ESPN will lay off approximately 150 employees in its third round of job cuts in the past two years.
The US sports broadcaster laid off around 300 staff in October 2015, and a further 100 employees in April this year. In total, ESPN is said to employ around 8,000 people.
In an internal memo to employees, ESPN president John Skipper said: “The majority of the jobs eliminated are in studio production, digital content, and technology and they generally reflect decisions to do less in certain instances and re-direct resources.
“We will continue to invest in ways which will best position us to serve the modern sports fan and support the success of our business.”
In August, ESPN’s parent company, Walt Disney, confirmed that a ESPN-branded video-streaming service will launch in early 2018.
The ESPN-branded OTT service, entitled ESPN Plus, will offer coverage of about 10,000 live events per year, including contests from Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, grand slam tennis and college sports. Individual sport packages will also be available for purchase, including MLB.TV, NHL.TV and MLS Live.
The new service will be available through the ESPN app.