Actually, I wonder what effect this will have on some radio stations in the U.S. There are a growing number that are ESPN-only sports outlets, which do nothing but broadcast that network's national feed. They're essentially turn-key operations which require almost no live input locally. I'm sure ESPN will still have enough to provide them with programming, but it certainly won't be the same quality when you terminate so many on-air people at once. 

While ESPN remains a huge presence in the U.S., it isn't everybody's favourite. I have relatives in the States who hate sports yet are forced to take ESPN as part of their cable package. Shouldn't be a big deal simply not to watch it, but the problem is that because of non-stop greed over ever-increasing rights fees, the cost of the channel keeps soaring every year, which causes their bill to skyrocket. Even though they never turn it on once.

So while I'm sorry as I always am for the job losses (including, as the Star points out, Canadians Pierre Lebrun and Scott Burnside)  there are those who wish the Disney-owned monster would just go away from their program packages altogether.