I spotted that article at Fox Sports.
http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/outkick-the-coverage/espn-has-lost-7-million-subscribers-the-past-two-years-112515
I guess they'll have a clue to see what caused the decline and the decline was linked to the moment ESPN jumped the shark.
I spotted some threads and a video about when ESPN jumped the shark
http://www.baylorfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=298480
http://gstatman.blogspot.ca/2009/07/when-did-espn-jump-shark.html
http://www.sportsbookreview.com/forum/players-talk/1812000-when-did-espn-jump-shark.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHeUIpcaDhM
Excellent number crunching analysis! The change in media continues and now it is the cord cutters' turn to create that change.
Rick
It was that Lebron James announcement circus when he signed with the Heat. Yeah there's many other things you can point to that were steps toward that network becoming unwatchable, but that Lebron thing was the final straw. It encapsulates everything that's terrible about ESPN in a single event and was a wake up call for viewers who had been lulled into going along with the increasing crappiness.
That's when they finally jumped their pathetic ass over the shark.
ESPN sucks now because it has turned into cable news. They have copied all the same gimmicks and formats the cable news channels use to keep eyeballs. The only difference is they are talking about football instead of the Presidential Election. Everything else is the same; the graphics, the talking heads, the arguing over bullshit that doesn't really matter. We'll be right back after 7,000 commercials for Draft Kings.
Well when their products and apps don't work half the time (XBONE app, ESPN phone app)
But how many viewers has Fox Sports lost? CNN? Lifetime Network? HGTV? Disney Channel? Probably the same losses, due to network bundling, although more and more folks have had enough of spending $50-100/month on cable or satellite programming. Yes, you get more channels, but I think a lot of people realize you can't squeeze any more time into actually watching them, compared to the Internet's pricing model.
Don't get me wrong, ESPN isn't doing much of anything right in my book, but I just look at it as designed for a younger generation or those who want a televised Twitter feed.
I'm privy to bulk pricing information for various channel packages offered to hotels, nursing homes, and other institutions.
Adding just the basic ESPN block of channels to a system can DOUBLE the monthly charge. For administrators trying to watch expenses, dropping ESPN is a pretty easy decision to make. There ARE other sports channels, after all.
You know you're doing very badly when your biggest rival puts out a story about you. For one, ESPN's coverage of the NBA pales in comparison to the gold standard that was NBC's coverage during the 90s.
On the plus side, at least ESPN does not have Joe Buck!
The only thing I miss about ESPN these days is being able to watch my favorite teams when they're on one of their channels. Otherwise, I haven't missed it since dropping DirecTV about 3 years ago and went to only our antenna for TV. But that's the draw to ESPN and other sports networks, and also what drives up their cost, is the live sporting events. Otherwise who would watch if all it was was ESPNEWS 24/7? That's where they make their money. There are plenty of other places online to catch highlights, news, etc. that you don't need it just for Sportscenter. I just figure if it's a big enough game I want to see, I can just go to my inlaws who still have cable or to the bar.
I think ESPN's biggest issue is that it is just 2 or 3 guys talking about sports all day long, rather than actually broadcasting games. Didn't ESPN used to broadcast Australian and Canadian Football. What about Euro League Basketball. If they broadcasted more games (that Americans are interested in, aka not soccer) their ratings would go up. No one wants to watch 2 or 3 old guys talk about Lebron and Peyton all day long.
That sounds like some sports media in this part of the world. For them it seems sports are just two association football teams (Real Madrid and FC Barcelona) and nothing else.
Quote from: US 41 on December 02, 2015, 11:41:32 AM
I think ESPN's biggest issue is that it is just 2 or 3 guys talking about sports all day long, rather than actually broadcasting games. Didn't ESPN used to broadcast Australian and Canadian Football. What about Euro League Basketball. If they broadcasted more games (that Americans are interested in, aka not soccer) their ratings would go up. No one wants to watch 2 or 3 old guys talk about Lebron and Peyton all day long.
Hello, ESPN2/3/4? Outside the NBA, Sunday Night Baseball and Monday Night Football (which is still a Disney property, as the company also owns original broadcaster ABC), there needs to be far more variety for ESPN to cover. What good would having extra channels do if they won't step outside their comfort zone every once in a while?
Quote from: Henry on December 02, 2015, 11:53:48 AM
Quote from: US 41 on December 02, 2015, 11:41:32 AM
I think ESPN's biggest issue is that it is just 2 or 3 guys talking about sports all day long, rather than actually broadcasting games. Didn't ESPN used to broadcast Australian and Canadian Football. What about Euro League Basketball. If they broadcasted more games (that Americans are interested in, aka not soccer) their ratings would go up. No one wants to watch 2 or 3 old guys talk about Lebron and Peyton all day long.
Hello, ESPN2/3/4? Outside the NBA, Sunday Night Baseball and Monday Night Football (which is still a Disney property, as the company also owns original broadcaster ABC), there needs to be far more variety for ESPN to cover. What good would having extra channels do if they won't step outside their comfort zone every once in a while?
ESPN broadcast Magic The Gathering and Women's Flat Track Roller Derby one time, then never tried again. They have proven remarkably resistant to trying new events. As for sports journalism, I have found the Thirty For Thirty series remarkably good. Watch "The U" or the story about Todd Marinovich to see when this network wants to be seriously good, they can.
Hey, if McDonald's and KFC can flounder, why not ESPN? For every thing there is a season and ESPN is heading for wintertime. It was a good ride while it lasted though!
Rick
Quote from: nexus73 on December 02, 2015, 07:27:17 PMAs for sports journalism, I have found the Thirty For Thirty series remarkably good. Watch "The U" or the story about Todd Marinovich to see when this network wants to be seriously good, they can.
The docs are usually pretty good, but they need to drop the "30 for 30" name since neither of those 30's applies anymore.
Meh. ESPN sucks anyways. Always had. Always will. Next?!
I liked ESPN the best when it had a much higher action-to-jibberjabber ratio. Truck pulling, arm-wrestling, windsurfing and that sort of stuff instead of endless controversies. I get sick of ESPN trying to shape society and create values systems. Their Michale Vick dog-fighting coverage got old fast. Yes we know dog fighting is bad.
But the way people talk about sports has changed completely since ESPN got all jibber-jabber. They know so much more about teams that they don't follow closely, out-of-town teams and ridiculous stats than say people in the '80s. They really like talking about these things now and taking that away to show Trans Am races again would totally lose today's fans.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/12/30/461524420/espn-invites-fifa-presidential-candidates-to-debate-on-live-tv
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2015/12/30/espn-invites-fifa-presidential-candidates-to-debate-on-live-tv/
http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2015/12/30/10688978/espn-wants-to-stage-a-fifa-presidential-debate
Interesting to see that ESPN wants to air the FIFA debates. But wait do people really want to watch a Fifa presidential debate.
What?? Nobody really cares who the FIFA leader is unless Donald Trump is in the debates.
Quote from: bing101 on January 01, 2016, 08:37:20 PM
Interesting to see that ESPN wants to air the FIFA debates. But wait do people really want to watch a Fifa presidential debate.
What?? Nobody really cares who the FIFA leader is unless Donald Trump is in the debates.
ESPN had caught the "MTV syndrome". I could imagine the Nostalgia Critic doing the following reactions. ;)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE9I-FhQ-xk
https://youtu.be/LTu8crcoeBI?t=25s
It's amazing. Five years ago, everyone loved them. Let time pass, and they've become absolute trash that hides in a very minute corner under your bed. They're so bad at discussing sports...I'd rather have myself do that.
TL;DR: ESPN is bad.
There are very few cable specialty networks that have stayed excellent for a prolonged period. The medium has exploded to the point where constant marketing data creates constant format tweaking. These outlets only exist to chase the multiplying and shrinking slivers of the advertising pie. Quality content is an increasingly obsolete concept.
Turn off, tune out, drop the subscription. TV's not going to suddenly get good.
Quote from: Stephane Dumas on January 01, 2016, 09:52:31 PM
Quote from: bing101 on January 01, 2016, 08:37:20 PM
Interesting to see that ESPN wants to air the FIFA debates. But wait do people really want to watch a Fifa presidential debate.
What?? Nobody really cares who the FIFA leader is unless Donald Trump is in the debates.
ESPN had caught the "MTV syndrome". I could imagine the Nostalgia Critic doing the following reactions. ;)
Yes except this ain't so much an "MTV syndrome" My link said ESPN will air the FIFA debates January 29. Its ESPN having a CNN and Fox News syndrome caving into politics.
Makes perfect sense, since ESPN has borrowed the cable news model of having some talking heads blather about a "controversial" issue in sports for short, meaningless periods of time. After a few talking points where no useful information is shared, it's on to the next subject. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Commercial.
http://www.insideworldfootball.com/fifa/18590-espn-join-fray-inviting-fifa-candidates-to-a-tv-debate-in-london
Update FIFA has declared London as the venue to air the FIFA Presidential debates and ESPN has the broadcasting rights to air the debates in the USA.
Wow Its incredible to see ESPN as a political network and becoming less of a sports network. Instead of going after Trump, Sanders Clinton, Bush and Rubio for the White House and their Lobbyists/ Superpacs of their political parties.
This time its the FIFA president, board and investors/Superpacs of FIFA teams and stadiums leaders thats on the political hot seat and in the firing lines of Pundits.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/01/13/survey-paints-gloomy-picture-for-espn/
Here is an update.
What's the over/under on ESPN debuting some sort of house-hunting show? That's when you'll know the decline is accelerating.
Quote from: kurumi on January 15, 2016, 12:31:52 AM
What's the over/under on ESPN debuting some sort of house-hunting show? That's when you'll know the decline is accelerating.
I'd imagine most wealthy athletes build to suit.
If you're shopping for a house, the shows are kind of useful.
http://offthemonstersports.com/2016/05/report-espn-is-losing-subscribers-by-the-millions-and-millions/ (http://offthemonstersports.com/2016/05/report-espn-is-losing-subscribers-by-the-millions-and-millions/)
Heres an update of the ESPN fiasco. Wow Comedy Central did a segment about ESPN Pundits.
