ESPN laid off about 20 of its sports activities personalities on Friday because the Walt Disney unit seeks to extra carefully handle prices, a supply mentioned.
Among these affected by the cuts have been long-time NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy, former head coach of the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets, and studio analyst Jalen Rose, a former NBA participant at six groups together with the Indiana Pacers.
It additionally laid off ESPN Radio’s morning present co-hosts, Max Kellerman and Keyshawn Johnson.
“Given the current environment, ESPN has determined it necessary to identify some additional cost savings in the area of public-facing commentator salaries, and that process has begun,” ESPN mentioned in an announcement to Reuters.
ESPN has already undergone two rounds of layoffs that didn’t influence expertise as a part of mother or father firm Disney’s introduced plans to remove 7,000 jobs. The Burbank leisure big is looking for to pare $5.5 billion in prices.
This newest spherical of reductions, focusing on expertise, was a part of ESPN’s efforts to hit its monetary targets. A supply mentioned ESPN would honor their employment contracts. It additionally will consider future contracts once they come up for renewal.
“These troublesome selections, primarily based extra on general effectivity than benefit, will assist us meet our monetary targets and guarantee future development,” ESPN mentioned in its assertion.
—Reuters
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
