OT…opinions of ESPN anymore?

[Einstein]

It is not all ESPN's fault that they suck.

 

ESPN's issues are entangled with broader industry trends and societal shifts. The network has lost 25 million homes since 2013, which is a staggering number and has been impacted by the decline of traditional pay TV and a shift in viewership patterns. This loss forced ESPN to pivot away from its core strength of insightful reporting and analysis, which no longer attracted sufficient viewership. Instead, the network embraced shock-TV personalities like Stephen A. Smith and prioritized viral videos and contentious debates, which are strategies that initially increased engagement but eventually led to a decline in quality content.

 

ESPN is now at a point where:

1) No one needs the channel for highlights, since YouTube and other video sharing websites exist.

2) We are a 10-second society and insightful sports reporting tends to draw low numbers.

3) People are tired of debate-tv and shock jock personalities. 

 

The network's primary viewership source has thus become live sports, which is what many posters in this thread have indicated (that live games are their sole reason for utilizing ESPN). This reliance on live sports presents a conundrum: How can a channel produce high-quality content when the audience's primary interest is live sports, yet the network must fill 18+ hours of additional airtime to accommodate advertisements that fund those live broadcasts?

 

It is not an easy question to answer. I don't envy ESPN's execs.

[MikePJ76]

2 minutes ago, uticaclub said:

So many “analysts” on ESPN just says things to say things

what is worse than that though is the trickle down effect it had.

 

Reporters covering teams, usually and mostly NFL teams were always looking for stories about nonsense, disruption and negativity.  If they could find these stories they would go straight to ESPN and become nationally known personalities.  It helped wreck local coverage along with the internet disrupting the way newspapers were monetized.  

 

To me it all really went south and tanked in the mid to late 00's.  I know I sound like an old man and maybe I am (46) but being an espn personality went from fun, entertaining and intelligent people to opportunistic greedy self absorbed know it all's.  ESPN shows previous to that had just the right amount of information, entertainment and depth to keep me coming back.  I really loved that nfl monday night football show (Something Edge?) they had back when MNF was on ABC.  Ron Jaworski was really fun to listen to breaking down tape and the show was just informative enough that you understood both teams ID without having to know who was the jack linebacker in a 3-4 front vs a 12 personnel set etc.....

 

Today every schnook with an internet connection is a pretend nfl scout spreading false or bad info. Essentially when we order spaghetti and marinara we get egg noodles and ketchup.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHy9jZ8tDk0

[RoyBatty is alive]

I stopped watching seriously when the "Summer of Kaepernick" hit.  Every other show was a debate about Kaepernick with the hosts constantly trying to one up themselves on the outrage he wasnt in the NFL.  I watch sports to escape, not to be lectured yet again on politics.

[msw2112]

I used to be a huge ESPN fan.  Loved the old SportsCenter.  The personalities were great.  Berman, Dan Patrick, etc.  These days, the writing and personalities on SportsCenter are pretty grating.  I can't stand the talking heads, but I can't stand the talking heads on any network (CNN, Fox News, etc.).

 

I still love the channel for two things:  1)  Live sports coverage; and 2) 30 for 30.  I think those documentaries are excellent and I really enjoy them.  I admit that I still put on SportsCenter frequently to fall asleep to at night or to run in the background when I'm doing other things, but I don't sit down to watch it like I once did.  As to the live sports, I like College Gameday and consider it an "extension" of live sports (it's live coverage of the "event"), but I think their studio production for NBA and NHL is very poor, especially in contrast to Turner (TNT/TBS) which does a much better job at the same thing.

[Alphadawg7]

9 hours ago, 78thealltimegreat said:

I know their love/hate relationship with the Bills with certain reporters as people like Ryan Clark, Mike Greenberg, and Kimberly Martin are just nauseating with Jets coverage to the point you literally think they are just acting now. 
But I do enjoy Dan Orlovsky and a few others analysts and I really love their college football coverage. Thoughts? 

Mainstream media sports coverage is dead, it’s all about outlandish comments and polarizing stances to force bickering.  While there remain a few good individual ones at places like ESPN, the overall “Jerry Springer” style presentation haunts ESPNs programming now.  We live in a world of forcing fake and extreme reactions to things rather than just discussing something analytically.  It’s our fault, if we didn’t watch this garbage they wouldn’t force feed it to us.  
 

