ESPN Profit Plummets As Network Turns Left

[Lawrence Wright]

There was usually one regional game and one national game

Exactly, at most two games a week.

 

[Lawrence Wright]

Did you actually see any of that during game broadcasts?

If you look hard enough for something, chances are you’ll find it.

I can’t recall the last time watching a game on ESPN when out of nowhere a discussion on liberal politics broke out.

 

[Remy]

Yeah, the olden days for me was that one game on ABC every Saturday with Keith Jackson. Some weekends we were treated to a doubleheader with a west coast team (usually USC).

MAN I HATE giving you a like so when I do it's the equivalent to a double secret probation like for anyone else. But I am there with you along with Frank Broyles commentary as the guy knew college football backwards and forwards. "FUMMMBUUUUUUUUUUULLLLLLLLLLEEEEEE WHOA BOY!!"

 

[CAVPUT]

ESPN can burn. Won't lose a moments sleep over their demise. Screw 'em.

 

[DaddyChad]

I’m just going to make this simple, people still like sports just as much as ever. However Disney shoveling their political opinion down people’s throats in this polarized political environment will alienate most fans. You alienate some bc of your stance going too far for them and others bc you didn’t go far enough.

I don’t for a second believe Disney gets the point though. Maybe I’m just pissed for them ruining game of thrones though.

 

[Nerwen Aldarion]

I’m just going to make this simple, people still like sports just as much as ever. However Disney shoveling their political opinion down people’s throats in this polarized political environment will alienate most fans. You alienate some bc of your stance going too far for them and others bc you didn’t go far enough.

I don’t for a second believe Disney gets the point though. Maybe I’m just pissed for them ruining game of thrones though.

What does Disney have to do with Game of Thrones? HBO is a part of Warner Brothers and Warner Media which has nothing to do with Disney.

Disney did screw up Star Wars, used to be an epic space saga. Now it’s nothing but plotholes riddles with childish humor that a fifth grader would write.

 

[DaddyChad]

What does Disney have to do with Game of Thrones? HBO is a part of Warner Brothers and Warner Media which has nothing to do with Disney.

Disney did screw up Star Wars, used to be an epic space saga. Now it’s nothing but plotholes riddles with childish humor that a fifth grader would write.

Disney hired Game of Thrones directors away for the new Star Wars films.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

I’m just going to make this simple, people still like sports just as much as ever. However Disney shoveling their political opinion down people’s throats in this polarized political environment will alienate most fans. You alienate some bc of your stance going too far for them and others bc you didn’t go far enough.

I don’t for a second believe Disney gets the point though. Maybe I’m just pissed for them ruining game of thrones though.

I think they get it this time. I think they have to get it this time. For the most part I like ESPN’s pre and
Post game panels for college football/basketball. I quit watching Sunday countdown at all, MNF was a disaster last year, the NBA group with Beadle and Rose I’m not big on at all. Nobody can really touch the TNT/TBS studio shows with Shaq, Chuck, Kenny and Ernie. Same with Fox’s NFL show with Bradshaw, JImmy and Strahan.
ESPN has dug themselves a helluva hole to get back and compete with the on Air talent . Pissed away so much money to the Mike Greenbergs and Michelle Beadles of the World.

 

[SalVolinus]

College Gameday is good usually.
I like Shaq/Chuck/Kenny/Ernie combo as well.
SVP is great.

The actual sporting events are still good, but commercials seem to be getting longer. Maybe I'm getting old.

Other than that, my legacy media stays untouched. Take 5 months off from the news and then just randomly watch it one day. It's wild.

 

[mrmax86]

College Gameday is good usually.
I like Shaq/Chuck/Kenny/Ernie combo as well.
SVP is great.

The actual sporting events are still good, but commercials seem to be getting longer. Maybe I'm getting old.

Other than that, my legacy media stays untouched. Take 5 months off from the news and then just randomly watch it one day. It's wild.

They are TNT, right?

