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So, how would I fix ESPN? There is a reason I am talking about this topic today. My idea was sparked by an interview conducted by Darren Rovell with ESPN The Magazine's general manager Gary Hoenig. The interview focused on a new promotion that offers the magazine and ESPN.com's pay site (Insider) for a year for $1. The offer is for current subscribers only, requires you to sign up for auto pay on credit card, and is one heck of a deal. This is actually a good move, because the customers should realize how nice both of these subscriptions are (I have had the magazine, and it is decent) and pony up the money for subscriptions when the time comes. I have never used the Insider, but it boasts extra knowledge for subscribers, and the subscription wall has cost me some valuable fantasy football knowledge in the past.Okay, so how would I fix ESPN? I ask the question because the company itself is trying to make itself more marketable to its current customers with the new promotion; which makes me wonder how the company is doing. Why would ESPN be offering such a great deal if they weren't losing customers? So, what if the self-proclaimed "Worldwide Leader in Sports" decided to try and draw more viewers to its television stations? I have to admit, while I am a sports junkie, I find ESPN flat-our unwatchable. I think it all started with Stuart Scott and Chris Berman. Their schtick was fun at first, but when Berman starts giving nicknames to batboys - it has gone too far. I remember when the station cared about reporting sports, not about trying to come up with the coolest catch phrase, or trying to become the biggest pop-culture icon. Enough with the "funny," (quotation marks used on purpose to emphasize that it isn't funny) I want you to report the sports - not try and make me laugh.
Next, how about a little variety? When I tune in to SportsCenter, I want to see what is going on in the whole world of sports; not what is going on in New York, Boston, and New York and Boston. Many people will complain about an East-Coast bias from ESPN, and I feel they are correct. ESPN stopped caring about reporting the sports and started caring about appeasing its biggest markets. It has gotten to the point that a World Series win by Kansas City would be a third-rate story behind the Yankees' payroll, Boston's pitching woes, and how many weeks Brett Favre will stay retired the next time. Yes, I understand about playing to your markets - but I can tune into NESN or MSN if I want to hear about the Yankees and Red Sawx nonstop.
Give us sports, not schtick. Give us the big sports stories, not just what will interest New York or Chicago. What do I like about ESPN? I like the constant rotation of news on the side and bottom of the screens (as long as they don't disappear at commercial time); it is like a market ticker for sports. I also appreciate the amount of research and work that the reporters do, Bob Ley's Outside the Lines program is one of the best on television. ESPN could fix itself by making a few simple changes, I just hope they listen to me ... but they won't.
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