"You know, television is called a new medium, and I have discovered why they call it a Medium — because nothing is Well Done." - Fred Allen, who would only gag at what TV is like today
http://www.fhm.com.ph/lifestyle/sports/stephen-a-smith-predicting-the-nba-finals-a00028-20160623
And Stephen A. Smith gets the gotcha treatment here.
I bump this thread by adding a bit more on the table about ESPN lost subscribers.
http://www.outkickthecoverage.com/espn-loses-621-000-subscribers-worst-month-in-company-history-102916
Would ESPN became one day irrelevant like MTV?
Is MTV irrelevant, or simply not the music station it was 20 or 30 years ago? They still have numerous viewers.
Also, it's not like ESPN itself lost those subscribers. If someone dropped their cable/satellite subscription, 200+ channels lost a subscriber, not just ESPN.
Again, Media: Intentionally misleading everyone.(Sidenote: Media has lost millions of subscribers. They are basically hanging on by a thread, and clickbate headlines like this are about the only thing that keeps people reading their crap and forming misguided opinions)
Quote from: jeffandnicole on October 29, 2016, 08:38:11 PM
Is MTV irrelevant, or simply not the music station it was 20 or 30 years ago? They still have numerous viewers.
They mostly show crappy reality shows though I have lost track of which ones they air these days. (I know of 16 and Pregnant, Real World, Next, etc.)
Also MTV still has the VMAs, which people only care about to see Miley Cyrus try to shock people.
Quote from: 74/171FAN on October 29, 2016, 09:04:25 PM
Quote from: jeffandnicole on October 29, 2016, 08:38:11 PM
Is MTV irrelevant, or simply not the music station it was 20 or 30 years ago? They still have numerous viewers.
They mostly show crappy reality shows though I have lost track of which ones they air these days. (I know of 16 and Pregnant, Real World, Next, etc.)
Also MTV still has the VMAs, which people only care about to see Miley Cyrus try to shock people.
Yeah, I know, but as long as they get those teenage viewers I guess they're happy.
Quote from: jeffandnicole on October 29, 2016, 09:38:31 PM
Quote from: 74/171FAN on October 29, 2016, 09:04:25 PM
Quote from: jeffandnicole on October 29, 2016, 08:38:11 PM
Is MTV irrelevant, or simply not the music station it was 20 or 30 years ago? They still have numerous viewers.
They mostly show crappy reality shows though I have lost track of which ones they air these days. (I know of 16 and Pregnant, Real World, Next, etc.)
Also MTV still has the VMAs, which people only care about to see Miley Cyrus try to shock people.
Yeah, I know, but as long as they get those teenage viewers I guess they're happy.
Well aren't there a lot more choices nowadays for sports coverage? You have Yahoo, Fox, and NBC all running some pretty large stuff on TV or online. I tend to watch Mike and Mike in the morning on weekdays still when I'm eating breakfast and whatever game happens to catch my interest. Back in the 1990s and even early 2000s ESPN really had the market cornered on sports coverage and really even broadcasting. It seems like a lot of the former powerhouse media and entertainment outlets are losing their market share due to infinitely higher amounts of competition. Even the NFL is finally seeing a ratings decline after all these years.
Now MTV....good god what the hell happened there? I remember it was just music videos and at worst Beavis and Butthead. Do they even show music anymore?
IMHO,
98% of the value in ESPN is in live games. Fat, dumb, and happy, ESPN management has spent millions on these talking head arguers during the weekday. They could show infomercials all day on weekdays and no one would care.
Fox could have done with FS1 re ESPN what it did with FNC re CNN, which is BE DIFFERENT. Rather it just duplicated ESPN's NBA obsessed sports center and talking head shows. No one has noticed.
The TV model is changing. In the past "everybody" paid for all channels, and sports were a big part of the bill. Soon people will pick and choose channel by channel, and many, probably most, people do not watch sports. Since most of those $$ pass through ESPN (et al) to the teams and to the players, they will all have to make do with only $40M/year rather than $50M. Who cares?
Quote from: SP Cook on October 30, 2016, 12:05:17 PM
IMHO,
98% of the value in ESPN is in live games. Fat, dumb, and happy, ESPN management has spent millions on these talking head arguers during the weekday. They could show infomercials all day on weekdays and no one would care.
Fox could have done with FS1 re ESPN what it did with FNC re CNN, which is BE DIFFERENT. Rather it just duplicated ESPN's NBA obsessed sports center and talking head shows. No one has noticed.
The TV model is changing. In the past "everybody" paid for all channels, and sports were a big part of the bill. Soon people will pick and choose channel by channel, and many, probably most, people do not watch sports. Since most of those $$ pass through ESPN (et al) to the teams and to the players, they will all have to make do with only $40M/year rather than $50M. Who cares?
I just watch games on ESPN3 for free via my internet. If a game was on ESPN or ESPN2 I can just watch the replay later if I want to. Other than that I can also watch games on ABC, CBS, and FOX.
The so called "experts" are wrong half the time anyways, just like the weatherman. It's pretty well pointless to listen to anything they say.
http://www.outkickthecoverage.com/espn-loses-621-000-subscribers-worst-month-in-company-history-102916
Update
Quote from: kurumi on January 15, 2016, 12:31:52 AM
What's the over/under on ESPN debuting some sort of house-hunting show? That's when you'll know the decline is accelerating.
Hoarders - ESPN Edition
Quote from: roadman on November 03, 2016, 10:22:17 AM
Quote from: kurumi on January 15, 2016, 12:31:52 AM
What's the over/under on ESPN debuting some sort of house-hunting show? That's when you'll know the decline is accelerating.
Hoarders - ESPN Edition
NFL Network now has a "Pimp My Ride" rip off I see advertised during games on broadcast TV.
http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-mavericks/mavericks/2016/11/07/mark-cuban-thinks-espn-covering-mavericks
Mark Cuban suspends credentials to two ESPN writers and yes the explanation is crazier from here.
Quote from: bing101 on November 08, 2016, 10:35:25 AM
http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-mavericks/mavericks/2016/11/07/mark-cuban-thinks-espn-covering-mavericks
Mark Cuban suspends credentials to two ESPN writers and yes the explanation is crazier from here.
I often read stories in my newspaper that I swear were written on an iPhone while the reporter sat in bed. So not only do I believe this reasoning, but it's good reasoning. If you can't show up at the game, don't just take your story from someone else.
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/10/liberty-medias-malone-sees-disney-possibly-spinning-off-espn.html?__source=Twitter
Update for ESPN.
Quote from: triplemultiplex on January 02, 2016, 09:25:05 PM
Makes perfect sense, since ESPN has borrowed the cable news model of having some talking heads blather about a "controversial" issue in sports for short, meaningless periods of time. After a few talking points where no useful information is shared, it's on to the next subject. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Commercial.
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/media/306724-the-new-political-battlefield-espn
Yes Politics is an issue at ESPN. and Amazon is considering to get sports coverage.
http://advanced-television.com/2016/11/22/amazon-eyes-live-sports-rights/
ESPN politics. Yes. Most of the older crowd follows Carson's Rule (don't p*** off half of your viewers). But the younger group has a sneering and condecending attitude where they assume their opinions are the only ones which are legitimate. What effect is this having on its ratings? Don't know, but denying it exists or that it has some is delusion.
Amazon or whoever in sports or whatever. This is bad for the consumer. Today, if you want, you can have "all" the channels. If this is on Amazon and that is on Netflix and the next thing is on Google and then three other things are on regular linear channels, and all of it in bundles and packages with lots of duplication, then no ordinary person can afford to subscribe to everything. I like having access to everything.
Quote from: SP Cook on November 22, 2016, 01:59:28 PM
ESPN politics. Yes. Most of the older crowd follows Carson's Rule (don't p*** off half of your viewers). But the younger group has a sneering and condecending attitude where they assume their opinions are the only ones which are legitimate. What effect is this having on its ratings? Don't know, but denying it exists or that it has some is delusion.
Amazon or whoever in sports or whatever. This is bad for the consumer. Today, if you want, you can have "all" the channels. If this is on Amazon and that is on Netflix and the next thing is on Google and then three other things are on regular linear channels, and all of it in bundles and packages with lots of duplication, then no ordinary person can afford to subscribe to everything. I like having access to everything.
Well we also have youtube if you want to see sporting events that ESPN does not air such as these following games.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAEGBSvoGF0
And this.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/27/us/nfl-colin-kaepernick-castro-feud/
Well ESPN will have to continue talking about politics as long as Colin Kaepernick is still in the NFL and is using the NFL as a platform for a future political seat.
http://www.medialifemagazine.com/yes-nfl-ratings-ad-prices/
http://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-sports-channels-20161128-story.html
Sports programming games + pundit shows are to allegedly to blame for high Cable TV bills.
An audio exterpt in French talking of ESPN and the impact who might come in Canada on RDS and TSN. And analyst Luc Dupont think then the players salaries might had reached a roof.
http://radioego.com/media/je-pense-quon-a-atteint-le-fond
Quote from: bing101 on November 22, 2016, 02:45:22 PMWell we also have youtube if you want to see sporting events that ESPN does not air such as these following games.
was this meant to be a joke set of sports no one cares about?
Quote
Not the best teams, but Netball is great fun. A bit anal retentive as to where players can go, but better than basketball to play and watch (not least as it needs more skill - a female netball team challenged an equivalent-quality (league position, etc) male basketball team to play a game each of both sports and kicked their asses).
Quote
If Clare Balding is presenting it, it is proper sport, the Olympics, or Horse Racing. Her 2012 Olympic and Paralympic coverage took her from the A-list British sports journalism, to be the biggest name in presenting non-football sports programs in the UK. This would have aired on non-subscription UK TV - all two glorious hours of it.
PS: you forgot snooker (Auntie BBC always provides extensive coverage of major tournaments)
and darts (again, the Beeb typically provides extensive coverage)
and don't forget cricket (although youtube is lacking in full on videos - so have some highlights grabbed from SkySports coverage of a one-day match between two of the best sides), though unlike Darts and Bowls, it is merely highlights without a subscription (though with Sky Sports it's fairly comprehensive wrt internationals).
Unless you are happy with TMS' excellent audio-only commentary (here provided by the son of the guy who went to Eton with Ian Fleming and gave the surname to James Bond's greatest enemy) that is.
