It will be interesting to see how the recent ESPN layoffs impact start up sports networks like ASN or Beinsports. They could grab some good talent for cheap.
ESPN layoffs
- Thread starter bluefutcpa
- Start date
ESPN seemed to double down on the direction they were going. When you're in a nose dive you normally try to pull out of it. Seemed that talent was not the deciding factor. Those not blessed with talent but a loud mouth and a PC world view allowed them to continue their employment at espn, for now. Not necessarily a good thing to be the last ones on the Titanic, especially when the ones already off the boat have the last few seats on the life boats.
They kept Bomani Jones but got rid of Ed Werder and Andy Katz. That about sums it up right there.
I've read some are requesting lower pay in lieu of termination. Strangely, some of the downsized big talent will basically be in no man's land for a year or two. Contract pay, no work, and no compete. I don't understand all of those legalese ridden contracts. So, it might be a year or two before some of that talent can be grabbed up by other networks.
I'm not one to delight in the misfortunes of others. I don't see a "bloodbath" of layoffs as something to relish or wish upon anyone. Admittedly, a lot of these folks though are likely not the living paycheck to paycheck type folks.
As an institution and their attitude of disregard for a large segment of the sports fans they are supposed to be serving might be a slightly different story. It's just not their aggressive PC pontificating. Although that's about bad enough. It has also been the wanton disregard for the larger state of college athletics including the student athletes and fans across all the conferences. ESPN has been one of the key players in offering up obscene media rights contracts to the limited few conferences without thought or regard for the eventual consequences of throwing around so many hundreds of millions of dollars for so many years.
It seems this is just the first tremors of consequences resulting from their reckless massive spending with little thought to long term consequences and sustainability. Early indications are that they are still failing to learn from their years of irresponsibility.
It is interesting that all of this is occurring just before some financial reporting dates to Disney ownership (I forget the specific what & when). The Wall Street scuttlebut has been that ESPN has been substantially eating into Disney's profits. As such, there is much speculation that Disney just might end up spinning ESPN back off from Disney. If that were to happen, then I imagine these current ESPN changes will seem minor compared to the massive upheaval they could possibly face.
As an institution and their attitude of disregard for a large segment of the sports fans they are supposed to be serving might be a slightly different story. It's just not their aggressive PC pontificating. Although that's about bad enough. It has also been the wanton disregard for the larger state of college athletics including the student athletes and fans across all the conferences. ESPN has been one of the key players in offering up obscene media rights contracts to the limited few conferences without thought or regard for the eventual consequences of throwing around so many hundreds of millions of dollars for so many years.
It seems this is just the first tremors of consequences resulting from their reckless massive spending with little thought to long term consequences and sustainability. Early indications are that they are still failing to learn from their years of irresponsibility.
It is interesting that all of this is occurring just before some financial reporting dates to Disney ownership (I forget the specific what & when). The Wall Street scuttlebut has been that ESPN has been substantially eating into Disney's profits. As such, there is much speculation that Disney just might end up spinning ESPN back off from Disney. If that were to happen, then I imagine these current ESPN changes will seem minor compared to the massive upheaval they could possibly face.
As I said last year, all of those other G5 conferences are gonna get curb stomped just like we did when the next round of negotiations come up for them. The money just will not be there anymore. I see ESPN cutting off some of their other networks to keep from capsizing in the future.
G5 schools need to start utilizing existing resources and reach out to future partners. The future is streaming. Partner with Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon to provide livestream of games
Is Twitter the new home for Southern Miss football?
...the league appears set to be part of a new venture involving Twitter and the merger of three media companies.
The financial impact will likely be minimal for the conference, but it should provide more access to streaming content for fans.
No network carried more Southern Miss football games over the last three years than the American Sports Network. A total of 15 USM games were shown on ASN, which is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group. For the last three years, ASN was featured prominently on the C-USA broadcast schedule for football, basketball and baseball.
In March, it was rumored ASN was shutting down.
It turns out ASN was simply entering a new phase in its brief history.
ASN, 120 Sports and Campus Insiders are merging to form “STADIUM,” which was announced on Monday as the name of the new network.
ASN holds TV deals with several mid-major conferences, including the A-10, C-USA, Ivy League, MAC and Sun Belt. ASN content is broadcast on Sinclair-owned substations and on some regional cable networks. ASN’s games were also available through syndication on stations across the country, including WXXV on the Coast.
Campus Insiders, which carried the USM-UTEP football game on its web site last season, also has agreements with a handful of conferences, including the Mountain West.
The 120 Sports outfit is a web-based TV service that has agreements with Major League Baseball and the NHL for highlights.
STADIUM will likely feature many of the traits of those three media companies, but it remains to be seen what the final product will look like.
One thing we know for sure: You’ll have to access STADIUM’s live content free of charge on Twitter, which announced streaming deals with 16 content providers Monday.
Twitter’s role
Twitter live streamed Thursday night NFL games last season, but lost that deal to Amazon. On Monday, Twitter announced deals to stream content from Major League Baseball, the WNBA and PGA Tour.
At first glance, it appears that Twitter will be just one more platform to watch STADIUM.
