I have to agree with @BaronKanon. As someone who works in TV/Film, it's pretty much industry standard for the smaller element of a newly merged company to take their "redundant" (read: less sexy, less profitable) programs out behind the barn to shoot them. I'm sure Discovery won't be changing their streaming plans based on these unfortunate (and shortsighted, in terms of talent development) business moves.
Agree on the point they may just be removing redundancies, I deleted my initial post reporting this in the team rumors thread after looking into the cutting which is happening- mainly WB's tv network staff- but the unfilled positions left me pondering if there could be more impact. Nevertheless, it's not promising to take on new projects like WC mtb while under a magnifying glass to cut costs. But I'm still an advocate of being positive until Disco/WB demonstrate their take on the sport.
Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (WBDS) just signed the "Inside the NBA" foursome to long-term contracts (probably really expensive contracts, too). Yes, they trimmed the fat with the lay-offs, but it does look like they are willing to invest in a winning formula.
I heard the Tour De France '22 coverage on Eurosport (also by WBDS) had the biggest production budget spent in any grand tour in recent memory. I wonder if the money spent was put to good use.
And I also wonder how much WBDS is willing to spend on mountain biking.
As others have implied, what we are seeing is "business as usual" anytime there is a merger. However, I wouldn't be too quick to go "everything is okay".
If WB is willing to scrap a $90M film that was more or less done, I'd say a silly bike race could get a second (critical) look too. At best it slides by unnoticed being their company christmas budget is probably bigger than the amount they earmarked for the series.
On the second hand, if the bean counters really start wandering into the creatives arena (which happens) and nobody on the programming side can show a strong case for a good IRR on the series, it could at minimum receive budget cuts and at worst get cut all together. This new entity is not scared to ignore "sunk cost" on something if they aren't convinced its going to make money in the future - especially as we go into a recessionary environment.
All that said, if I'm a betting man I'd say nothing changes...
UCI: Hey Red bull, we're going to give the contract to WB/discovery and they're going to do it for a year, realize there's no payoff and cut our contract for half of the amount owed for ten years and you can have it back the years after for the regular amount.. "
For now I don't think Warner Bros. layoffs in the USA will affect the "eurosport" side of things.
WBDiscovery Sports Events was Eurosport Events until this time last year. All management and staff are European based (London and Paris) and most if not all of the events/series they organize are pretty euro-centric (for now).
It is interesting that VP of accounts for WB-Discovery Sports, Kataria Nimesh, is on the the ESO board of directors. Seems to me to be the only sporting body like that has a Discovery sports board member on the sports/organizers board too. Probably just for so much needed accounting expertise.
Also interesting is that all of the sports that Discovery Sports events organize, promote and market are pretty "bottom-tier" by in large. Even if they do a great job of organizing and marketing (I don't know?), but Speedway GP, World and eTouring car cup, Track Champions League etc... are all a bit dull.
Hopefully with the fan base that MTB has, the expertise of ESO and the UCI hopefully running the rules and regs side independently we'll just have continued growth. But having so many stake-holders on the corporate side now is a worry. With Play Sports Group, ESO, WBDiscovery and to a lesser extent the UCI there's a lot of needs to meet.
Warner Bros. Discovery Sports represents WBD's portfolio of sports brands, channels and platforms. It collectively reaches 130 million people every month, engaging fans and broad audiences in more than 200 markets and in over 20 languages across all platforms where consumers are spending time -free-to-air TV, pay-TV, streaming, online and social.
WBD Sports includes the much-loved consumer brands Eurosport, Global Cycling Network (GCN), Global Mountain Bike Network (GMBN), Golf Digest and GOLFTV powered by PGA TOUR, as well sports programming and content on discovery+ and Discovery’s free-to-air TV networks.
WBD Sports are seeking an experienced Producer, for the Mountain Bike world feed. The successful candidate will have experience in Mountain Biking or Urban/Extreme Sport, the role may require weekend work and antisocial hours with some travel to productions.
Qualifications
Strong leadership qualities for managing a full broadcast production project and team.
Able to control the execution of the production to its full potential and completion.
