ESPN is going through some tough times. With cable subscribers dropping steadily from month to month, the Worldwide Leader in Sports is looking to cut a shit ton of on-air “talent” in May.
Via Yahoo Sports
ESPN will part ways with more than 40 people, all of them “talent,” a label that ESPN applies to radio hosts and writers (almost all of whom regularly do video or audio), not just traditional TV personalities. ESPN says it has 1,000 people in the category. Still, you can expect most of the people cut to be faces you’ve seen on TV. In some cases, ESPN may buy people out of existing long-term contracts—as Sports Illustrated points out, that is unusual.
The cuts will mostly be done by May 9, when Disney announces its quarterly earnings, but could extend until May 16, when ESPN presents its annual Upfronts in Manhattan.
Journalist Jim Miller, who wrote the 2011 book “Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN, believes that “First Take’s” Stephen A. Smith. Mike Greenberg, “SportsCenter” anchors Neil Everett, Scott Van Pelt, Jemele Hill, Michael Smith and Stan Verrett are safe.
While it sucks that a ton of staffers are getting laid off by ESPN plenty of them should be able to find jobs across the aisle at FS1.