ESPN had another round of job cuts last week. In other news, ESPN is losing some analysts to the coaching carousel, NBC has named the rest of its Olympic hosting roster, and Greg Jennings will make his NFL game analyst debut on Sunday.
More ESPN Layoffs
ESPN laid off 150 behind-the-scenes employees earlier this week, the company’s latest round of massive job cuts. As ESPN president John Skipper said in a note to staff Wednesday, most of the jobs eliminated were in “studio production, digital content, and technology” as part of an effort to “do less in certain instances and re-direct resources.”
ESPN earlier this year laid off more than 100 hosts, reporters and analysts, including long-tenured and well-respected talent such as Andy Katz, Jayson Stark and John Clayton. Two years ago, it cut 300 behind-the-scenes employees, some of whom had been with the company since it launched in 1979. Combined, the three rounds of ESPN layoffs have now eliminated close to 600 jobs. [SI.com 11.29]
ESPN Losing Analysts to Coaching Carousel
ESPN MLB analyst Aaron Boone has left the network to become manager of the New York Yankees, ending his seven-year tenure. Boone just finished his second season on ESPN’s lead MLB broadcast team. Meanwhile, ESPN NFL analyst Herm Edwards is expected to take the head coaching job at Arizona State, according to multiple reports, which would end his eight-year run. ESPN previously lost college football analyst Chip Kelly to UCLA, though Kelly had only been there for one year. [New York Times 12.1, Arizona Republic 11.29]
NBC Names Other Winter Olympics Hosts
NBC Premier League host Rebecca Lowe will serve as the daytime anchor for next year’s Winter Olympics on the NBC broadcast network, it was announced this week. Lowe split daytime duties with Al Michaels, Dan Patrick and Mike Tirico at last year’s Summer Olympics. On NBCSN, Carolyn Manno will host in the overnight and morning hours, followed by Ahmed Fareed in the daytime and then Liam McHugh in primetime. Fred Roggin will host CNBC’s curling-oriented coverage. [NBC Sports PR 11.30]
Jennings to Make NFL Game Analyst Debut
First year Fox Sports NFL analyst Greg Jennings will make his debut as a game analyst on Sunday’s Buccaneers-Packers game, working alongside play-by-play voice Tim Brando. Jennings, who spent seven seasons with Green Bay, joined Fox in January and has served primarily as a studio analyst. [Fox Sports]