 

[Nerwen Aldarion]

Disney hired Game of Thrones directors away for the new Star Wars films.

So? They still finished Game of Thrones. It wasn’t Disney’s fault they did a crappy job in the end. Especially since it’s pretty clear this was GRRM’s original ending.

Blame the showrunners, not Disney. Yes not Disney’s fault they did a crappy job in the end. It’s just Disney’s fault when they do a crappy job on Star Wars

 

[XknoxvolsX]

Can someone provide me with the political means that drove viewers away from ESPN? Honestly, I don't watch much ESPN at all. I do enjoy the documentaries and such, however. But, I don't understand what everyone is commenting on when they say ESPN has gone too far to the left. Was it commercials in the last election cycles or did the hosts of shows actually talk about candidates? If so, what in the world does that have to do with football?

 

[DaddyChad]

So? They still finished Game of Thrones. It wasn’t Disney’s fault they did a crappy job in the end. Especially since it’s pretty clear this was GRRM’s original ending.

Blame the showrunners, not Disney. Yes not Disney’s fault they did a crappy job in the end. It’s just Disney’s fault when they do a crappy job on Star Wars

HBO had tried to extend them for more seasons. They declined bc of the Star Wars opportunity. Again it is what it is but the last season was very rushed.

 

[DaddyChad]

Can someone provide me with the political means that drove viewers away from ESPN? Honestly, I don't watch much ESPN at all. I do enjoy the documentaries and such, however. But, I don't understand what everyone is commenting on when they say ESPN has gone too far to the left. Was it commercials in the last election cycles or did the hosts of shows actually talk about candidates? If so, what in the world does that have to do with football?

I don’t think it’s just espn necessarily but the whole politicalized environment of sports itself. That said every time you got on espn you had someone offering a political slanted view and generally it leaned left. I generally just don’t give a crap to hear about politics in sports jmo.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

Can someone provide me with the political means that drove viewers away from ESPN? Honestly, I don't watch much ESPN at all. I do enjoy the documentaries and such, however. But, I don't understand what everyone is commenting on when they say ESPN has gone too far to the left. Was it commercials in the last election cycles or did the hosts of shows actually talk about candidates? If so, what in the world does that have to do with football?

People really started taking notice of where they were going when Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner was presented an ESPY award for courage or when they treated Michael Sam like a gay football modern day version of Jackie Robinson or Kap like Rosa Parks, Ali, and Malcolm X all wrapped into one. Also, presenting an ESPY to Mizzou football players for standing up for the fake ass protest that took place on campus. Allowing certain anchors and talking heads to say whatever they want on twitter and not allowing others (more conservative) points of view without consequences. Most people (me included) don’t really want to hear about people’s political leanings during sports “Entertainment”.

 

[LouderVol]

Can someone provide me with the political means that drove viewers away from ESPN? Honestly, I don't watch much ESPN at all. I do enjoy the documentaries and such, however. But, I don't understand what everyone is commenting on when they say ESPN has gone too far to the left. Was it commercials in the last election cycles or did the hosts of shows actually talk about candidates? If so, what in the world does that have to do with football?

They started commenting on and following individual players political stances on things. Commenting on Trump tweets,

As others have pointed out when they did get political it was very slanted one way, so they didnt cover players with different beliefs from whatever they were pushing. They also fired/punished some commentators for stuff they said off air.

Personally I also didnt like when they push the pappurazi stuff either. Talking about so and sos fashion, or who they are dating .

They just need to keep it to sports, that's why people are there.

 

[bamawriter]

HBO had tried to extend them for more seasons. They declined bc of the Star Wars opportunity. Again it is what it is but the last season was very rushed.

The scripts were already written and pre-production had already begun on Season 8 before D&D agreed to do Star Wars. Disney had nothing to do with the final season being rushed.

 

[TrueOrange]

HBO had tried to extend them for more seasons. They declined bc of the Star Wars opportunity. Again it is what it is but the last season was very rushed.

That’s not at all what happened....

