Latest round of ESPN layoffs: How would you fix ESPN? Can it be fixed?

[Big Blitz]

Lol.

 

Realized 5 years ago we are headed for a dead zone of "talent" and quality in TV, movies (especially comedy) and music because you are being "policed."  

 

It's the 1950s in reverse.  Whoever made that Bible thumper comparison to the Woke crowd of 2020 is spot on.  

 

Almost everything is awful and the few things that are decent are often just short of being great because it had 75 writers, is forced to represent every demographic, and of course, has to be super PC.  

 

This all applies to ESPN.  It's not the content anymore.  Everything sounds and looks like a generic FM radio morning show to me.  

 

The best things I've seen on the streams movies (non marvel) or TV in the last 5 years I can count on one hand. 

[Orlando Tim]

ESPN screwed itself by making such huge jumps in pay for live sports. I think we will see some interesting negotiations for the NBA in a couple of years since I doubt they have the viewership in two years that they had 2 years ago.  But to fix it they must focus on sports and plays, not players and their lives.

[eball]

ESPN+ has been great for all of the live sports...I don't think I've watched an ESPN studio show in years.

[DrDawkinstein]

18 minutes ago, Mark Vader said:

 

I miss what NFL Countdown used to be, and if NFL Primetime were still on, I would watch that too.

 

 

It's on ESPN+

 

Dont get too excited. It's pretty disappointing. Boomer is old and slow to make calls and follow games. They swapped in Booger for Tom this year. Meh.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

I’m not picking on Booger, but he kind of clogs up the airways with a bunch of junk. 

[Coffeesforclosers]

ESPN isn't worth saving.  First it's like a retirement home for ex-Patriots.  IDGF, get real jobs. Second it's about chasing almighty dollars and almighty ratings, so whatever passes for programming is just a lapdance for big market teams and big personalities. Third, it's geared to hot takes and BS so it's x's and o's content is garbage.

 

Finally, I can build my own sports media environment of dedicated Bills podcasts and Bills YT channels, get what I want when I want, and for free.  

 

NBCSN's Premier League coverage smokes there's too, for the rare days I want to watch soccer.

[DrDawkinstein]

1 hour ago, Mark80 said:

 

2.  On the note of SportsCenter - More freakin highlights.  They used to play highlights of basically every game in every major sport.  At a minimum they would show the score.  Now, they talk about the same 1 or 2 teams per sport every f'n day all f'n year long.  I want to see action, not the same crap day after day after day.  Highlights, Stats, next game, highlights stats, next game, etc. Maybe a few player / coach interviews thrown in there.  Get rid of the freaking pundits talking for 75% of the show.

 

 

On that note, and not to defend ESPN, but the PRICE of highlights is astronomical compared to when they were starting out and in the glory years.

 

The NFL launched its own network and wants to drive viewership to it. Therefore, they charge ESPN millions of dollars for just the few highlights they get, and keep most of the deep highlights for themselves.

 

It's to the point that if you re-watch a show like PtI on streaming, they cut any/all of the highlights from the stream because it costs so much to show them.

[TBBills]

2 hours ago, dpberr said:

In the churn of election news, ESPN announced it would lay off 300 employees and not fill 200 empty positions.  

 

https://apnews.com/article/espn-300-layoffs-amid-virus-8db87b34e7c74585b8920c584b282773

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/05/sports/espn-layoffs.html

Do you want it fixed?

 

Espn was great when social media wasn't around, but now I can watch Bills highlight 5min after the game ends on YouTube.

Edited November 10, 2020 by TBBills

[RobbRiddick]

only thing about ESPN that's good is the 30 for 30 docs

[Mark80]

39 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

On that note, and not to defend ESPN, but the PRICE of highlights is astronomical compared to when they were starting out and in the glory years.

 

The NFL launched its own network and wants to drive viewership to it. Therefore, they charge ESPN millions of dollars for just the few highlights they get, and keep most of the deep highlights for themselves.

 

It's to the point that if you re-watch a show like PtI on streaming, they cut any/all of the highlights from the stream because it costs so much to show them.

 

Yeah, I figured that contractual obligations limit the amount of highlight time they can show and your thought is right along that line of though as well and probably more accurate.  There has to be a way to lower the cost per minute when you buy more minutes and when you buy less popular sports.

[Malazan]

Yes, it can be fixed. Almost anything can be 'fixed'. I can't speak so much for their TV as I haven't watched ESPN in many years, but I suspect it's much the same problem it had back then and the same problem they have on the web. 

 

I work for a company that runs a website and charges people a 'subscription'. It's a different world as we're a tech company who provides data, but the one thing I harp on is not mentally fatiguing users. Don't wear them with awful navigation, going to parts of the site and getting a "Oh, you need to pay money to see this", moving things around, different UI in different areas. Generally, a fragmented user experience. 

 

ESPN is the very definition of a fragmented experience. There's articles I can't read without a subscription. There's 'team based' section that look and act wholly different based on the team. One of the most maddening is that when I go and scroll through the articles, it's tough to find the content I was looking for...it's in chronological order, but then.. it's not. 

 

Over the years in the push to monetize, monetize, monetize everything, they've been haphazard with no clear vision and it's now mentally taxing trying to use their site. The only time I'm interested is when someone direct links something. They need to get someone in charge with a clear vision (even if that vision is not perfect and start unifying the overall experience. 

 

Then start investing in some better regular content.

[Irv]

The early SportsCenter announcers set the tone for the network:   Berman, Grande, Mees, Ley, Gumbel, Palmer, Steiner, Grande.  Fun apolitical, witty.  Then some egomaniac, political types got on and ruined it:   Olbermann, Eisen, Kilborn, Patrick, Roberts, Scott.  Unfunny political knobs. 

