Fix ESPN

[MrHappy]

I wanted to get this Forums thoughts on the state of ESPN. As sited many times, they are doing miserably and are becoming an anchor around TWDC and thus our beloved WDW.

Personally, I find most ESPN programming unwatchable and unlistenable these days. This coming from a sports fan. They've devolved to a popcorn version of themselves, being more the E! network of sports vs the CNN network of sports. I don't need Tweets of athletes broadcasted, I don't need over dramatized analysis and commentary. I just want the sports - the highlights, the insights, trade rumors, etc. Too much opinion going on. Too much attention to social networks. All the stuff I just listed as "bad" may be fine for some, but there's about a dozen ESPN channels, make one the "E! of sports" and work hard to recapture the legitimacy and credibility of the brand.

If I was to do market research, I'm sure we'll find the name ESPN makes people cringe as it now lacks definition and appeal to sports fans like myself, the casual fan, and the person who already thinks sports are dumb. I would rebrand the ESPN Radio affiliates to there inherited call letters and just add subtly "....powered by ESPN". I would also rebrand several of their TV networks - as I mentioned remove all the BS and pop stuff from the base ESPN channel, and move it to a revamped ESPN2, but call it something else like "#sports...powered by ESPN"....this can be filled with the athletes Tweets about nothing, and "First Take" nonsense.

Okay, I'm off my soapbox. Just had a frustrating drive in to work and had enough of Mike & Mike's cheesy and over dramatized opinions. For the record, I'm not a grumpy old man - I'm 39 with 17 years in Marketing, Branding, and Positioning. I know people love what ESPN is doing, but obviously that's the minority.

 

[BigRedDad]

Why do you think the revenues are down? Many people have stopped watching it. It has turned from a Sports Network to a Holier Than Though talk show. Every time you flip it on, there is an argument about inequality, injustice, and how one group is treated differently than another. I do not need to see 600 hours of ESPN whining about a QB that isn't registered to vote, doesn't vote, and complains about the plights of America and American politics.

ESPN needs to play sports and sports cast, nothing else.

 

[SosoDude]

I only watch ESPN for live sports. I could care less about their analysis or thoughts.

 

[rob0519]

Why do you think the revenues are down? Many people have stopped watching it. It has turned from a Sports Network to a Holier Than Though talk show. Every time you flip it on, there is an argument about inequality, injustice, and how one group is treated differently than another. I do not need to see 600 hours of ESPN whining about a QB that isn't registered to vote, doesn't vote, and complains about the plights of America and American politics.

ESPN needs to play sports and sports cast, nothing else.

The problem here is that ESPN 24 x 7 365 over multiple channels. That's a lot of air time to fill. There aren't enough sporting events in the world to cover that kind of time. Why do you think they run the same 60 minutes of Sports Center five times between Midnight and 05:00 AM? Why are there simulcasts of programs that used to be strictly on radio making TV starts of radio hosts? To fill air time.

Now in all fairness, there are some good ESPN produced programs that are worth watching. The 30 for 30 series is entertaining and informative. Now, I could NOT care less about Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe arguing about the Dallas Cowboys, but I do find Pardon the Interruption amusing and entertaining at time. TV should be informative and entertaining. At times ESPN manages to do both. There is something on the network for all sports fans. If you don't like PTI, switch to ESPN2, EPSN3, ESPNU, ESPN News, the ACC Channel or the SEC Channel. In order to succeed as a network ESPN needs to reach both the hard core and today's more casual media driven fans.

 

[Dead2009]

Why do you think the revenues are down? Many people have stopped watching it. It has turned from a Sports Network to a Holier Than Though talk show. Every time you flip it on, there is an argument about inequality, injustice, and how one group is treated differently than another. I do not need to see 600 hours of ESPN whining about a QB that isn't registered to vote, doesn't vote, and complains about the plights of America and American politics.

ESPN needs to play sports and sports cast, nothing else.

Stop watching it when the tv shows are on then, it's what I did.

 

[MrHappy]

Did you all notice that a few weeks ago, the ESPN app got rid of the "NOW" section which was just a dump of Twitter posts from various parts of the sporting world. Now it's SCORES and NEWS. Do you think they're reading this forum?!?!