They won't get rid of live sports. Live sports is what will keep them relevant going forward. I think the lay offs were a good thing for ESPN. they had too many people and they were probably making way too much. They could do another round of layoffs if they wanted.
I think it's a weird time for ESPN. Highlights are irrelevant with the Internet and how many debate shows can you have. I would think they try to get more live sports. Was surprised they didn't get the premier league contract a couple years ago.
Bingo! I hope Fox, CBS or even (gasp) NBC sports takes this idea and runs with it. Be it pro or amateur sports, live content is why I watch. Instead of a Friday or Thursday night college football game, make some marquee matchups of high school football. They could even add a Saturday 8AM game of the week to lead into college gameday. Pick the high school teams with combination of recruits going to conferences you already have a contract and Top 25 (or 50) match-ups, thne make it a point to broadcast the state championship football and basketball games in every state (at least the top 2-3 levels). Show soccer (American) and futbol (world) - it is a beloved sport by many people under 50. Cycling, not just Tour of France. What about Olympic sports meets other than the meets around Olympics. No so sure I care about just running, but there are more IronMan events than Kona, and I'd love to see Kona live, not just an hour of highlights 2 months later.
I understand there is only so much programming content to go around and also only so much advertising dollars. However, I'm less likely to mute a commercial watching a live event than fast forward because I recorded the show.
One more idea, I know teams and agents/player's representatives slide some information to a favorite reporter here and there. I'd shore up my contractors with leagues so that my broadcast company has an exclusive confidentiality clause that the team, player and his/her representatives make the announcement jointly on live breaking news and a 24 hour window of exclusive interviews. Both sides of the story can only be seen here, though you can read about on line. The greedy teams could get incentive to do this and pass along that incentive in the player contract. If there is a leak the network doesn't pay the team, the team doesn't pay that clause to the player, and the network still gets 24 hour interview exclusivity for free. If there is an unauthorized interview, the interviewee can pay a fine/fee probably covered by the second broadcast company. This wouldn't be a monopoly, as online interview rights could be negotiated separately and each team could potentially be on their own network (the idea will catch on quickly).
