A week after ESPN absorbed most of NFL Network’s employees, the four-letter network will be tightening the corporate belt.
John Ourand of Puck reports that layoffs are coming for Bristol, again.
Ourand explains that the reductions are unrelated to the recent media merger with the NFL. Instead, it’s a result of ongoing cord-cutting, the possibility that ESPN will be spun off from Disney, and the financial impact of last year’s 15-day dispute with YouTube TV, which ultimately came with a price tag of $100 million.
Meanwhile, ESPN will soon be asked to pay its new 10-percent limited partner (the NFL) more than the $2.7 billion per year that’s currently being shelled out for Monday Night Football.
The good news, if there is any when it comes to layoffs, is that as few as 30 jobs will be impacted in the upcoming round, mainly in off-camera jobs. Six years ago, ESPN cut 300 jobs.
Still, the only constant in the current media climate is change. And more changes are coming for ESPN.
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