ESPN, which is now owned by Disney, has announced this Friday morning that the company is discharging around 20 of its’ live broadcasters which will no longer be seen in any of the network’s platforms.
Some of the most sensible cuts were headlined by former NBA athlete Jalen Rose and famous league head coach who turned game analyst Jeff Van Gundy.
“Given the current environment, ESPN has determined it necessary to identify some additional cost savings in the area of public-facing commentator salaries, and that process has begun,” the network released in a statement. “This exercise will include a small group of job cuts in the short-term and an ongoing focus on managing costs when we negotiate individual contract renewals in the months ahead.”
Some podcast personalities have already began to cover the scene as more layoffs are expected to happen soon:
“This is an extremely challenging process, involving individuals who have had tremendous impact on our company,” ESPN stated. “These difficult decisions, based more on overall efficiency than merit, will help us meet our financial targets and ensure future growth.”
According to their statements, the discharges are part of an strategic effort to meet their financial objectives for this year and those to come. Their on-air employees represented some of the highest salaries in ESPN, and releasing them will allow the company to maintain their regular staffers in their organization.
The Disney operation has also had to produce several rounds of layoffs in recent months, which has come close to 7000 fired workers. According to sources, these decisions have come after a definite need to boost free cash flow, especially as they’re considering to buy ownership in Comcast’s minority stake in the Hulu platform, which should happen next year.
More discharges are expected to happen in the network during the following months
While more information is surfacing the internet, we are realizing that other special broadcasters who are dear to the network have also been fired. One of them is Suzy Kolber, who took over the hosting responsibility of “Monday Night Countdown” from Stuart Scott back in 2014, as well as other NFL and college football duties.
“Today I join the many hard-working colleagues who have been laid off,” she recently wrote on Twitter. “Heartbreaking-but 27 years at ESPN was a good run. So grateful for a 38 yr career! Longevity for a woman in this business is something I’m especially proud of.”
These ESPN cuts are reportedly different from the starting initiatives that founded the company based on their own set of projections and objectives. However, once Disney began their ownership, they reorganized the network earlier this year and gave Chairman Jimmy Pitaro a new set of priorities.
The organization also expects to renew some of the on-air worker’s deals that weren’t cut loose, and should be expiring in the upcoming months. This also means that not all the contracts will be renegotiated, and will consequently end up in at least 20 or more departures coming soon.
