ESPN Cleaning House

[WaitTilNextYear]

Reading that long list of layoffs, I was mainly thinking "wow, ESPN has become so bloated." Lots of those laid off haven't produced any insightful analysis/articles in years, perhaps decades in some cases. Lots of them I actively avoid clicking on because I know how basic and cliched their work is going to be.

[WDOgF0reL1fe]

I honestly don't know why they never mention that they spent over 1 BILLION dollars on new "hi tech" studios and sportscenter sets when they saw this coming 2-3 years ago.

[TheShizNo1]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jr.

Sucks to see Kanell go. I love Russillo and Kanell, so I'm interested to see what Russillo does now. I don't know how SVP's SportsCenter is doing, but maybe he'll drop that and return to radio.

Quote: Originally Posted by Rocky

Kanell hurts....he was my favorite talking head personality at the network.

Couldn't stand Kanell. Would like to see Golic Jr replace him with Russillo.

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

[jake44np]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheShizNo1

Couldn't stand Kanell. Would like to see Golic Jr replace him with Russillo. Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

I absolutely loved Kanell, listened to him everyday.
Wish LEBATARD would have gotten the ax instead.

[WaitTilNextYear]

The Kanell thing is interesting. The Michigan fanbase absolutely despises him. Other people seem to like him.

[ehh]

Andy Katz gone as well. 17 years at ESPN...

[jeremym480]

Quote: Originally Posted by WDOgF0reL1fe

I honestly don't know why they never mention that they spent over 1 BILLION dollars on new "hi tech" studios and sportscenter sets when they saw this coming 2-3 years ago.

Are you still working at ESPN?

[JayhawkerStL]

I have nothing to do with Michigan, good or bad, but I have always thought of Kanell as kind of a tool. I don't hate him, but I've always thought his takes were shallow and mostly BS.

I'll be honest, I had sworn off ESPN for many years. But over the last two years, I've actually watched more of their content, and enjoyed it, than I would normally care to admit. And most of what I watched survived the cuts.

And no, I don't watch Stephen A. Smith, who is emblematic of what many people hate about ESPN. But Pardon the Interruption is pretty great. I don't follow the NBA in-depth, but Jalen and Jacoby is also surprisingly good. I listen to Mike and Mike many mornings, depending on what local sports shows are talking about. I think Trey Wingo is alright on NFL Live. Baseball Tonight is fine, although, as discussed above, MLB Network is much, much better. And I've Michael Smith and Jemele Hill since they started with Numbers Never Lie. They keep changing their set, but they still just keep doing their thing. And Sportscenter is just all over the place. Sometimes great, sometimes awful, but I'm okay with that.

I think this has less to do with ESPN in particular versus how people consume sports news today. The internet and social media are how we get almost all of our information today, making the need for TV networks increasingly less important.

ESPN is bloated a heck. They were always going to be the first to crash. But man, if sports ever stops keeping people from cutting the cord, the entire cable industry is going to be rocked. It will change everything, for better or worse.