:P
You wouldn't have got this on ESPN either, but mostly as NBC bought the rights to the Paralympics and squandered them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btti-SvLqBo
Quote from: english si on December 07, 2016, 06:29:05 PM
Quote from: bing101 on November 22, 2016, 02:45:22 PMWell we also have youtube if you want to see sporting events that ESPN does not air such as these following games.
was this meant to be a joke set of sports no one cares about?
:p
No if we really hate these pundits so much on ESPN why not watch some games or leagues that ESPN does not cover.
Quote from: bing101 on December 08, 2016, 12:06:33 PM
Quote from: english si on December 07, 2016, 06:29:05 PM
Quote from: bing101 on November 22, 2016, 02:45:22 PMWell we also have youtube if you want to see sporting events that ESPN does not air such as these following games.
was this meant to be a joke set of sports no one cares about?
:p
No if we really hate these pundits so much on ESPN why not watch some games or leagues that ESPN does not cover.
Yeah, that jump in the video's pretty darned amazing.
Quote from: bing101 on December 08, 2016, 12:06:33 PMNo if we really hate these pundits so much on ESPN why not watch some games or leagues that ESPN does not cover.
Do ESPN really show almost every possible sport that you have to go to netball and bowling? Not that there's anything wrong with these sports, just that they aren't ones Americans like to watch (hence the ':P'). That you picked sports that would basically be on 'the Ocho' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvmyJQd515Y)* suggested that you were joking, though I wasn't sure.
*at least in N America - as I pointed out the bowls would have aired on bog standard UK TV (I think I saw an earlier round of a lesser contest once - one team were literally old women - though, to be fair, retirees are the majority of people who play the sport). Plus the other sports, save the bowling, would have been televised somewhere in Europe.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/12/07/one-of-disneys-most-popular-brands-has-investors-really-worried/?utm_term=.e400c2860b3f
Here's an update.
http://www.fiercecable.com/broadcasting/disney-s-cable-network-operating-income-fell-11-because-espn
Update
ESPN on the radio is a ratings disaster and money loser, like on the AM and FM dials, when more listeners go to the internet and satellite subscription to hear sports talk or live games. Locally, in English is 103.9 FM and in spanish 1330 AM from L.A., and from Tijuana but in English 1500 AM (they must air the Mexican national anthem at Midnight). Would it be cool if ESPN or FOX News or WGN goes over-the-air, like the closing XETV 6 (audio can be on 87.7 FM). But the radio and TV industries are so last century, millennia or age. ESPN is in danger of folding, like ABC-owned Radio Disney (710 or 1110 AM in my area), and the odd but cool Radio MTV used to be on terrestrial radio in the 2000s.
https://thevideoink.com/state-of-streaming-2017-part-2-squandering-cables-last-best-hope-7cbe609899ab#.e95ib679q
https://thevideoink.com/state-of-streaming-2017-why-sports-wont-save-cable-a16c6831b534#.1jsxc4qlk
Streaming and cable.
http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/06/news/companies/espn-layoffs-talent/
Update for ESPN.
Published on Sunday...
http://www.si.com/tech-media/2017/03/05/espn-sunday-nfl-countdown-replacement-chris-berman-sam-ponder (http://www.si.com/tech-media/2017/03/05/espn-sunday-nfl-countdown-replacement-chris-berman-sam-ponder)
Quote
1. During my career at Sports Illustrated I've seen many layoffs at our company. There are few things more gutting and demoralizing to see great people leave your organization. I report the following joylessly:
SI has learned that ESPN will have significant cost-cutting over the next four months on its talent side (people in front of the camera or audio/digital screen). Multiple sources said ESPN has been tasked with paring tens of millions of staff salary from its payroll, including staffers many viewers and readers will recognize. Those with contracts coming up would be particularly vulnerable, sources said. The company is also expected to buyout some existing contracts, which is something rare for ESPN historically beyond a few NFL talents. The cuts are expected to be completed by June. Sources within ESPN say that there is no set list of names yet and stressed that behind-the-scenes people will likely (key word) not be impacted by these cuts.
Last month Reuters reported Disney had a lower-than-expected quarterly revenue, hurt by the drop in advertising revenue at ESPN. In addition, ESPN continues to shed subscribers at an enhanced rate, down to 88.4 million households in Dec. 2016. That number was 100.002 million in Feb. 2011.
Though it remains one of the great destination jobs in the sports media and hiring will continue, ESPN has experienced significant layoffs over the last two years. In Oct. 2015 the company laid off roughly 300 employees, many who had spent their entire professional careers at ESPN. Sports Business Daily media writer John Ourand, in this piece on those layoffs, examined the skyrocketing rights fees and deep distribution cuts that led to those layoffs.
On Sunday when contacted by SI.com, an ESPN spokesperson provided the following statement: "We have long been about serving fans and innovating to create the best content for them. Today's fans consume content in many different ways and we are in a continuous process of adapting to change and improving what we do. Inevitably that has consequences for how we utilize our talent. We are confident that ESPN will continue to have a roster of talent that is unequaled in sports."
http://www.thewrap.com/espn-names-suzy-kolber-samantha-ponder-and-trey-wingo-as-new-nfl-studio-hosts/
New Pundits for ESPN's NFL talk show.
Layoffs? Don't talk about layoffs!
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/04/26/sports/espn-layoffs.html
Live feed: http://deadspin.com/a-running-list-of-espn-layoffs-1794664091
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on April 26, 2017, 07:42:02 PM
Live feed: http://deadspin.com/a-running-list-of-espn-layoffs-1794664091
Sadly, Doctor Jerry Punch was one of the layoffs after 30 years.
You're not going to find many PhDs with articulation and sporting credentials.
Ew, Deadspin.
-recovering Jalopnik reader
For me, the biggest loss is Jayson Stark. He truly helped me appreciate the game with his consistently long columns about all of the abnormal things that happen in baseball every night.
Agreed. They should have kept him and dropped Keith Law.
Jerry Punch has an MD, not a PhD. He let his medical license expire in the 90s as he rode the NASCAR wave.
Anyway, if you look at the list, ESPN's plan going forward is pretty clear.
First, how did ESPN get in the shape it is in? Well, yes, it is all due to streaming and the internet and all of that, yes. But the reason ESPN is so expensive and thus people are wanting to "cord cut" and get free of it is its massive over-bids for sports contracts. Particularly the NBA.
The NBA cashed in at just the right time, with the other 3 networks launching sports channels and ESPN's management just panicked. $24 BILLION for a sport that just is not that popular. If you look at its ratings and do the standard normalizations to make it an apples to apples comparison with sports broadcast regionally, such as most baseball, it just massively over-bid. It thought that the old system of bundled cable would continue and "everybody" would pay up.
It bid so much that it made going to unbundled alternatives reasonable for many people.
So ESPN fired 100 of the about 1000 "talent" positions, as well as closed most of its second base of operations in Charlotte (ESPNU was run from there). Who did it fire.
The people that don't cover the NBA. ESPN either realizes it is stuck with the NBA until 2023 or is do dumb that it still thinks it made a good deal, but either way it is doubling down on it. The hip-hop SC6 that it replaced Sports Center with is the future at ESPN. Lifestyles, rap music, soap opera like coverage of NBA players lives,.
ESPN going forward is a place for live games only. There will be nothing for the 98% who do not watch the NBA regular season before game time.
Quote from: SP Cook on April 27, 2017, 09:49:57 AM
Jerry Punch has an MD, not a PhD. He let his medical license expire in the 90s as he rode the NASCAR wave.
Yeah, that's it...Thinking of the wrong doctorate.
I think we're at the point where paying billions for any sport is going to be a loss (or a loss-leader) to a network. And that's when the sports bubble really bursts; when the leagues or sporting bodies are going to have to reduce their contractual prices well before the handshake. Either that, or the teams go to their own pricing models and distribution.
SportsCenter has been nearly unwatchable over the past 10 years or so; exceptions on Sundays or Mondays when there was enough action that they didn't rely on so much filler. Even then, I can largely do without it...I have things to do on Monday mornings, and places to be. Once they had to remind their viewers before each commercial break that they're in their Los Angeles studio (as if the plugs for the Budweiser Top 10 Plays brought to you by Chevy Trucks and Progressive Insurance wasn't enough), it seemed that I'd just outgrown that sort of bullshit. Never mind the Twitter feuds, pointless chatter about celebrities, and many hollow interviews that are largely indistinguishable from one team/coach/player to the next.
I don't think I've watched 50 total hours of programming on ESPN since their final NASCAR broadcast from Homestead-Miami Speedway in November of 2014. My work schedule and advancing age have made it almost impossible to watch an entire Monday Night Football broadcast.
When Dan Patrick left the network the final reason for me to watch SportsCenter left with him. By then I was consuming all of my stats/scores/highlights in other media anyway.
Now that Chris Bermann is gone I see no reason to watch any of their NFL related programming except the game itself, anyway. I don't follow basketball any more, todays players would be spending most of their time in the emergency room if they had to play against the players of the 80's and early 90's (and with that time period's rules too).
I'll watch the Indy 500 Memorial day weekend as it is my tradition to watch all 3 races (F1's Monaco, the Indy 500, and NASCAR's Coke 600) back to back so that'll add 3 more hours to my ESPN total since 2014-still not sure I'll hit 50 hours,lol.
Quote from: slorydn1 on May 13, 2017, 05:17:30 AM
I don't think I've watched 50 total hours of programming on ESPN since their final NASCAR broadcast from Homestead-Miami Speedway in November of 2014. My work schedule and advancing age have made it almost impossible to watch an entire Monday Night Football broadcast.
When Dan Patrick left the network the final reason for me to watch SportsCenter left with him. By then I was consuming all of my stats/scores/highlights in other media anyway.
Now that Chris Bermann is gone I see no reason to watch any of their NFL related programming except the game itself, anyway. I don't follow basketball any more, todays players would be spending most of their time in the emergency room if they had to play against the players of the 80's and early 90's (and with that time period's rules too).
I'll watch the Indy 500 Memorial day weekend as it is my tradition to watch all 3 races (F1's Monaco, the Indy 500, and NASCAR's Coke 600) back to back so that'll add 3 more hours to my ESPN total since 2014-still not sure I'll hit 50 hours,lol.
