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More layoffs at ESPN


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The internet killed ESPN, they just haven’t figured that out yet. 

In the 90s, everyone watched ESPN to get sports news. It was the only place to get it. The internet was AOL. It wasn’t providing shit. National news and local news didn’t cover shit. Every grew to love the broadcasters because they were the only source, and their funny quips were the first joke made about whatever play or event. Now every score, breaking story, tidbit, and funny joke about sports in instantly delivered to you on your phone via Twitter and yahoo and whatever sports app. 
 

Most people watch ESPN for games only. No one cares about day old opinions, old jokes, and hot takes from whomever they have on screen, especially not has been players who are not funny, smart, cool, etc. 

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15 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

The internet killed ESPN, they just haven’t figured that out yet. 

In the 90s, everyone watched ESPN to get sports news. It was the only place to get it. The internet was AOL. It wasn’t providing shit. National news and local news didn’t cover shit. Every grew to love the broadcasters because they were the only source, and their funny quips were the first joke made about whatever play or event. Now every score, breaking story, tidbit, and funny joke about sports in instantly delivered to you on your phone via Twitter and yahoo and whatever sports app. 
 

Most people watch ESPN for games only. No one cares about day old opinions, old jokes, and hot takes from whomever they have on screen, especially not has been players who are not funny, smart, cool, etc. 

And add to this the fact that ESPN has politicized sports reporting. They're alienating the very core fanbase that put them where they are by eschewing good, honest coverage of sport and instead pimping for a distorted point of view in hopes of keeping the eyeballs of the lunatic fringe glued up. 

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32 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

The internet killed ESPN, they just haven’t figured that out yet. 

In the 90s, everyone watched ESPN to get sports news. It was the only place to get it. The internet was AOL. It wasn’t providing shit. National news and local news didn’t cover shit. Every grew to love the broadcasters because they were the only source, and their funny quips were the first joke made about whatever play or event. Now every score, breaking story, tidbit, and funny joke about sports in instantly delivered to you on your phone via Twitter and yahoo and whatever sports app. 
 

Most people watch ESPN for games only. No one cares about day old opinions, old jokes, and hot takes from whomever they have on screen, especially not has been players who are not funny, smart, cool, etc. 

And with the internet has come the prevalence of extreme black or white opinions, intense polarization, and open vitriol. Honestly, ESPN's current state is our fault. They have a few quality original shows; The Jump comes to mind as a fun, light-hearted, well-researched, positive approach to the sport and athletes they cover. But those types of shows have a niche audience, at best. The mainstream audience only tunes in to Skip and Shannon talking over each other and calling players bums. Like any network, they're a slave to their ratings. 

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45 minutes ago, Jack Wilson said:

And add to this the fact that ESPN has politicized sports reporting. They're alienating the very core fanbase that put them where they are by eschewing good, honest coverage of sport and instead pimping for a distorted point of view in hopes of keeping the eyeballs of the lunatic fringe glued up. 

Stop it. You can be against ESPN becoming overly political. That's fine and perfectly understandable. But they're not promoting "distorted points of view for the lunatic fringe" when they cover athletes kneeling or protesting police brutality and racial injustice. Your voting preference is showing.

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@aggie08, If the phenomenon started in June you might have a defensible position.  Alas, that’s when they cranked it up to 11.

People have fucking had it.   There is a direct correlation between them jamming the social justice agenda down people’s throats, and a significant downturn in their viewership.  They grossly miscalculated what people tune in to watch on ESPN.

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1 minute ago, slorch said:

@aggie08, If the phenomenon started in June you might have a defensible position.  Alas, that’s when they cranked it up to 11.

People have fucking had it.   There is a direct correlation between them jamming the social justice agenda down people’s throats, and a significant downturn in their viewership.  They grossly miscalculated what people tune in to watch on ESPN.

That's not what I'm arguing. I get people wanting a break from politics when they tune into ESPN. Though what the fuck else did they have to talk about for a few months there?

I was responding to the previous poster's assertion that those social justice agendas were, in his own words, "distorted point of view in hopes of keeping the eyeballs of the lunatic fringe glued up." Which is bullshit.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/10/2020 at 10:59 AM, slorch said:

@aggie08, If the phenomenon started in June you might have a defensible position.  Alas, that’s when they cranked it up to 11.

People have fucking had it.   There is a direct correlation between them jamming the social justice agenda down people’s throats, and a significant downturn in their viewership.  They grossly miscalculated what people tune in to watch on ESPN.

No, you've had it. Moreover, you grossly overestimate the degree to which people agree with your retrograde opinions.

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On 10/10/2020 at 10:59 AM, slorch said:

@aggie08, If the phenomenon started in June you might have a defensible position.  Alas, that’s when they cranked it up to 11.

People have fucking had it.   There is a direct correlation between them jamming the social justice agenda down people’s throats, and a significant downturn in their viewership.  They grossly miscalculated what people tune in to watch on ESPN.

