More Cuts at ESPN

I thought that's the aesthetic they were going for too, but if you're going to do that, you better be REALLY good at it. I thought their political coverage was interesting or good, but all of the sports stuff seemed like more vanilla versions of stuff already being done by Fangraphs, Baseball Prospectus, Football Outsiders, etc. It's hard to be really compelling in multiple disciplines, and it wasn't ever clear to me that, say, political wonks were going to stick around and really want to know how much better the Warriors were than every other NBA team.

 

That comes across in their podcasts a little, too. They'll go through 45 minutes of detailed political polling and policy discussion, then someone will throw in a line like, "don't you dare get between me and my TV when the 76ers are on!!!!"

That's great. I'm all for people having a passion for sports, and I know all sorts of very, very different people who do have that passion, but it still seems out of character. It has always struck me as a little put on for ESPN, though I realize that's kind of ridiculous.

 

So I actually remembered this post again as I was watching SVP Sportscenter this morning. I have a season pass dvr for any SVP Sportscenter.

I am a huge fan of this sportscenter. Informative, entertaining. It's on my big flat screen. I can fast forward through the Boston Bruins highlights in seconds that I don't want. I watch the Pelican highlights - wow look at that move by Rondo! My finger is on the five second rewind button. Let me see that again.

A good sportscenter, on my DVR, seems like an unbeatable combination for me to watch my sports news/highlights in 2018.

Explain to me what the best case scenario is on the internet. I am genuinely curious.

 

Agreed. @LanceyHoward a big part of the appeal of a roundup show is, I don't even know what happened, so how would I go about searching for it?

 

I don't think their is necessarily a best case scenario on the internet. Your reasons are perfectly valid.

SportsCenter has long been a signature show of ESPN and I am sure made them tons of money. But ESPN is deemphasizing SportsCenters and instead pumping lots of money into more personality driven programming because they think that the audience for a SportsCenter type show is switching to the internet.

I was just curious some viewers are staying with the highlight shows.

 

They only personality I would actually change channels for is Kate Adams. I love Kate Adams. But even then, I am not turning on Good Morning Football from February through August.

 

SportsCenter has always been great as far as I'm concerned. A good personality can go a long way in enhancing the entertainment value of a show. I don't know how much people are really switching to the internet. I get most of my sports in at local pubs showing cable TV programs.

 

I had to think about this answer for a moment because I thought I got my highlights on TV. But the truth is, I get my highlights on the internet and on my phone. If I hear about a play, I'll go to ESPN.com, click on the game link and then click on the highlights link. I do this all the time and didn't even realize I was doing this. I also get them sent to me on my phone, so I just watch them there.

I loved SportsCenter back in the '80s and '90s, but I'm not waiting until 11 p.m. to see a highlight once or twice when I can watch it as many times as I want within a few seconds by clicking a link in 2018. It's interesting that after thinking about it, that I realize I do this quite often when I thought I was getting most of my sports highlights from TV.

I'll bet ESPN's hit counts on highlights show a lot more people are doing this too.

 

I remember reading that people would still subscribe to newspapers rather than rambling around the internet searching for stories. A well edited sports section provided a valuable service in organizing and prioritizing the material. It has not really worked out taht way for newspapers. Why should television be different?

 

Agreed. But I want a reporter, not a "personality," to present the highlights, roll footage, and STFU. I have watched maybe 10 minutes of the new morning show, because the three hosts were just talking with and over each other. That's not going to get me through my morning workout.

 

Hmmm, why would actual video highlights, delivered on the same night, to a TV that's already on, be different from day-old text writeups sitting in the driveway?

You got me there. Those are no different.

 

Because you still have to wait for the scheduled show instead of getting them instantly off your mobile device or PC. I acknowledge your point but what do your children do?