ESPN Reviews

Pros

Work with accomplished individual's from top to bottom.

Cons

Office politics relating to advancement opportunities sometimes clouded clear communication between departments.

Advice to Senior Management

Overall, keep up the good work.

Pros

Pay on time and typically well.

Cons

After being an independent contractor for years and due to Dept of Labor's new regulations, forced me to be paid by a production company who asked me to do other (non-ESPN) work without compensation.

Advice to Senior Management

Quit hiding behind production companies. If they were too controversial at corporate ESPN, imagine how they are to work for when they are the boss?

Pros

Smart Sr. management.
Good benefits
Good opportunities for growth
Competitive environment
Expanding business all over country
Surrounded by competent people

Cons

Bristol is not a diverse, exciting place to live. The hours can be difficult at times but overall they are very good about getting time back in return.

Advice to Senior Management

The leadership is incredible and you feel like you have a good, solid group of people to learn from, which is important.

Pros

easy, get to watch sports, laid back

Cons

horrible hours, no advancement, little supervision

Advice to Senior Management

have a career path

Pros

1. Good Employee Benefits
2. Good work life Balance
3. Good Compensation
4. Good Career Advancement opportunities
5. Brand Name Leverage

Cons

1. Scope for improvement in inter department communication
2. Structured Employee development opportunities
3. Scope for improvement in communication top down
4. More accessibility to Leadership Team

Advice to Senior Management

1. Scope for improvement in inter department communication
2. Structured Employee development opportunities
3. Scope for improvement in communication top down
4. More accessibility to Leadership Team

Pros

great place to work if you are out of school or coming from a small TV market. Many opportunities to grow and learn about the business. if you love sports this is the place to be.

Cons

Very demanding schedule and expectations. Perception is reality instead of true performance. Not necessarily the most enjoyable working environment. very corporate life style.

Advice to Senior Management

Observe your employees instead of expecting feedback from others. Don't assume because you have done the job in the past, you are familiar w/current expectations of the position.

Pros

If you are passionate in sports and want to make a difference in the way Fans see it, it only takes a knock on a door to make he pitch.

Cons

salaries are low and the opportunity for career advancement has slowed down. there is an unfair advantage between managers and company perspective.

Advice to Senior Management

you should make sure your direct reports can advance or the product and team camaraderie may suffer which will effect the overall product / efforts.

Pros

- opportunity to grow
- smart co-workers
- team environment
- worldwide leader in sports
- goo energy from top to bottom

Cons

- very competitive
- some huge egos
- employees on lower levels not treated as equals
- hard to advance

Advice to Senior Management

Take a hands-on approach to knowing what your workers are doing rather than basing their performance on what others say...there's a general disconnect there.

Pros

Electric atmosphere, At every level, you work shoulder-to-shoulder with the absolute best in the industry. Project opportunities abound. Self-starters thrive. Exceptional talent will definately be noticed. The Bristol campus is a very good place to work; sometimes even fun. The "This Is SportsCenter" commercials really aren't all that far fetched.
Talented staff are respected and appreciated by supervisors.

Cons

A factory. Sports production has a voracious appetite for content; no letup.
It's a great place to work, so middle and top managers are lifers. Thus, limited advancement opportunities, even for solid performers.
A 2010-2011 company priority is to "focus on employee development." So, expect to get training to make you smarter; but don't expect that improved performance will lead to promotions in pay or status. Harsh semi-annual and annual reviews: you will be told that "outstanding performance" is the norm at "the Worldwide Leader;" thus exceptional output is rewarded only with middle-of-the-spectrum reviews.

Advice to Senior Management

Retention is going to become an issue again. Successful bottom lines will clash with industry-leading expectations on the staff (including expectations of a "focus on empoyee development" to improve our output) and the perception that advancement is just not in the cards. It's happening above and below the line.

Pros

ESPN lives up to the "worldwide leader in sports" moniker. They have the most resources, the most rights, and the largest commitment to push the envelope in how they cover sports across every possible media platform.

The executive leadership is particularly strong - I alwys felt that starting with George Bodenheimer, our company was headed in a good direction and they had their eyes on our future growth as a company.

Cons

As is common in a 'fun' industry like this, the pay is not great (of course if you wanted big paychecks, you shouldn't be working in sports media).

The culture is extremely competitive and demanding - you feel as though you are always on call and it definitely becomes grinding. As others have commented "work/life balance" is much preached, but not really followed. The high level managers struggle with it too (it's not just the worker bees who are working 60+ hours per week) but it trickles down so nobody feels like they can rest.

Sadly, there is still an old boy network there and having a frienship with a company veteran is often the best way to promotion.

I made peac with my time there - after 10 years, I realized that I was on a 'worker bee' track and was being used more as a 'do-er' than a 'thinker', even though I was doing both. The thinkers get promotions and the do-ers just keep getting more work. So I left after 10 years and actually felt good about my time there. It helped me grow professionally and gave me contacts that I still use today.

Advice to Senior Management

Watch your managers a little closer. There are a bunch who do a fine job of looking good for their bosses, but they do it on the backs of their direct reports who are not often rewarded.