ESPN

[bradleyfan124]

The 2 million number in my previous post was during the past year. As I said, it is effecting all programming on cable/satellite networks. Lifestyles are changing. Look around in public sometime. Nobody is talking anymore. They have the face buried in their phone. It's sad. This is in my opinion, part of the reason you see a decline in basketball games, actual attendance. Baseball is up against it can't keep the attention on the audience anymore. I can't tell you the last time I watched Sportscenter on ESPN. It has nothing to do with the manner they report it. It has everything to do with it being already old news and I have others things to do.

Oh my!! I could not agree with you more. With all the new technology around these days I think communication has actually gotten worse. I don't know how many times my girlfriend and I are out to dinner and see a young couple. They are not talking to each other. They have their heads buried in their phones. How sad!!!!!

[Chico]

Haven't seen that part of ESPN yet Coach. Thanks for the warning.

[tornado]

Haven't seen that part of ESPN yet Coach. Thanks for the warning.

they've run endless ads & promos for Michael & Jemele but it still hasn't done real well

if you watch any of these at all, you will see why

http://www.617report.com/2017/04/i-analyzed-recent-ratings-for-espns-6.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HicfXJaphA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JImDKDUg0R0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7pSFfuj2RI

FWIW- Some have linked the tanking of ESPN's ratings and the firing of hundreds to their shift towards left wing politics and ideals

http://www.outkickthecoverage.com/espn-moves-left-wing-so-ceo-can-run-for-president-032917

[Chico]

they've run endless ads & promos for Michael & Jemele but it still hasn't done real well

if you watch any of these at all, you will see why

http://www.617report.com/2017/04/i-analyzed-recent-ratings-for-espns-6.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HicfXJaphA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JImDKDUg0R0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7pSFfuj2RI

FWIW- Some have linked the tanking of ESPN's ratings and the firing of hundreds to their shift towards left wing politics and ideals
http://www.outkickthecoverage.com/es...esident-032917

Another good reason not to watch ESPN.

[MacabreMob]

All the crackpipes can say what they "think" is the reason people don't watch ESPN anymore...

But BOTTOM LINE is ... the "product" sux.

Yes - we will tune in for live coverage for games or whatever... live coverage.

But outside that? It sux.

Anyone watching outside their live coverage must be a moron.

[tornado]

too many similar format shows with a bunch of people of all various different sexes, races, and viewpoints - sitting around and blabbing about how great THEY are (or were way back when) and how they are always right and everyone else is wrong.

It is quite rare that they actually show the scores, the results, and the top plays, and people get sick of watching for 1/2 hour just to see the 3 minutes of what they want.
Not to mention - if it doesn't involve the RED SOX, the YANKEES, the CELTICS, PATRIOTS or the BRUINS, then you might as well go buy a newspaper tomorrow morning because they don't ever consider anything else worth talking about.


Just cuz some on-air talking head is an ex-jock or a pretty blond does NOT mean we wanna hear them talking about sports when they don't know any more than a 5-year old, and think Bradley is in Indiana.
Their 30-year plan since the 80's has been to hype east coast sports and forget the rest of Flyover-America, so now they have to reap what they have sewn.

[Chico]

Guess we still have to look at the scowl on Stephen A. Smith's face though.

[tornado]

There are ESPN guys that add expertise and then there are some who add entertainment value...

I like Stephen A. and Charles Barkley purely for the latter reason.

[Chico]

There are ESPN guys that add expertise and then there are some who add entertainment value...

I like Stephen A. and Charles Barkley purely for the latter reason.

Next time Smith doesn't have a scowl on his face let me know. Entertainment? You got to be kidding.

[bradleyfan124]

too many similar format shows with a bunch of people of all various different sexes, races, and viewpoints - sitting around and blabbing about how great THEY are (or were way back when) and how they are always right and everyone else is wrong.

It is quite rare that they actually show the scores, the results, and the top plays, and people get sick of watching for 1/2 hour just to see the 3 minutes of what they want.
Not to mention - if it doesn't involve the RED SOX, the YANKEES, the CELTICS, PATRIOTS or the BRUINS, then you might as well go buy a newspaper tomorrow morning because they don't ever consider anything else worth talking about.


Just cuz some on-air talking head is an ex-jock or a pretty blond does NOT mean we wanna hear them talking about sports when they don't know any more than a 5-year old, and think Bradley is in Indiana.
Their 30-year plan since the 80's has been to hype east coast sports and forget the rest of Flyover-America, so now they have to reap what they have sewn.

