NESN is canceling its daily sports news programs, “NESN After Hours” and “NESN Sports Update,” and plans to replace them eventually in part with gambling content.
A few behind-the-scenes employees will lose their jobs with the change, while others will be reassigned to the production teams for other programming and game coverage.
The final day for “NESN After Hours” and “NESN Sports Update” will be March 11.
Many NESN contributors were told of the changes in recent days. The network has had some on-air turnover lately, with former Patriots linebacker Matt Chatham among those announcing they would no longer be providing analysis on NESN.
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NESN is planning to ramp up its gambling content. A program featuring current NESN betting analyst Sam Panayotovich is likely, though details are still being worked out.
In a statement, a NESN spokesperson said, “Changing consumer preferences and content consumption habits necessitates a shift in how we’re deploying our resources, and the content we’re delivering to best serve our viewers.
“We will be sharing updates and additions to our content offerings as they become available, but certainly sports betting content and short-form digital content will be top priorities as we look to continue to deliver programming that meets the needs of our audience.”
Chad Finn can be reached at chad.finn@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeChadFinn.