ESPN viewership down

[Texas Proud]

Oh, I know it can work, but the more important it is to me, the more likely I am to find out early.

First time I remember this was the 1980 Winter Olympics. The US-USSR hockey game was played mid day but would not be broadcast until prime time. I purposeful drove home from my part time job that afternoon with the radio off and avoided the news, so I could watch it and enjoy the game not knowing the outcome. I was in my bedroom 15 minutes before the start of the broadcast, and my dad yells out from the living room, "Hey, we beat the Russians!"

Apologies if I spoiled it for anyone who taped that game and has not yet watched it.

I had one that was similar, but not someone yelling it out...

Back in the days they did not show the Indy 500 live... it was delayed... so I decided to make sure I was OK... I did record it on VCR... went and played golf with a friend.... I wanted to watch AJ Foyt win a 5th Indy...

We got back to my house and I turn on the VCR and rewound the tape... stupid me did not start it before turning on the TV.... that split second the sportscaster said 'AJ knocked out of race on 1st lap'.... Man was I bummed...


Now that I have a DVR, I tell everybody that I see on a regular basis not to tell me scores... it has worked pretty well.... sometimes they will ask if I am recording and I will say no... so they will tell me a score...

 

[Senator]

Sports viewership in general is down. There is too much competition for the eyes.

No one really cares about watching a bunch of overpaid entitlement mentality cry babies do something on TV that requires a very limited intelligence.

 

[Ronnieboy]

As I searched for Monday night football I saw that there is a >two hour pre show for the regular game!?! I mean I thought the Super Bowl preshow at 4+ hours was getting ridiculous, I couldn't watch a two hour pre-show for a regular weekly game [emoji15]. That's why I'm not watching ESPN from 4-6:20 tonight.

 

[gcgang]

Why Disney should cut the cord and spin off ESPN - Dec. 6, 2016

It's been suggested that DIS (owner of ESPN) shareholders would be better off if they spun ESPN off.

I think it's related to the backlash against payTV bundling in general. Who wants all those channels when you are interested in only a few if them?

But I'm a sports junkie and would suffer unduly without ESPN, although I understand Chris Berman (back-back-back; HE. COULD. GO. ALL. THE. WAY!) is retiring next year. I'll miss him.

 

[ownyourfuture]

I still like NFL prime time with Chris Berman & Tom Jackson.
Other than that, I rarely watch ESPN.

I have zero interest in basketball, baseball, soccer, golf & only a mild interest in hockey. And that's only after the playoffs start.

 

[RunningBum]

Berman is a reason I watch LESS of ESPN. I just can't stand the guy. Goes to show that people have different tastes.

 

[JoeWras]

Even if the presenters (reporters, analysts, play by play, etc) are not injecting politics into things, they still irritate. Why? Because of the "good cop, bad cop" thing they do.

They set up this false dichotomy of ideas, which may only be about sports, and then strongly assert a side. And I mean strongly, as in "Mr/Mrs Know-It-All." And then they argue, and then they yell.

Blah. Fake. Irritating.

 

[robnplunder]

I don't watch "sports" anymore. As I age, I lost interest in rooting for any team. If I watch sport, it's by accident. If I want to watch specific sport event or highlight of it, I go to youtube. Come to think of it, I hardly watch any TV. It's all youtube.

 

[UnrealizedPotential]

I used to watch NBA basketball games a lot. Now , not so much. Like others have said these athletes are overpaid. But it is more than that. The game just doesn't seem the same to me somehow. I just can't get interested in the players. The teams are not as good as in the past. I don't know what it is beyond that, things just don't seem the same, so I don't watch it much anymore.

 

[John Galt III]

TV sports in general has too many commercials. Not covering kickoff and runback sometimes just to squeeze in some more commercials. Unbelievable.

 

[scrabbler1]

What caused my decline in sports interest were a few things: Too much focus on the off-the-field issues such as personal lives of the players and labor-management issues, and the endless barrage of advertisements during TV broadcasts.

 

[ponyboy]

People still tune into that network? lol

 

[GTFan]

Yeah, for college football - e.g. all but a couple of bowls are on ESPN. So this is not your thread, go troll elsewhere.