[Rochesterian Bills Fan]

I just want to add ESPN+ isn't going anywhere. A lot of fans of UFC, MLS, college sports etc will pay to see the sport they want. Obviously piracy is a thing but its probably not eating into it enough to make it untenable.

[atlbillsfan1975]

Go back to being a sports network. Take all the political content off, 30 for 30’s are fine. Consolidate your networks down to Espn  and Espn2. Cut down on shows from shock jocks. My 2 cents. And maybe that won’t work either. 

[sullim4]

ESPN's model is just out of date.  Their programming consists of...

 

- SportsCenter which has been replaced by the internet, where you can view highlights, see scores, read articles, etc.

- Opinion-based talk shows.  These have been replaced by sites like TBD, Reddit, etc.  Why listen to the national talking heads' opinions when you can shoot the bull with your team's fanbase?

- Pregame and postgame coverage.  Again, with all the reaction and analysis available online, for free, why sit through loud talking heads spouting off?

- Sporting events, live and taped.

 

So really, it's just the events themselves that make ESPN interesting.  ESPN is particularly valuable for NBA, MLB, and NCAA football/basketball.  If you aren't interested in any of that, and can give up the mediocre MNF matchups, why pay nearly $10 a month for this crap?

 

The business model is not sustainable and at some point the bubble is going to burst when TV customers are unwilling to pay ESPN's fees.  I strongly suspect a subscription-based future for ESPN, where they bundle other Disney properties together and force folks that must view live sports to pay for those.

[RobbRiddick]

I'd also like to use this thread to vent about the insanity of general sport discussion shows. I was looking for Bills related stuff on Youtube today and it was full of titles like "Stephen A Smith takes a huge ***** on Seahawks!" "keyshawn Johnson calls Josh Allen's girlfriend a ho!" complete with a screen grab of said 'expert' in mid shout.

 

And when you do click on one it's just a bunch of guys shouting at each other for five minutes. I get that I sound old, and I probably am, and I understand how clickbait works, but how about a show where people just discuss sports in an intelligent way. Disagreeing but not screaming? Would anyone watch such a show? There are a few out there that almost achieve this but I haven't seen many

[RichRiderBills]

48 minutes ago, RobbRiddick said:

I'd also like to use this thread to vent about the insanity of general sport discussion shows. I was looking for Bills related stuff on Youtube today and it was full of titles like "Stephen A Smith takes a huge ***** on Seahawks!" "keyshawn Johnson calls Josh Allen's girlfriend a ho!" complete with a screen grab of said 'expert' in mid shout.

 

And when you do click on one it's just a bunch of guys shouting at each other for five minutes. I get that I sound old, and I probably am, and I understand how clickbait works, but how about a show where people just discuss sports in an intelligent way. Disagreeing but not screaming? Would anyone watch such a show? There are a few out there that almost achieve this but I haven't seen many

Half the time you click and its not as advertised either.

Edited November 10, 2020 by RichRiderBills

[947]

Every point made in this thread is valid, but I'd say about 80% of the reason people don't watch ESPN anymore is the constant talk about politics & race. Depending on which hot-button current political event is happening, ESPN's coverage will be more about that actual sports. They've spent more air time on Kaepernick than anybody who actually still plays sports. If somebody digs up a questional tweet an athlete made when they were 16, it's a top story. A new coach gets hired, they'll talk more about race in coaching than the about the guy who was hired. Nobody cares about that stuff, people use sports as an excape from this crap in their daily lives, just cover on-field sports.

[Luka]

They need original content that centers around sports. 30 for 30s are good. Although campy, I enjoyed Peyton's Places. NFL Films used to cover seasons of Super Bowl winning teams, not sure if they still do that. Then you have all these professional athletes and ex coaches looking for jobs, where is some real film breakdown? It could even be done per market I'm sure. Plenty of unemployed ex players and coaches that I am sure would be willing to sit down and watch some film. They always do segments but a brief 30 second clip and generic comment about a play or two a game isn't real analysis. I think there are plenty of football nerds who would legitimately watch an hour of film breakdown a week.

And while the NFL is the most popular, this kind of expansive, in depth coverage could be carried over to hockey, basketball etc. They've gotten so generic and it's a shame, they've got the money to pay people that really know their stuff about a sport, not just a bunch of talking heads spouting off the same opinions you can read on a message board or Facebook.

[Mr. WEO]

4 hours ago, DrDawkinstein said:

Ignoring the controversies over content and politics.

 

It's a garbage station as far as production quality goes. You can tell they already laid off everyone who knows how to make a TV show run and function and have a bunch of amateurs behind the scenes. NFL Live is unwatchable. Rocko and Dino on 1990s Public Access had better production quality.

 

Whenever I do turn it on, it's all:

• the wrong highlights being played that dont match what the announcer is talking about. like, not even the right GAME.
• graphics being wrong or out of order
• cutting to the wrong person who is supposed to talk next
• mics not being turned on
• etc, etc

ESPN is done. It died when they took out Mike & Mike (imo). The only thing I turn it on for anymore is Pardon the Interruption, sometimes.

 

 

 

 

LOL, they've been "done" for years, right?....we heard this pre-Covid.  Disney (69 billion last year), like many conglomerates, is trimming the fat in lean times.

 

ESPN has had the 24hour sports network cornered since it began---it has no significant network competition.  This fact (and its dual revenue stream of subscription and ads) keeps Disney going with ESPN.

 

They aren't done.