ESPN Cleaning House

[SPTO]

Re: ESPN Cleaning House

So some interesting things gleaned from Richard Dietsch's excellent podcast yesterday:

- Looks like the Jemele Hill "amicable split" is part of a larger thing with ESPN under new president Jimmy Pitaro as they're trying to get away from the intersection of sports and politics to the point that all on-air personnel are encouraged not to touch that kind of stuff. There are questions now about the future of The Undefeated and a lot of the entertainment type stuff that ESPN was known for under previous president John Skipper. ESPNW and The Magazine may also fall to the wayside in time as well. Hill left a lot of money on the table to leave as she doesn't want to be stifled by the new regime and is looking to spread her journalistic wings. In that regard, you have to respect her for standing up for what she believes in even if you don't agree with her politics.

- Michelle Beadle leaving Get Up! to move back to LA and work the NBA beat was something that was worked out 5-8 days before it was announced. The feeling is that she would've stayed on Get Up! until Sept./Oct. but after her comments about OSU and football in general the higher ups decided to pull the trigger and make the move ASAP. This further accentuates the moving away from social/political issues on the network.

- Get Up! is also in some serious doodoo at least from an expectations perspective. During the roundtable portion of the podcast the comparison was made between GU and Good Morning Football. The latter show doesn't get anywhere near the ratings of GU and doesn't even have the same ratings as FS1's The Undisputed but it is viewed as a ratings and cultural success because the hosts on that show have such a great chemistry and the expectations NFL-N set for that show wasn't so ridiculously high. Get Up! is viewed as being able to go through the NFL season this year and if things don't get better they might as well pull the plug which leads to....

- Apparently, one of Dietsch's guests has intimated there might be tension between Wingo and Golic and with the old adage of "never say never" in mind that there could be a return of Mike & Mike but Greenberg is going to give his show every single chance it possibly can get before he throws in the towel and try to patch things up with Golic.

[DJ]

Re: ESPN Cleaning House

Moving away from political opinion/talk is a wise decision by ESPN leadership. Sports is one of the few things in our society that brings people from both sides of the political aisle together (for the most part). Why you would alienate half of your audience never made sense to me, and I'm surprised it's gone on as long as it has.

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: ESPN Cleaning House

What is it with Golic and Greenberg that people up there don’t like about them?

[Rocky]

Re: ESPN Cleaning House

Never got ESPN's infatuation with Greenberg. Dude isn't hip or stylish at all...which is what I guess they were going for. Get Up imo, would work much better with traditional anchors like Linda Cohn or Brit McHenry. Then let the sports personalities provide the personality.

[Herky]

Re: ESPN Cleaning House

Never got ESPN's infatuation with Greenberg. Dude isn't hip or stylish at all...which is what I guess they were going for. Get Up imo, would work much better with traditional anchors like Linda Cohn or Brit McHenry. Then let the sports personalities provide the personality.

That woman is about as polarizing as you can get.

[SPTO]

Re: ESPN Cleaning House

Never got ESPN's infatuation with Greenberg. Dude isn't hip or stylish at all...which is what I guess they were going for. Get Up imo, would work much better with traditional anchors like Linda Cohn or Brit McHenry. Then let the sports personalities provide the personality.

That's indeed what they were looking for. Greenberg is the least offensive person on that network. The man is as vanilla as you can get. Apparently with Jalen Rose becoming part time on that show now they're going to have more traditional types on the show so that Greenberg can drive the discussion and create conversation. One of the reasons why Get Up hasn't worked with Beadle there is that both Greenie and Beadle are used to being the lead dog on their broadcasts so it was awkward as they didn't really feel comfortable deferring to each other.


BTW regarding the political aspect. A lot of that was driven by the previous regime. John Skipper took the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network name of ESPN to its fullest. He encouraged the personalities to be themselves and to explore all avenues when it comes to sports and how it intersects with the real world. It was Skipper who was 100% behind the ESPN/PBS partnership to produce the documentary about NFL concussions that caused a lot of controversy.

I actually think he was a pretty ballsy and forward thinking executive but he probably didn't reign in his people nearly enough. That being said, let's not forget that the whole Jemele Hill thing blew up NOT because it was on TV but rather it was from her twitter feed. I think that's where some people get all twisted. The network is not some liberal sports network (tho many of the personnel are probably left of center) but because those who are outspoken are such big names for the network that people merge the idea of the personalities and what the network really is.