Absolutely, among other problems....a real disconnect.That doesn’t mean there will not be the obligatory rationalizations and finger pointing away from the the truth as usual.

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4 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

No, you've had it. Moreover, you grossly overestimate the degree to which people agree with your retrograde opinions.

Anyone who disagrees with  is somehow “retrograde”. Perhaps ad hominem attacks is the only thing you can do, otherwise  might believe you are merely a revisionist historian. 

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On 10/10/2020 at 9:39 AM, Neonmoon said:

The internet killed ESPN, they just haven’t figured that out yet. 

In the 90s, everyone watched ESPN to get sports news. It was the only place to get it. The internet was AOL. It wasn’t providing shit. National news and local news didn’t cover shit. Every grew to love the broadcasters because they were the only source, and their funny quips were the first joke made about whatever play or event. Now every score, breaking story, tidbit, and funny joke about sports in instantly delivered to you on your phone via Twitter and yahoo and whatever sports app. 
 

Most people watch ESPN for games only. No one cares about day old opinions, old jokes, and hot takes from whomever they have on screen, especially not has been players who are not funny, smart, cool, etc. 

I was lucky. I had a roommate in ~1995 who would watch ESPN 24/7. He would watch everything from CFB to the Little League World Series to lumberjack competitions. He would watch Sports Center as it replayed over and over and over.

Sports Center was stupid the first time it ran each day “back back back back back back...GONE!” and it was downright infuriating by the third time around. I rarely watch movies more than once, much less the same lame-ass low IQ 30 minute show, 90% of which I don’t give one fuck about. I don’t care about the NBA or MLB or a junior swimming competition, but I’ll watch college football all day. And I damn sure don’t  care to watch some half-wit with a grating voice who has never played a sport in his life preach at me about whatever sport or team he’s harping on that day. 

By the time I finished rooming with that guy, I never wanted to watch one second of ESPN that wasn’t a live sporting event, other than College Gameday. It’s saved me countless hours of brain dead “activity,” and I despise what The network has become. Even Gameday is worthless. I hope all those tools lose their jobs.

The fall has been so much like MTV’s move from videos to Remote Control to The Real World to whatever the hell they show now. 

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15 hours ago, LTtxfan said:

Hey,  California not letting them open Disneyland right now so Disney even more strapped for cash... won't be surprised to see even more sports content moved to ESPN+ soon!!!

We may soon look for Disneyland to follow Tesla to Austin..? (I'm kidding, but it could happen eventually with the strong COVID policies out west)...

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On 10/22/2020 at 11:41 AM, ChampionshipLevelPiss said:

Hey,  California not letting them open Disneyland right now so Disney even more strapped for cash... won't be surprised to see even more sports content moved to ESPN+ soon!!!

Kalifornia IS wanting to open Disneyland....they are running out of streets where the homeless can take a shit.

Edited by El Squared
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On 10/10/2020 at 10:59 AM, slorch said:

@aggie08, If the phenomenon started in June you might have a defensible position.  Alas, that’s when they cranked it up to 11.

People have fucking had it.   There is a direct correlation between them jamming the social justice agenda down people’s throats, and a significant downturn in their viewership.  They grossly miscalculated what people tune in to watch on ESPN.

Amen, brother.

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This is a bigger catalyst for layoffs than politics.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/24/big-media-companies-reorganize-for-world-of-50-million-tv-subscribers.html

"There’s a quiet consensus emerging in the hallways and boardrooms of American media companies.

They expect about 25 million U.S. households to cancel their pay-TV subscriptions over the next five years. This is on top of the 25 million homes that have already cut the cord since 2012. At least three major media companies now expect pay-TV subscriptions to stabilize around 50 million, according to people familiar with the matter, who declined to speak on the record because their company plans are private.

The projected decline in subscribers will mean a drop of about $25 billion in cable subscription revenue plus associated advertising losses for the largest U.S. media companies, including Disney, Comcast’s NBCUniversal, AT&T’s WarnerMedia, ViacomCBS, Fox, Discovery, Sinclair and AMC Networks.

This assumption has created a tectonic shift in the media industry. In the last three months, Disney, NBCUniversal, WarnerMedia and ViacomCBS have all announced major reorganizations. They’ve replaced old leaders, consolidated divisions, laid off tens of thousands of employees, and pivoted to streaming video."

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On 10/24/2020 at 1:45 PM, Catdaddyhorn said:

This is a bigger catalyst for layoffs than politics.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/24/big-media-companies-reorganize-for-world-of-50-million-tv-subscribers.html

"There’s a quiet consensus emerging in the hallways and boardrooms of American media companies.

They expect about 25 million U.S. households to cancel their pay-TV subscriptions over the next five years. This is on top of the 25 million homes that have already cut the cord since 2012. At least three major media companies now expect pay-TV subscriptions to stabilize around 50 million, according to people familiar with the matter, who declined to speak on the record because their company plans are private.