I still watch a half hour of Mike & Mike in the Morning on ESPN 2. Really those guys are pretty much a throw back to how things used to be at ESPN and generally are infinitely way more informative in that short time span in regards to what has been going on in sports than the "new millenial" version of Sports Center.
Really not having copious amounts of racing on ESPN and even the NHL to a lesser extent really helped to hasten my declining interest in the network. Fox Sports was the big thing when I last lived in Detroit for all the local sports stuff like the Red Wings and Tigers.
I actually watched SportsCenter yesterday morning for the first time in who knows when because I was hoping to see footage of the NASCAR race (and wreck) from Saturday night. (I have no idea about ESPN's current level of NASCAR coverage - I know in the past they have had extensive coverage when they had the races, to next to no coverage when they stopped broadcasting races.)
I did not see NASCAR footage, but I did see an extensive Derek Jeter ballwashing segment ahead of last night's number retirement ceremony. ESPN decided that the superstar is far more important than the sport a long time ago.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/business/media/espn-is-betting-on-big-personalities-to-restore-its-fortunes.html?ref=media&_r=0
Update
Quote from: bing101 on May 17, 2017, 10:04:16 PM
Update
Doubling down on the NBA.
Almost all of the ESPN daytime "talent" have the same background. East coast or other urban centers. Upper middle class or upper class background. Graduates of elite colleges. Left liberal to far left.
What you can expect from ESPN before 7 ET? NBA, NBA, NBA, NBA, race, race, race, politics, politics, politics. There is nothing there for most people, and, leaving out the NBA, MSNBC is a better choice for those who want that sort of thing.
http://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2017/5/31/espn-manipulates-tiger-woods-photo (http://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2017/5/31/espn-manipulates-tiger-woods-photo)
Update ESPN is in hot water for photoshopping Tiger Woods Police mug shot.
QuoteWhen Tiger Woods was arrested on Memorial Day for DUI, the photo of Woods' mugshot was plastered online and all over TV stations coast to coast.But, ESPN, who is tight with Tiger decided they would give the 14 time major winner a bit of a haircut before presenting his photo to their viewers. Check out how EPSN took what was a newsworthy photo and photoshopped it to make the golfer look better.
http://nypost.com/2017/05/30/espn-keeps-hemorrhaging-subscribers/
Plus an update on ESPN's Downturn.
Quote from: slorydn1 on May 13, 2017, 05:17:30 AM
I don't think I've watched 50 total hours of programming on ESPN since their final NASCAR broadcast from Homestead-Miami Speedway in November of 2014. My work schedule and advancing age have made it almost impossible to watch an entire Monday Night Football broadcast.
When Dan Patrick left the network the final reason for me to watch SportsCenter left with him. By then I was consuming all of my stats/scores/highlights in other media anyway.
Now that Chris Bermann is gone I see no reason to watch any of their NFL related programming except the game itself, anyway. I don't follow basketball any more, todays players would be spending most of their time in the emergency room if they had to play against the players of the 80's and early 90's (and with that time period's rules too).
I'll watch the Indy 500 Memorial day weekend as it is my tradition to watch all 3 races (F1's Monaco, the Indy 500, and NASCAR's Coke 600) back to back so that'll add 3 more hours to my ESPN total since 2014-still not sure I'll hit 50 hours,lol.
The Indy 500 was on ABC not ESPN, so you didn't have to add to your total.
As for Berman, he's one of the biggest reasons I don't watch ESPN. Back when ESPN broadcast baseball Division Series games, ESPN put him on the 2005 Boston-Chicago series, knowing full well that he's a huge Red Sox fan and fully unable to suppress that. I'm so glad the series was a sweep, because I was so sick of him I was going to have to resort to radio for games 4 and 5, and I haven't watched a single minute of ESPN that he's been on since then.
Mike Golic could have been more professional and unbiased calling a game involving his own kids playing for his alma mater than Berman was in that series.
Quote from: cabiness42 on May 31, 2017, 06:33:19 PM
Quote from: slorydn1 on May 13, 2017, 05:17:30 AM
I don't think I've watched 50 total hours of programming on ESPN since their final NASCAR broadcast from Homestead-Miami Speedway in November of 2014. My work schedule and advancing age have made it almost impossible to watch an entire Monday Night Football broadcast.
When Dan Patrick left the network the final reason for me to watch SportsCenter left with him. By then I was consuming all of my stats/scores/highlights in other media anyway.
Now that Chris Bermann is gone I see no reason to watch any of their NFL related programming except the game itself, anyway. I don't follow basketball any more, todays players would be spending most of their time in the emergency room if they had to play against the players of the 80's and early 90's (and with that time period's rules too).
I'll watch the Indy 500 Memorial day weekend as it is my tradition to watch all 3 races (F1's Monaco, the Indy 500, and NASCAR's Coke 600) back to back so that'll add 3 more hours to my ESPN total since 2014-still not sure I'll hit 50 hours,lol.
The Indy 500 was on ABC not ESPN, so you didn't have to add to your total.
As for Berman, he's one of the biggest reasons I don't watch ESPN. Back when ESPN broadcast baseball Division Series games, ESPN put him on the 2005 Boston-Chicago series, knowing full well that he's a huge Red Sox fan and fully unable to suppress that. I'm so glad the series was a sweep, because I was so sick of him I was going to have to resort to radio for games 4 and 5, and I haven't watched a single minute of ESPN that he's been on since then.
Mike Golic could have been more professional and unbiased calling a game involving his own kids playing for his alma mater than Berman was in that series.
Berman is not a Sox fan; he's a San Francisco Giants fan, and makes no bones about being a Buffalo Bills fan. I know Ravech is a Sox fan, and Buster Olney usually has a Yankee leaning because he covered them before coming to ESPN.
Can't believe ESPN fired John Clayton. Great NFL source gone. But Dr. Jerry, who was fired, did cover Indy.
Quote from: cabiness42 on May 31, 2017, 06:33:19 PM
Quote from: slorydn1 on May 13, 2017, 05:17:30 AM
I don't think I've watched 50 total hours of programming on ESPN since their final NASCAR broadcast from Homestead-Miami Speedway in November of 2014. My work schedule and advancing age have made it almost impossible to watch an entire Monday Night Football broadcast.
When Dan Patrick left the network the final reason for me to watch SportsCenter left with him. By then I was consuming all of my stats/scores/highlights in other media anyway.
Now that Chris Bermann is gone I see no reason to watch any of their NFL related programming except the game itself, anyway. I don't follow basketball any more, todays players would be spending most of their time in the emergency room if they had to play against the players of the 80's and early 90's (and with that time period's rules too).
I'll watch the Indy 500 Memorial day weekend as it is my tradition to watch all 3 races (F1's Monaco, the Indy 500, and NASCAR's Coke 600) back to back so that'll add 3 more hours to my ESPN total since 2014-still not sure I'll hit 50 hours,lol.
The Indy 500 was on ABC not ESPN, so you didn't have to add to your total.
Well, it is officially ESPN on ABC since ABC did away with their in-house sports division years ago when they merged with ESPN under the Disney umbrella. So my total got added to.
Oh and wow on Clayton getting the axe. Man they are going all out to cut good talent leaving nothing but crap left.
Worth noting re: Indy 500, is that the race, on ABC since TV was invented (and, foolishly IMHO, the last sports event AFAIK to have a local blackout) has one more year on the current contract, but the last race ABC has is this weekend's "grand prix" (sic) in Detroit. After that pretty much everybody there who knows anything about motorsports is fired. If ABC covers the race next year it will have to use in-house talent with no motorsports background or hire people just for the day. Remember that when ABC got out of golf it had one more year of the (British) Open and it just sold the rights to NBC.
My bet is that next year's Indy 500 will be on NBC, with ABC showing "Lebron's Fourth House's Fifth Bathroom Makeover" followed by "White Guilt, Why Everything You Think Is Stupid, And So Are You", and then "NBA Finals, The Preview Of The Preview Of The Pre-Game".
Quote from: SP Cook on June 01, 2017, 09:03:32 AM
Worth noting re: Indy 500, is that the race, on ABC since TV was invented (and, foolishly IMHO, the last sports event AFAIK to have a local blackout)
It's one of the strangest examples of a blackout I've ever heard of...from 1951 to 2016. I don't think IMS can truly sell-out upwards of 300,000 seats. It looked about 2/3 full this year. I thought I've heard they used to put it on local tape-delay, but I can't confirm that.
Wouldn't be surprised if NBC Sports network picks up the rest of Indycar, as there's traditionally been a good overlap in the audience between F1 and IndyCar. On the other hand, they'll get much better ratings on the major networks than on the cable outlet (NBC Sports isn't as widespread as Fox Sports or ESPN), so your prediction for NBC is probably correct; ABC got some poor ratings for the 500 this year, despite being a damn good race this year.
They say it was the worst ratings since 1986, which had the excuse of a week-long rain delay that year.
Quote from: formulanone on June 01, 2017, 01:27:34 PM
Quote from: SP Cook on June 01, 2017, 09:03:32 AM
Worth noting re: Indy 500, is that the race, on ABC since TV was invented (and, foolishly IMHO, the last sports event AFAIK to have a local blackout)
It's one of the strangest examples of a blackout I've ever heard of...from 1951 to 2016. I don't think IMS can truly sell-out upwards of 300,000 seats. It looked about 2/3 full this year. I thought I've heard they used to put it on local tape-delay, but I can't confirm that.
Wouldn't be surprised if NBC Sports network picks up the rest of Indycar, as there's traditionally been a good overlap in the audience between F1 and IndyCar. On the other hand, they'll get much better ratings on the major networks than on the cable outlet (NBC Sports isn't as widespread as Fox Sports or ESPN), so your prediction for NBC is probably correct; ABC got some poor ratings for the 500 this year, despite being a damn good race this year.
They say it was the worst ratings since 1986, which had the excuse of a week-long rain delay that year.