 

[Lawrence Wright]

People really started taking notice of where they were going when Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner was presented an ESPY award for courage or when they treated Michael Sam like a gay football modern day version of Jackie Robinson or Kap like Rosa Parks, Ali, and Malcolm X all wrapped into one. Also, presenting an ESPY to Mizzou football players for standing up for the fake ass protest that took place on campus. Allowing certain anchors and talking heads to say whatever they want on twitter and not allowing others (more conservative) points of view without consequences. Most people (me included) don’t really want to hear about people’s political leanings during sports “Entertainment”.

Excellent post, and you're dead on.

That said, I don't get why it's so difficult for some to compartmentalize Event A on ESPN (a bogus ESPY award to a gay football player or transgender former Olympian) versus Event B on ESPN (SVP's SportsCenter, UF vs UT football, UF vs UK hoops, UF softball/baseball in NCAAT/CWS, etc).

In my mind one has nothing to do with the other. I'm watching college football in the fall and SVP on SportsCenter at midnight regardless. David Duke and Louis Farrakhan could guest co-host PTI and it wouldn’t faze me one bit.

There's plenty other stuff to watch on TV when the ESPYs is on.

 

[05_never_again]

Excellent post, and you're dead on.

That said, I don't get why it's so difficult for some to compartmentalize Event A on ESPN (a bogus ESPY award to a gay football player or transgender former Olympian) versus Event B on ESPN (SVP's SportsCenter, UF vs UT football, UF vs UK hoops, UF softball/baseball in NCAAT/CWS, etc).

In my mind one has nothing to do with the other. I'm watching college football in the fall and SVP on SportsCenter at midnight regardless.

There's plenty other stuff to watch on TV wile the ESPYs is on.

Part of it is looking for reasons to be offended or upset, to be sure.

However, even if you don't watch the ESPYs or anything that isn't live sports, you can't help but pick up some of the political bias. ESPN is not as important as it used to be, but it still serves as a center of gravity within sports media. If you go to their website to check scores, play fantasy sports, etc., you still pick up on their little insertions of politics into the coverage. If you were watching the NFL Draft the year Michael Sam was picked, for example, you couldn't get away from ESPN mentioning the fact that the first openly gay player might be drafted every 5 minutes, and then someone coming in behind that and suggesting that if you didn't think this was one of the greatest events of the last 50 years, then you're probably a bigot. There for a couple of football seasons, Kaepernick and the anthem protests were mentioned at the top of the broadcast. On MNF broadcasts in particular, they'd show the full singing of the anthem, make sure guys who were sitting/kneeling got camera time, and discuss something that particular player had said earlier in the week. Almost always discussed from a point of view sympathetic to their cause. So even if you don't actively consume their commentary-type shows, you still get some it just through osmosis.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

Excellent post, and you're dead on.

That said, I don't get why it's so difficult for some to compartmentalize Event A on ESPN (a bogus ESPY award to a gay football player or transgender former Olympian) versus Event B on ESPN (SVP's SportsCenter, UF vs UT football, UF vs UK hoops, UF softball/baseball in NCAAT/CWS, etc).

In my mind one has nothing to do with the other. I'm watching college football in the fall and SVP on SportsCenter at midnight regardless.

There's plenty other stuff to watch on TV wile the ESPYs is on.

I agree. If you compartmentalize certain things you can enjoy them more. I know I’m getting fluff and LeBron in Box A from Greeny, Lebatard, Stephen A. Around the Horn and from which guest ( I have not watched in a while). Box B Is PTI and SVP, those guys I like watching. Box c Live sports are pretty self explanatory. WOULD like to see MNF have a better crew.
I’ll watch the ESPY’S each year because I love sports and seeing the year in review. I’ll take a million uplifting speeches from Jimmy V, Stuart Scott and others persevering through trying times rather than let’s throw Bruce Jenner an ESPY because that was a stipulation to give Diane Sawyers a 2 hour prime time interview on ABC. I think and hope they are getting away from that.

