Fox Sports and ESPN have chosen subpar operations for some major sports, reflecting adversely on the networks and the events they cover.
Let’s begin with Fox Sports, which embarrassingly failed to have announcers at each of its college football games in the fall, reportedly did not initially plan to send many of its broadcast teams to the World Cup (eventually it did, thanks to a sponsorship from Qatar Airways), didn’t have announcers at MLB games that aired on FS1, and now, in the latest absence, failed to have announcers courtside for a big Pac-12 men’s basketball game between No. 5 UC
Regarding ESPN, the Australian Open is not treated as a grand slam. Chris Fowler, John McEnroe, and the remainder of its best announcers are located in Bristol, not Melbourne.
What message does ESPN convey to its tennis audience? What does it communicate to its partners? It implies that having the best coverage is not very vital.
John Canzano of Substack spoke with Doug Tammaro, senior assistant athletic director at Arizona State.
“I was disappointed when I realized they would not be sent via email,” Tammaro remarked. “You’re just bummed out.”
Fox Sports and ESPN both declined to respond when questioned about the amount of money they are saving. As the pandemic health procedures are no longer a valid reason, this is merely a financial decision. It’s a technique to save money.
Caution: if you tell your audience that what they are viewing is unimportant, they will eventually believe you. If you convey to your broadcast rights partners that they are unimportant to you, they will eventually look elsewhere. You also place your announcers in a precarious situation.
To save money, the networks have decided that a lower-quality broadcast is acceptable. Possibly, but I find it hard to believe that any TV decision-makers who care about production value and being the best would support not putting their employees in the best position to succeed, especially for premier college basketball and tennis competitions.
Tuesday at 6 p.m., MLB Network will air the Hall of Fame announcement. There are programs before and after the announcement of who (if anyone) will be admitted to Cooperstown. … NBC Sports reported 808,000 views for the January 15 Peacock broadcast of Tottenham at Arsenal. The data was provided by Adobe Analytics via NBC. That looks to be a substantial number. These statistics may indicate that a devoted audience will transfer to streaming services for highly valued material. … Bill Walton’s alternate cast on the NBA League Pass app is a terrific idea because he has the personality to succeed in various broadcasting roles. During a routine call, Walton can be distracting if you are engrossed in the game you are watching. When you choose to observe Walton, Jason Benetti, and their friends, though, it makes sense because you are opting into the way-out machine. This and the Manningcast are not the future of television broadcasting. The traditional two- or three-person crews that call games will not be replaced for a long time, if ever. … Dreaded Oops: On Saturday, Fox Sports’ Rob Gronkowski was so close, yet so far, from accurately pronouncing Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen’s name. Gronkowski stated, “Shane Spikeman, the Eagles’ offensive coordinator.” Here is the video. Meanwhile, following the Chiefs’ victory, NBC’s Maria Taylor either made a slip of the word or has a genuine dislike for Kansas City. Here is the video.
In golf jargon, the TV arrangement between LIV Golf and The CW begins in the bunker, but with a proper wedge, it may land on the green.
The first thing that makes LIV subpar is that it is not Fox Sports. Fox Sports might have been a potential fit for LIV, as NBC, CBS, and ESPN/ABC were not believed to be serious contenders, but Fox declined the revenue-sharing agreement with no fee that The CW finally reached with LIV.
In addition to Fox Sports’ larger reach, this would have made LIV more mainstream and increased its likelihood of adoption and expansion.
With the early rounds of its competitions available solely on The CW app, LIV will feel quite specialized, despite the participation of some of the best players in the world. Even while the objective of the Saudi-backed tour may be attainable through “sportswashing,” there does not now appear to be a feasible economic model. The CW arrangement is a start, but the network is really less widely disseminated than YouTube, and I don’t believe it will offer potential LIV sponsors enough cover to want to become too engaged, as opposed to a platform like Fox. And despite the fact that LIV officials are pretending as if everything is fine, it is not.
I think this summary by Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch was apt:
“Aware of an opportunity to impress his boss, LIV’s chief media officer, Will Staeger, concocted an account of events that would have George Santos pleading for narrative restraint.
“‘Following a competitive bidding window with numerous U.S. networks and streaming platforms, the top sports story of 2022 is now the top story of 2023,’ [Staeger] stated in a social media post.
“Staeger’s remark raises two questions for cynics among us: did autocorrect change ‘begging’ to ‘bidding,’ and how does a competitive process involving multiple parties result in giving away the product for free to the worst candidate?”
Even the most popular sports radio station in the country, WFAN, is undergoing change. Sweeny Murti, who left the station after three decades, follows a lengthy list of FAN’s key members who are no longer with the station or have diminished roles. Murti, who announced his resignation from 660 AM/101.9 FM on Friday, joins Mike Francesa, Steve Somers, Joe Benigno, Eddie Coleman, John Minkoff, and former program director Mark Chernoff as previous mainstays at the station.
Murti had covered the Yankees for 22 years, but had stopped traveling in recent years. FAN has also become less reliant on regular commercials, especially in the afternoons when Craig Carton dislikes them, mirroring the mentality of “Boomer & Gio” morning producer Al Dukes, who dislikes the majority of interviews.
Murti continued to work full-time despite his role transitioning from traveling with the squad to hosting the post-game show. FAN offered to keep him on a part-time basis for post-game coverage, but he declined.
The sports media industry has evolved, and COVID has hastened for some outlets (but not The Post) the notion that you do not need to be present to cover a team adequately.
There is a loss of institutional knowledge, which those who are ignorant or unwilling to learn may not completely comprehend. Murti had a very successful three-decade radio career in New York. Without him, the FAN loses this institutional expertise. Thankfully, its hosts can still read newspapers.
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