ESPN is taking on water and fired 100 people. Mostly on air talent. The on air talent that was spouting politically correct garbage. They didn't fire any conservatives or populists because none of them remain at that network. So many people cut cable that they are hemorrhaging subscribers. Recently I was reviewing my old cable bills. I was paying nine dollars a month as a sports surcharge. Now I didn't have any special packages like MLB or the NFL. So why should I have to pay nine clams a month to subsidize ESPN?
ESPN has totally alienated a huge segment of it's viewers. Most sports fans are lunch pail blue collar guys. Not millennials. Not tofu eating social justice warriors. Shot and a beer guys who like a bratwurst or a meatball hero. They spit in our eyes. So we cut the cord. I know I did.
What is funny is all the tweets that these guys are sending out. Their whole gig is telling us that this guys should get cut and that coach should get fired. Now it's their turn.
It couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of guys.
27 comments:
Saw that.
Anybody who had to suffer through ESPN in a doctor's office or restaurant is smiling.
It's not enough. More will have to come. Still, I was amazed they had 100 people to cut. They are supposed to be showing someone else's product. Why would they need that many people for non-original content?
ESPN first laid off support staff. I was born in Bristol and have a lotta family there. A cousin got laid off recently. Everyone who works there saw the handwriting on the wall. ESPN not only went NYT liberal as far as on air, they went all in on the NBA, the most liberal professional sport. Guess what, the NBA is imploding. It was dying when Bird and Magic saved it. Jordan continued the growth. Now it's Hillary supporter, union rats like LeBron who won't play 2 days in a row. ESPN is owned by Disney and CEO Bob Iger is thinking about running against Trump in 2020. He's a limo liberal.
I feel for the blue collar guys who will be effected. The cameramen. Key grips. Sound techs. Those are the guys who will lose their gigs with the cutbacks in programing.
As far as the sportswriters who voted Catilyn Jenner Sportsman of the Year and call Colin Kaperdick a hero....they can slap on a pair of hot pants and go suck dick at the truck stop.
May they get ball cancer.
Oh wait, I though that was Sergey from Google's airship.
Trooper York said...
I feel for the blue collar guys who will be effected. The cameramen. Key grips. Sound techs. Those are the guys who will lose their gigs with the cutbacks in programing.
Unless it goes off the air, those guys should stay, most of them.
It's the on-air types and the front office, editorial crowd whose jobs would be in danger.
There was a large GM plant in Bristol for generations. The largest employer for decades. It was closed serendipitously as ESPN was growing exponentially. Motivated laid off blue collar, GM workers learned new skills and went to work @ ESPN.
As you might expect, there was always some conflict between the on air talent and the blue collar workers. Bristol is the consummate, ethnic blue collar, shot and beer town. The conflict hit the news when the 1st woman anchor, Gayle Gardner, blasted the lack of culture in Bristol in a NYT interview. She left for NBC shortly afterward.
I heard Comcast tacked on charges for providing local channels and local sports, something you can pick up with an antenna. They also advertise low cost cable and internet ($10) if you are on food stamps.
I know lots of people complain about the Post Office but I'd like to see their charter include providing reasonable cost WIFI.
amper, When we lived in the Madison area we had Dish. You got local network affiliates, but not in high def. So we just got an antenna and picked them up via air.
I actually know a couple of guys who lost their jobs last year. They came back to Brooklyn and tried to free lance in production which is a very tough gig.
The on-air layoffs were the last to happen because they were high profile. When people like Len Elmore and Hannah Storm get fired people notice. If a gaffer or a best boy gets laid off nobody cares.
I spent a lot of time with the behind the scenes guys when we had the show. They were all obsessed about the next job. They were always giving each other tips and recommending each other when they get a gig.
TV production is a tough gig. ESPN had it soft for a long time.
Cable is another business like publishing and newspapers that is changing right before your eyes. Many people like me are cutting the cord. Live streaming, Youtube and things like Netflicks and Hulu make it necessary to have cable at all. Unless you want sports.
