ESPN, faced with the increasing costs of programming and viewer losses reaching millions in number, prepares to announce job cuts of up to 4.3 percent of its total workforce worldwide.
The decision was made following the announcement of Disney in August when the parent company dropped its profit growth expectations for the sports network and had cited challenges in the marketplace as the basis of its assumptions.
"ESPN has historically embraced evolving technology to smartly navigate our business," said the company in a statement. "Any organizational changes will be announced directly to our employees if and when appropriate."
According to a company fact sheet, ESPN currently has 8,000 employees worldwide.
Rumors about the layoff began in September when Disney made some budget cutting plans for the next two years. According to the company, ESPN would have to cut around $100 million from its budget in 2016 and as much as $250 million from the 2017 budget.
Prior to the massive job cuts, ESPN has also made some changes to its personnel department, making commentators such as Keith Olbermann and Bill Simmons to be permanently "off air." In 2013, some employees lost their jobs when the company's Denver office as well as its 3-D video service was shut down.
Rising programming costs and slow advertising sales are cited as reasons for the network's "modest" subscriber losses. More and more subscribers are ditching cable for streaming options which are cheaper and can even be enjoyed free.
Disney also mentioned in its August announcement that ESPN's operating income for the third quarter of the fiscal year has increased by up to 7 percent to $2.1 billion. However, the network also displayed a drop on its advertising revenue.
"Lower advertising revenues reflected lower ratings and rates," said Disney.
Compared to other basic cable channel providers, ESPN charges the highest price for its subscribers. According to a research made by SNL Kagan, the company has lost over 4 million of its subscribers for the past four years.
ESPN plans to inform first the employees who will be affected by the decision before it announces publicly about the cutbacks.
