As part of Disney’s ongoing round of layoffs, the sports network ESPN will eliminate some positions early next week, affecting “some on-air talent and management.” The exact number of ESPN layoffs is yet unknown.
A month ago, ESPN announced that layoffs were likely and that “no one is immune.” There have been rumors that Disney will lay off 7,000 of its 220,000 employees worldwide. This would be the largest layoff at Disney since the pandemic.
The ESPN app may soon include a function directing users to live sports broadcasts on other networks and streaming sites. In the new sports television landscape, viewers only pay for the channels they watch rather than for a bloated package that includes hundreds of channels they never watch.
While ESPN benefited from the cable bubble, the network must now cast a wide net to catch the shattered pieces.
Several of ESPN’s podcasts are among the best available. Pardon the Interruption transformed the paradigm of sports television. The 30 for 30 series has produced some of the finest sports films ever created, and when ESPN’s investigation team is in top form, few others can compete.
But it would be a disservice to observe that when ESPN is wrong, it is awful. Their wokeness and mixture of politics and sports have diminished its viewership and revenue.
Disney CEO Bob Iger discussed a total of 7,000 layoffs in February, but insiders have released information regarding an initial round of layoffs affecting the jobs of about 4,000 employees.
The layoffs will affect Disney Channel, Disney movies, Disney theme parks, and Disney corporate staff. After Disney’s stock price plummeted due to the lockdown rules and a series of corporate errors (wokeness) that damaged the company’s brand, current CEO Bob Iger ousted former CEO Bob Chapek.
To undermine Disney’s self-rule over its Orlando fiefdom, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) has proposed a special law that would establish state authority over Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District.
The saying has merit:
Go Woke, Go Broke.
