Three strikes against ESPN this week have the liberal network whiffing further at respectability. On Monday, ESPN President John Skipper gave into an employee backlash and cancelled a partnership with Barstool Sports for sexually degrading remarks about Sam Ponder, NFL Countdown host. Strike two was Jenn Sterger’s revelation that she had twice been sexually harassed during phony job interviews with ESPN. And the Worldwide leader (in sports liberalism) took a third strike today with reports that it will lay off 40-60 employees before the end of the year.
The Sporting News’ Michael McCarthy, who covers sports media, business and marketing, reported today that “More bad news could be on the horizon for ESPN.” Actually bad news has hovered over ESPN for quite some time. He wrote the layoffs are likely in late November or early December. Television and radio personalities and production staff are all vulnerable. “This time it won’t matter if you’re ‘liked’ or not. It’s not going to be pretty,” an unidentified source told McCarthy.
McCarthy writes about ESPN’s struggles “from the triple-whammy of a shrinking subscriber base, expensive billion-dollar TV rights for the NFL, NBA and other sports, and bloated talent costs. The network pays $1.9 billion annually for Monday Night Football and another $1.4 billion for the NBA. Don’t forget ESPN is still paying millions of dollars in severance costs to many of the 100 anchors/reporters laid off in late April.” Note what’s conspicuous by its absence: lost audience due to ESPN’s liberal bias.
Related:
- ESPN heading for more painful layoffs: “It’s not going to be pretty”
- ESPN’s Monday Night Football Ratings Crash, Hit Season Low for Titans-Colts
- WATCH: ESPN host accuses NFL owner of having a ‘plantation mindset’ over protests
- ESPN Employees Gave Clinton 270 Times More Money Than Trump During 2016 Campaign
- ESPN host says ‘white men’ need to ‘shut up’ — after saying she doesn’t want to ‘stereotype’ (VIDEO)