The blackout used to be state-wide until sometime around the mid-1980's, when it was shrunk to just Indianapolis. It is shown in Indy later that evening, and gets really good ratings even though everybody already knows who won. It really is silly. I have lots of family and some go to the race, the rest don't, and whether or not it's on TV isn't going to change anything. I went this year and it looked more than 2/3 full to me.
Personally, I'd like to see FOX and NBC pick up Indy Car since they already have racing staff for NASCAR. Maybe NBC could do IndyCar while FOX is doing NASCAR and vice versa.
I'd also like to see an agreement between the sports where 5 IndyCar drivers get guaranteed starting spots in the Daytona 500 and 5 NASCAR drivers get guaranteed spots in the Indy 500 with a $1 million prize to the driver of the ten with the best average finish in the two races. Would be a good boost for both sports.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/currency/disney-set-launch-direct-consumer-services/167776
Here is an update.
http://www.tvnewscheck.com/mobile/index/link/id/106358
Update
I just do not see who this ESPN package is aimed at.
If you like the NBA, and the very few other sports ESPN covers (one NFL game/week, some random baseball but a dozen other channels have it to including your local team on your local regional sports network, NCAA football and basketball, and that is darn near it) the stick with traditional cable or dish. As long as that form exists, there will be some customers who have it, but watch other channels and thus subsidize you.
Does that staff of ESPN enjoy shooting themselves in the foot? Robert Lee, a sportscaster have the same name as a Confederate general was removed from the U-Va broadcast game due to the Charlottesville events.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4815052/ESPN-pulls-sportscaster-Robert-Lee-UVA-game-name.html
but he's reassigned to another game Youngstown State and Pittsburgh.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41022954
Looks like ESPN will be soon beaten by reruns of Gilligan's Island, M*A*S*H, WKRP, Cheers, Friends and Yogi Bear in the ratings....
Quote from: Stephane Dumas on August 23, 2017, 07:47:07 AM
Does that staff of ESPN enjoy shooting themselves in the foot? Robert Lee, a sportscaster have the same name as a Confederate general was removed from the U-Va broadcast game due to the Charlottesville events.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4815052/ESPN-pulls-sportscaster-Robert-Lee-UVA-game-name.html
but he's reassigned to another game Youngstown State and Pittsburgh.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41022954
Looks like ESPN will be soon beaten by reruns of Gilligan's Island, M*A*S*H, WKRP, Cheers, Friends and Yogi Bear in the ratings....
I read this first on a clickbait site. In the comments, someone mentioned that they had access to ESPN's broadcaster schedule, and Robert Lee was never scheduled for this game. Apparently a website 506sports.com lists all the games and the broadcasters for the game, and Lee had been scheduled for another game since at least last week. In fact, that particular broadcaster never usually broadcasts UVA games anyway.
In the various reportings of this issue, they never quote anyone specific at ESPN. It's always written as 'ESPN stated' or 'the collective opinion at ESPN'.
Of course, it sounds good; there's really no way to prove it one way or the other; and regular, supposed mainstream news outlets loved the story so it got some feet and ran.
ABC news (which is the same corporate owner as ESPN) reports the story as fact, so that is about as confirmed as you can get. Why would Disney lie about its own idiocy?
I note that Sinclair's new sports channel, Stadium TV, is lauching next week. It will be a "digital sub-channel" (those are the ones you get with an antenna that are channel number.2, .3 and so on). It will have a highlight show at 6, 11, and 1 similar to SportsCenter but without the politics. They could do something with that.
Quote from: SP Cook on August 23, 2017, 10:15:42 AM
ABC news (which is the same corporate owner as ESPN) reports the story as fact, so that is about as confirmed as you can get. Why would Disney lie about its own idiocy?
I note that Sinclair's new sports channel, Stadium TV, is lauching next week. It will be a "digital sub-channel" (those are the ones you get with an antenna that are channel number.2, .3 and so on). It will have a highlight show at 6, 11, and 1 similar to SportsCenter but without the politics. They could do something with that.
Disney is a sprawling bureaucracy and I highly doubt that the ABC newsroom has any contact with ESPN. I've worked for organizations where, despite sharing the same parent company, there is VERY little contact between different sub-entities.
I mean, it would probably be easy for them to call ESPN and say, "is this true or not?" but in the age of 24 hour news and social media, waiting to confirm a story isn't in vogue.
Quote from: Stephane Dumas on August 23, 2017, 07:47:07 AM
Does that staff of ESPN enjoy shooting themselves in the foot? Robert Lee, a sportscaster have the same name as a Confederate general was removed from the U-Va broadcast game due to the Charlottesville events.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4815052/ESPN-pulls-sportscaster-Robert-Lee-UVA-game-name.html (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4815052/ESPN-pulls-sportscaster-Robert-Lee-UVA-game-name.html)
but he's reassigned to another game Youngstown State and Pittsburgh.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41022954 (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41022954)
Looks like ESPN will be soon beaten by reruns of Gilligan's Island, M*A*S*H, WKRP, Cheers, Friends and Yogi Bear in the ratings....
http://www.adweek.com/tvspy/wbals-gerry-sandusky-takes-twitter-hate-in-stride/31069
Damn the last time an innocent person got dragged into another person's scandal was because Gerry Sandusky of Hearst Television got bashed for the Penn State Scandal even though Gerry Sandusky worked at Hearst when the Other Sandusky was generating the scandal.
Quote from: The Nature Boy on August 23, 2017, 11:11:22 AM
Quote from: SP Cook on August 23, 2017, 10:15:42 AM
ABC news (which is the same corporate owner as ESPN) reports the story as fact, so that is about as confirmed as you can get. Why would Disney lie about its own idiocy?
I note that Sinclair's new sports channel, Stadium TV, is lauching next week. It will be a "digital sub-channel" (those are the ones you get with an antenna that are channel number.2, .3 and so on). It will have a highlight show at 6, 11, and 1 similar to SportsCenter but without the politics. They could do something with that.
Disney is a sprawling bureaucracy and I highly doubt that the ABC newsroom has any contact with ESPN. I've worked for organizations where, despite sharing the same parent company, there is VERY little contact between different sub-entities.
I mean, it would probably be easy for them to call ESPN and say, "is this true or not?" but in the age of 24 hour news and social media, waiting to confirm a story isn't in vogue.
Considering how crazy shit's gotten in this country, it wouldn't surprise me at all if the story is true.
http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/ryen-russilo-arrested-trespassing-espn-1202537461/
Update an ESPN pundit has been detained in Wyoming on Trespassing allegations.
http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/news/ravens-broadcaster-gerry-sandusky-says-removal-of-robert-lee-shows-level-of-epidemic-insanity/mb9oxl2azacw1p3wkhsx448v0
Now Gerry Sandusky responds to the ESPN fiasco over Robert Lee.
^^ Yeah, this is fucking insane. What do these twits want these folks to do, change their names?
On US 199 around Cave Junction, there's a sign for Hiler Lumber. At a distance, one quick glance would make a passerby think the sign says "Hitler".
Pro football players with the last names of "Gay" and "Fagg" must have had a hard time akin to the song "A Boy Named Sue" mentioned.
Ima Hogg is a real person. So is Dick Trickle.
So what's in a name? Sometimes a lot of laughs! I still would not want to stick a newborn with an awful name though. Then we have the case of "John Smith". So generic! I knew a guy with that name. He managed a local bowling alley here many years ago and was quite the nice guy. Good thing he was a nice guy as can you imagine telling a police officer that your name REALLY is John Smith?
Today we have gone from amusement and grimacing over names to making them political footballs in a real game of football. Sad!
Rick
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/347739-espn-president-defends-pulling-robert-lee-from-football-coverage
Update the President of ESPN responds to the decision over Robert Lee's assignment to the UVA game.
Quote from: bing101 on August 24, 2017, 08:32:25 PM
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/347739-espn-president-defends-pulling-robert-lee-from-football-coverage
Update the President of ESPN responds to the decision over Robert Lee's assignment to the UVA game.
Holy crap, just assign him to one of 50 other games that weekend and be quietly done with it.
"Gurerrilla" - A person who engages in irregular warfare, especially as a member of an independent unit carrying out harassment and sabotage. From the Spanish, "guerra" (war) thus "guerreo" (warrior) with the ending "illa" making it mean "small", literally "little war" or "little warrior". First recorded use, 1809, long before the Congo region was explored by Europeans.
"Gorilla" - A large anthropoid ape found in the Congo region. From "Gorillai", a Greek myth of a tribe of hairy women. First recorded use, 1847, by biologists naming the newly discovered species.
"Guerrilla tennis" - War like or tricky tennis. First known use, 2006 in a Nike ad about Pete Sampras.
"Guerrilla tennis" as applied to Venus Williams by Doug Adler. Got him fired.
He is suing. I hope he breaks the bank.
Quote from: formulanone on August 24, 2017, 09:06:45 PM
Quote from: bing101 on August 24, 2017, 08:32:25 PM
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/347739-espn-president-defends-pulling-robert-lee-from-football-coverage (http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/347739-espn-president-defends-pulling-robert-lee-from-football-coverage)
Update the President of ESPN responds to the decision over Robert Lee's assignment to the UVA game.
Holy crap, just assign him to one of 50 other games that weekend and be quietly done with it.
http://nypost.com/2017/08/24/espn-president-we-were-protecting-robert-lee/
Update the President Says Some more on the Robert Lee issue. COme on here why is an innocent sports pundit even in a scandal? Let the innocent person be a great sportscaster. Also I can see why CBS, NBC and FOx Sports Nets are all trying to grabb audiences away from ESPN. Plus Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, Hulu and Youtube are all taking audiences away from ESPN.
Why are we even putting an Innocent person in a scandal? This is exactly like Gerry Sandusky the Baltimore Sports Anchor being dragged into the Penn State Scandal even though Gerry Sandusky has no known connection to Jerry Sandusky formerly of Penn State.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/the-alex-jones-of-sports-just-blew-up-espn
Update this conspiracy over a name is infowars crazy here.
