Report: ESPN's next round of layoffs is going to include on-air personalities

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March 6, 2017 4:18 PM

A report on Monday from Sports Illustrated said that more layoffs are coming to ESPN, only this time to some writers and TV personalities.

Interactive walls in the lobby of Digital Center 2, a new 194,000 sq. ft building on the ESPN campus in Bristol, Connecticut May 22, 2014 REUTERS/Michelle McLoughlin

More layoffs are coming to ESPN, according to a report on Monday from Sports Illustrated's Richard Deitsch.

In October 2015, ESPN laid off north of 300 employees, mostly behind the scenes people. Now, Deitsch reports that layoffs will come to "talent" — ESPN parlance for writers and on-air personalities.

From SI:

Last month, Disney, ESPN's parent company, reported a lower-than-expected revenue during its fourth quarter, in part because of a drop in ad revenue from ESPN. ESPN also continues to lose subscribers at an alarming rate.

Between skyrocketing rights fees (ESPN pays north of $4 billion for the NFL and NBA alone), and the continual loss of subscribers (mostly as a result of cord-cutting), ESPN is losing close to a billion dollars per year. The company needs to trim the fat, and as Deadspin notes, dumping some salaries is one clear way to do that.

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