Is Pac-12 Network really this bad?

A guy named Paul Angel posted four Glassdoor screenshots from former Pac-12 Network employees and they are not good.


Is the work environment there really this bad?
I'm only asking out of curiosity.

 

Is this what people do instead of reporting now?

 

The problems with the conference and the network would probably be a lot less if they weren't based in downtown SF. Larry Scott, the commissioner, has a vision of the conference being a brand just like Google, Apple and Facebook, he's trying to find some hedgefund to buy into the conference. He's done a good job getting the conference more games on ESPN and Fox, the problem is they tend to start after 8 p.m. EST and often compete against other Pac-12 games being shown. It makes no sense to have three Pac-12 games overlapping a time slot on Fox, ESPN and ESPN 2.
And the conference fan base just isn't as passionate about football and basketball as they are elsewhere. Game attendance as decreased like it has elsewhere, but probably moreso due to every game being available on TV and game times not being set until a week out. Throw in the competition eight of the schools have from pro teams in their areas fighting for attention, and the distances the other four fanbases may have to travel for a road game at night.
It's impacted recruiting - the top two qbs this past year nationally were in LA and they chose Clemson and Alabama. Some may argue the commissioner is to blame, but outside of Oregon - none of the schools seem interested in competing at the top level, the fans don't seem interested and are fine with the status quo.

 

The top-rated high school player in Arizona is going to Georgia.

 

I was going to come to the network's defense, saying that you can pull four of these kinds of reviews for any company, but then I saw the 2.5-star average is lower than Gannett (3.0) and around the level of BH Media (2.2). Ouch.

Still, my current employer has a mid-2, and I'm not running for any exits.

 

One thing we can all agree on Larry Scott has got to go

 

Read Jon Wilner of the Mercury News (or whatever the glorified Jell-o of his chain is called nowadays) to get incredibly detailed, reasoned, balanced information on the Pac-12 Network as a business entity.

Or better yet, spend a nanosecond or two on the Pac-12's official website. Try to find, say, a composite schedule for a sport. Or something - anything - that isn't a link to a video produced by a student/intern. (Go ahead, I'll wait.)

With that background, it would not be surprising at all to read of these complaints on Glassdoor.

 

A network like the Pac-12 just doesn't have the money and I imagine, given the geography, it's an expensive network to maintain. Big Ten is based in Chicago, which means you have 8 or 9 member schools within a 6-hour drive. That's easier for crews, outsourcing transmission, etc.

Being in San Francisco also doesn't help.

Bill Walton is probably their budget-draining hire. To offset this, you need young/inexpensive play-by-play announcers for all of the other events. I watch quite a bit of Pac-12 Network, due to my late-night gambling chasing. The production value is good but there just isn't a massive fan base for these schools. For a few schools, people show up if the teams are strong. Otherwise, lots of empty stands.

As I read the GlassDoor reviews, it sounds about like any middle-market TV group. Nothing new here. Big Ten Network has a similar rep -- because of supply/demand. More people want to work at BTN than there are jobs open. These conference networks are, essentially, independent farm teams for the national/regional cable outlets for studio hosts and analysts.

However, they can provide a great opportunity as well. I worked with a guy who was a former college player and wanted to get into TV analysis at age 40. We did low-level high school games together -- I was the PxP guy, he was the commentator. Within a year, he was on a conference network as their studio host and, now, he's national.

If you're good on BTN or Pac-12, you'll get snapped up by Fox or the WWL.

Bad reviews or not, there has never been a better time to get into play-by-play or being an analysts/studio host. So many outlets.

 

Sounds like a typical Gannett organization. Get paid fast food wages to be bullied around by effete lazy verbose assholes who have no idea how to run a business but take the time to pick on you so it looks like they’re doing something.

 

The Pac-12 Network does have an incredibly strong group of analysts and PxP people- people spending their "off-season" from their regular gigs (JB Long, Aaron Goldsmith) covering basketball, Olympic champions (Amy Van Dyken, Amanda Borden) covering the gymnastics, swimming, volleyball. Even the newbies are good.

 

I'm not familiar with JB Long nor Aaron Goldsmith, but doesn't Steve Physioc still do Pac-12 basketball during his "off-season" from the Kansas City Royals?

 

You just described the Dean Singleton years at MediaNews as well.