[Rocky]

Re: ESPN Cleaning House

That woman is about as polarizing as you can get.

Misspoke lol. I meant Chris McKendry.

[dubcity]

Re: ESPN Cleaning House

Moving away from political opinion/talk is a wise decision by ESPN leadership. Sports is one of the few things in our society that brings people from both sides of the political aisle together (for the most part). Why you would alienate half of your audience never made sense to me, and I'm surprised it's gone on as long as it has.

Ideally this is how it should be. But people are hypocrites. If someone says something that people agree with, then people will applaud them and fight for their right to express those opinions. Say the wrong thing and yeah, you gotta be fired.

[dsallupinyaarea]

Re: ESPN Cleaning House

Moving away from political opinion/talk is a wise decision by ESPN leadership. Sports is one of the few things in our society that brings people from both sides of the political aisle together (for the most part). Why you would alienate half of your audience never made sense to me, and I'm surprised it's gone on as long as it has.

Sports have never been apolitical. It's just for decades you only heard one perspective so it started to feel that way.


You can turn on any NFL broadcast, in the past 25 years and especially after 09/11, and you're gonna get a healthy dose of conservative Americana messaging.


I foolishly thought they were different but ESPN, like most companies, wanted the appearances of diversity but none of the different perspectives that comes with said diversity. They got out of that business QUICK, jack.


Jemele is gone.
Michael Smith is buried.
The Undefeated is.... idk what that is.
Bo is a watered down version of his former self (TV show and Twitter feed).
LaBatard show skates past anything heavy. They try to play it like they're just a silly show but I've noticed the difference.



It is what it is.

[DJ]

Re: ESPN Cleaning House

I don't want to violate this site's T.O.S., so I'll not get too far into the political side of this.

In the specific case of Jemele, I think there's levels of blame to put on her AND ESPN management for how the last 18 months have unfolded. I like Jemele and respect her, especially as a writer. I'm sure she'll land on her feet and we'll be reading/seeing her soon.

The Undefeated has been fighting an uphill battle from the jump. Whitlock nearly sunk that ship before it unlatched from the dock. Thankfully, the site did see the light of day and there's been great content on there, but it's certainly not promoted well by ESPN.

I'm surprised Michael Smith hasn't left for another gig. He's been yanked around for years by ESPN.

[SPTO]

Re: ESPN Cleaning House

I'm surprised Michael Smith hasn't left for another gig. He's been yanked around for years by ESPN.

He's basically become a nobody at that network now especially since the cancellation of The 6ix. Apparently Smith is a very good friend of Hill and has fought for her throughout these 18 months so while he is willing to be a good enough soldier and not rock the boat himself he's probably being punished just by association.

He probably does need a change of scenery himself.

[dickey1331]

Re: ESPN Cleaning House

I’m glad ESPN is changing back to being a sports network. It may be too little too late at this point with their actions and cord cutting in general.


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[superjames1992]

Re: ESPN Cleaning House

I really only care for first take. Say what you want about Stephen A but I actually like the guy. The show has kinda gone downhill when Skip left. I have nothing against Max Kellerman but anything outside of boxing he's an idiot.

First Take is great. I’m not a Kellerman fan, but I love when Will Cain or Damien Woody are on. Stephen A is the best, of course. Note that I watch First Take more for the comedy than for legitimate sports takes, though.

I certainly miss Skip, too. Undisputed is pretty good/funny at FS1, but nothing can stack up to the greatness of Stephen A and Skip together on Firat Take back in the day.

[JayhawkerStL]

Re: ESPN Cleaning House

There might not be a sports personality I loathe more than Will Cain. to be honest, I've never listened to his show, only the commercials that come on when listening to ESPN podcasts.

The guy just seems like the biggest tool ever.

[SPTO]

Re: ESPN Cleaning House

There might not be a sports personality I loathe more than Will Cain. to be honest, I've never listened to his show, only the commercials that come on when listening to ESPN podcasts.

The guy just seems like the biggest tool ever.

The thing is, I still think of Cain as a political commentator moonlighting as a sports personality LOL