 

[Lawrence Wright]

Part of it is looking for reasons to be offended or upset, to be sure.

However, even if you don't watch the ESPYs or anything that isn't live sports, you can't help but pick up some of the political bias. ESPN is not as important as it used to be, but it still serves as a center of gravity within sports media. If you go to their website to check scores, play fantasy sports, etc., you still pick up on their little insertions of politics into the coverage. If you were watching the NFL Draft the year Michael Sam was picked, for example, you couldn't get away from ESPN mentioning the fact that the first openly gay player might be drafted every 5 minutes, and then someone coming in behind that and suggesting that if you didn't think this was one of the greatest events of the last 50 years, then you're probably a bigot. There for a couple of football seasons, Kaepernick and the anthem protests were mentioned at the top of the broadcast. On MNF broadcasts in particular, they'd show the full singing of the anthem, make sure guys who were sitting/kneeling got camera time, and discuss something that particular player had said earlier in the week. Almost always discussed from a point of view sympathetic to their cause. So even if you don't actively consume their commentary-type shows, you still get some it just through osmosis.

Solid post with many valid points.

Personally, I thought Michael Sam coming out and anthem protest coverage were both newsworthy...to a point. We reached a point of diminishing returns on both stories rather quickly, at which point I chose other forms of entertainment to pass time.

In my mind it’s no different than the major networks coverage of the current political environment. My wife isn’t giving up The Voice on NBC because the Meuller Report coverage went overboard, or Lester Holt made a politically slanted comment on the Nightly News.

 

[05_never_again]

Solid post with many valid points.

Personally, I thought Michael Sam coming out and anthem protest coverage were both newsworthy...to a point. We reached a point of diminishing returns on both stories rather quickly, at which point I chose other forms of entertainment to pass time.

In my mind it’s no different than the major networks coverage of the current political environment. My wife isn’t giving up The Voice on NBC because the Meuller Report coverage went overboard, or Lester Holt made a politically slanted comment on the Nightly News.

Yes, both were newsworthy to a point. But it goes overboard when they made Sam one of the biggest stories of the draft that year, and openly intimated that if you didn't think this was as big of a deal as the media said it was, then it probably is because you're a homophobe.

IMO, the single-biggest travesty of coverage ESPN embarked on during this period of merging sports with politics was their coverage of the University of Missouri protests. When you actually cut through all the crap and look at the stated reasons for the protests, you can't help but just laugh. All of that was caused by an alleged off campus shouting of a racial slur out of a passing pickup truck off and a poop swastika on a dorm bathroom stall. Can't that be construed as an anti-Nazi display? What if someone drew an American flag in poop - would anyone think that was a pro-American display? And their demands were, among other things, for the Chancellor to lose his job over it (which he did). There was also a false claim made by the Student Body President that the Klan had been spotted on campus.

The aftermath of the protests (huge enrollment drop off, donation drop off, etc.) has received a relative lack of coverage, and that's because it was caused by the unpopularity of the University's decision to cave into their demands.

 

[95 Vol Alum]

Sam was in 2014, Jenner in 2015. They've basically de-platformed or let go of the hosts that seemed to be hot and heavy in non-sports related commentary over the past 2 years.

Ignoring the anthem flap would've undermined any credibility they might want to have as a sports news provider. They saw it as reporting, those not in agreement saw it as promotion. Both "sides" wanted to know about people taking a knee, though.

I'm all for doing away with the ESPY's - thought it was dumb from the start but not for any particular social reason. Sports is settled on the field not at an awards ceremony like art often is.

 

[djohnnyg]

CNN gets hammered by Fox in the ratings. Granted...Fox is the only non-left media outlet so if you combine all the left outlets....which is EVERYTHING not Fox...then you have more consuming left wing bias than right. But still. Shows like SNL have had lower ratings...and many outlets have alienated the more right leaning folks out there. I respect a non biased sports and news outlet when I can find em. ESPN serves a purpose with the games they cover...but their "outside the lines" stuff gets political and definitely leans left.