Big layoffs at ESPN, including BT reporter Austin Ward

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Austin Ward, Jesse Temple, Brett McMurphy, Jeremy Crabtree all gone from the college football side of things (along with a host of others). Quite a house cleaning over there.
 

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Go Gophers!!
 


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The vicious circle continues: ESPN pays out huge rights fees to carry sporting events. ESPN jacks up the fees it charges to cable systems and satellite providers to carry its networks. People get fed up with high cable bills and cut the cord. ESPN loses subscribers, impacting its revenue. ESPN lays off employees.

Enjoy the current TV sports delivery system while it lasts. I know people who follow this stuff closely, and they say that cable TV as we know it could be gone in 10 years or less. All of the old guys like me are going to have to figure out this "streaming" stuff - which apparently has nothing to do with Golden Showers' moniker.
 

ESPN layoffs seem to be a pretty regular thing.

I wonder how the folks at Disney feel about their purchase.
 





Bummed about Danny Kanell. He eventually became a good radio pair with Ryan Russillo and they talked a lot of college football.
 



All that really matters: did Beth Mowins survive? We never lose when she's announcing.
 



A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
ESPN layoffs seem to be a pretty regular thing.

I wonder how the folks at Disney feel about their purchase.
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I would say pretty good about it. It was their broadcasting cash cow in the golden age of cable. It's still profitable, though less so with the cord cutting that it going on. These layoffs are all about "value to the shareholders".

Bring back Australian Rules Football and pro-Putt Putt.
 

KoolAid said:
Bummed about Danny Kanell. He eventually became a good radio pair with Ryan Russillo and they talked a lot of college football.
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This. Russillo and Kanell was my favorite ESPN national radio show. Yet they keep garbage like Darrel Rovell, Mike & Mike, First Take, Dan LebaTURD and so on.
 

They kept all the professional screamers, got rid of the good reporters/writers. Even Jayson Stark got the axe. Amazing.

Michelle Beadle commented about karma getting those that are happy with the firings. Kinda ironic when her show and others make fun of coaches and players getting fired.
 

e.bigelow said:
This. Russillo and Kanell was my favorite ESPN national radio show. Yet they keep garbage like Darrel Rovell, Mike & Mike, First Take, Dan LebaTURD and so on.
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My favorite by far as well.

I now only watch ESPN for 30 for 30, some PTI, and live games. That's it.
 

GophersInIowa said:
My favorite by far as well.

I now only watch ESPN for 30 for 30, some PTI, and live games. That's it.
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Yep, this is where I am at also. I really don't understand how Rovell sticks around. He literally provides nothing of value.
 


Shifting away from music worked well for MTV. I know ESPN has lost viewers because of many cutting the cord. Everyone is. But I believe they are losing them at a greater rate than others.

I used to watch Baseball Tonight just about every night. Then it got so bad. They would show highlights of some teams 2-3 times in an hour and others 0. And they just talk the whole time. I just wanted to watch highlights.

Obviously they do all kind of research about this stuff. It just seems to me that the ratings really started to see a dip when they started to make all these changes. Maybe I'm wrong.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Shifting away from music worked well for MTV. I know ESPN has lot viewers because of many cutting the cord. Everyone is. But I believe they are losing them at a greater rate than others.

I used to watch Baseball Tonight just about every night. Then it got so bad. They would show highlights of some teams 2-3 times in an hour and others 0. And they just talk the whole time. I just wanted to watch highlights.

Obviously they do all kind of research about this stuff. It just seems to me that the ratings really started to see a dip when they started to make all these changes. Maybe I'm wrong.
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yeah, clearly I'm in the minority. I used to always watch Sportscenter, now I never do. I used to watch MTV videos, and then I liked some of their programming, and then I watch nothing. Part of that is getting older I guess. But I still love watching BTN shows.
 

SportsCenter and Baseball Tonight were great to watch because you knew your team's highlights were going to be played during the show. You anticipated it and kept watching because of it. Now it is just annoying opinions for 45 minutes with some highlights sprinkled in. Not fun anymore.
 

DLguy said:
SportsCenter and Baseball Tonight were great to watch because you knew your team's highlights were going to be played during the show. You anticipated it and kept watching because of it. Now it is just annoying opinions for 45 minutes with some highlights sprinkled in. Not fun anymore.
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I think they figured out if I want to see my team's highlights I can click on MLB.com and see them instantly or I probably watched the game already.
 

Ope3 said:
I think they figured out if I want to see my team's highlights I can click on MLB.com and see them instantly or I probably watched the game already.
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Problem is, you're getting ESPN as part of your cable package whether you want it or not. So their programming is geared toward the biggest markets. That would probably change if it was an a la carte offering.
 

Ope3 said:
I think they figured out if I want to see my team's highlights I can click on MLB.com and see them instantly or I probably watched the game already.
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I still liked to just sit back with a beer, watch all the highlights and not have to click through to see them all. I like the videos on MLB.com but it doesn't replace what Baseball tonight used to be in my opinion.
 

For what they are paying for the SEC and Longhorn networks, seems like it was just a matter of time...
 

Please God tell me that both Myron and Katz got canned. Xmas comes early.
 

e.bigelow said:
This. Russillo and Kanell was my favorite ESPN national radio show. Yet they keep garbage like Darrel Rovell, Mike & Mike, First Take, Dan LebaTURD and so on.
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I really like Mike and Mike and Dan Lebatard.
 

beatles said:
I really like Mike and Mike and Dan Lebatard.
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Everyone has their own opinion. I despise both those shows. The little I watched/listened anymore ESPN was anything with SVP/Russillo/Kanell.


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ESPN has become a political platform.

I don't feel sorry for the network itself.
 

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