So even many of the guys who have something interesting to say are being forced to do so on platforms where the concept is for the other personalities on the show to be loud and argumentative no matter what the point was or how stupid their argument is.  It’s all pre-planned in pre-prouduction meetings and literally scripted too.  

 

I have found a lot better sources for sports talk on other platforms, podcasts,  etc than ESPN these days.  I still watch some ESPN sports reporting, but not like I did in the past when I loved it.  

 

 

Edited August 17, 2023 by Alphadawg7

[TheBrownBear]

I like a lot of the 30 for 30 stuff, and the shows are okay fodder for when I'm on the treadmill at the gym or looking up at the screen between sets.  Otherwise, I don't see the need for it outside of live sports.

[Gugny]

Nobody ruins baseball more than EAPN with that guy who always sounds like he’s got 4 pounds of phlegm lodged in his throat. 
 

Can’t hit the mute button fast enough. 
 

And Scott Van Pelt is one of the creepiest men alive. Can’t even look at him. 

[Success]

Van Pelt is still the best in the business.

 

I still watch a lot of the rest of the stuff, but don't love it.

 

[In Summary]

There are better options.  Locked on Bills podcast is a no-bombast listen.  Cover 1 film room episodes are pretty solid IMO when you want to see/hear technical football (good one on Dorain Williams in the pre-season game).  ESPN is a clown show to me.

[billsfan89]

ESPN sadly is the early 2010’s had to embrace “debate” to try and keep hop with cord cutters and YouTube/podcasts. The shock jock style of debating worked short term but people grew tired of it and now ESPN is stuck as a bloated mess. 
 

Live Sports is all ESPN can offer that you can’t get elsewhere 

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

3 hours ago, BruceVilanch said:

ESPN was incredible when it was DP, Rich, stu, and olberman on sportcenter. They had fantastic NFL coverage with Berman and Tom Jackson, now they are a parody, living off hot takes and crazy gimmicks. I've gotten much better content from YouTube that actually talks about SPORTS. I rarely watch ESPN unless they're an exclusive broadcast of a game like the Yankees on Sunday night baseball, but I can skip watching the game and get an alert when the Yankees inevitably get shut out 

Facts. Chris Berman is a pop culture legend and I hate seeing him get older as he was a staple to me growing up. Fastest 3 minutes is the most entertaining sports segment of all time.

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

2 hours ago, Gugny said:

Nobody ruins baseball more than EAPN with that guy who always sounds like he’s got 4 pounds of phlegm lodged in his throat. 

Tom Carvel Jr. got into baseball play by play?!

Edited August 17, 2023 by Ridgewaycynic2013

[beerme1]

Trash. Pure trash. 

[Augie]

4 hours ago, uticaclub said:

So many “analysts” on ESPN just says things to say things

 

….and they all say it loudly at the same time. It’s like being wife my wife’s family. I learned early on that looking for a quiet space to read a book is considered rude.

 

By them. I thought it was a brilliant solution. We do not see eye to eye there, but I never married into the ESPN family, so the remote has me just whiz right by unless there is a specific football or college basketball game I want to see. 

[DallasBillsFan1]

I divorced ESPN and married CBS Sports.  I am no fan of Disney.  And for what it is worth, Bob Costas is douche.

Edited August 17, 2023 by DallasBillsFan1

[Amarillo Bills Fan]

I stopped watching in September of 1979.

[Rc2catch]

I could never tell if I burnt out from watching it, or the programming just got horrible. 
I used to enjoy some of first take, and I liked around the horn and PTI. 
But I just lost interest along the way. 
I don’t want to hear about contract holdouts, definitely sick of hearing who is the goat, who is the future goat, ranking 1-whatever just for the sake of argument.. Just not my thing. 

[PetermansRedemption]

Only turn it on for Monday night football. Not even a thought the other 350 or so days of the year. 

[Starr Almighty]

ESPN actually got better when they got rid of Keyshawn Johnson. I really dislike him. The channel is still awful but knowing he isn't there makes it better. His takes were horrible. I find myself not wanting the Bills to keep the WR around just because he shares that man's name 😂😂 and yes I know it's spelled different

[BillsPride12]

The Rise & Fall of ESPN Documentary 10 years from now will be an interesting watch