The reason sports media has declined (mainly BSPN)

[Actual Pats Fan]

Things changed about 10-15 years ago when the media shifted away from showing sports to the hardcores and catered to the social sports fan. The popular shows would breakdown the game on a technical level, the commentators would focus on the game (hell John Madden was lambasted for over simplifying the game). Then what happened is that more pop-culture sport writers like Bill Simmons and Rick O'Reilly became popular and these stupid execs just tried to copy that. The hot takes like PTI, First take took over. ALl of the shows now are outlandish takes and arguments. Now the hardcores can't stand BSPN, the social fan jumps around and they wonder why they are declining. They lost their way

Disney bought ABC-& BSPN-in '96. According to Wiki, BSPN generated more revenue for Disney than any of its other properties combined. Perhaps its popularity has waned like, American Idol, or Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

I didn't listen to WHDH's or WBZ's call in shows cuz I grew up in CT and listened to WTIC's 50,000 Watt Clear Channel Signal and "SportsTalk'' With Arnold Dean. Cue the "Whalers" theme music, please!


I've said it several time here: You can find a lot of great content for free and without commercials (or with easy to skip commercials) via podcasts.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Or

"WBZ! Calling All Sports! 254-5678!"

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

I get all my sports via Twitter. I have notifications set for all the major sports and their reporters or the teams I follow..and I get the information 10 min before any station gets it.

SAme with tonights draft. I won't watch...because I will get the tweets 5 min early

 

[RobertWeathers]

Fire the wave motion cannon

Star Blazers was a pretty good geek out cartoon back in the day

 

[ausbacker]

Becoming political rather than giving me what I want; just sport, doesn't help.

 

[Gronkowski123]

espn failed because they have turned into a radical left wing organization.

 

[FCB02062]

Star Blazers was a pretty good geek out cartoon back in the day

Spent all my paper route $ at Mr Big Toyland in waltham

 

[RobertWeathers]

Spent all my paper route $ at Mr Big Toyland in waltham

Yea I got a Yamato too from there...

 

[Jackson 2]

espn failed because they have turned into a radical left wing organization.

Oooohhh! A new take from you!!! You're certainly a wide-ranging, deep-thinking renaissance man...

 

[cmasspatsfan]

Some of the things you guys are saying is part of the reason but the biggest reason is they no longer force espn on us at 6.95 a month built into basic cable. Everyone with even basic cable put money in their pocket. Now people are cutting the cord.

 

[Gronkowski123]

Oooohhh! A new take from you!!! You're certainly a wide-ranging, deep-thinking renaissance man...

love you 2

the national media is loaded with far left ideologues. espn is no different.

 

[Jackson 2]

love you 2

the national media is loaded with far left ideologues. espn is no different.

Yawn...

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Star Blazers was a pretty good geek out cartoon back in the day

If you liked Star Blazers/Space Battleship Yamato you really need to watch the 2012-2014 remake Space Battleship Yamato: 2199. It's not dubbed, but it does have (pretty darned good!) subtitles.

Here's episode 1. They're all available there (and elsewhere). I liked it so much I shelled out for the blu-rays from amazon.co.jp.

http://kissanime.ru/Anime/Space-Battleship-Yamato-2199/Episode-001?id=71734

 

[DarrylS]

There is no excuse for a piece of rat scum like Felcher to ever be talking about NE or us fans.I PRAY for a Louisville Slugger to find its' mark on his sub-moronic,jackazz grinning ****face. He is the worst POS in Boston sports radio history....a smug,arrogant Midwestern turd filled with nothing but jealous hatred of us and our passion for our team.

Felcher and his scummy ilk are the prime reason our once vibrant local sports media has STB. Remove these cancerous self-absorbed jerkoffs from local media and we COULD actually experience a local sports media renaissance around here.
Don't hold your breath,though...
,

From "Angry Kurt" to "What nontroversy can Bertram dig up today" to Felcher in the PM.. avoid sports talk more and more. For some inane reason they want me to be angry about something, anything... then the commercials with "Adam Jones" who has an opinion on everything..

What really irks me is that the smartest guy about the NFL and Patriots, Zolak, is often drowned out by the sophomoric idiocy of Gresch and now by Bertram.. then they try to "spice it up" by bringing on Curly Haired Boyfriend..