Knowledge of live production and broadcast environment in Mountain Biking or other extreme/urban sport, downhill skiing
Ability to produce multi-camera live productions
Understanding of the sports television business, subscription television and sports streaming platforms
Confidence and ability to bring ideas to a growing team who will execute the events and production. Strong editorial input
Cultivate and maintain strong relationships with Professional Sport Teams, Federations, Organising committees and other relevant stakeholders
Continually challenge the status quo, identify improved ways of working and efficiencies
Live sports is not a 9 to 5 environment, a flexible approach to working hours is important
Fluent in English is required with a good fluency in French or other European languages beneficial.
Champion our mission ‘Eurosport Together’, unlocking the power of sport and recognizing we are united in our diversity
For now I don't think Warner Bros. layoffs in the USA will affect the "eurosport" side of things.
WBDiscovery Sports Events was Eurosport Events until this...
For now I don't think Warner Bros. layoffs in the USA will affect the "eurosport" side of things.
WBDiscovery Sports Events was Eurosport Events until this time last year. All management and staff are European based (London and Paris) and most if not all of the events/series they organize are pretty euro-centric (for now).
It is interesting that VP of accounts for WB-Discovery Sports, Kataria Nimesh, is on the the ESO board of directors. Seems to me to be the only sporting body like that has a Discovery sports board member on the sports/organizers board too. Probably just for so much needed accounting expertise.
Also interesting is that all of the sports that Discovery Sports events organize, promote and market are pretty "bottom-tier" by in large. Even if they do a great job of organizing and marketing (I don't know?), but Speedway GP, World and eTouring car cup, Track Champions League etc... are all a bit dull.
Hopefully with the fan base that MTB has, the expertise of ESO and the UCI hopefully running the rules and regs side independently we'll just have continued growth. But having so many stake-holders on the corporate side now is a worry. With Play Sports Group, ESO, WBDiscovery and to a lesser extent the UCI there's a lot of needs to meet.
The expertise of ESO? After watching some of their EWS coverage this year that could be described as the ultimate oxymoron.
@metadave - good find! hopefully it doesn't impact the MTB stuff, but the long-range outlook in that article doesn't sound promising for anything over there (more cuts through 2024??). the amount of money thrown around is unfathomable.
"And not for nothing, WBD lost $3.4 billion in its first quarter following the merger. That simply isn't sustainable. So, it's come to this."
@sspomer hopefully this doesn't turn into a rocky roads but for the actual broadcast situation. I'd rather see races with terrible coverage than none at all. I can't deal with pre-2008/freecaster world cup coverage again, I've been spoiled for 15 seasons.
Im old enough to remember small blurbs in mags with GM riding an orange and a photo of peaty and that was the race coverage.
UCI goons get theirs on these deals, so I'd love to know if selling out an entire wing of the sport was worth it for them in their calculus (it probably was). New vacation homes in the south of France don't buy themselves!
@sspomer hopefully this doesn't turn into a rocky roads but for the actual broadcast situation. I'd rather see races with terrible coverage than none at all...
@sspomer hopefully this doesn't turn into a rocky roads but for the actual broadcast situation. I'd rather see races with terrible coverage than none at all. I can't deal with pre-2008/freecaster world cup coverage again, I've been spoiled for 15 seasons.
Im old enough to remember small blurbs in mags with GM riding an orange and a photo of peaty and that was the race coverage.
It sounds like wb wants to appease the core audience with more broadcasts but it's at the cost of screwing with the whole sport dynamic.
What's the point of having more racing broadcasts if the racing is meaningless? What matters is what is going to be featured in the final.
I'm concerned it will make it even harder for a newcomer to break into the final.
On the other hand, women in the top 10 become a really hot property for brands now.
As a factory team, I would ditch all my mid-tier racers to get some top 5-10 females and maybe a couple of flamboyant juniors
--The EWS becomes the UCI Mountain Bike Enduro World Cup (EDR), and all races will be held as single-day events. The E-EWS is also elevated to World Cup status. The overall event classification is still determined based on a rider's cumulative time on the timed stages, but there is also a new points system now that will be used to determine the start order for the last stage (we have not been able to find any details on the points system so far).
--The DH World Cup sees some big changes with the introduction of a semi final between the qualifying round and the final for the Elite Men and Women categories (the junior categories remained unchanged). 60 men and 15 women qualify for the semi final, and the top 30 and top 10 women then move onto the final.
--The points system is changed, with the majority of points being awarded in the semi final and final. The winner of the qualifying round now gets only 50 points. The winner of the qualifying round gets 200 points, while the final is worth 250 points. No points will be awarded for qualifying and semi-finals at the last World Cup of the season. An extract of the new points table is provided below.
--Protected riders: the top-10 men and top-5 women from the previous year's overall standings are protected with regards to the semi-finals throughout the entire season. Among them, the top-5 men and top-3 are also protected for the finals throughout the season. In addition, up to 20 men and 10 women from the current World Cup standings are protected for each semi-final (included those with full season protection). This means that there are only 40 "open" semi-final spots for the men and 5 for the women to fight for among the non-protected riders.
--The stated goal is to broadcast the semi-finals as well as the full 30+10 runs of the men's and women's elite finals. The junior categories will also be broadcast for the first time.
I heard the Tour De France '22 coverage on Eurosport (also by WBDS) had the biggest production budget spent in any grand tour in recent memory. I wonder if the money spent was put to good use.
And I also wonder how much WBDS is willing to spend on mountain biking.
As others have implied, what we are seeing is "business as usual" anytime there is a merger. However, I wouldn't be too quick to go "everything is okay".
If WB is willing to scrap a $90M film that was more or less done, I'd say a silly bike race could get a second (critical) look too. At best it slides by unnoticed being their company christmas budget is probably bigger than the amount they earmarked for the series.
On the second hand, if the bean counters really start wandering into the creatives arena (which happens) and nobody on the programming side can show a strong case for a good IRR on the series, it could at minimum receive budget cuts and at worst get cut all together. This new entity is not scared to ignore "sunk cost" on something if they aren't convinced its going to make money in the future - especially as we go into a recessionary environment.
All that said, if I'm a betting man I'd say nothing changes...
For now I don't think Warner Bros. layoffs in the USA will affect the "eurosport" side of things.
WBDiscovery Sports Events was Eurosport Events until this time last year. All management and staff are European based (London and Paris) and most if not all of the events/series they organize are pretty euro-centric (for now).
It is interesting that VP of accounts for WB-Discovery Sports, Kataria Nimesh, is on the the ESO board of directors. Seems to me to be the only sporting body like that has a Discovery sports board member on the sports/organizers board too. Probably just for so much needed accounting expertise.
Also interesting is that all of the sports that Discovery Sports events organize, promote and market are pretty "bottom-tier" by in large. Even if they do a great job of organizing and marketing (I don't know?), but Speedway GP, World and eTouring car cup, Track Champions League etc... are all a bit dull.
Hopefully with the fan base that MTB has, the expertise of ESO and the UCI hopefully running the rules and regs side independently we'll just have continued growth. But having so many stake-holders on the corporate side now is a worry. With Play Sports Group, ESO, WBDiscovery and to a lesser extent the UCI there's a lot of needs to meet.
Discovery is looking for a "Live Producer - Mountain Bike"
here's the job link - https://jobs.discovery.com/careers-home/jobs/33417?lang=en-us
Overview
Warner Bros. Discovery Sports represents WBD's portfolio of sports brands, channels and platforms. It collectively reaches 130 million people every month, engaging fans and broad audiences in more than 200 markets and in over 20 languages across all platforms where consumers are spending time -free-to-air TV, pay-TV, streaming, online and social.
WBD Sports includes the much-loved consumer brands Eurosport, Global Cycling Network (GCN), Global Mountain Bike Network (GMBN), Golf Digest and GOLFTV powered by PGA TOUR, as well sports programming and content on discovery+ and Discovery’s free-to-air TV networks.
WBD Sports are seeking an experienced Producer, for the Mountain Bike world feed. The successful candidate will have experience in Mountain Biking or Urban/Extreme Sport, the role may require weekend work and antisocial hours with some travel to productions.
Qualifications
Strong leadership qualities for managing a full broadcast production project and team.
Able to control the execution of the production to its full potential and completion.
Knowledge of live production and broadcast environment in Mountain Biking or other extreme/urban sport, downhill skiing
Ability to produce multi-camera live productions
Understanding of the sports television business, subscription television and sports streaming platforms
Confidence and ability to bring ideas to a growing team who will execute the events and production. Strong editorial input
Cultivate and maintain strong relationships with Professional Sport Teams, Federations, Organising committees and other relevant stakeholders
Continually challenge the status quo, identify improved ways of working and efficiencies
Live sports is not a 9 to 5 environment, a flexible approach to working hours is important
Fluent in English is required with a good fluency in French or other European languages beneficial.
