Linda Cohn says politics ‘definitely a percentage’ of ESPN’s problems
Longtime ESPN anchor Linda Cohn believes the network’s embrace of political issues is at least partially to blame for falling subscription rates.
“That is definitely a percentage of it,” Cohn said, when asked Thursday on New York radio show “Bernie and Sid” if viewers were tuning out because of politics, according to the New York Post. “I don’t know how big a percentage, but if anyone wants to ignore that fact, they’re blind.”
ESPN has lost 10 million subscribers over the past five years as “cord-cutting” allows viewers to cancel their cable subscriptions in favor of online streaming services. At the same time, ESPN’s programming costs have been steadily rising.
• Politics aren't the cause of ESPN layoffs
That combination led to ESPN’s round of significant layoffs on Wednesday that saw as many as 100 well-known personalities lose their jobs.
Cohn has been with ESPN for nearly 25 years and hosted SportsCenter over 5,000 times.
