Not A Bad Day; Dana O'Neil Fired At ESPN...Sorry If That Makes Me Small Minded

[KSRBEvans]

ESPN's own public editor admits they have been discussing and will continue to discuss politics and other non-sports matters, and even released new guidelines that relax previous restraints on politics and culture:

http://www.espn.com/blog/ombudsman/p...-move-for-espn

[bigsky]

I watch basketball. I know politics better than ESPN does.

[blueboss]

I watch basketball. I know politics better than ESPN does.

You also know more about basketball than ESPN does.


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[StuBleedsBlue2]

ESPN's cut has nothing to do with Politics. It's all about an aging business model where their primary revenue source was cable service, and that's taken a HUGE hit with basically a generation, their target audience, has cut the cord. They can't charge outrageous fees for their channels anymore that are the basic bundle of any cable package. Unbundling is their kiss(temporary) of death.

There will be a trickle down effect to the SEC schools when the network contract expires, unless ESPN is able to replace their revenue streams some other way, specifically advertising, as so many of the other cable networks do.

[MickintheHam]

ESPN's cut has nothing to do with Politics. It's all about an aging business model where their primary revenue source was cable service, and that's taken a HUGE hit with basically a generation, their target audience, has cut the cord. They can't charge outrageous fees for their channels anymore that are the basic bundle of any cable package. Unbundling is their kiss(temporary) of death.

There will be a trickle down effect to the SEC schools when the network contract expires, unless ESPN is able to replace their revenue streams some other way, specifically advertising, as so many of the other cable networks do.

I don't believe you can be so sure that the trickle down will wait for the expiration of the contract. I've never seen a contract that couldn't be renegotiated.

[Darrell KSR]

Sorry, Darryl.

[PedroDaGr8]

Even though I have some left leanings at times (especially compared to many here) the politics bothered me. Way more than the politics though, TMZification of the channel bothered me. I want sports, not gossip, drama and rants about politics (even if I support said ideas). I would watch ESPN to see the best in sports for the day. Not too see Screamin A Smith shouting about what brand of toilet paper LeBron cries into.

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[Catonahottinroof]

Word.
I watch sports to get away from political schtik. Not to see more of it. I know I'm not alone in that thought either.

Even though I have some left leanings at times (especially compared to many here) the politics bothered me. Way more than the politics though, TMZification of the channel bothered me. I want sports, not gossip, drama and rants about politics (even if I support said ideas). I would watch ESPN to see the best in sports for the day. Not too see Screamin A Smith shouting about what brand of toilet paper LeBron cries into.

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[CitizenBBN]

Y'all don't have to move threads like this.

"Someone like me" just posts less often...

on all threads.

Not that I am suggesting anyone give a spit about what "someone like me" does.

That's my last thought on this subject and my last post on this thread.

Enjoy it's evolution without me.

Peace.

The thread needed to be moved, and was.

But this is an area that's hard to moderate b/c while it's certainly OK to be liberal or conservative, it has been shown in polling data and other sources that in fact many viewers do see ESPN as having become far more overtly political, and liberally so, and it has impacted their viewership.

You are upset that politics was interjected into a sports-only venue. That is exactly what is being said by a lot of ESPN viewers, many of them but not all of them conservative. They want to tune in to hear about sports, not sports with a political twist.

I do think this topic belongs on the Barber shop, but it's also true that one factor in ESPN"s issues for many fans is the political issue, so that is relevant to a discussion of the ESPN business issues generally. It's just one that needs to be discussed elsewhere.

[CitizenBBN]

Even though I have some left leanings at times (especially compared to many here) the politics bothered me. Way more than the politics though, TMZification of the channel bothered me. I want sports, not gossip, drama and rants about politics (even if I support said ideas). I would watch ESPN to see the best in sports for the day. Not too see Screamin A Smith shouting about what brand of toilet paper LeBron cries into.

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And that's the point. I hear from a lot of non-conservatives that they don't want a focus on those things even if they happen to agree. That's just now where people go for that discussion.

It's a factor, and not just b/c "they're liberal" and conservatives don't like them. Being sourced up in the core of the East Coast they're likely going to be far more liberal than in places like SEC Country even with no intention of doing so, but the broader issue is that they are interjecting and covering political issues at all.

sports is where you go to escape that, which is why we moved this thread and try to maintain some separation of the discussion. As ESPN blends theirs people from all political walks of life are not going to like it.

[jazyd]

I quit watching anything on ESPN other than a live game because of their political views.

Then we have Bilas showing his true colors so done with him

Mick, SEC AD's are in for a rude awakening if they don't start using a more conservative spending plan, those on the lower end better start making plans now, they are going to lose millions

[CitizenBBN]

IMO the SEC will be better off than most, frankly I think better off than any other conference.

Why? B/c SEC fans arent' fickle or casual. It's how states with just 4-5 million people have such huge viewership numbers compared to huge states like New York and California. B/c everyone in these states stop to watch their college team.

Now if millennials all stop caring about sports that's an issue, but honestly when I was a teenager it wasn't nearly as big a deal to me. it was when I was a kid, then I got away from it, then came back.

The big market bidding may decline, but the SEC as a whole still has the most loyal and strong demand in the country.

Also, ad revenue will continue to be very strong for sports b/c that and the news are the only two things that aren't nearly 100% DVRed these days.

Where it's hitting is ESPN's annuity revenue stream of getting a fee for every subscriber whether they watch ESPN or not. The thing is they bid against people like CBS for rights to a lot of this, and those guys never did get that cash flow. I have to wonder how much of their windfall was reflected in their rights bidding and how much was just building fancy buildings and hiring lots of people.

It surely will impact it some, but relatively speaking I'm betting the SEC survives better than the others, and may ordinally leave them better off as the others will be hit even harder.

[KentuckyWildcat]

UK just needs to start their own network

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[CitizenBBN]

UK just needs to start their own network

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We had one, and rolled it into the SECN, which I think will survive just fine. It may end up with a different model, but the fanbase is there to make it work.

[UKHistory]

Outside of college basketball, I don't watch ESPN very often. Usually from the second week of April until college football, I don't watch it.

I especially don't want to watch the yelling shows. No use for that. I don't like yelling on my political Sunday shows either.

Civil, intelligent discourse with an honest exchange of ideas. That is what I like. Go figure.

So when folks talk about ESPN being too political I am unsure as to the specifics of their arguments. The new sports center had an ad that featured Stormtroopers (big plus) but also a jackass promoting "Carolina".

I elected to not watch it because of the affinity for UNC that the host and ESPN has.

I am not sure we can get away from politics in sports. Race, gender, socio-economic issues are a very real part of sports. Heck it was recruiting storis that first opened my eyes to poverty, challenged schools, and high crime of big cities. This was back in high school.

[KentuckyWildcat]

http://www.youngcons.com/espn-anchor...work-is-blind/