facing the ax. The success of the compromises is not clear, but much of ESPN talent wants to make it understood they enjoy working there — and lack a fallback. There are on-air faces who make from $1.5 million to $3 million, Miller said, and lesser pay with the same exposure is tempting.
ESPN reportedly has adopted the painful euphemism “right-sizing” to address the firings, a corporate sanitation that paints mass layoffs as nothing more than a company finding efficiency. Disney’s fiscal second-quarter earnings call comes on May 9, and its presentation to ad buyers follows on May 16. If the layoffs begin Wednesday, expect them to end by then.
http://nypost.com/2017/04/25/here-come-the-espn-firings-worse-than-we-thought/
April 25, 2017 | 3:04pm
The mass firings can turn into a blaze.
The 40 to 50 pink slips that ESPN insider Jim Miller expected to be dished out may escalate to about 70 at the Worldwide Leader, according to the Sporting News. Talent from all over — from front-facing TV personalities to online writers — is in jeopardy as parent company Disney looks to slash costs.
“This could be a bloodbath,” one source said, according to the report. And the carnage is coming soon: ESPN will start its Bristol-based layoffs as soon as Wednesday, according to Sports Illustrated.
The writing has been on the wall for years with the sports entertainment behemoth dealing with declining revenues as more viewers cut the cord. The first victim in ESPN’s far-flung coverage was NFL reporter Paul Kuharsky, who announced Monday he will be let go in July. Former Mets beat writer Adam Rubin said in a Q&A last month that he jumped ship after ESPN told him he would be a casualty of the layoffs.
In response to the grim reaper’s presence around campus, ESPN personalities have begun bargaining. Network anchors, according to Sporting News, have talked with management about taking pay cuts rather than facing the ax. The success of the compromises is not clear, but much of ESPN talent wants to make it understood they enjoy working there — and lack a fallback. There are on-air faces who make from $1.5 million to $3 million, Miller said, and lesser pay with the same exposure is tempting.
ESPN reportedly has adopted the painful euphemism “right-sizing” to address the firings, a corporate sanitation that paints mass layoffs as nothing more than a company finding efficiency. Disney’s fiscal second-quarter earnings call comes on May 9, and its presentation to ad buyers follows on May 16. If the layoffs begin Wednesday, expect them to end by then.
http://nypost.com/2017/04/25/here-come-the-espn-firings-worse-than-we-thought/