Eventually they will be stand alone streaming. The networks and cable will not be able to pay rights fees the way they do now because they won't have the commercials. So live stream subscriptions will be the norm.
I set up my sister's tv with a dual input switch one for cable and one for antenna and one output to the tv. Comcast does not provide high def anything unless you pay extra. She has a plus package and pays over $100 a month but no high def.
We have over 60 over the air channels available, granted many are ethnic language channels, but some of them even provide English language programming on their substations. If many more people dumped their cable, that programming would make it to these channels, especially Sports programming.
I'm pretty satisfied with OTA I get, I enjoy a lot of the retro programming. Even PBS, we have two public tv stations with 7 channels and you can avoid the begathons as they confine it to their main channel. One of them runs blocks of Foreign News services (German,French,Chinese,Korean,Russian,Indian,etc) in English.
Ritmo and all his other psychoses don't know that TV needs stage crew.
The on-air and the front office types are more expendable.
Ritmo sneers at everybody else, but he's afraid to come out from behind all his disguises.
Eddy I love you like a special needs brother but you are on the wrong track here. I have met both Ritmo and Nick and they are two different people. As is Rabel who changed the avatar and name for some reason. But hey that is fine. Everybody should change it up now and then.
Something that Ritmo and Nick and I share is that we all love to fight for fightings sake. So take it with a grain of salt as I know you do. I appreciate your comments even thought I almost never agree with your corrections.
Thanks for posting on my threads. Your voice is valued. As is Nicks, Ritmo and Rabel. We all have a part to play here in Lem's Levity.
ESPN has lost it's luster for me. I remember when I used to watch it religiously for the scores. But I don't think I have seen Sports Center in about ten years. The internet ended the exclusive place that Sports Center played in the Sports fans life.
Now highlights are on Youtube five minutes after they happen.
I read a pretty good analysis that said that ESPN's turn to the left was a conscious plan. They don't care about the right wing conservative fans. They prefer to have an super loyal energized fan base that will protest if they are taken off of the cable system. You know. The liberals who are always protesting and writing and shit. They see that as protecting them where the run of the mill conservative beer swilling fan just wants to see the game and get the score. If he can get there somewhere else he won't give shit about ESPN being on his cable.
Special needs?
I've got no problem with Rabel. The avatar just throws me, as I've said. We see eye-to-eye on much.
As for whomever, I have no problem with all the whining. I just walk on by.
But anybody who says marijuana does no harm ought to look at the spike in automobile accidents since it was legalized in CO. We're learning just what harm it really does cause.
(whomever's head explodes in 5, 4, 3, 2...)
But, just for funsies, how's 'bout Trump's tax plan, or the Freedom Caucus giving Trump's IdiotCare replacement its blessing, or that Trump's taking us out of NAFTA?
All of which I'm happy about.
Let's hear Big Tax whomever talk about that; if he needs his government-supported medical marijuana, what's he going to do when the Feds come up 6T short?
Well ed that is how I picture you man. Typing away at the keyboard wearing a Football Helmet.
I can't help that's the way I see people. Like Bags looks like Caesar Romano and April like Andrea Martin.
I could be wrong but hey that's how I see it.
Perhaps because I'm willing to butt my head up against so many stone walls.
Sure. Let's go with that.
Cliff Claven is morphing into Captain Queeq, back and forth, back and forth.
If your schadenpriaprismxxxxxx priuspissmxxxxx priaprismxxxxx woodie that goes too long then put an icepack on it.
No, but nd is going back and forth between Ritmo and April.
"As is Rabel who changed the avatar and name for some reason."
I've always been Rabel.
Really. I thought you changed. My bad.
No problemo.
I guess ed was right and it was Ritmo.
I'm also, Harvey, an 8 foot rabbit pooka. And, the Walrus..and the egg man..Goo goo g'joob. Sometimes it just takes some poking to show just how disturbed a person is.
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