(https://i.imgur.com/mPU2DUk_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=high)
https://www.mediaite.com/online/fox-sports-clay-travis-robert-lee-fiasco-shows-espn-has-become-a-far-left-wing-network/
:bigass:
Damn now Clay Travis has been named in the article for making the Robert Lee/ ESPN story into Alex Jones type conspiracies.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/Themes/Button_Copy/images/buttons/mutcd_merge.png)Post Merge: August 28, 2017, 08:06:58 AM
https://www.outkickthecoverage.com/outkick-crushes-msespn-fox-news-msespn-fires-back/
Damn ESPN is called MSESPN!! :pan:
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http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/espn-top-rank-boxing-caa-1202539783/
Update on ESPN and Boxing.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-abc-tv-group-eyes-cost-cuts-staff-restructuring-1034164
Update ABC/Disney will make corporate wide cuts affecting ESPN, ABC, and Disney Channel and they affect staffing cuts.
IMHO, Disney is trying to get in a position to do some kind of split. Either sell off ESPN, or the whole TV division (not only is ESPN sinking, the Disney branded channels, Freeform, and OTA ABC are doing even worse). As a lover of the Disney parks (have we ever had a thread on the private roads and unique signage at WDW? ) I hope that the core intelectual assets and the parks end up in the same company. No matter how well intensioned, disptues between licensees arrise over time.
I had some extra time this morning, so I turned on the, soon to end, Mike and Mike show. Generally ESPN gets a little better as football starts. In late August, the day of the last NFL exhibition and the first serious college football games, with baseball in full swing, they did 25 minutes on an NBA trade, then went on to race and politics. It is hopeless.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ja27l4Y_A8
If only we had more announcers like Chris Schenkel again. Dang sports TV just got replaced by pundits who should have went to CNN, Fox News or MSNBC.
Quote from: bing101 on September 01, 2017, 04:19:09 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ja27l4Y_A8
If only we had more announcers like Chris Schenkel again. Dang sports TV just got replaced by pundits who should have went to CNN, Fox News or MSNBC.
Or going back in time with Howard Cosell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMZLORnCc2g
Or guys like Dick Irwin Jr., Danny Gallivan, Foster Hewitt who described hockey games.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8lsMgduOu4
Two things this week:
Sinclair launched its Stadium TV channel, which you can get for free on TV if you live in the 40% or so it owns a station, or free on the internet for everybody. It has some minor sports, and is looking for more and it has a sports center like program, without the race and politics.
Fox Sports One launched its clone of Mike And Mike, running 6:30 - 9:30 with Cris Carter adn Nick Wright, and many of the former ESPN employees, talking mostly NFL. It is WAY better.
http://www.tvnewscheck.com/mobile/index/article/id/107186 (http://www.tvnewscheck.com/mobile/index/article/id/107186)
Update Sinclair responds to having a 24/7 sports channel called Stadium to go after Fox Sports, NBC Sports and ESPN.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/Themes/Button_Copy/images/buttons/mutcd_merge.png)Post Merge: September 15, 2017, 11:37:43 PM
http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/espn-jemele-hill-trumo-white-supremacist-1202556517/ (http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/espn-jemele-hill-trumo-white-supremacist-1202556517/)
Jemele Hill one of ESPN's pundits is suspended for calling Trump a White Supremacist. Wow!!
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/Themes/Button_Copy/images/buttons/mutcd_merge.png)Post Merge: September 15, 2017, 11:37:42 PM
https://www.mediaite.com/online/trump-hits-espn-on-twitter-demands-apology-after-white-supremacist-comments/ (https://www.mediaite.com/online/trump-hits-espn-on-twitter-demands-apology-after-white-supremacist-comments/)
Here is an update President Trump goes after ESPN.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/Themes/Button_Copy/images/buttons/mutcd_merge.png)Post Merge: September 15, 2017, 11:37:39 PM
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2017/09/15/espn-president-john-skipper-employee-memo-not-a-political-organization/672083001/ (https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2017/09/15/espn-president-john-skipper-employee-memo-not-a-political-organization/672083001/)
Once again John Skipper the President of ESPN has to explain the latest scandal here between one of its pundits and Trump.
http://www.tmz.com/2017/09/16/michelle-beadle-jemele-hill-donald-trump-apology-white-supremacist/
The Feud Continues.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/Themes/Button_Copy/images/buttons/mutcd_merge.png)Post Merge: September 16, 2017, 02:46:25 PM
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-slams-espn-latest-sign-141203634.html
Yes this is a sign that ESPN or Disney the owners of ESPN cannot separate themselves from politics as much as they want to though.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/Themes/Button_Copy/images/buttons/mutcd_merge.png)Post Merge: September 17, 2017, 08:43:08 PM
https://www.si.com/tech-media/2017/09/17/jemele-hill-tweets-espn-discipline
Update at this point the article speculates how ESPN should handle the Hill vs Trump issue.
http://www.npr.org/2017/09/17/551636211/espn-flap-shows-people-cant-even-agree-on-what-theyre-arguing-over-in-trump-era
Wow now yes race is at play at ESPN and now this has blown up into politics.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/Themes/Button_Copy/images/buttons/mutcd_merge.png)Post Merge: September 18, 2017, 07:23:10 PM
Quote from: triplemultiplex on January 02, 2016, 09:25:05 PM
Makes perfect sense, since ESPN has borrowed the cable news model of having some talking heads blather about a "controversial" issue in sports for short, meaningless periods of time. After a few talking points where no useful information is shared, it's on to the next subject. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Commercial.
http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/15/media/john-skipper-espn-staff-memo/index.html (http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/15/media/john-skipper-espn-staff-memo/index.html)
Yes but now the president of ESPN has to go out and explain to the public that the sports network is not a political organization. This is right after one of the ESPN pundits did a rant against Donald Trump specifically and Trump's Cabinet went after ESPN and the supervisors of Jemele Hill. Its so bad that Disney wished they made one of the ESPN cable channels into a competitor of Fox News.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/don-lemon-donald-trump-espn-apology_us_59bf493de4b0edff971d2e39 (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/don-lemon-donald-trump-espn-apology_us_59bf493de4b0edff971d2e39)
http://www.espn.com/blog/ombudsman/post/_/id/871/espn-awash-in-rising-political-tide-2 (http://www.espn.com/blog/ombudsman/post/_/id/871/espn-awash-in-rising-political-tide-2)
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/Themes/Button_Copy/images/buttons/mutcd_merge.png)Post Merge: September 19, 2017, 06:55:48 PM
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/cable-viewers-could-lose-espn-abc-another-contract-dispute-n802301
Update Altice has a cable contract dispute with Disney the owners of ABC and ESPN. This affects the New York area.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/Themes/Button_Copy/images/buttons/mutcd_merge.png)Post Merge: September 19, 2017, 06:55:46 PM
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-fight-over-jemele-hills-tweets-wont-go-away-its-about-truth-and-race-in-the-trump-era/2017/09/19/608238d8-9d1c-11e7-8ea1-ed975285475e_story.html?utm_term=.b31ac376248e
And the fiasco continues on ESPN.
Quote from: bing101 on September 19, 2017, 03:22:35 PM
And the fiasco continues on ESPN.
Looks like that meme would fit ESPN like a glove.
(https://i.imgflip.com/1w5izv.jpg) (https://imgflip.com/i/1w5izv)via Imgflip Meme Generator (https://imgflip.com/memegenerator)
Quote from: Stephane Dumas on September 19, 2017, 03:52:06 PM
Quote from: bing101 on September 19, 2017, 03:22:35 PM
And the fiasco continues on ESPN.
Looks like that meme would fit ESPN like a glove.
(https://i.imgflip.com/1w5izv.jpg) (https://imgflip.com/i/1w5izv)via Imgflip Meme Generator (https://imgflip.com/memegenerator)
I sometimes wonder if Disney ever thought about shutting down the lesser rated or subscribed ESPN channels and consolidate. Also convert one of the ESPN channels into a Fox News or Alex Jones type network where pundits will get away with their political rants. I'm starting to think this is less about Jemele Hill and more about people above her who do allow these rants to happen. I wonder if Disney ever intended to make Jemele Hill into a Tomi Lahren type pundit here but that attracts anti-Trump audiences. Or has any cable network like CNN or MSNBC ever consider having her as their pundit in the contracts.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/espns-white-supremacist-trump-uproar-network-has-no-good-options-1041109
Hill's comments simply underline that she has been educated far beyond their intelligence. Which is typical of ESPN's younger talking heads. Upper middle class to upper class background, insular life background, elite private or AAU colleges, never worked a day in their lives.
The issue, of course, is WHY? Why comment on politics? Why cover the NBA in the summer and fall and in the meaningless fluff manner it does? Why pay people millions of dollars to argue sports in the daytime on weekdays when most sports fans are at work and why pay announcers millions of dollars when virtuall no one listens or does not listen to a particular game based on who is calling it.
The answer, sadly, for Disney, is "because us can". It long ago lost touch with most people.
Quote from: SP Cook on September 20, 2017, 12:16:41 PM
Hill's comments simply underline that she has been educated far beyond their intelligence. Which is typical of ESPN's younger talking heads. Upper middle class to upper class background, insular life background, elite private or AAU colleges, never worked a day in their lives.
The issue, of course, is WHY? Why comment on politics? Why cover the NBA in the summer and fall and in the meaningless fluff manner it does? Why pay people millions of dollars to argue sports in the daytime on weekdays when most sports fans are at work and why pay announcers millions of dollars when virtuall no one listens or does not listen to a particular game based on who is calling it.
The answer, sadly, for Disney, is "because us can". It long ago lost touch with most people.
Well but somehow ESPN has to respond to immediate issues like how to go after Fox Sports Net National and local editions plus NBC sports net National and Local editions. But in the case of NBC and Fox they keep the politics and sports in different divisions though. Disney does not have a separate political talk division though and its starting to reflect on how recent ESPN political scandals are playing out from the Robert Lee Scandal to the Jemele Hill/Trump feud and how ESPN leadership has to explain every controversy to both the Disney CEO and Board to non ESPN Viewers. I wish its as easy as saying change ESPN Leadership though but then again it comes down to how the Disney CEO and Board handles ESPN and its political issues and what's their next move.
https://www.axios.com/sports-are-becoming-too-expensive-for-tv-networks-2487213761.html
Update Sports on TV are becoming too expensive on the networks.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/Themes/Button_Copy/images/buttons/mutcd_merge.png)Post Merge: September 26, 2017, 11:29:02 PM
http://thehill.com/homenews/media/352206-espn-anchor-who-called-trump-a-white-supremacist-nascar-bans-anthem-protests
Update a new Jemele Hill Fiasco is at play here. NASCAR and Her. This is in the middle of the NBA players and NFL staff going after Trump.
