OT…Have sports debate shows run their course?

[Gugny]

I hate staged crap. They have always been staged crap. 

[Wayne Arnold]

I stopped watching sports debate shows and listening to sports talk radio 10-15 years ago. I'm shocked people still watch/listen. Other than Pardon My Take but that's more a comedy podcast than a sports show.

[PetermansRedemption]

Reminds me of that garbage show on ESPN. Pardon the interruption I think? Why people would watch a show with two guys arguing sports opinions is beyond me. 

[stosh64]

10 hours ago, The Wiz said:

The problem with these shows nowadays is that they don't even know what they are arguing about.  They take whatever is the latest hot-take on social media and ride it without actually getting any factual information.

 

Consider Tim Hasselbeck after the bills ran all over the raiders and then saying that the reason why Allen had such a good day was because they couldn't run the ball against them and he had to be "reckless" to move the football.  It makes absolutely no sense any which way you slice it.

I love the comments ripping Hasselbeck on YT, most people are aware of the crap being produced in all media.  That's why the legacy media and it's agendas are failing miserably.

 Bills start @ 1:40

 

Programs like this, Cover 1, have vastly superior content to the dying legacy sports media, it's no contest, and it's free!

The clown show propaganda of espn and the like will always have it's niche audience I guess, so they may as well go all in for that sort of 'programming".  They know they have already lost the hardcore fans.

Edited September 21, 2023 by stosh64

[GunnerBill]

I think the panel / head to head debate shows are close to running their course. The future of "sports talk TV" is much more the host / interviewer type of sports talk show. Cowherd, Eisen, McAfee etc. 

 

We have a national radio station in the UK called "Talk Sport" that is pretty successful and I bumped into their CEO recently at an event and he was telling me they are making a serious attempt to move away from (as he put it) "talking about" and towards "talking to." Let's not talk about the manager of Manchester United let's talk to him. 

 

It is why McAfee has been so successful. His contacts book means he gets high quality guests - guys who are current players, coaches, executives - who have current and topical things to say. 

[Doc Brown]

11 hours ago, dma0034 said:

First Things First is the only one I watch. The three guys on there have great chemistry and they poke fun at each other a lot. You have to realize they have bias but it's quite enjoyable imo

Agreed.  It's an underrated show that's the best out there with the combination of humor and debate.  I actually agree with Nick Wright a lot except when it comes to Allen.  This, PTI, and the Rich Eisen show are one's I'll catch once in a while.

[Thurman#1]

13 hours ago, 78thealltimegreat said:

There isn’t a right or wrong answer but it just seems like they’ve kinda run out of ways to argue with each other.

Skip Bayless new show is barely watchable anymore 

 

 

Run their course? Probably not.

 

I never was able to watch Bayless or Stephen A Smith. It's too obviously argument for the sake of argument.

 

I can watch intelligent sports conversation. There isn't much around.

 

I mean, have reality shows run their course? They're absolutely awful and yet people still watch. People watch Adam Sandler movies. I don't understand why, but they do.

 

 

10 hours ago, LewPort71 said:

I  like PTI  and its the only show I watch.

I really miss Mike & Mike. 

 

 

 

Yeah, there are a few good ones around, but not many. I used to love to listen to Tony Kornheiser and whoever he was talking to. He was knowledgeable but also hilarious.

Edited September 21, 2023 by Thurman#1

[Donuts and Doritos]

yes

no

Yes.

No.

YES!!

NO!!

 

It's debatable.

[ROCBillsBeliever]

14 hours ago, notwoz said:

Can we throw Schopp & the Bulldog into this mix? These guys offer no insights whatsoever.

 

Now hold on just one cotton-picking minute there, buster, Schopp offers all sorts of insights... Into his fantasy leagues. Especially insights into his fantasy hockey leagues while Bills training camp, or the draft, or some important Bills-related thing is going on. I need to be distracted from Bills content by Schopp's insights into his fantasy hockey league, especially when there's crucial Bills things going on!

 

/s

[Drew21PA]

Was watching this week and they just talk over each other and it’s a mess of words 

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

I kinda like good morning football?  At least they have fun with it and don't act like their opinions matter.  

[Matt_In_NH]

They have with me....never really watched them.  Lots of other content out there that resonates better with me.

[DasNootz]

The sports network genre is horrible in general.  Did Sports Center really need a segment on Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift this morning?  

The Sports Reporters was excellent.  PTI is tolerable - shows like Around the Horn ruined the industry, because "hot takes" became more important that substance.

[The Jokeman]

15 hours ago, Augie said:

I don’t watch any ESPN unless they have a game I want to see. A bunch of guys all talking/yelling over each other at the same time has ZERO appeal to me. 

 

I find Dan Patrick to be the best option in terms of that type of entertainment. He didn’t do the same flawed formula, and I appreciate that. 

Dan's good, I also enjoy Rich Eisen but again their shows are more like a talk show instead of an op ed/talking head show. 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

A modest proposal:  Reformat these arguing experts into a show where they have to field phone calls from the 'vox populi'.  Ought to cellar the ratings and  put the experts into therapy or straitjackets.

[Captain Hindsight]

13 hours ago, BruceVilanch said:

I actually enjoyed PTI in the early years.

It was must watch TV for me 

[dpberr]

It'll be dead soon because advertisers will spend their money elsewhere, or save it for live broadcasts.  ESPN is reaching that MTV inflection point where they will cut costs by running re-runs of Coach and White Shadow for like 20 hours of the programming day.  Don't laugh - it's coming - they will market it as "retro" sports programming.

 

For ESPN, this is not a conversation about quality programming.  It's about cheaply filling airtime at the lowest cost possible, where the cost of filling the airtime remains below the ad revenue that comes into the company.  

 

These debate shows are cheap to run until the personalities price themselves out of existence.  It's not that anyone cares what Stephen A Smith thinks, but for what ESPN pays for him, he soaks up *a lot* of that available airtime.  

[LarryMadman]

Yup, they sure have. I do not watch anything but the sporting event. I dont watch pre or post game, halftime or intermission anything and nothing during the week. 

[Metal Man]

The worst part about them is that these days there doesn't seem to be a lot of discussion on topics that veer outside of the "ESPN Accepted Opinion", so at least half of the time you get the same opinion parroted by 5 different panel members or people arguing over something they appear to actually agree on.

[billybob71]

lets hope so!!