MLB Network extends buyout offers to dozens of employees

MLB Network is undergoing some changes.

A few weeks after Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo announced that High Heat would be coming to an end after an 11-season run, more dominoes have continued to fall. Puck’s John Ourand first reported in his newsletter Monday that MLB Network sent buyout offers to more than 50 employees last week.

Awful Announcing has learned that the network recently offered eligible employees a Voluntary Early Retirement Plan.

In an email to staffers obtained by Ourand, MLB Network president Bill Morningstar cited challenges with linear TV, noting declining revenue from traditional cable and satellite bundles. Despite efforts like launching a direct-to-consumer product, Morningstar admitted these moves aren’t keeping up with shifting content consumption habits.

This echoes similar buyouts and layoffs from four years ago as the network aims to “right-size the organization.”

While navigating these challenges in a transitory phase, MLB Network has remained valuable to Major League Baseball, evolving into a production hub for various baseball broadcasts, including MLB Local Media, Apple TV+’s Friday Night Baseball, Roku’s MLB Sunday Leadoff, and digital platforms like X, where they produced live shows for the World Series.

Viewership remains strong, with MLB Network Showcase games seeing an 11% increase compared to last year, averaging 231,000 viewers despite not airing in participating teams’ home markets. The coverage of Jackson Holliday’s Major League debut in April attracted 626,000 viewers, the network’s second-highest regular-season game viewership ever.

Amidst buyouts and early retirements, MLB Network is pushing forward, but as Ourand notes, “Sounds like there’s more pain to come,” hinting that the changes might not be over yet.

[Puck]