Independent sports journalism took another big hit last week as the changing consumption habits of television viewers caught up to ESPN.
Having gone from nearly 100 million subscribers five years ago to roughly 88 million nowadays, the network cut the jobs of about 100 on-air personalities and writers. Jay Crawford, Jayson Stark, Ed Werder, Trent Dilfer and legal analyst Roger Cossack were some of the bigger names let go.
Here in Seattle, local resident and former Mariners outfielder Raul Ibanez was dismissed from his “Baseball Tonight” role while longtime features writer Jim Caple was also cut.
But while much of the focus has been on bigger-name TV stars axed, the truly major network celebrities like Stephen A.