More Cuts at ESPN

It does make me worry about the future of a site like 538 as a stand-alone brand.

I don’t think Silver understands some of the vitriol coming his way post-election. He keeps basically saying “we’re just analyzing polls. Not our fault the polls suck.” But if the polls don’t have value, what good is the analysis?

Nevertheless, unless there’s really a massive turn against polling I imagine he will have a market. But maybe not enough to support some of the journalism the site does outside politics?

 

Dunno about you guys, but I'm reading Silver's tweet and thinking that -- with the move to ABC News -- he's not really in charge of 538 anymore ... anyone agree?

 

I’ve had the morning SportsCenter on loop for a couple of hours now on one of the ESPN channels — ESPNNEWS, I think — and I think I’ve seen exactly two paid commercials. A lot of “30 for 30 streaming now on ESPN+” black-screen placeholders with no audio, but not much in terms of paid ads.

Ouch.

Do they have a plan for this channel, other than one extra place to show college football games on Saturday afternoons?

 

Lots of information here about the future of some sports channels: Streaming Wars Casualties: Cable TV Channels on Chopping Block

 

Counting WWE as sports? LOL

 

It requires more physical skill than video game sports

 

I once hired a kid just out of college to string on high schools. A week later, he came to me with, "So, I watch WWE avidly. I'd like to be your WWE columnist."

"We cover sports, not 'sports entertainment,'" I replied.

Not sure if he ever achieved his dream of having his own WWE column a la "The Trenton Strangler" or whatever nom de plume whoever wrote the wrestling column for The Trentonian went by.

 

When I was at the Herald in the '90s, we had a Sunday wrasslin' columnist. He made it funny. His day job was a top Republican political consultant in Massachusetts.

 

What U.S. newspapers now regularly have professional wrestling content?

 

What U.S. newspapers now regularly have content?

 

TV executives have the attention span of a kindergartner and will think nothing of axing chunks of their business if they think they can make more money somewhere else. It's been that way since the days of "I Love Lucy:" Find funding to produce a pilot, which may or may not get picked up, hire a crew and cast that may or may not last six episodes, and blow it all up if the ratings suck.

CNN/SI had more than 500 employees at its zenith and six at the end. Turner Sports thought it could make money off league websites in 2001, and held NASCAR, NCAA, PGA Tour, PGA and NBA at one point. Now there are fewer than 10 full-timers and some interns keeping the lights on at NCAA.com. We once had two whole floors of 1015 Techwood and last I heard, Cartoon Network is in there now.

To give you an idea of the cash involved: In 2010, Turner Sports devoted over $80 million developing a comprehensive fitness and lifestyle website that never even made it into production. When they scrapped that, the money they "saved" -- axing NASCAR and PGA deals, too -- allowed them to throw $175 million at Bleacher Report.

So it's a matter of timing now. Disney may leave the Mothership alone but if I'm at SportsCenter or one of the number channels/U, I'm wondering if my content will get folded into ESPN+ or dropped because of overlap. ESPN's ratings for personality-driven content (SportsCenter, etc.) are abysmal.

There's no reason for CNN Headline News to exist any more, even if it's a staple at airports and doctor's offices (although around here, Fox News or a DIY shows is more likely to be blaring for the old folks at the eye doctor). CNN sucks hard enough without the investment needed to run the same 15 minutes of news over and over.

Jeff Zucker's job is pretty secure, especially now that his bosses are Ma Bell.

 

I can say this. Doctors' offices, dentists' offices, hair salons and the like in Massachusetts have TVs almost exclusively tuned to HGTV, Food Channel, Weather Channel, etc.