ESPN will cut more than 100 on-air employees on Wednesday, Yahoo Finance reported.
The sports network's layoffs have reportedly been coming for weeks, but the number of on-air anchors, radio hosts and writers being laid off is larger than originally expected. The network plans to notify all those being laid off today, if possible.
The figure represents roughly 10 percent of the 1,000 people it refers to as "on-air talent."
In addition to those 100, a "limited number of other positions will also be affected," according to a note sent to all employees on Wednesday morning from ESPN president John Skipper.
A source tells Yahoo Finance the number of non-talent getting cut is indeed a "very limited" number, but nonetheless, the number is on top of the 100 on-air talents.
In his companywide memo, posted publicly, Skipper frames the cuts around a shifting content strategy. ESPN’s content strategy, he writes, "still needs to go further, faster… and as always, must be efficient and nimble. Dynamic change demands an increased focus on versatility and value, and as a result, we have been engaged in the challenging process of determining the talent—anchors, analysts, reporters, writers and those who handle play-by-play—necessary to meet those demands. We will implement changes in our talent lineup this week."
ESPN also went through layoffs in 2015 and 2013, and Yahoo reported that cutting the expensive on-air contracts made the most sense to the network this time.
Dwindling subscriber numbers contribute to ESPN's financial woes. Yahoo reported ESPN lost 621,000 subscribers in October alone, according to Nielsen, and the Huffington Post reported it lost seven million subscribers between 2011 and 2015.
ESPN's competitors like Fox Sports 1 and 2 are also being hit, but the report noted ESPN's subscriber loss is more significant because "every person who has the channel in their cable bundle pays about $7 per month for it, in addition to smaller monthly fees for ESPN2 and ESPNU."
ESPN has also been dealing with accusations of left-leaning reporting. The network's public editor Jim Brady addressed the issue in December, citing the rise of social media and ESPN's increased emphasis on debate show formats "which encourage strong opinions that are increasingly focusing on the overlap between sports and politics."
Inside ESPN, however, some feel the lack of tolerance of a particular political philosophy is a problem.
"We've done a great job of diversity," said longtime anchor Bob Ley. "But the one place we have miles to go is diversity of thought."
A conservative employee quoted by Brady said, "you feel the need to talk in whispers" at ESPN, even saying there's a fear of putting Fox News on in one's office.