The Pac-12 network’s time is almost up with the Pac-12 Conference planning to lay off 141 employees starting January 5, 2024.
Cord Cutters News independently confirmed that the layoffs were happening, but future plans for the impacted production facility in San Ramon are yet undetermined.
The layoffs will continue through June 28, according to the report, and include broadcast engineers, directors, an on-air host and senior producer, and multiple senior-level roles.
The cuts come as the the Pac-12, one of the most storied conferences in college sports, disintegrates with most of the school having defected. As of October, Washington State and Oregon State were the only two teams not moving to the ACC, Big 10 or Big 12 next summer. The close of the college football season also marks the expiration of the Pac-12’s TV contract.
The network has struggled since it launched in 2012, never finding widespread distribution, which hampered its goal to be the go-to source for Pac-12 fans.
As with other regional sports networks, cord cutting hit the network hard, with the pandemic years particularly challenging.
This year, the Pac-12 network faced a $72 million demand from Comcast for overpayments which resulted in the network’s former president and chief financial officer being ousted. Rumors followed that the network was looking to sell off rights.
As the network struggled to bring in revenue, schools like UCLA and USC began to leave – or consider leaving – for other conferences. The exodus led to speculation that the network’s revenue would continue to fall and cable providers might drop the channel.
In August, Pac-12’s proposed streaming service deal with Apple TV+ was thrown into question after three more schools took deals and planned to leave the conference.
Given the Pac-12’s history and recent layoff news, the future looks bleak for the network.
The news was reported earlier by SFGate.