Even though the NBA season is over, and football isn’t quite on the horizon yet, there’s some big quaking and shaking in the sports world this week. Not on the field – where baseball is just about at the All-Star break – but at cable-sports outlet ESPN. The biggest and most well-known sports network announced a huge cost-cutting measure, which included the layoffs of some 20 well-known on-air talents.
As they say, things are tough all over. That’s including the TV networks and all sorts of other media businesses these days. Of course the US economy is not in the greatest of shape for any business, but these moves by ESPN are hitting popular names people know and like in the sports world.
ESPN’s decision to let go some high-profile personalities including Jalen Rose, Max Kellerman, Suzy Kolber and Jeff Van Gundy, left everyone in shock. ESPN is a division of Disney Corporation, which has seen it’s company value on a steep downhill slope lately.
One of the on-air personalities not affected by the layoffs was popular commentator Stephen A. Smith. Still, Smith worked closely alongside many of those who were shown the door, and he talked about the job losses in the latest episode of his podcast.
From Smith’s podcast: “ESPN laid off about 20 members of its on-air talent. Friends of mine actually, definitely respected colleagues who’d done a phenomenal job and deserved better. They deserved better from then the times we’re living in.”
On the podcast, Smith shared a touching video saying goodbye to his former co-workers. Our man Shaq must have seen it, as he talked about the job losses as he shared Smith’s messages on his own Big Podcast With Shaq this week.
It’s true, Shaq works for rival network TNT, and is not connected to ESPN. That didn’t stop him from reposting some of the video on his own Instagram account, too. In talking about the job cuts, Shaq also named a current ESPN reporter and personality who he called “untouchable.” That would be sports insider and reporter Brian Windhorst.
For now, Windhorst remains one of the longest-tenured reporters at ESPN and is respected as one of the best in the industry. Windy has had a positive impact on the network, and it is almost certain that the 45-year-old is one of the most important personalities for ESPN.
Will Windhorst be there forever? Hard to say. It’s not clear if the layoffs are done at ESPN. More big names – popular figures in sports journalism – could still be out of a job at any moment. The world is changing, that’s for sure. This week at ESPN is just one sign of, as the song goes, “The times, they are a’changin’.”
