Day 137

Fresh Start_137: Yet another step toward the ledge
My displeasures with the way ESPN has been conducting business for the past 24 months or so has been well documented on this blog over the course of the past few months. The way they have constantly given up talent or shunned them away, is truly baffling. It started with one of my favorite sports figures Bill Simmons and continued with another one of my favorites Colin Cowherd. Others like Mike Tirico and Skip Bawless were just not picked up when their contracts expired.

Talent in the analytical business which ESPN jumpstarted when they were conceived in 1979 is few and far between. The reason no other network on television could keep up with ESPN is because they had a surplus on talent in a market that they created themselves. ESPN was Apple before Apple in the sense that they created something that seemed like a great idea but nobody knew what to do with it. By letting the talent that ESPN has let go has to be concerning for other long time employees like Scott Van Pelt, Stan Verrett, and Neil Everett. Those three individuals have been cast away to the dog shift hours, while being the best available talent on staff. I am still confused at the attempt to attack the “Good Morning America” market with ESPN’s own Sportscenter AM, where they dress up great anchors and parade around like a morning show would, just with sports.

I have no idea why ESPN would make the move they made on Thursday with long time anchor Chris Berman. The role that Berman has played throughout his career has been instrumental to the growth of the company, and now ultimately their dependency on the NFL to do well. It should be no secret to you that the number one sport in the minds of the men in charge at ESPN is football, more specifically the NFL. There shuttle attack into the NFL’s market of coverage has put them in a vulnerable spot if the NFL ever tanks. ESPN has announced that Berman will no longer host the following shows: the NFL Draft, MLB Home Run Derby, and all of his studio shows—which include Sunday Countdown, NFL PrimeTime, but will co-host with Suzy Kolber on Monday Night Countdown. Instead, Berman will be doing what the network called “public-facing roles” in the future. It is still unclear if Berman will be continuing one of my favorite segments “The Blitz” on Monday’s morning Sportscenter. It has also been yet to be confirmed if this was a talk out of retirement for Berman. There was rumors about the long time anchor hanging it up following this season, and it will be interesting to see Berman in his new role.

However, I still think ESPN has made an enormous mistake with removing Berman from these shows as of this year. He will finish out the current playoff bracket and the SuperBowl but after that his new role kicks in. For ESPN’s main competitor on Sunday’s (The NFL Network) you have just won big time. With a Sunday Pre-Kickoff show already in place and doing well, you have just secured your role in the football ecosystem as far as analytics. The NFL Networks show in my opinion is already a better show will now take over the remaining fans at ESPN who like Chris Berman. The reason why ESPN has had so much success on Sunday’s Pre-Kickoff is because of Berman. He is the straw that steered the drink on that show, as ESPN showcased with a new panel of “experts” on their Countdown show this season.

Change in time is good, but I just don’t see why it was a necessary move at this moment. Given Berman’s age of 61, he will most likely be retiring in the next 5-10 years if not sooner. He has a market of people who like him, so why not ride him out? The new Countdown crew replaced guys like Mike Ditka, Tom Jackson, Chris Carter, and Keyshawn Johnson—who Berman had a good relationship with, why replace the last member of something good. It wasn’t the same, but it had a sense of old times with Berman hosting the show. Now, you have given a light to a better show that a selection of people didn’t even know they could try out. A network that I grew up dying to work for, is now instead slowly falling apart in front of my very eyes. Honestly, it is just amazing to witness.
Sources:(espn.com, bleacherreport.com)

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