Pay is low because it can be. There's no shortage of resumes coming to this place, so they don't have to pay much to get people to fill roles. Instead they pay you in the ability to say "I work at ESPN" and put those four letters on your resume when you do leave. If you're like most people, you'll make just enough to scratch by living in a small apartment in Bristol.
Rather high turnover, because they hire a lot of young people who get their feet wet, get a little ESPN experience, then get the heck out of Bristol for a better city with more pay.
Bristol is an ugly, boring, somewhat run down little town. You may move out here from someplace else to start that "Dream Job" at ESPN, only to find yourself in a place that isn't exactly full of entertainment options and quite a bit worn in places. Not a knock on the company, per se, but may negatively effect your morale and desire to be here.
Not going to lie; drugs & booze are most definitely prevalent in this companies subculture.
Don't step out of line or HR will punish you severely here. People can, have, and will be fired over the silliest little non-politically correct office prank, joke, or questionable email. They can publish racy photos of naked athletes in ESPN the Magazine, but share those photos at work or (God forbid) display them in your cubicle - that's a trip to sensitivity training with HR, or worse.
There really aren't college sports mascots walking around the halls. ;-)
