Lil Bit Special Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 http://www.philly.com/dailynews/sports/20080311_NFL_Films_lays_off_21_workers.html NFL Films, the Mount Laurel, N.J.-based company that has been the creative arm of the National Football League for more than 40 years, laid off 21 of its 283 employees last week, including some who had been with the company for decades. The directive came from the league, which owns NFL Films. Films president Steve Sabol, who founded the company with his father, Ed, in the mid-1960s, delivered the bad news to the 21 employees. The rest of the company's employees were told of the layoffs in an internal memo sent out by chief operating officer Howard Katz and Sabol. "It was very difficult," Sabol said. "One of the most difficult things I've ever had to do. These people were like family." Sabol acknowledged that HBO's recent decision not to renew the long-running series, "Inside the NFL," was a big reason for the layoffs. The program, which featured Films-produced highlights of each week's games, generated about $5 million in revenue for the league. "Films is facing economic challenges just like any other media company, including the newspaper industry," league spokesman Brian McCarthy said. "Ongoing technological changes also forced us to re-evaluate the way we operate to remain competitive. "To address these issues, NFL Films has had to look for ways to better structure its organization, which resulted in the termination of 21 people." According to one NFL general manager familiar with the situation, the continuing struggles of the 4-year-old NFL Network also played a role in the layoffs at NFL Films. The league is at war with the nation's two top cable operators - Comcast and Time Warner - over the cost and placement of NFLN on their cable systems. Comcast has placed it on a sports tier, which means subscribers have to pay extra for it. NFLN isn't available at all on Time Warner. "The network is making money, but not nearly as much as the owners want," the GM said. "And that's primarily because of this standoff with Comcast and Time Warner. The subscription number [for NFLN] is nowhere near what they expected at this point." McCarthy insisted NFL Network's problems had nothing to do with the layoffs at NFL Films. "It did not play a role," he said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxman Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Holy crap, the Patriots stop cheating and camera men everywhere are looking for work. This is sad, really sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackout Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 well they do try to charge people 50 dollars a tape on their website... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BroadwayJ667 Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 as much as i'd love to make a smart ass comment. It's probably because the country is in recession Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thai Jet Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Holy crap, the Patriots stop cheating and camera men everywhere are looking for work. This is sad, really sad. I did think about the Cheater's camera men when I saw the headline too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thai Jet Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 http://www.philly.com/dailynews/sports/20080311_NFL_Films_lays_off_21_workers.html NFL Films, the Mount Laurel, N.J.-based company that has been the creative arm of the National Football League for more than 40 years, laid off 21 of its 283 employees last week, including some who had been with the company for decades. The directive came from the league, which owns NFL Films. Films president Steve Sabol, who founded the company with his father, Ed, in the mid-1960s, delivered the bad news to the 21 employees. The rest of the company's employees were told of the layoffs in an internal memo sent out by chief operating officer Howard Katz and Sabol. "It was very difficult," Sabol said. "One of the most difficult things I've ever had to do. These people were like family." Sabol acknowledged that HBO's recent decision not to renew the long-running series, "Inside the NFL," was a big reason for the layoffs. The program, which featured Films-produced highlights of each week's games, generated about $5 million in revenue for the league. "Films is facing economic challenges just like any other media company, including the newspaper industry," league spokesman Brian McCarthy said. "Ongoing technological changes also forced us to re-evaluate the way we operate to remain competitive. "To address these issues, NFL Films has had to look for ways to better structure its organization, which resulted in the termination of 21 people." According to one NFL general manager familiar with the situation, the continuing struggles of the 4-year-old NFL Network also played a role in the layoffs at NFL Films. The league is at war with the nation's two top cable operators - Comcast and Time Warner - over the cost and placement of NFLN on their cable systems. Comcast has placed it on a sports tier, which means subscribers have to pay extra for it. NFLN isn't available at all on Time Warner. "The network is making money, but not nearly as much as the owners want," the GM said. "And that's primarily because of this standoff with Comcast and Time Warner. The subscription number [for NFLN] is nowhere near what they expected at this point." McCarthy insisted NFL Network's problems had nothing to do with the layoffs at NFL Films. "It did not play a role," he said. I had to laugh .... "The NFL network is making money but not nearly as much as the owners want." It's NEVER enough is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawn306 Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Holy crap, the Patriots stop cheating and camera men everywhere are looking for work. This is sad, really sad. POTW nom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pragmatic Bus Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 NFL sucks balls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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