We know that Disney, like other media companies, is determined to cut costs. But some of the big names involved here suggest to me more than just economizing.
First, ESPN in particular is always likely to fire employees who threaten to become bigger than the brand. Second, this kind of feels in part like the cost of over paying for their MNF talent (and of course you can see the argument that, whatever the future of ESPN, the most important jewel in their crown will be a vibrant NFL foothold.) Third, I wonder if they were trying to hide ongoing dissatisfaction with high profile talent under the fig leaf of budget cutting. Here I am thinking of Jeff Van Gundy. JVG’s act has gotten a bit frayed, and lots of NBA fans love to bash him, but he remained a real signature presence, and was refreshing in that he was willing to challenge NBA rules and initiatives. Even when his ideas were absurd, it was nice to have a presence that punctured the almost fascist devotion to PR that so often characterizes the Association. I wonder if someone highly placed in the NBA let it be know that if ESPN was looking to cut talent costs they would not be displeased if they started with JVG. On Fri, 30 Jun 2023 at 11:47 AM Brad Beam <[email protected]> wrote: > Some 20 on-air names have been let go from da Woildwide Leader…. > > https://nypost.com/2023/06/30/max-kellerman-keyshawn-johnson-laid-off-as-espn-firings-continue/ > > > Sent from my iPhone > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/93A12836-4076-4A0F-A598-308391DD5CD8%40suddenlink.net > . > -- Sent from Gmail Mobile -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkYLOzFtFDmEde1%3DeC%2BayNLx7rHaas-5PAXVOhF1A0KnM4g%40mail.gmail.com.
