Episode 116 of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast features writer James Andrew Miller, the best-selling author of books on CAA, ESPN and Saturday Night Live. In this podcast, we discuss the ESPN layoffs in full including: why ESPN laid off nearly 100 talented employees; what this means for the company heading forward; how the sports right deals – including expanding its NFL rights deal in 2011 for $15.2 billion through 2021 and the new NBA deal played into the decision; whether ESPN is still interested in the reporting of the NHL and MLB; whether paying $125 million for a new studio was a terrible investment in hindsight; the loss of key information people such as Andy Katz, Jayson Stark, Ed Werder, Brett McMurphy, Jane McManus and others and what that means for ESPN’s journalism commitment heading forward; the likelihood that The Vertical’s Adrian Wojarnowski is coming to ESPN and how that impacted those NBAers who were laid off by ESPN; anchor Linda Cohn’s comments that part of the layoffs were related to politics turning off viewers; whether politics has anything to do with the financials; the narrative issue for ESPN, pushed by competitors and others, that the network has become too left-leaning; reporting from Jim and Richard that ESPN management won’t negotiate buyouts if you get offered to work elsewhere, and much more.

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