In 2015, they laid off a few hundred people. It happened again in 2017. This is happening again as it laid off 300 over the weekend. Small role people, large ones, producers. You know it's that bad when you have Bob Ley, who was part of the original group when it began in 1979 and retired last year, rips this situation. While I get that people will lose jobs, we're not talking anything normal. And some of the ones who were notified are ones that have been for quite a bit of time. Even people that have had almost 20 years experience with the brand.
Obviously, Disney is losing billions and you can't point the finger at one specific aspect. Clearly, the pandemic hurt them a lot. Cord cutting more than likely has had some influence. The oversaturation of political topics hasn't helped. Poor ratings altogether because of politics and the question of whether or not sports seasons would get finished. I'm not sure if digital will help ESPN. I don't think Jimmy Pitaro had much choice back in the spring and the effects it caused. But if he wants to win back viewers, there needs to be multiple things that has to work.
First, you need anchors that people can give a shit about. I'm not talking idiots like Stephen Smith and Max Kellerman. Anchors that can also get their point across without having a bias. I doubt they would, but the second thing would be to cut down on their NBA talk. Maybe a little NFL as well, but there are other sports. We don't need 24 hour coverage of specific players. Last is to remember past incidents. Understand why SC6 failed in 2017 and why audiences want to watch something that isn't CNN or Fox News. If they continue the path like they did in the summer, there will be heavier losses.
This is a bad move I think altogether. ESPN must know things will get better sooner than they realize, barring a shutdown if Biden does shut the country down completely. I don't know how much more of a bath Disney will take if it struggles the next couple of years.
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