F$#% you, Sporting News: Layoff names according to Big Lead

Just read a brief item in Advertising Age that the publishers of Sporting News might ponder. The decline in revenue/spending of all U.S. print advertising from 2003-2013 is more than 10 times the increase in Internet advertising spending/revenue in the same period. Digital media is hardly new anymore. Evidence suggests it will NEVER generate close to enough revenue to support more than a very few large enterprises.

 

My earlier post wasn't to say he was gone altogether. Jeff Price was brought in a while back from SI to champion the new digital revolution at SN. I think the hope was digital and print would last together, but quickly that proved to not be the case. So layoffs upon layoffs happened, to the point where they have trimmed the majority of high salaries and longtime members. While some veterans remain, it's not many. Mostly, they kept the young people who now have the title of "Senior Editor," but I doubt there was any pay raise involved.

Mike Decourcy was saved, which is good, b/c he's now their best writer (and perhaps always was).

GH remains as editor-in-chief from everything I've heard. He wasn't let go or anything. Someone spoke in another post about a move to another role, but I'm not sure. Maybe something similar to D'Alessio?

 

I'll save the debate about Decourcy for another time. This reinvention of the SN wheel is very troubling and now I'm hearing some rumblings about Gannett. I enjoyed reading your posts formere.

 

#PostsFrom2007

#Geenius

 

Funny thing about evidence: It's always based on the past, not the future.

The world catches up to technology over time. Thirty years ago, cellphones and handheld computers were still on the drawing boards. Hard to imagine what the marketplace will be like 30 years from now.

 

I remember several years ago at the combine a player who wound up getting drafted in the first round, read the guy's credential and said, "Wow, I didn't know The Sporting News was still around..."

 

Hey-yo, scrubeenies, it sez here (sniff) the old girl lost all her juice (sniff) after they tossed Fly out like a cheap suit (honk!). Here's yer sportin' news, bay-bee: Nobody puts Fly in the corner! 8)

 

I don't give Sporting News much of a chance. It is a faded brand that has little chance to catch on with 20-somethings and 30-somethings. That's where the market is as everything heads to digital. Pure sports blogs like SB Nation and Bleacher Report are cornering the younger sports audience. And sure, those sites may not offer great journalism, but that doesn't seem to matter as much anymore.

 

Without this deal, SN was going to fold immediately. The parent company, Advance, held on to the two print products that were profitable (shutting the Yearbooks down for a year is still a mystery) and freed itself of a money pit that was going nowhere. If the new company makes progress turning things around, it can buy out the other 35 percent within a year.

 

I know lots of great things were said about Stan McNeal earlier in this thread.

Just wanted to note that Stan will be a regular contributor on baseball for USA TODAY Sports Weekly. His first piece -- on Kyle Lohse's unique offseason -- appears in this week's issue.

Happy to have him on the team.

 

Good for Stan. Good for USA Today Sports Weekly.

 

This just in about one of the good guys in this screwy business.
Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, the region’s leading source of multiplatform sports coverage, has named veteran sportswriter Clifton Brown as Ravens Insider. In this position, the longtime Sporting News and New York Times National Football League reporter will lead coverage of the Baltimore Ravens for the network’s digital media platforms.
Brown, who has more than 30 years of experience as a sports reporter for major news outlets, including more than 10 seasons covering the NFL, will provide comprehensive Ravens news, analysis and features for CSNbaltimore.com and the network’s mobile and social media platforms. He will also make regular appearances on Geico SportsNet Central, the network’s daily news program, and contribute to Ravens Kickoff, Ravens Postgame Live and other Ravens programming.
“Clifton is an extremely experienced, successful and respected sportswriter that has more than a decade of NFL coverage to his credit,” said Comcast SportsNet Vice President of Digital Media Mark Lapidus. “His addition demonstrates our commitment to acquiring the most talented reporters to cover the region’s teams.”
Brown joins Comcast SportsNet after covering the NFL for the Sporting News for more than five years. Prior to that, he spent 19 years at the New York Times from 1988 to 2007, most recently as an NFL writer. During his tenure at the Times, he also served as the national golf writer, national NBA writer and as a beat reporter covering the New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets. He also spent five years in the sports department at the Detroit Free Press, including time as beat reporter for the Detroit Pistons, after starting his career with the Boca Raton News.
Brown is the latest addition to Comcast SportsNet’s successful digital media department that operates two regional sports websites, CSNwashington.com andCSNbaltimore.com, and a portfolio of successful mobile and social media platforms. These properties feature exclusive written, video and interactive content produced by a team of talented Insiders – including Tarik El-Bashir, Chuck Gormley, J. Michael, Rich Tandler and Mark Zuckerman – reporters and producers.