Champion our mission ‘Eurosport Together’, unlocking the power of sport and recognizing we are united in our diversity
"may require weekend work and anti social hours"
I'm out, sorry guys.
But I do hope the candidate will possess a mountain bike background to understand what viewers would like to see and hear.
The expertise of ESO? After watching some of their EWS coverage this year that could be described as the ultimate oxymoron.
They're only just looking to hire someone now? Seems a bit late in the game, or did they loose the person in charge of it.
I might be inclined to agree.
Prepare for first World Cups to be postponed
Well this sounds less positive than just layoffs
https://www.slashfilm.com/1070400/warner-bros-discovery-to-axe-2-billio…
@metadave - good find! hopefully it doesn't impact the MTB stuff, but the long-range outlook in that article doesn't sound promising for anything over there (more cuts through 2024??). the amount of money thrown around is unfathomable.
"And not for nothing, WBD lost $3.4 billion in its first quarter following the merger. That simply isn't sustainable. So, it's come to this."
@sspomer hopefully this doesn't turn into a rocky roads but for the actual broadcast situation. I'd rather see races with terrible coverage than none at all. I can't deal with pre-2008/freecaster world cup coverage again, I've been spoiled for 15 seasons.
Im old enough to remember small blurbs in mags with GM riding an orange and a photo of peaty and that was the race coverage.
Cost synergies! Excellent.
UCI goons get theirs on these deals, so I'd love to know if selling out an entire wing of the sport was worth it for them in their calculus (it probably was). New vacation homes in the south of France don't buy themselves!
Read about this too in another article, this time by Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/warner-bros-discovery-ex…
There is no mention of the sports side of things so I hope the UCI coverage next year isn't affected.
and i thought the lack of updates was concerning.
given how far in advance resorts/venues have to plan their calendars.... i'd say it would be very lucky to just be postponed.
Maybe it's time for Dirt to go back into print.
Other site has just published the news for 2023 season, ews now officially under UCI as EDR and semifinals for DH... Not really sure about all of this
More runs televised means more exposure for more pros to be able to earn some $$. Semi finals and finals means more to watch. Sound great!
It sounds like wb wants to appease the core audience with more broadcasts but it's at the cost of screwing with the whole sport dynamic.
What's the point of having more racing broadcasts if the racing is meaningless? What matters is what is going to be featured in the final.
I'm concerned it will make it even harder for a newcomer to break into the final.
On the other hand, women in the top 10 become a really hot property for brands now.
As a factory team, I would ditch all my mid-tier racers to get some top 5-10 females and maybe a couple of flamboyant juniors
Read all about the new changes HERE.
Main bullet points for your convenience:
--The EWS becomes the UCI Mountain Bike Enduro World Cup (EDR), and all races will be held as single-day events. The E-EWS is also elevated to World Cup status. The overall event classification is still determined based on a rider's cumulative time on the timed stages, but there is also a new points system now that will be used to determine the start order for the last stage (we have not been able to find any details on the points system so far).
--The DH World Cup sees some big changes with the introduction of a semi final between the qualifying round and the final for the Elite Men and Women categories (the junior categories remained unchanged). 60 men and 15 women qualify for the semi final, and the top 30 and top 10 women then move onto the final.
--The points system is changed, with the majority of points being awarded in the semi final and final. The winner of the qualifying round now gets only 50 points. The winner of the qualifying round gets 200 points, while the final is worth 250 points. No points will be awarded for qualifying and semi-finals at the last World Cup of the season. An extract of the new points table is provided below.
--Protected riders: the top-10 men and top-5 women from the previous year's overall standings are protected with regards to the semi-finals throughout the entire season. Among them, the top-5 men and top-3 are also protected for the finals throughout the season. In addition, up to 20 men and 10 women from the current World Cup standings are protected for each semi-final (included those with full season protection). This means that there are only 40 "open" semi-final spots for the men and 5 for the women to fight for among the non-protected riders.
--The stated goal is to broadcast the semi-finals as well as the full 30+10 runs of the men's and women's elite finals. The junior categories will also be broadcast for the first time.
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