What seems to be happening is that the announcers have become the news, and the sports news and factual info is secondary..

Do you all remember the days of Peter Gammons et al, baseball was king then, but every Sunday he would have half page article on MLB on page 2.. lots and lots of facts, I miss that type of reporting.. instead were are supposed to ingest agenda driven rubbish, instead of facts.

 

[sambam94]

all sports shows are useless..with the internet, everything on TV is old news.

 

[Grizzafted]

It's because people are getting rid of cable and use the internet for everything.

That's it.

yeah as someone who works in media, this is so patently obvious. ESPN used to be the only show in town. So they could do whatever they want. now there's competition everywhere and honestly, ESPN hasn't adapted well to the new environment. there's nothing compelling or unique about their online content. they were a cable TV powerhouse but the reality is people watch less TV. i'd say i turn on a cable box less than a dozen times in a year and i consume hours of media every day.

it's been funny to watch people trying to spin this into being about politics. its not. its about the internet.

 

[MainePatsFan26]

Things changed about 10-15 years ago when the media shifted away from showing sports to the hardcores and catered to the social sports fan. The popular shows would breakdown the game on a technical level, the commentators would focus on the game (hell John Madden was lambasted for over simplifying the game). Then what happened is that more pop-culture sport writers like Bill Simmons and Rick O'Reilly became popular and these stupid execs just tried to copy that. The hot takes like PTI, First take took over. ALl of the shows now are outlandish takes and arguments. Now the hardcores can't stand BSPN, the social fan jumps around and they wonder why they are declining. They lost their way

You've basically touched upon the problem with corporate decision making in the past 20 years or so. Today, a CEO knows he will have a limited amount of time in his position unless he sees immediate increases in profits. As a result, getting casuals to briefly back the next big thing is a potential way to juice the stats and remain in charge for a couple more quarters (and subsequently take in another 10-20 million in incentives and salary). Banking on casual consumers or fans to stick around, however, is a fool's errand.

Let's look at an example. In video games, Nintendo got wooed by the success of the Wii. The Wii lacked many games for "hardcore" players and the result was a sense of frustration from many dedicated games. The follow-up console, the WiiU, sought to recapture the casual market again, but in the process tanked.

ESPN has diluted its product to cater to casual fans and, in the process, it scared away the loyal and consistent viewer. We aren't going to see a change in corporate culture anytime soon because board members are growing more -- not less -- fidgety about the economy. They are thus quicker to fire a CEO rather than give them a chance to succeed long-term.

Basically, we live in an economy and society that is the anti-Patriots. Whereas the Patriots think long term and plan accordingly, most businesses want a quick solution for attracting new customers. The problem is these short-term plans often involve alienating the dedicated user base.

 

[ivanvamp]

Some of the things you guys are saying is part of the reason but the biggest reason is they no longer force espn on us at 6.95 a month built into basic cable. Everyone with even basic cable put money in their pocket. Now people are cutting the cord.

I cut the cord a month ago, but use Sling and still get ESPN and ESPN2. But it's way cheaper than cable. The downside is that I don't get NESN, and I like the Sox, so that's a problem. Oh well. At least I haven't had to sit through another game where they get shut out!

I also have NFL game pass (used to be called "Game Rewind"), and it's AWESOME. So even if I miss a game live, I can watch it in its entirety. It's a great, great thing, and I recommend it to everyone.

But yeah, the internet and various forms of competition have enabled people to be weaned off the ESPN teat.

When I want to know what's going on with the Pats, I come here, not ESPN. You guys here are the best, and this place is the best, and no I'm not kidding.

 

[RedSleevesPinkStripes]

It went wrong when the hosts /analysts/ "personalities" etc. started thinking they were as or more important than the athletes/game.

There is nothing wrong with injecting a little bit of personality/interests/likes/dislikes into a broadcast, but it needs to be in moderation and not overshadow why everyone is really tuning in - the sports.

More often than not, these shows take the stance of needing to "entertain" first, inform second.

It's sad but hopefully the failures of BSPN send a message to the industry that buffoonery will only be tolerated to a certain degree.


Also I agree with the sentiment that PatsFans is the best place to get Pats/NFL news - you guys are amazing.