ESPN Reportedly Loses 500K Cable And Satellite Subscribers In April
stevek
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ESPN Reportedly Loses 500K Cable And Satellite Subscribers In April
ESPN’s new morning show Get Up appears, so far, to be a major disappointment to the network as far as viewership is concerned. Ratings are down about 15 percent or more year over year from the traditional edition of SportsCenter. Airing from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Eastern time Monday through Friday, the chat show, which some touted as a cross between SportsCenter and Good Morning America/Today, features Mike Greenberg along with co-hosts Michelle Beadle and ex-NBA player Jalen Rose, who broadcast from an expensive new studio in lower Manhattan.
ESPN is said to be paying “Greeny” $6.5 million and Beadle and Rose $5 million and $3 million, respectively, for their services, despite having laid off hundreds of staffers at its Bristol, Connecticut, headquarters and elsewhere as recently as November 2017. ESPN is obviously also on the hook for the salaries of the newly built New York City facility’s production and support staff.
There is more bad news for the channel that calls itself the Worldwide Leader in Sports, according to Fox Sports Radio host and blogger Clay Travis, a longtime critic of the ESPN business model.
Programming choices made by former ESPN President John Skipper has led to the destruction of multiple ESPN shows, Travis claimed on his Outkick the Show Periscope broadcast, which is NSFW, on Tuesday afternoon.
Among other things, Travis was drawing attention to the ESPN executive decision to break up the Mike & Mike (Greenberg and Golic) radio/television simulcast after 18 years to create Get Up with Greenberg as principal host, and with Beadle joining him in the Manhattan-based TV studio.
Sure is getting uglier at ESPN.
Comments
I wonder what it is about businesses like this that refuse to see the writing on the wall? when it is clear that ratings are down, customers are leaving and the basic industry structure is changing, why do they insist on hanging around to lose millions upon millions?? realize that it was nice while it lasted but the end is here, negotiate the ending and move on.
ESPN was a fabulous, innovative idea when it started but father time and technology have caught and passed it by. it's sort of like print newspapers, destined for the ash heap.
Yup, now they're basically TMZ Sports. It doesn't help that 90% of their Experts/On-Air Personalities are total DB's.
Eric
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Not only that, but they are all so dreadfully boring.
Stephen A used to have some personality, but he has become a bore as well.
Frankly, it seems that ESPN hires first for political correctness, while communication and broadcasting skills are a distant second. And as long as they do that, they will keep on losing viewers.
Horrible network
IT CAN'T BE A TRUE PLAYOFF UNLESS THE BIG TEN CHAMPIONS ARE INCLUDED
Good, outside of some good people potentially losing jobs I don’t care if they go under. They push their agenda down people’s throats by making non stories their major topics in some cases. I haven’t watched ESPN since Berman back in the day with his nickname stuff, since then it has gone down hill at a quick pace. Again I hope the hardworking people behind the scenes end up OK but other than that I couldn’t care less for the network.
people within the company act to protect their own inflated salaries even if it kills the company. Our government works the same way now . Vote for who ever you want , the deep state protects itself and does what it wants
Outside of actual sporting events it's been a non event for me like in forever. Who needs SportCenter when you can get the same information when you want it without them.
mark
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This
I hope the network DIAF or gets back to being apolitical...like when they first were on the air
Greenberg's new show is awful. Mike & Mike was a staple & I don't believe morning sports TV is a better format than radio.
ESPN jumped the shark when they started showing global soccer scores on the bottom of the screen.
The next big change in TV sports will be what the NFL decides to do with the exclusive rights it's granted DirecTV (AT&T) on NFL games. They are half-way into it, as it expires in 2022. Bezos has indicated he wants Amazon to own that. The implications of that contract alone is going to make and break companies.
Erik