(05-15-2017 10:31 AM)Lenvillecards Wrote: (05-15-2017 10:02 AM)nole Wrote: IF it is about basketball (not disputing, just addressing that logic), then I would be concerned given ESPN just fired all of it's CBB media.
Given the cable subscription model is going away, the population of the conference is no longer the asset it was. The ACC was WELL positioned with the old ESPN model. Now that we are moving to digital stream model (most likely) it is about fan bases.
What I think we will see in the future is ESPN focusing more on pro sports & leaving the college reporting to the conference networks. The schools will be providing the announcers, production, etc. You will still see the national shows on ESPNU & such but the conference networks will be far more involved & that will reduce their need for their own media & talking heads.
I think Lenville hit the nail on the head with this point here.
There's lots of moving parts in the ESPN subscriber loss narrative, but there's some important pieces of information to consider that don't get talked about as much.
To expand on Lenville's point, all signs point to ESPN minimizing their investment risk in the ACC Network by making sure that each individual school has the production capabilities to put a quality broadcast on a network under the ESPN umbrella. I think Lenville is right in that the next step is likely that each ACC school will probably end up having some type of dedicated team to work the games. In a lot of ways, it almost makes more sense for each school to employ their own sideline reporter, production staff, etc. If you've got someone who's job is to be around the team all the time, they'll have the best information and scoops. Now, there's always a little danger in allowing one side to set the narrative, but from a content-generation standpoint it will give you tremendous access. Plus, how many times have you watched a game featuring your team on a big network and finding yourselves miffed about a comment here or there because it shows these announcers don't (and honestly, can't) know intimate details about the teams like us die-hards? Those moments can be minimized with broadcast teams whose sole job is to cover the ACC.
I always find that big discussions about ESPN's declining viewership to miss the boat in various places, but another point to consider is the way we consume information about sports is so fragmented now. I'll use myself as an example.
I'm a Virginia Tech grad, so I get my Hokie fix from a couple different sources, namely the Roanoke Times beat writer and a high-quality fan site that does film breakdowns & provides great recruiting news updates. As someone who lives in Northern Virginia, my pro sports fandom is centered around DC United (MLS), the Caps (NHL), Wizards (NBA) and Nats (MLB). I follow team-specific blogs from SBNation, plus beat writers from the Washington Post or MASN to get the best and inside information about each team.
ESPN can't come close to covering the teams I'm interested better than any of those outlets. General sports talk doesn't really interest me that much any more because my rooting interests lie with only a handful of teams. I imagine that many of us here have similar ways of following our teams. Being a sports network that covers everything (like ESPN) inevitably means that my interests receive little attention, which only feeds the divisive narratives like "ESPN DOESN'T TALK ABOUT SO-AND-SO ENOUGH."
It sucks that high-quality reporters & news-breakers lost their jobs, but from an ACC Network point-of-view, they don't add much when you look at the cost-benefit ratio. We're all going to be concerned with our teams, and as much as Brett McMurphy seems like a nice dude, it's not like he's a Paul Finebaum type that has cache with a specific fanbase.
If anything, most observers miss the point with the ESPN-ACC relationship (same with the SECN). The SECN and ACCN are basically ESPN turning these conference's inventories into larger-scale RSNs. RSNs have made big money at the same time people are fleeing cable. ESPN is capitalizing on that and making sure they have a stake in these rabid fanbases for years to come. We'll see in a few years how things turn out, but I'm of the opinion that the ACCN will be a big success for ESPN.