It seems likely that STADIUM will still be available on Sinclair-owned stations and through syndication like ASN, but there’s no way to know until the roll out.
Campus Insiders can be watched on Sling TV — an over-the-top cable service available through apps and digital media players like Roku and Google Chromecast. STADIUM may simply replace Campus Insiders in the Sling TV lineup.
There are a lot of moving parts to this, but C-USA and the other mid-major conferences need as much help as they can get.....
Utilizing a 3rd party distributor is fine and good, but cutting out the middle man by create a CUSA Network (or even a Blue Raider Network) in partnership with one of the social media giants where they would get a larger share of any ad revenue.
underdogdynasty:
http://www.underdogdynasty.com/conf...twitter-this-year-g5-stadium-tv-contract-cusa
Conference USA to have games streamed on Twitter
footballscoop.com:
http://footballscoop.com/news/whos-ready-watch-college-football-games-twitter/
Who’s ready to watch college football games on Twitter?
http://www.underdogdynasty.com/conf...twitter-this-year-g5-stadium-tv-contract-cusa
Conference USA to have games streamed on Twitter
footballscoop.com:
http://footballscoop.com/news/whos-ready-watch-college-football-games-twitter/
Who’s ready to watch college football games on Twitter?
Why stream on Twitter?
I work in the tech business...I am not tech adverse. But, I don't use Twitter.
I work in the tech business...I am not tech adverse. But, I don't use Twitter.
I thought the one game we had on twitter last year was cool. My family and I were out of town and because of twitter I was able to catch the game.
Doesn't have to be Twitter (could be Facebook). Streaming is the future. Twitter, Facebook, and Amazon have all shown interest in streaming sports or have the infrastructure to stream games live.
IIRC, MT Baseball is already streaming some games through Facebook live and they pipe in Blue Raider Network for play-by-play and color commentary.
And now comes ASN owner Sinclair Broadcasting in slamming down a cool $4 Billion to buy up Tribune Media. It will add another 40+ tv stations to their already nation's largest number of owned tv stations. But now, they are cracking LA, NYC, and Chicago that has previously eluded them.
I've been eyeing Sinclair for while. ASN has been of interest especially since they deal with C-USA. It is really looking like they are making a move on the national scene in sports and more. The brilliance in their move? They're buying up media in the traditional broadcasting tv stations around the country that will not be terribly hit by cord cutting. One could make an argument that Over-The-Air TV will grow as it's free and that's what cord cutters are looking for. To pay less for video content. It also sure looks like they are setting up to stream their tv stations online via many points of digital access, i.e. Stadium.
I got a feeling, this could potentially benefit conferences such as C-USA if the leadership plays their cards right. Which means C-USA needs another commish right away!
I've been eyeing Sinclair for while. ASN has been of interest especially since they deal with C-USA. It is really looking like they are making a move on the national scene in sports and more. The brilliance in their move? They're buying up media in the traditional broadcasting tv stations around the country that will not be terribly hit by cord cutting. One could make an argument that Over-The-Air TV will grow as it's free and that's what cord cutters are looking for. To pay less for video content. It also sure looks like they are setting up to stream their tv stations online via many points of digital access, i.e. Stadium.
I got a feeling, this could potentially benefit conferences such as C-USA if the leadership plays their cards right. Which means C-USA needs another commish right away!
Interesting. I cut the cord in 2010 and have had to be creative in how I can watch cable games, however, I enjoyed being able to watch ASN games OTA. Where I live, I have an amplified antenna and I am about 70% satisfied. I don't know what FCC regulations entail but I wish that OTA channels had a video streaming channel to go with their broadcast radius.
I am concerned about CUSA leadership.
I am concerned about CUSA leadership.
I do believe in recent seasons that ASN would stream some of the games that they were broadcasting across their network of stations. This is mere speculation, but it seems Sinclair just might be trying to establish a digital platform to augment their broadcasts. Again, it seems they are making moves to increase the number of American households they can reach with their still developing sports network. The smart move in all of this in the cord cutting decreasing cable subscribers age is that Sinclair is looking to build out in tv stations owned to broadcast over the air. It seems old is new again.
That is interesting. For a few years now, I've found myself moderately interested in the changes in technology, media, and sports. I'm not sure anyone knows just what will happen. I think it's fairly clear things will not continue as they have for the last 10-20 years.
The media, specifically sports media, is being hard hit by tech and media changes. As all of the new media rights deals come back up for negotiations and renewals, the adverse effects will start to hit the high profile leagues of sports.
Will digital media end up being an equalizer over the long term? That trend seems underway in the internet age and news media.
The large programs like those in the SEC, B1G, etc will likely still have reasonable support from attendance and regional interest through some sort of medium. I suspect the insane money as in billions will likely start to come back to Earth for most.
I briefly worked in cable sales in 2012 and could see the challenges cable TV would face in the coming years. Even five years ago, people were cutting the cord in favor of Roku or an Apple TV with Hulu and Netflix. My prediction then was that live cable television would be streamed. With Sling, Vue, Hulu Live, and YouTube's entrance into streaming television, I feel just a bit justified
