Article snippet: In an appearance before ESPN’s media buyers, ESPN chief John Skipper insisted that the nearly 40-year-old sports network is working hard to address its shortcomings. “The current environment forces us to be realists as well as optimists,” he insisted, The Hollywood Reporter said. “Let me be up front at this upfront — ESPN is responding to change, and we are making changes from the most dramatic position of strength,” he added. These admissions come only weeks after ESPN laid off over 100 on-air personalities and sports reporters in an epic move deemed “more than a bloodbath,” late in April. The layoffs came just before Disney’s second-quarter financial report, and also on the heels of the company’s announcement of a major financial deficit due to high costs of keeping the sports cable network afloat. ESPN has steadily lost ground and profitability over the last decade, losing over 10,000 subscribers a month while being saddled with hundreds of millions in broadcast fees levied by the various national leagues. ESPN has reportedly lost over 12 million subscribers over the last five years alone. Many fans have said they have lost interest in ESPN because of the avalanche of liberal talking points that constantly roll out of the mouths and pens of the network’s contributors. Indeed, several new polls have shown that fans with a center-right ideology have abandoned the channel. In one case, a recent poll of sports fans found that Republicans have lost confidence in th... Link to the full article to read more