Well hey maybe its time for Hill to go to MSNBC or CNN as a pundit there. Well at this point ESPN is running the Roger Ailes playbook for different reasons.
Geez, you're an ESPN-bot.
In any case, NASCAR did an about-face and vaguely said they aren't going to sanction drivers no matter what flag* they do or not stand at attention towards.
* except for passing under yellow.
http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/24/media/espn-president-trump-national-anthem/index.html
http://thebiglead.com/2017/09/25/how-often-do-espn-and-fs1-really-talk-about-politics-an-investigation/
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/09/why-espn-is-more-political-than-before/540231/
Honestly I like to know what is going on here with Sports/talk shows specifically.
Really Mike and Mike is the only thing I really ever watch on ESPN nowadays aside from Game Broadcasts. It just seems like the fluff programming started all the way back when First Take was called "Cold Pizza." Really I just miss the days where I could watch some weird second tier sport or even an NHL game. With FS1 that had almost all the broadcast rights to all the Red Wings, Pistons, and Tigers games at one point in Detroit, that was some good nighttime viewing/background noise. Really I rather just read the box scores nowadays rather than have to sit through pundits and commentators. It doesn't matter to me what the topic is, if it isn't straight reporting about sports events it doesn't really capture my interest.
Even M&M is unwatchable. It is the last week of baseball season, deep into football, with a MAJOR FBI raid on Louisville and other corrupt basketball programs, the lead today? NBA.
It is all ESPN cares about. That and politics.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on September 27, 2017, 12:38:12 AM
Really Mike and Mike is the only thing I really ever watch on ESPN nowadays aside from Game Broadcasts. It just seems like the fluff programming started all the way back when First Take was called "Cold Pizza." Really I just miss the days where I could watch some weird second tier sport or even an NHL game. With FS1 that had almost all the broadcast rights to all the Red Wings, Pistons, and Tigers games at one point in Detroit, that was some good nighttime viewing/background noise. Really I rather just read the box scores nowadays rather than have to sit through pundits and commentators. It doesn't matter to me what the topic is, if it isn't straight reporting about sports events it doesn't really capture my interest.
Well I watch some 30 on 30 films on ESPN and Golden State Warriors games that happen to land on ESPN and in some cases on ABC. That's the only time im actually watching ESPN. This pundit stuff im still trying to understand how did it end up that way to the point that people wonder if Roger Ailes or Alex Jones hijacked the network via the Directors seat.
http://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-disney-espn-altice-optimum-20170928-story.html
Another note Altice is in a dispute with Disney and ESPN is one of the issues here.
ESPN gets F1 broadcast rights starting next year. Not sure how I feel about this...
http://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a12778328/formula-1-espn-broadcasting-rights/
I'm surprised by that, as I doubt very many people at ESPN could tell an Indy car from a F1 car or know who Lewis Hamilton was if he walked by their desk.
Quote from: Takumi on October 04, 2017, 10:08:37 AM
ESPN gets F1 broadcast rights starting next year. Not sure how I feel about this...
http://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a12778328/formula-1-espn-broadcasting-rights/
I miss the GT circuit racing on ESPN3
Quote from: Takumi on October 04, 2017, 10:08:37 AM
ESPN gets F1 broadcast rights starting next year. Not sure how I feel about this...
http://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a12778328/formula-1-espn-broadcasting-rights/
Considering that F1 is "owned" by Liberty Media, and they are American based, I don't think we should be surprised that they went with a network that is still (with minus 7+ million subscribers) the largest sports network in the U.S.
The two questions that F1 should have for ESPN, going forth, is how committed will ESPN be towards F1, and will the money (which wasn't mentioned in the R&T link) be worth it, on either side (Did ESPN pay too much, or did F1 take too little?)
Time will tell.
There's three kinds of racing in my book. Figure-8, Demo Derby and Cannonball! Put those on the air (they were back in the Sixties other than Cannonball) and I'd watch them. If I was younger I'd drive in them!
Rick
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jemele-hill-suspended-espn/ (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jemele-hill-suspended-espn/)
Update ESPN is in a new scandal with Jemele Hill over a rant involving the Dallas Cowboys.
http://nypost.com/2017/10/22/jemele-hill-i-deserved-a-suspension/
Here is an update
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/Themes/Button_Copy/images/buttons/mutcd_merge.png)Post Merge: October 26, 2017, 11:07:21 AM
http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/espn-cancel-barstool-van-talk-1202596760/
ESPN is now in a new issue over one of their talk shows called "Barstool Van Talk" Damn!
Quote from: bing101 on October 24, 2017, 11:00:42 AMscandal
(https://c.martech.zone/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/you-keep-using-that-word.jpg)
espn's hot takes are stupid.
http://www.sportingnews.com/other-sports/news/espn-layoffs-latest-news-rumors-firings-mike-greenberg-golic-scott-van-pelt-svp-jemele-hill/1js74yxvu7l0wz8g26kdwl7nd
Here is an update at ESPN.
The way things are going, looks like Greeny jumped ship at the wrong time, while Golic is safely on board, as the morning show will still garner ratings nationwide. The only things I tend to watch on ESPN now are live games, late night (after 11:00) SportsCenter; the talent used in these shows, including Van Pelt, are usually pretty tolerable and stick to sports and leave the hot takes and politics out of things. The Around the Horn/PTI block, unless it gets really deep into political things, is usually watchable. But if I'm home during the day, the Dan Patrick show on NBC Sports Network is a thousand times more enjoyable than the "Hot Take" shows of ESPN and FS1.
Relative to M&M, it looks like Golic's show is just going to be the continuation of M&M and they have already shown they have plenty of others on staff that can be plugged into the Greenburg role. The issue for that show is ESPN plans to move it to ESPNU, which a lot less people get, after football season. Meanwhile, Greenburg's show is reported to be considered for a delay from its January launch. Apparently ESPN's empty suits just agreed to Greenburg's desire for a show without really seeing if he could produce something watchable for three or four hours per day. Apparently he cannot. Now they are saying the show may not launch until late spring. I will continue to point out that FS1's replica of the show "First Things" is a great alternative, but likewise much too focused on the NBA.
Other than live games, the only ESPN products I watch is the ATH/PTI block, always recorded so the politics and NBA obsessions can be FFed. I will watch Feinbaum on the SECN just for fun now and then. I will watch their college wraparound shows sometimes. I cannot watch any version of SC anymore, they just have no interest in actually giving the scores of the day's sports in rough order of their notability and popularity.
Quote from: Takumi on October 04, 2017, 10:08:37 AM
ESPN gets F1 broadcast rights starting next year. Not sure how I feel about this...
http://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a12778328/formula-1-espn-broadcasting-rights/
Sounds like we'll lose Diffey, Hobbs, Matchett, and Buxton. That's a shame. They're not perfect, but they do good work.
Quote from: 1995hoo on October 29, 2017, 06:35:58 PM
Quote from: Takumi on October 04, 2017, 10:08:37 AM
ESPN gets F1 broadcast rights starting next year. Not sure how I feel about this...
http://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a12778328/formula-1-espn-broadcasting-rights/
Sounds like we'll lose Diffey, Hobbs, Matchett, and Buxton. That's a shame. They're not perfect, but they do good work.
If they can get Bob Varsha and Derek Daly, it will be better than okay. But they're looking like darkhorses right now. Buxton does a great job in the pits, Hobbs has driver's experience in many disciplines, Matchett knows the technical / team side of things, so they'll be missed.
I'm not a fan of the bland "world feed" commentary that I've heard on YouTube videos. It sounds so...pre-recorded and a bit contrived.
Isn't the English-language world feed commentary the UK announcing team?
Quote from: formulanone on October 30, 2017, 07:49:14 AM
Quote from: 1995hoo on October 29, 2017, 06:35:58 PM
Quote from: Takumi on October 04, 2017, 10:08:37 AM
ESPN gets F1 broadcast rights starting next year. Not sure how I feel about this...
http://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a12778328/formula-1-espn-broadcasting-rights/
Sounds like we'll lose Diffey, Hobbs, Matchett, and Buxton. That's a shame. They're not perfect, but they do good work.
If they can get Bob Varsha and Derek Daly, it will be better than okay. But they're looking like darkhorses right now. Buxton does a great job in the pits, Hobbs has driver's experience in many disciplines, Matchett knows the technical / team side of things, so they'll be missed.
I'm not a fan of the bland "world feed" commentary that I've heard on YouTube videos. It sounds so...pre-recorded and a bit contrived.
It was nice hearing Varsha again for the Singapore race, but I think he's more or less locked in at FOX Sports for now. I recall when F1 moved to NBC he said the reason he didn't move was that he was under contract with FOX to cover more than just F1, whereas Hobbs and Matchett were not.
I looked on Twitter last night and Hobbs has more or less said he figures he'll be retiring from TV work. Not retiring completely as he does own that Honda dealership in Wisconsin.
Yeah, I remember that about Bob as well, yet the only thing I've ever seen him cover since F1 left Fox is a car auction.
Quote from: Takumi on October 30, 2017, 10:22:46 AM
Yeah, I remember that about Bob as well, yet the only thing I've ever seen him cover since F1 left Fox is a car auction.
And the 24 Hours of Lemans, too!
I wouldn't know, since Fox's coverage of that is, uh, strange.
Quote from: 1995hoo on October 30, 2017, 09:21:03 AM
I looked on Twitter last night and Hobbs has more or less said he figures he'll be retiring from TV work. Not retiring completely as he does own that Honda dealership in Wisconsin.
Funny, I remember when David Hobbs had a car dealership in Columbus (during the 1980s).
http://www.ocregister.com/2017/12/14/how-the-disney-fox-deal-affects-local-sports-coverage/
Note the OC Register talks abot how the Fox/Disney deal affects Fox sports West in the Los Angeles area and how it affects the contracts of LA area teams.
