Mike Greenberg's new ESPN TV show will "see the light of day" as the network makes its upfront pitches to advertisers this month, as well as the "new-look radio show hosted by his soon-to-be former partner Mike Golic," according to Bob Raissman of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS. Sources said that ESPN's Trey Wingo "will be Golic's new radio partner." Mike Golic Jr. also will be a "featured player on the radio show" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 4/30).
FACES IN THE CROWD: Basketball writers Marc Stein and Chad Ford on Friday both tweeted that they were among the ESPN layoffs. Also among the cuts was business/law reporter Andrew Brandt (THE DAILY). Meanwhile, ESPN has reached a multiyear extension with journalist Don Van Natta Jr., who first joined the network in January '12. Van Natta will continue to serve as as a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com, as well as a contributor to "OTL" (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
EVOLVING LANDSCAPE: SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL's John Ourand in this week's issue takes a look at the tough trend for sports talent in the wake of ESPN's layoffs (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 5/1 issue). In Austin, Kirk Bohls wrote ESPN is "no different from any other American company in this rapidly shifting landscape of diverse options, less discretionary money for consumers and a new audience that doesn’t subscribe to cable or sports viewing as we baby boomers have." Bohls: "The E in ESPN no longer stands for Entertainment. It’s Evolution" (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 4/30). In Seattle, Geoff Baker writes it is the "more serious journalism that prides legwork over on-air shouting that took a hit" with ESPN's layoffs, even if "celebrity-worshipping audiences don’t much realize it or care." ESPN’s cuts are "about sticking with style over substance" (SEATTLE TIMES, 5/1). In L.A., Tom Hoffarth wrote, "Those who’ve been cut loose can’t look at it as a reflection of their abilities, but more a result of their employer’s inabilities to be more fiscally levelheaded" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 4/30).
