glad you took it like I meant it!"He seemed to fit in at ESPN" is the best left-handed compliment ever.
You say that like it's a sinister thing."He seemed to fit in at ESPN" is the best left-handed compliment ever.
I don't think they're "hemorrhaging money" at all. I just think they are less profitable than they were in their peak a few years ago and are beginning to trim fat (no pun intended with regards to Kruk).I'm guessing it is a money thing. ESPN is hemorrhaging money due to subscription losses.
Yeah, in no way is ESPN losing money. People are very much focused on it because they are such a huge part of Disney's operating profit (like close to half) and are very much declining. The trend isn't good, and Wall Street hates stagnant growth (let alone shrinking revenue) but they're not close to losing money. Yet.I don't think they're "hemorrhaging money" at all. I just think they are less profitable than they were in their peak a few years ago and are beginning to trim fat (no pun intended with regards to Kruk).
I disagree. Yes they have parted ways with guys like Skip and Cowherd, but ESPN seems to go really hard in promoting the personalities on their programs, particularly SportsCenter. Ever see the TV spot for SportsCenter with Scott VanPelt? It is just 30 seconds of SVP saying stupid stuff and it hardly has anything to do with highlights or analysis. If you are watching a live sport on ESPN they will plug SC later coming up after the game and always make sure to say who is hosting the show, something they have never done in the past.It's more that ESPN has discovered that hardly anyone is watching their channels for most of their personalities so when it becomes at all costly to keep talent around they pull the plug. They need to pay to have sports first and foremost. Even if the above wasn't entirely true, though, people in attractive demographics for advertisers only know Kruk from ESPN, so there's an opportunity for them to find a recently retired player that draws in better demos.
To be fair, Kruk has trouble fitting into a lot of stuff."He seemed to fit in at ESPN" is the best left-handed compliment ever.
The ESPN "names" make good money, Schilling told Dan Patrick he was making $2.5M there and while he is clearly a blowhard I hadn't heard that anyone contradicted him. I imagine Kruk was in that ballpark as well and will be taking a pretty serious pay cut at MLB which I agree is likely where he will end up.Anyone know what salary level we're discussing? SVP -- is he 7 figures, or do all the talking heads at ESPN top out at $500K or so? Is McDonough (now on MNF) making $250K, or is that a million dollar gig?
Kruk -- is he going from $500K to $250K (when he inevitably lands at MLB)? Or he is he going to barely crack 6 figures -- for showing up on time and offering opinions?
I seem to remember local TV news/sports guys are now in the mid-100s, with maybe NY/LA as an exception. And the WEEI guy who left to become a computer programmer was barely making $30K or something like that.
What's the pecking order, and are the national guys really raking it in?