Quote from: bing101 on December 17, 2017, 01:22:08 PM
http://www.ocregister.com/2017/12/14/how-the-disney-fox-deal-affects-local-sports-coverage/
Note the OC Register talks abot how the Fox/Disney deal affects Fox sports West in the Los Angeles area and how it affects the contracts of LA area teams.
After all the name changes, people who are not hard core sports TV geeks will have a new lingo to learn. ESPN, for the about 70% of the country where Fox and then ESPN owned the local RSN, could mean:
- The "regular" ESPN channels ("mothership", 2, U and News) that show national broadcasts of games.
- ESPN on ABC, which is how ABC brands almost all of its sports programming.
- ESPN3, which is not really TV, but supplemental, mostly small time, games on the internet.
- Watch ESPN, which is an internet based mix of all of the above.
- ESPN Radio, which is ESPN's syndicated package of talk shows and the radio coverage of several major events. This is often confusing because ESPN's news shows and "bottom line" genterally insists that things on other networks are on ESPN Radio, with no mention of the TV coverage.
- The other ESPN Radio, which is 100s of staions that have branded themselves as "ESPN Radio" and carry the above, plus locally produced materal that really has nothing to do with ESPN.
- ESPN regional, such as ESPN West or ESPN Ohio, which will carry the local teams locally, plus (generally) filler material.
http://deadline.com/2017/12/john-skipper-resigns-espn-president-co-chairman-disney-media-networks-1202229094/ (http://deadline.com/2017/12/john-skipper-resigns-espn-president-co-chairman-disney-media-networks-1202229094/)
Update John Skipper leaves ESPN.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/james-andrew-miller-inside-an-espn-presidents-shocking-exit-bob-igers-role-1070918
http://money.cnn.com/2018/01/05/media/donovan-mcnabb-espn-eric-davis-harassment/index.html
Update two pundits at ESPN has been removed over harassment allegations.
And now ESPN is create fake drama about the Patriots :banghead:.
ESPN has been in the tank for the Pats for decades.
The Patriots, Yankees, Red Sox, Lebron network.
Quote from: triplemultiplex on January 08, 2018, 10:09:56 AM
ESPN has been in the tank for the Pats for decades.
The Patriots, Yankees, Red Sox, Lebron network.
Seeing as they are HQed in central Connecticut . . . .
<rolleyes>
Mike
Quote from: mgk920 on January 08, 2018, 03:24:38 PM
Quote from: triplemultiplex on January 08, 2018, 10:09:56 AM
ESPN has been in the tank for the Pats for decades.
The Patriots, Yankees, Red Sox, Lebron network.
Seeing as they are HQed in central Connecticut . . . .
<rolleyes>
Mike
Then what about Lebron?
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on January 08, 2018, 09:01:51 PM
Quote from: mgk920 on January 08, 2018, 03:24:38 PM
Quote from: triplemultiplex on January 08, 2018, 10:09:56 AM
ESPN has been in the tank for the Pats for decades.
The Patriots, Yankees, Red Sox, Lebron network.
Seeing as they are HQed in central Connecticut . . . .
<rolleyes>
Mike
Then what about Lebron?
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fjerseygirlsports.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F07%2FLeBron_ESPN.jpg&hash=a4d13eafe8b551f5c565aa7ecf6eb0ccf10311e6)
Quote from: triplemultiplex on January 08, 2018, 10:09:56 AM
ESPN has been in the tank for the Pats for decades.
The Patriots, Yankees, Red Sox, Lebron network.
ESPN is most definitely not "for" the Pats. They caused the deflategate controversy with their inaccurate reporting, and seem to be targeting the Patriots again with some unconfirmed rumors this past weekend regarding the relationships between the QB, head coach and owner.
How about SEC Football??
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on January 08, 2018, 09:01:51 PM
Quote from: mgk920 on January 08, 2018, 03:24:38 PM
Quote from: triplemultiplex on January 08, 2018, 10:09:56 AM
ESPN has been in the tank for the Pats for decades.
The Patriots, Yankees, Red Sox, Lebron network.
Seeing as they are HQed in central Connecticut . . . .
<rolleyes>
Mike
Then what about Lebron?
ESPN is all about marketing stars, as is the NBA for that matter, but ESPN does it for all sports it coves.
See: Brett Favre (Green Bay), Peyton Manning (Indianapolis), Tim Tebow (Univ. of Florida), for example.
Quote from: KeithE4Phx on January 09, 2018, 09:50:55 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on January 08, 2018, 09:01:51 PM
Quote from: mgk920 on January 08, 2018, 03:24:38 PM
Quote from: triplemultiplex on January 08, 2018, 10:09:56 AM
ESPN has been in the tank for the Pats for decades.
The Patriots, Yankees, Red Sox, Lebron network.
Seeing as they are HQed in central Connecticut . . . .
<rolleyes>
Mike
Then what about Lebron?
ESPN is all about marketing stars, as is the NBA for that matter, but ESPN does it for all sports it coves.
See: Brett Favre (Green Bay), Peyton Manning (Indianapolis), Tim Tebow (Univ. of Florida), for example.
Those stars are kind of outdated. It is not 2009 anymore.
Quote from: spooky on January 09, 2018, 02:04:43 PM
Quote from: triplemultiplex on January 08, 2018, 10:09:56 AM
ESPN has been in the tank for the Pats for decades.
The Patriots, Yankees, Red Sox, Lebron network.
ESPN is most definitely not "for" the Pats. They caused the deflategate controversy with their inaccurate reporting, and seem to be targeting the Patriots again with some unconfirmed rumors this past weekend regarding the relationships between the QB, head coach and owner.
There's no such thing as bad publicity.
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on January 13, 2018, 03:22:33 PM
Quote from: KeithE4Phx on January 09, 2018, 09:50:55 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on January 08, 2018, 09:01:51 PM
Quote from: mgk920 on January 08, 2018, 03:24:38 PM
Quote from: triplemultiplex on January 08, 2018, 10:09:56 AM
ESPN has been in the tank for the Pats for decades.
The Patriots, Yankees, Red Sox, Lebron network.
Seeing as they are HQed in central Connecticut . . . .
<rolleyes>
Mike
Then what about Lebron?
ESPN is all about marketing stars, as is the NBA for that matter, but ESPN does it for all sports it coves.
See: Brett Favre (Green Bay), Peyton Manning (Indianapolis), Tim Tebow (Univ. of Florida), for example.
Those stars are kind of outdated. It is not 2009 anymore.
They still worship LeBron and Tiger though. Any golf tournament featuring the latter is elevated to a top story and the focus is on him, not the leader/winner of the tournament.
Quote from: SSOWorld on January 15, 2018, 10:27:04 AM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on January 13, 2018, 03:22:33 PM
Quote from: KeithE4Phx on January 09, 2018, 09:50:55 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on January 08, 2018, 09:01:51 PM
Quote from: mgk920 on January 08, 2018, 03:24:38 PM
Quote from: triplemultiplex on January 08, 2018, 10:09:56 AM
ESPN has been in the tank for the Pats for decades.
The Patriots, Yankees, Red Sox, Lebron network.
Seeing as they are HQed in central Connecticut . . . .
<rolleyes>
Mike
Then what about Lebron?
ESPN is all about marketing stars, as is the NBA for that matter, but ESPN does it for all sports it coves.
See: Brett Favre (Green Bay), Peyton Manning (Indianapolis), Tim Tebow (Univ. of Florida), for example.
Those stars are kind of outdated. It is not 2009 anymore.
They still worship LeBron and Tiger though. Any golf tournament featuring the latter is elevated to a top story and the focus is on him, not the leader/winner of the tournament.
Not Lebron, but Favre and Manning.
https://www.fiercecable.com/video/editor-s-corner-can-espn-s-new-boss-save-struggling-sports-network
Here is an update on ESPN.
For the ESPN haters...
https://jalopnik.com/espns-f1-season-opener-broadcast-was-a-catastrophe-1824057087
ESPN's formula one coverage was indeed a train wreck. Previously NBCSN had used some actual thought in mixing international camera work with announcers (who, often, were actually just working from the feed and not at the track). ESPN just used the British Sky Sports broadcast, but cut away at, apparently pre-determened, intervals for US commercials, missing key elements of the event. This may have been a function of the event being in Australia, and thus the controls were probably in the hands of somebody not smart enough to avoid the graveyard shift on a weekend, but time will tell.
Moving forward, ESPN's daytime lineup gets a shake up starting next week. ESPNews, started as an "all day SportsCenter" channel back in the 90s, becomes the channel for video versions of ESPN Radio, with Golic and Wingo from 6-10, Dan LeBatard from 10- 1, a rerun of its Get Up show from 1- 3, and Will Cain from 3-6. The issues there are the (pretty good IMHO) G&W show moves down to a channel that less people get and loses its mid-morming ET rerun (which means the show is unavailable to the west on a linear basis). The big thing going forward is LeBatard's contract is up and he is looking at SXM radio and DirecTV where he can use profanity. The Get Up rerun is apparently a short term thing, ESPN wants ESPNews to be "video ESPN Radio" all day on weekdays.
ESPNU will just start airing game reruns and filler. The issue here is this channel, which previously had LeBatard and other non-college material is returning to what its name actually implies, which makes it less valuable, especially in the summer.
Then comes the two main channels. Monday sees the launch of the Mike Greenburg "Get Up" show. Described as "like Good Morning America but with some sports" early previews shown to ad buyers and leaked onto the internet have been 100% negative. This has all the makings of a dumpster fire. ESPN will have a rerun of the Van Pelt late night SportsCenter at 6, Get Up from 7-10, then its argument shows. ESPN2 will air SportsCenter reruns all morning, then a rerun of Get Up at 10 and then its single sports shows in the afternoon.
I'm usually of the opinion that any F1 coverage is better than none at all, and I figured they're going to muff it a few times early on...but it was tough to watch. To be fair, that's how a lot of early-AM motor sports programming looked/sounded like on TV 30 years ago; where else and when were you going to see 6-month-old highlights of European Touring Car action or the World of Outlaws season review in the US?
That said, missed passes during commercial breaks are a fact of F1 life if there's commercial breaks. It's almost existential law by now. And not helped at all by a sport that's occasionally losing the message and becoming stuck in a technological moebius loop.