{"id":11019,"date":"2017-04-26T18:41:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-26T18:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/2017\/04\/26\/espn-layoffs-begin-and-some-100-employees-may-lose-jobs\/"},"modified":"2017-04-26T18:41:00","modified_gmt":"2017-04-26T18:41:00","slug":"espn-layoffs-begin-and-some-100-employees-may-lose-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/espn-layoffs-begin-and-some-100-employees-may-lose-jobs\/","title":{"rendered":"ESPN Layoffs Begin, And Some 100 Employees May Lose Jobs"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Bill Chappell<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n ESPN has been facing a slump in revenue that’s most easily traced to cord-cutting by former cable subscribers.<\/p>\n

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Mike Windle\/Getty Images for ESPN<\/p>\n

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Mike Windle\/Getty Images for ESPN<\/p>\n

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Reporters and on-air personalities are among the roughly 100 ESPN employees who are expected to lose their jobs this week, in a cost-cutting move at the network that has lost millions of subscribers in recent years.<\/p>\n

The cuts have already hit some well-known names, including veteran NFL reporter Ed Werder<\/a>, college football analyst Danny Kanell<\/a>, and college basketball reporter C.L. Brown<\/a>, along with NHL columnist Pierre LeBrun<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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After 17 years reporting on #NFL<\/a>, I’ve been informed that I’m being laid off by ESPN effective immediately. I have no plans to retire<\/p>\n

\u2014 Ed Werder (@Edwerderespn) April 26, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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Landed in Madrid. Turned on phone 1st time all vacation. Got texts asking if job was safe. Found out it was not. Enjoyed my 4 years, ESPN.<\/p>\n

\u2014 C.L. Brown (@clbrownespn) April 26, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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As of midday Wednesday, at least three media outlets published pages to track the exits from ESPN, including ones from The Sporting News<\/a>, Deadspin<\/a> and The Washington Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“We will implement changes in our talent lineup this week,” ESPN President John Skipper wrote in a note to employees<\/a> Wednesday morning. Skipper said those laid off will include “anchors, analysts, reporters, writers and those who handle play-by-play.”<\/p>\n

ESPN has been facing a slump in revenue that’s most easily traced to cord-cutting by former cable subscribers, in an era of sharply shifting habits both for sports fans and for television viewers in general.<\/p>\n

Some of ESPN’s financial problems center on the roughly 2 million subscribers it lost in fiscal year 2016<\/a>; falling advertising revenue and rising costs of broadcast rights have also contributed.<\/p>\n