For the Berman haters (I don't care for him either), he's basically being retired by them - no more NFL after this year which leaves him little else of worth. Not sure if he's leaving the network or not.

 

[ziggy29]

For the Berman haters (I don't care for him either), he's basically being retired by them - no more NFL after this year which leaves him little else of worth. Not sure if he's leaving the network or not.

I liked Berman a long time ago, when he was fresh and new; his schtick was humorous and just irreverent enough to be entertaining to me.

In the last decade or so, IMO, he has become a bad caricature of himself.

 

[GrayHare]

I liked Berman a long time ago, when he was fresh and new; his schtick was humorous and just irreverent enough to be entertaining to me.

In the last decade or so, IMO, he has become a bad caricature of himself.

+1

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Do you know what would convince me to subscribe to a sports network? One that had NOT ONE SINGLE ANNOUNCER. Listening to ANY of them drivel on for hours at a time just wears me out. I remember a couple of years ago, there was a NFL game on that during the first 1/2 of the game, audio issues prevented ANY commentary at all...only the sound at the field. It was absolutely amazing!

 

[gcgang]

Do you know what would convince me to subscribe to a sports network? One that had NOT ONE SINGLE ANNOUNCER. Listening to ANY of them drivel on for hours at a time just wears me out. I remember a couple of years ago, there was a NFL game on that during the first 1/2 of the game, audio issues prevented ANY commentary at all...only the sound at the field. It was absolutely amazing!

I think I'd pay extra to be able to watch a game without announcers.

 

[jjquantz]

Do you know what would convince me to subscribe to a sports network? One that had NOT ONE SINGLE ANNOUNCER. Listening to ANY of them drivel on for hours at a time just wears me out. I remember a couple of years ago, there was a NFL game on that during the first 1/2 of the game, audio issues prevented ANY commentary at all...only the sound at the field. It was absolutely amazing!

On the rare occasion when I sit down and watch a game with DW, I will often "forget" to turn the sound back on after a commercial. For the most part, I think that my analysis of the happenings is at least as insightful as the announcers and, because it is inside my head, it is much less annoying. Unfortunately, DW usually looks up after few minutes and says, "Why isn't the sound on?" That's my cue to leave and go do something else.

She, and many others, I think, don't WATCH sporting events so much as have them on while they are doing something else. DW depends on the announcers to draw her attention to the TV when something happens - then she can see it on replay.

 

[RunningBum]

She, and many others, I think, don't WATCH sporting events so much as have them on while they are doing something else. DW depends on the announcers to draw her attention to the TV when something happens - then she can see it on replay.

Put me in that group most of the time too.

btw, I did find a way to make the NFL more watchable. Dish has NFL RedZone, where they switch to whichever game as the action. And spend more time on close games, and games where a team is in the red zone. No commercials at all. One studio host, who does a good job of telling us which game they are switching to or saying when they are doing a replay of something we just missed. They'll go multiscreen when warranted. It really comes off well. The host doesn't try to be part of the show, he just facilitates. At most when one game is switching to commercial he'll cut it off and say something like "We don't do commercials at NFL RedZone, so we take you to the Bills-Bengals game." Once in awhile all games are at half or commercial so he'll cover some highlights or standings or the upcoming games. No deep or cornball analysis or arguing with another commentator.

 

[jjquantz]

Do you know what would convince me to subscribe to a sports network? One that had NOT ONE SINGLE ANNOUNCER. Listening to ANY of them drivel on for hours at a time just wears me out. I remember a couple of years ago, there was a NFL game on that during the first 1/2 of the game, audio issues prevented ANY commentary at all...only the sound at the field. It was absolutely amazing!

DW subscribes to MLB. They give three options for audio when streaming a game: home team TV crew, visiting team TV crew and stadium feed. I personally prefer "mute" but, at least for baseball, there is someone who provides what you are looking for.

 

[F-One]

Two things that have put me off of most sports are the inane color announcers and seemingly constant barrage of commercials.
A few years ago, I started watching English Premiere Football League(soccer). I have become a big fan. Reasons are no commercials and you know when it is over (no more than 2 hours - game done). Yes some games are not very exciting (but I have seen many college and NFL games just as boring), but the more you watch the more you appreciate the on-the-fly play.
I have not seen US soccer as well played, but have hopes that they will improve.