04-27-2017, 11:38 AM
A couple quick points here:
1. ESPN is still a brobdingnagian business, no matter what
2. The cuts don't address structural issues; they are akin to cutting PBS to address the US Budget Deficit
I know the inclination of people reacting to these layoffs is to say "better times are ahead" or "they will land on their feet," but in this case, I'm not so sure, not if those let go want to be sports reporters. Look at what has happened to reporting in general. Local sports coverage has really eroded. ESPN was kind of the safe harbor for sports reporters. Now even that harbor has been wiped out. Few of these people will be re-hired at the smaller regional sports networks because they too are under the same pressures as ESPN.
Look at CSN. Jaymee Sire started out there several years ago, then eventually "moved up" to ESPN, where she hosted the morning Sports Center. She was among the cuts. She isn't going back to CSN, not because she couldn't be hired there, but because that job doesn't exist any more either. And it's even worse for guys like Miller and Lombardi.Â
Where are writer reporters to go? Who's going to hire them? Nobody wants to pay for content, and it's virtually impossible to generate meaningful revenue from advertising online unless you have a gigantic audience. ESPN allowed coverage of sports that otherwise wouldn't happen, by sort of subsidizing it, in the interest of providing fans information to keep them interested. Without that glue, without that content, the sports won't seem as important and interest could erode.
A few months ago ESPN announced is was cutting their Sunday morning show "The Sports Reporters."Â I guess that should have been read as a symbolic gesture that sports reporting just isn't very important any more.
1. ESPN is still a brobdingnagian business, no matter what
2. The cuts don't address structural issues; they are akin to cutting PBS to address the US Budget Deficit
I know the inclination of people reacting to these layoffs is to say "better times are ahead" or "they will land on their feet," but in this case, I'm not so sure, not if those let go want to be sports reporters. Look at what has happened to reporting in general. Local sports coverage has really eroded. ESPN was kind of the safe harbor for sports reporters. Now even that harbor has been wiped out. Few of these people will be re-hired at the smaller regional sports networks because they too are under the same pressures as ESPN.
Look at CSN. Jaymee Sire started out there several years ago, then eventually "moved up" to ESPN, where she hosted the morning Sports Center. She was among the cuts. She isn't going back to CSN, not because she couldn't be hired there, but because that job doesn't exist any more either. And it's even worse for guys like Miller and Lombardi.Â
Where are writer reporters to go? Who's going to hire them? Nobody wants to pay for content, and it's virtually impossible to generate meaningful revenue from advertising online unless you have a gigantic audience. ESPN allowed coverage of sports that otherwise wouldn't happen, by sort of subsidizing it, in the interest of providing fans information to keep them interested. Without that glue, without that content, the sports won't seem as important and interest could erode.
A few months ago ESPN announced is was cutting their Sunday morning show "The Sports Reporters."Â I guess that should have been read as a symbolic gesture that sports reporting just isn't very important any more.