The downfall of ESPN continues...

[Chris_H_2]

Blackblackblackblackblackblack

[Simple Torture]

Backbackbackbackbackback

That went all the way to Framingham!

I got married in Framingham.

[Norah]

Backbackbackbackbackback

That went all the way to Framingham!

I got married in Framingham.

gross

[Simple Torture]

Backbackbackbackbackback

That went all the way to Framingham!

I got married in Framingham.

gross

It was nice.

[Norah]

Backbackbackbackbackback

That went all the way to Framingham!

I got married in Framingham.

gross

It was nice.

Compared to Rhode Island, sure.

[Simple Torture]

Backbackbackbackbackback

That went all the way to Framingham!

I got married in Framingham.

gross

It was nice.

Compared to Rhode Island, sure.

Well, duh.

[Norah]

Backbackbackbackbackback

That went all the way to Framingham!

I got married in Framingham.

gross

It was nice.

Compared to Rhode Island, sure.

Well, duh.

[Green Habit]

So CBS just announced that Brad Nessler will replace Verne Lundquist in 2017. The amount of talent ESPN's lost is getting ridiculous.

Gone of their own volition:
--Mike Tirico
--Brad Nessler
--Heather Cox
--Skip Bayless
Fired:
--Curt Schilling
--Ray Lewis
--Cris Carter
--Keyshawn Johnson
Forced into retirement:
--Mike Ditka
Possibly to be forced into retirement:
--Chris Berman

Who else am I missing?

[verb_to_trust]

Dan Patrick

[Green Habit]

Dan Patrick

He's been gone a long time though, I was just talking about this year.

[bodysnatcher]

replace Verne Lundquist in 2017.

Oh shit, maybe I can start watching college football with the sound on again

[Electromatic]

There's a good chance the downfall is ending and they are close to being reborn as a better sports network.

Streaming and DVR's along with some really silly amounts of money paid on the front end to broadcast games is starting to bite networks.

They are paying out absurd amounts of money to "talent" and the old schtick... doesn't play like it did.

Competition is turning out to be a good thing... who knew?

I wonder if any of these guys is reborn as a lounge act in Vegas....

[numbers]

Yeah, I saw that Schilling said he was making 2.5 million a year at ESPN. That's absurd, not only is he an idiot and a liability, their limited baseball coverage doesn't merit paying anyone that kind of money. I assume that the other former player analysts are getting similar money too, which means that the actual real faces of the network must be making way more than that. I can see why they'd want to clean house.

[Bammer]

I just saw a couple minutes of the Dan and Jay show, or whatever it is called, on FS1.

Worst couple minutes of TV that I've ever seen. Give me Sportscenter all day long over that crap.

[Monkey_Driven]

The Ringer is live today. If it is half as good as Grantland was it will be better than anything on ESPN.com (outside of former Grantland writers).

[Chris_H_2]

espn has basically turned into a sports mtv. mtv started out with music videos and programming revolving around, gasp, music. now it has nothing to do with music. espn was the premier network to which you turned for scores, highlights, and live games. now it's ridiculous programming like first take, first take re-take, his and hers. the live programming is basically nba games, and the things i used to enjoy about the channel (especially the radio programming) are nothing but commercials for itself.

the other problem is the ridiculous amount of money that it charges cable providers to carry its bundled channels. the carrying fees are astronomical.

[bodysnatcher]

espn has basically turned into a sports mtv. mtv started out with music videos and programming revolving around, gasp, music. now it has nothing to do with music. espn was the premier network to which you turned for scores, highlights, and live games. now it's ridiculous programming like first take, first take re-take, his and hers. the live programming is basically nba games, and the things i used to enjoy about the channel (especially the radio programming) are nothing but commercials for itself.

the other problem is the ridiculous amount of money that it charges cable providers to carry its bundled channels. the carrying fees are astronomical.

great analogy. and yep on the bundled channels. a huge percentage of the channels you get bundled with cable actually don't cost much. it's just that they are lumped in with ESPN to make it look like you're getting a deal with "ALL THESE CHANNELS", when in actuality, ESPN alone carries most of the cost of that package

[Green Habit]

espn has basically turned into a sports mtv. mtv started out with music videos and programming revolving around, gasp, music. now it has nothing to do with music. espn was the premier network to which you turned for scores, highlights, and live games. now it's ridiculous programming like first take, first take re-take, his and hers. the live programming is basically nba games, and the things i used to enjoy about the channel (especially the radio programming) are nothing but commercials for itself.

the other problem is the ridiculous amount of money that it charges cable providers to carry its bundled channels. the carrying fees are astronomical.

The internet has killed the usefulness of TV showing scores and highlights. The problem, as you note, is subbing that out with ridiculous content instead of live games. It does still have a lot of college football, although that is being seriously challenged as well.

[Biff Pocoroba]

Anyone checked out Bill Simmons' new site, The Ringer?

[bada]

espn has basically turned into a sports mtv. mtv started out with music videos and programming revolving around, gasp, music. now it has nothing to do with music. espn was the premier network to which you turned for scores, highlights, and live games. now it's ridiculous programming like first take, first take re-take, his and hers. the live programming is basically nba games, and the things i used to enjoy about the channel (especially the radio programming) are nothing but commercials for itself.

the other problem is the ridiculous amount of money that it charges cable providers to carry its bundled channels. the carrying fees are astronomical.

The internet has killed the usefulness of TV showing scores and highlights. The problem, as you note, is subbing that out with ridiculous content instead of live games. It does still have a lot of college football, although that is being seriously challenged as well.

What games should they be showing daytime during the week when the debate shows are on? Everyone is always complaining about wanting more live games. Like minor league baseball or bowling?