ESPN’s College GameDay crew incorporated point spreads in their picks on Saturday during their broadcast from Sundance Square in Fort Worth.(Photo: Raymond Carlin III, USA TODAY Sports)

ESPN, the sports cable network owned by the Walt Disney Co., plans to cut as many as 350 jobs, according to Bloomberg News.

The reduction of about 4.3% of its workforce could be announced early Wednesday, the report said, citing unnamed sources.

ESPN declined to comment on the report.

The network has been battling rising programming costs and sluggish advertising sales as viewers increasingly ditch cable for streaming options. In August, Disney said its cable network unit's operating income for the fiscal third quarter rose 7% to $ 2.1 billion but ESPN's advertising revenue fell. "Lower advertising revenues reflected lower ratings and rates," it said.

During a conference call with analysts for the August earnings report, Disney also lowered the outlook for the cable network unit’s profit. The statement triggered a sell-off of its shares, leading to an 8% decline on August 5. The stock has since rebounded and it’s up about 17% for the year.

Disney shares rose 0.34% Tuesday to end regular-hours trading at $ 109.84.

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