The projected decline in subscribers will mean a drop of about $25 billion in cable subscription revenue plus associated advertising losses for the largest U.S. media companies, including Disney, Comcast’s NBCUniversal, AT&T’s WarnerMedia, ViacomCBS, Fox, Discovery, Sinclair and AMC Networks.

This assumption has created a tectonic shift in the media industry. In the last three months, Disney, NBCUniversal, WarnerMedia and ViacomCBS have all announced major reorganizations. They’ve replaced old leaders, consolidated divisions, laid off tens of thousands of employees, and pivoted to streaming video."

It's the perfect shit sandwich.  All reasons apply.  All are dragging them down.  Politics is, of course, playing a huge part.  Ratings are tanking for almost all "woke" shows, not just ESPN.  To deny this at this point is not longer viable.  Nor is there a verifiable correlation with the message and the ratings. 

My neighborhood has tons of out of state transplants.  Many are close friends with political affiliations that differ from mine.  We are still friends and spend time together, and even most of them are sick of ESPN's bullshit, and they agree with the left-leaning messages.  But they also want to escape from time to time and just watch the games and get a break.  

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Disney and ESPN will be fine..  The app has been a complete success.  I don't watch any of their shows.. I get what I want to hear through clips on twitter or on YT.  I used to DVR a few sports shows but now I save that space for shows and actual games.

I hope they continue success because I'm enjoying the boxing content they are putting out on the app or on regular ESPN without the PPV pricing.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/10/2020 at 9:39 AM, Neonmoon said:

The internet killed ESPN, they just haven’t figured that out yet. 

In the 90s, everyone watched ESPN to get sports news. It was the only place to get it. The internet was AOL. It wasn’t providing shit. National news and local news didn’t cover shit. Every grew to love the broadcasters because they were the only source, and their funny quips were the first joke made about whatever play or event. Now every score, breaking story, tidbit, and funny joke about sports in instantly delivered to you on your phone via Twitter and yahoo and whatever sports app. 
 

Most people watch ESPN for games only. No one cares about day old opinions, old jokes, and hot takes from whomever they have on screen, especially not has been players who are not funny, smart, cool, etc. 

Solid post... Agree most folks just watch ESPN stuff for live sports.

SVP is still great along with a few of the NFL, NBA, MLB reporters and Melrose is funny.

The rest of them not worth watching...

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On 10/10/2020 at 11:07 AM, aggie08 said:

That's not what I'm arguing. I get people wanting a break from politics when they tune into ESPN. Though what the fuck else did they have to talk about for a few months there?

I was responding to the previous poster's assertion that those social justice agendas were, in his own words, "distorted point of view in hopes of keeping the eyeballs of the lunatic fringe glued up." Which is bullshit.

All media is distorted viewpoints, including ESPN.

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I’ve barely watched ESPN the past 6-7 years… except when they are the only option for a game I really want to watch. 
Same here, up until about 15 years ago it was my go to channel when I flipped on the TV. I watched several different shows they had on from time to time. These days I actually find it refreshing when a game I want to watch is on a non-ESPN channel.
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I used to watch ESPN starting with pre-Game day to the final show where they would show the highlights and hand out helmet stickers.   I loved to hate May and Alberts and watch them hype Virginia Tech or talk with Vick on the phone about how his little brother cleaned up his behavior as he stomps his cleats into a player in front of the camera.    

But times change.   Cable became too expensive and the majority of networks were too shitty and I got older/busier and Texas got shittier.   I did enjoy the Georgia game hype, but it was more amusing to watch on Youtube than ESPN.   Even more fun to watch it after the game on Youtube.   ESPN has only itself to blame for not adapting.  

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On 10/10/2020 at 10:47 AM, aggie08 said:

Stop it. You can be against ESPN becoming overly political. That's fine and perfectly understandable. But they're not promoting "distorted points of view for the lunatic fringe" when they cover athletes kneeling or protesting police brutality and racial injustice. Your voting preference is showing.

As is yours. Take it to the CR.

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I used to watch ESPN starting with pre-Game day to the final show where they would show the highlights and hand out helmet stickers.   I loved to hate May and Alberts and watch them hype Virginia Tech or talk with Vick on the phone about how his little brother cleaned up his behavior as he stomps his cleats into a player in front of the camera.    
But times change.   Cable became too expensive and the majority of networks were too shitty and I got older/busier and Texas got shittier.   I did enjoy the Georgia game hype, but it was more amusing to watch on Youtube than ESPN.   Even more fun to watch it after the game on Youtube.   ESPN has only itself to blame for not adapting.  
Fall Saturdays in my early to mid 20's meant ESPN on my TV from the moment I woke until deep into Sunday morning. I had another smaller TV nearby with videogame consoles hooked up and ready for halftimes/commercials. Those days are long gone, I wouldn't care if I didn't get ESPN on my overpriced Hulu+ if weren't for the live games. GameDay stopped being must see TV at least 5 years ago, and even the quality of 30 for 30 isn't what it once was...and I don't think it's just me that's changed.
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