Is Pac-12 Network really this bad?

[RonClements]

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.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Is this what people do instead of reporting now?

 

[DanOregon]

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.

 

[RonClements]

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.

 

[jlee]

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.

 

[nickp]

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

 

[Dog8Cats]

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.

 

[exmediahack]

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.

 

[Sports Barf]

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.

 

[DanOregon]

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.

 

[Liut]

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?

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

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.

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

 

[DanOregon]

Long is the radio guy for the Rams, Goldsmith is the no. 2 radio guy for the Mariners. They also use former 49ers radio pxp Ted Robinson a lot. I do wish they found a spot for Barry Tompkins who was the voice of the conference for decades, and still does stuff for Comcast Bay Area.
I haven't seen Physioc on the air.

 

[HanSenSE]

Long is the radio guy for the Rams, Goldsmith is the no. 2 radio guy for the Mariners. They also use former 49ers radio pxp Ted Robinson a lot. I do wish they found a spot for Barry Tompkins who was the voice of the conference for decades, and still does stuff for Comcast Bay Area.
I haven't seen Physioc on the air.

I think Physioc is doing Big 12 games.

Tompkins is mostly doing boxing on Showtime as well as the California state high school football and basketball finals. He and Dan Belloumi were great on WCC and Big West hoops as well as the Pac-12.

 

[micropolitan guy]

Long is the radio guy for the Rams, Goldsmith is the no. 2 radio guy for the Mariners. They also use former 49ers radio pxp Ted Robinson a lot. I do wish they found a spot for Barry Tompkins who was the voice of the conference for decades, and still does stuff for Comcast Bay Area.
I haven't seen Physioc on the air.

Roxy Bernstein also for basketball and baseball, he does A's games.

 

[DanOregon]

The other problem the conference has is that it sits on some of the pricier real estate in the country - when you already are falling behind other conferences in income, I'm guessing it's harder to retain athletic department staff and coaches when they could upgrade considerable with a higher salary and a less-expensive real estate market in another conference. Like a three-bedroom to McMansion type upgrade.

 

[LanceyHoward]

The Pac-12 network appears on the brink of closing. It is not really that surprising given the lack of intense fan interest in the Pac-12 and the general woes of the cable television industry. And the Pac-12 is horrendously managed.

Canzano: Pac-12 Networks facing questions and a cloudy path

But I wonder if some of the same industry problems will drag down the ACC network. The Big 10 network is well established but I wonder if it will continue to be the same cash cow it has long been for the conference. I read the conference was getting $8.50 a year from cable companies to carry it. But I wonder if in the next round of negotiations they will get as much, especially since the best events are on the networks or the big cable channels.

And John Canzano seems to be one hell of a reporter, based upon his work on the Pac-12.

 

[wicked]

There was talk several years back that ESPN offered to take over the Pac-12 Network if the conference extended its rights deals. Larry Scott said no, because he was hoping Amazon would come in and save the day.

Edit: It was to take over the network’s distribution. Here’s the link.

Pac-12 rejects ESPN's offer to take over Pac-12 Networks