Many know ESPN (Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) as the worldwide leader in sports, as the network claims it is. ESPN is as hardcore as it gets when it comes to sports. But it could improve a few things to make itself even more enjoyable to hardcore sports fans.
- Broadcast exclusively in high definition on ESPN HD. All shows aired on ESPN HD are at least partly HD, but some parts of the shows and some sporting events are not broadcast in HD. Broadcasting exclusively in HD would make every program more watchable just because the picture quality is 100 times better.
- This is one is really just me venting, but ESPN—don't air the Little League World Series, World Series of Poker, MLS soccer, or the National Spelling Bee. They're all utterly boring, and I'm not sure how many viewers they get—especially the LLWS and the Spelling Bee—but it can't be many. I mean, really, the SPELLING BEE????? Come on, now, I know no one wants to watch that! ESPN is wasting its time and resources by airing those events.
- Don't advertise yourself so much. After watching SportsCenter all the way through, have you ever noticed how many ads are devoted to ESPN programs that will air in the near future? A ton. They probably use half of their commercial time on their own shows. It gets very old very fast. If I were ESPN's executive producer, I'd air more third-party commercials to make more money. ESPN doesn't need to advertise itself as much as it is. In ESPN's defense, every TV network does this, but ESPN does it more than any others, I think.
- Don't focus coverage on just the best teams in each sport. The Celtics, Pistons, Cavaliers, Suns, Spurs of the NBA, Patriots, Saints, Colts, Chargers of the NFL, Tigers, Mets of Major League Baseball, Ducks, Red Wings, and Penguins of the NHL get too much airtime. ESPN needs to widen its focus in the four major pro sports leagues. Give some teams that aren't the best team in their league some airtime.
- Get rid of Pardon the Interruption. It comes on right after Around the Horn, and it's not nearly as good. Two guys alone don't provide enough difference of opinion on the matters they discuss on the show to be interesting. Plus, as is expected as a result of coming on right after Around the Horn, they talk about the same things with little difference in opinion from the sportswriters who participate on AtH. ESPN needs to come up with an idea for another show and fill the TV slot that PTI currently fills with the new show.
- Don't kill your stories. When ESPN gets a new story—the Favre story, for example—they beat it to death, and then some. ESPN needs to change that, they need to stop over-analyzing every big story. Hearing about the same thing gets tiresome very quickly. Hence my proposal to get rid of PtI. ESPN needs some variety in the content of its headlines and shows.
These are just a few complaints, but ESPN should address them nonetheless if they want to make the network more enjoyable to watch.
4 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment
Fun Ston 11 months ago
you are out of your mind. the spelling bee is fascinating, it's great to see some non-athletic kids thrive for a change. poker is great too. same with soccer. and PTI is the show that started around the horn anyways. PTI is great when it is tony and wilbon. you're probly just watching it when it's bob ryan.
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Matt Gilmartin 11 months ago
Okay, I figured it out. You love to be sarcastic. And you do have a point about PTI, I only just started watching it when Kornheiser decided to take a month-long vacation and they had guest appearances on the show every day.
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Brent Lau 11 months ago
I agree with a lot of your points. Spelling bee is not sports... but I'd say they can throw the LLWS kids a bone on ESPN2.
I think the commercial thing has a lot to do with advertisers cutting back their budgets because of the economy, but even in better times, ESPN did a lot of self-promoting.
But I TOTALLY disagree with you on PTI. With TK and MW, it's the best show on the network. ATH should be canceled immediately along with Rome Is Burning and every show Skip Bayless is on.
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Matt Gilmartin 11 months ago
Well, my comments about PTI may not be totally fair because I haven't seen it with TK and MW much. But I still like ATH and Jime Rome is Burning. I don't know who Skip Bayless is.
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