(07-16-2013 10:02 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  

(07-16-2013 07:06 AM)TerryD Wrote:  

(07-15-2013 10:49 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  

(07-15-2013 10:26 PM)JRsec Wrote:  ESPN really pushed a variety of unqualified personalities on us across the spectrum of their broadcasts and nothing is more off putting than to have many of these individuals trying to create news rather than reporting it, reporting it with obvious lack of understanding of the nuances of the games they are covering, and then politicizing the danged sports.

Nothing has offended me more than their push of who we are to reflect upon for the Heisman before the season is even a month away. I just wish they would show me the sports, give me the play by play, and then shut up and show me the scores on the ticker and the highlights on the tube. It really isn't that hard to do. And, I'm sick of talking heads over-talking one another on phony sports shows arguing points that nobody cares about.

I go to sports to get away from the View, Political Debate Shows, and Bloomberg's Self Promoting Discussions about Business. I watch sports because someone wins and someone loses and then it's over. I don't tune in to listen to two people I don't care about arguing about the game I just watched and telling me what to think about it. I can't think of anything more insulting for a broadcast team, or analysts to do. If ESPN is declining it is because of these things, not the games they put on, or even their competition, .....yet.

I agree with a lot of these viewpoints from a personal standpoint. However, the ESPN ratings decline has a pretty straightforward explanation: they only had 2 NBA playoff games involving either the Lakers or Heat this year and a 4-game sweep in the Western Conference Finals featuring small markets, whereas it had around 11 Heat or Lakers playoff games last year along with a 7-game Eastern Conference Finals between the Heat and Celtics that drove the network to record ratings. Those NBA games were among the highest rated programs on ESPN of the year outside of NFL Football and the college football National Championship Game and Rose Bowl, so the lower wattage NBA games this year had a huge impact on the quarterly ratings (effectively having 10% of their evenings in the quarter switching from top tier ratings to filler compared to last year). Note that TNT, which got the benefit of a great 7-game Eastern Conference Finals featuring the Heat this year, received boffo ratings. NBC Sports Network effectively had the NHL equivalent this year of what ESPN had with the NBA last year, which was having large market teams in Chicago and Boston getting all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals, so that's the reason for their rise. The bottom line is that sexy matchups with marquee teams will draw viewers regardless of the quality of the announcers or pundits (whereas the best announcers in the world won't draw flies to a bad matchup).

Unfortunately, the ratings actually continue to show that we're a very vocal minority in terms of complaining about ESPN's pundit shows, as those have drawn much better audiences than the higher quality shows like Outside the Lines. To put the total day viewership numbers into perspective, ESPN still has more daily viewers than every other sports network combined.

I wouldn't know, Frank. I haven't watched a single NBA game for one minute since 1985 and I rarely watch any ESPN content, except during/for an actual Notre Dame football or basketball game.

I just don't like the whole ESPN universe and the sports culture it creates/influences.

All of ESPN's "pundits", talk show hosts, Sportscenter, etc...could disappear overnight forever and I it would not bother me one bit.

If it collapsed into bankruptcy and no entity ever moved into the sports broadcast vacuum that created, I wouldn't mind.

In that universe, I would subscribe to und.com and/or whatever digital, pay network ND came up with for ND basketball games not shown on an OTA network.

Give me ABC and NBC OTA for ND football games, let me continue to subscribe and pay for MLB.com for Pirates games and Sunday Ticket for Steelers games and the rest of the sports broadcast industry could collapse and burn for all I care.

Even if my costs went way up, I would not mind if it meant the demise of ESPN.

I understand the sentiment, although that's an inward-looking point of view ("I only like what I like and everything else can cease to exist"). However, your own alma mater is a direct beneficiary of the "ESPN culture" in the sense that Notre Dame is popular and people want to talk about them (good or bad), which in turn allows ND to have its own NBC contract that no one else has (and they are able to keep that contract, whether they're good or bad). ESPN and every other network simply wants to broadcast what draws ratings, and Notre Dame fits into that mold. That's the main reason why Notre Dame is still powerful today: it's not on-the-field results, but rather that they're on that short list of easy ESPN topics like whatever is happening with the Cowboys, Yankees, Lakers and LeBron. So, from your own personal point of view, I don't think it's necessarily a good thing at all for Notre Dame specifically if the ESPN culture goes away because that's actually what has kept the school relevant during the lean years. Without that ESPN culture, ND is just another "run of the mill" power team that people will only talk about when they're winning national championships (while their 6-6 seasons are ignored).

I disagree.

ND was "popular" long before ESPN even existed, even during lean periods when they weren't winning championships.

I think that ESPN wants to talk about ND because they are popular.

I don't think that ND is popular because ESPN wants to talk about them.

I don't think that ESPN had much relevance on NBC signing ND in 1991.

IF ESPN collapsed, I don't think it would have much impact on that contract.

If ND would become less popular if ESPN went off the air, well, that is just collateral damage. :)

I am not just "inward looking" about ND, but also about the other sports teams that I follow.

I was pretty content about sports telecasts prior to the existence of ESPN.

I would likewise be content if magically ESPN went away.

I would read newspapers and subscribe to ND websites for information about that team.

The same with the Pirates and the Steelers.

To me, ESPN is a fairly new thing in the sports world. I got along just fine before it came on the scene.

I am perfectly willing to use OTA and subscription or pay for view services to view the teams I like.

I am a fan of the teams I follow, not the sport in general.

I have no interest in other games or other teams.

I don't care to hear about Lebron or Manziel or Tebow or the Cowboys or Alabama or Puig.

Likewise, I am sure that other fans don't want to hear about Everett Golson or Brian Kelly.

There, I got my old curmudgeon rant out of the way. :)