Friday, March 16, 2007
SportsCenter is a lame duck
TV programming note...
Doesn’t ESPN’ SportsCenter seem increasingly vulnerable? It is a cliche of itself at this point. It seems to only exist as an advertising and cross promotion vehicle for ABC/Disney. From the Budweiser Hot Seat, to the Gatorade Ultimate Highlight, everything is sponsored. The focus is less and less on the field and the games. This loss of focus has caused SportsCenter to lose its way. Flash over substance has often led to spending for more time on irrelevant minutia than the big games. Today’s show, for example, has longer highlights of regular season Arena Football contests than it does of some of the NCAA Tournament games!!?
ESPN backed by the Disney monolith has scared off competitors with dollars. They have more money; therefore they have the best commentators, the coolest graphics, the most resources for coverage. Those of you old enough to remember CNN/SI will say SportsCenter competitors have already tried and failed. But it says here, the time is ripe for a new challenger to take up the mantle. SportsCenter is stale.
Doesn’t ESPN’ SportsCenter seem increasingly vulnerable? It is a cliche of itself at this point. It seems to only exist as an advertising and cross promotion vehicle for ABC/Disney. From the Budweiser Hot Seat, to the Gatorade Ultimate Highlight, everything is sponsored. The focus is less and less on the field and the games. This loss of focus has caused SportsCenter to lose its way. Flash over substance has often led to spending for more time on irrelevant minutia than the big games. Today’s show, for example, has longer highlights of regular season Arena Football contests than it does of some of the NCAA Tournament games!!?
ESPN backed by the Disney monolith has scared off competitors with dollars. They have more money; therefore they have the best commentators, the coolest graphics, the most resources for coverage. Those of you old enough to remember CNN/SI will say SportsCenter competitors have already tried and failed. But it says here, the time is ripe for a new challenger to take up the mantle. SportsCenter is stale.
Labels: ESPN, sports, television
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