Amen!!!!!NCAA this is what is going to happen to college basketball if you keep going in the direction you are going. Favor the few at the expense of the rest..

[tornado]

I think sports coverage everywhere is tanking - although we are fortunate to have Jim Mattson, Lee Hall and Kurt Pegler...

you sure couldn't count on the PJStar if you wanted any clue about local high school sports, tournaments or anything except....
except, oddly, the PJS does seem to devote an inordinate amount of manpower and space to local bowling and track - which I guess isn't too surprising given that they do sponsor bowling and track events.

I haven't seen even one blurb about local soccer except for the brief preseason preview...no game reports - not even a mention of anyone's records.

I think largely people just get their info from alternate sources like message boards, other internet sites or even on their phones and have learned to tune out the TV & newspaper as full of irrelevant stuff and ads.

[Da Coach]

I am sure there probably are some people who don't like the local sportscasters. But they really are good at reporting the local sports. I have been to many other cities and watched local sports reports on TV, and they almost always are guys who are not interested in their own local sports, and maybe report only the scores that someone calls into them. They make no effort at all to actually cover those sports and take no interest in the teams and players, and don't show video of games (except what they can steal off YouTube).
At least our local guys go out and watch local sports, interview coaches and players, do video of games and players, and get the scores instead of relying on someone else to phone them in. They do a great job.

[tornado]

comparison- not to shoot a dead horse...
Pantagraph Sunday morning: 12 different reports on local/high school sports all with separate links in their header- multiple reports on HS track, baseball, softball, soccer
PJS Sunday morning: only 2 reports - both on track (Dunlap & Eureka), and only in the small margin column "Preps Daily" (only one of which appears in the print edition)
I know there were a lot of rainouts, but there were more than a dozen local HS baseball, softball, & soccer games.

But it has become a self-fulfilling prophecy..
they claim readership is down, revenue is down, traffic is down so they lay off good reporters like Schwindenhammer but then that's the coverage which drew their readers - and now it's gone...
Almost paradoxically - they amp up their bowling coverage to half a page daily...while running articles elsewhere about how dramatically the interest in bowling has plummetted.

"Declining participation driving bowling centers out of business"

http://www.pjstar.com/sports/20170423/declining-participation-driving-bowling-centers-out-of-business

FWIW- Did you know that 13 of the busiest 20 internet sites in the world, and roughly half of the top 200 are sites that offer news, social interaction, advertising and sales...
The PJS complains that is what is putting them OUT of business - BUT it is exactly what THEY do and it is producing HUGE business for those other guys!
In other words - the PJS had a 100 year head start on all those other guys but solidly resisted any change and regfused to go with the obvious way of the progress & the future.
Why didn't they jump on it sooner and make it work for them - instead they RESTRICT access and charge people just to see, so obviously advertisers don't want to waste money on a site that RESTRICTS people from seeing their ads!!

Heck, even BF.com - which runs very few ads, still does well in this day of corporations willing to spend on advertising to get their brand out there.



ONE MORE QUESTION..
will the severe cutbacks, firings, reorganization and financial issues at ESPN affect the coverage and the deals the MVC schools have with ESPN...
especially given that copllege basketball coverage seems to be the hardest hit area of all at ESPN?

https://twitter.com/BTLaFamilia/status/857270263372800001

https://twitter.com/brian_miller/status/857710964334055424

https://twitter.com/PeterLMcCollum/status/857978313129680896

[bradleyfan124]

I think sports coverage everywhere is tanking - although we are fortunate to have Jim Mattson, Lee Hall and Kurt Pegler...

you sure couldn't count on the PJStar if you wanted any clue about local high school sports, tournaments or anything except....
except, oddly, the PJS does seem to devote an inordinate amount of manpower and space to local bowling and track - which I guess isn't too surprising given that they do sponsor bowling and track events.

I haven't seen even one blurb about local soccer except for the brief preseason preview...no game reports - not even a mention of anyone's records.

I think largely people just get their info from alternate sources like message boards, other internet sites or even on their phones and have learned to tune out the TV & newspaper as full of irrelevant stuff and ads.

They also do not report on the local college scene either. There are a number of Division III schools in the area and the only school they seem to report on is Eureka College. My guess they have a Eureka College grad on their staff

[tornado]

they have a Bradley grad on their staff but they've had a lot of unfavorable Bradley coverage except in the JG era