More Cuts at ESPN

Kenny is a prince of a man. One of the best to ever grace our teevee industry.

 

Perhaps more people would stop coming if it had something other than Fox News Channel on its televisions.

 

Never saw it with Kenny Mayne. Always trying to bring 15 on the detachment/sarcasm scale when a 4 would have done.

 

Meanwhile:

Back, back, back: Berman, ESPN sign extension

 

It's sort of interesting seeing all the people wringing their hands over his departure given that he was generally the number one purveyor of the stuff people say they hate about ESPN.

 

Yeah, I think I’d leave too.

 

Can we infer that Berman is working for Bed, Bath & Beyond coupons at this point?

 

I don't know what the paycut would be down to - I'm guessing sub $100k? I don't even know what he was doing at ESPN lately. Covering tennis (but only when the tournaments weren't important enough for Fowler)?

 

In the interview with Deitsch, it was said he was asked to take a 61 percent pay cut. ESPN sources leaked today that he was making $1.5 million a year. So if I’m doing math right, that’d be $585,000.

 

I wonder if that correct. At one point Mayne was off SportsCenter and was developing his own programming. And I bet he was making 1.5 million a year on that contract.

But I read an interview with him after that contract ended. He was basically put on part-time and was supposed to do about 50 SportsCenters a year. I don't think he ever regained a regular shift. And some of the cutbacks in his duties seemed almost gratuitous. Mayne loves horse racing and had been working the races and he was taken off those broadcasts. I doubt he was making 1.5 million for working part-time.

 

Sources told The (New York) Post’s Andrew Marchand that Mayne was making in the $1.5 million-plus range to do around 150 SportsCenters per year.

Kenny Mayne ‘surprised’ how ESPN negotiations went after 27 years

 

So it must have really sucked to be cut loose in the middle of the Derby drug stuff. Shoot, I'm surprised ESPN doesn't do a "seasonal" hire thing with some sports to have a NAME, but let the dozens of faceless producers and GAs they have keep tabs on it year round. You could do it with golf, tennis, the Olympic sports.
He would have been a good occasional guest on the morning show I guess, maybe do a "wacky" week in review segment. All you need to know is that Columbia records at some point dropped Johnny Cash from the label, didn't even offer him a courtesy "hang-around" deal like you see a number of media entities do to keep them in the family (I think that's what Berman got) and have them on call when you need some historical perspective. Mayne wouldn't have provided that for ESPN. He was always the "weird uncle" type you enjoy now and then but don't want to see every day.