How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

I think ESPN is weakening to the point where competitors for its title of "Supreme Television Sports Entity" will be showing up in the next few years. If not FoxSports, then some other network. Keep in mind something like half your cable bill goes to ESPN...there is sooo much incentive to come up with a network to make ESPN work for it's cable buck.

The key, as I see it, is to start grabbing ratings from the flagship news show, Sportscenter. Given the attitude of invicibility Sportscenter has to feel right now, coming up with legit threat to it's sports-news monopoly can't be too hard. I have specific ideas on what my centerpiece sports-news broadcast would look like, whick I will post later, but I'd like to hear what you guys would like to see in a competitor's news show.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

first and foremost,

I'd like to see more sports...less entertainment stuff, less outside-the-lines stuff

real game highlights and analysis...not just dunks and td dances


Of course, I just assume my market is really small. Not many people love sports for just the Xs and Os.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

Great thread. I've been thinking ESPN needs a competitor for about 2 years now.

Those guys are so c0cky, it's not even funny. They have more job security than anybody. And they're as brash as they can be.

2+2 should start a sports network.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

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They have more job security than anybody.

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http://www.realitytvcalendar.com/sho...s/mikehall.jpg

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

cox tried to battle espn last year - and got their ass kicked...badly. this is the strongest cable company in the country, and it wasn't close. espn dictates what happens on cable, so you're right when you say most of your bill goes to them. you're a long way off if you think someone will come in and compete with them anytime soon.


that said, i would like to see less of the MTV-inizing of ESPN...it's starting to get sad in some ways.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

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They have more job security than anybody.

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http://www.realitytvcalendar.com/sho...s/mikehall.jpg

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I'd prefer Mike Hall over many of the anchors they have now.

this new sports show, for it to succeed, could not ever feature Stuart Scott on camera. and it especially can't have any Stuart Scott voiceovers.

also, if I see that NFL highlights montage set to the "I... love... <insert lyrics> AND TWINNNS!" thing again I'm going to kill somebody. doesn't ESPN understand that this is the gayest, most played out thing in the history of history? those original commercials were funny approximately never, yet they still run this thing every week. somebody make that [censored] stop, what the fvck already.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

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that said, i would like to see less of the MTV-inizing of ESPN...it's starting to get sad in some ways

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ESPN the Magazine is completely unreadable. all of the weird fonts/pictures/colors make me dizzy and give me headaches

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

Stu Scott being drawn and quartered on your new network's debut sports news broadcast would get my viewership.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Stu Scott being drawn and quartered on your new network's debut sports news broadcast would get my viewership.

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as much as everyone hates him now (me included) - there was a time when some of his schtick was fresh and entertaining. unfortunately, he's become a cariacature of himself.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

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as much as everyone hates him now (me included) - there was a time when some of his schtick was fresh and entertaining. unfortunately, he's become a cariacature of himself.

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ahh, I remember 1997 as if it were yesterday.

I'll own up and say that I actually did like Stu for a while back then, but he is truly unbearable now

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

[ QUOTE ]
also, if I see that NFL highlights montage set to the "I... love... <insert lyrics> AND TWINNNS!" thing again I'm going to kill somebody. doesn't ESPN understand that this is the gayest, most played out thing in the history of history? those original commercials were funny approximately never, yet they still run this thing every week. somebody make that [censored] stop, what the fvck already.

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ROFL. So true.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

maybe we could call him the vanilla ice of the sports industry. everyone owned the record - then everyone got tired and laughed at the record. the bad news is - stu's not going anywhere.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

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unfortunately, he's become a cariacature of himself.

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That seems to be the problem with all of ESPN
but Scott, Berman, and Vitale take the cake on this

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

I think that weird lazy eye thing that he suddenly got is God's way of telling him to stop being such a blatant Oreo.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Buccaneers | Gruden addresses ESPN report on Owens
Mon, 9 Jan 2006 13:55:11 -0800

Jim Flynn, of PewterReport.com, reports Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden addressed an ESPN report that said the Buccaneers had interest in Philadelphia Eagles WR Terrell Owens. "I don't watch ESPN, and for good reason," said Gruden. "[Owens] is under contract, and it's tampering to even discuss his situation. I wouldn't even go there and try to respond."

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You do see a lot of quotes like this now. There's a lot of dissatisfaction with ESPN and it isn't just from fans.

I'd like to see a Sportscenter type of show without music always in the background, stupid ass gimmick segments that add nothing, and annoying d-bag anchors.

I'd like shows with advanced analysis like NFL matchup, where they don't just spout cliches and [censored]. How about a show with former football coaches or smart players talking about strategy and [censored] like that. They could have current coaches as guests each week or something...

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

The problem is that Sportscenter has everything the casual fan wants and while the anchors are getting annoying, that doesn't stop anyone from watching. Its gotten to the point that I am changing the channel during the OTL and MTV styled crap. But no one else has been able to offer something that can compete for casual fans very well. And the widespread availability of ESPN News gives all the info about games and players that you'll find on TV.

Basically, the ESPN franchise isn't going anywhere for quite a while.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

My favorite show on ESPN is Outside the Lines, mainly because it seems to be the most insightful and thoughtout show, as well as I think the host is the best on the network. They need less MTV type stuff just like the one poster said.
They need more Outside the Lines and less Tilt.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

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Basically, the ESPN franchise isn't going anywhere for quite a while.

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True, but I liken it to what CNN was a decade ago. The casual fan that is mesmerized by catch phrases and chest-thumping isn't going anywhere, but just like conservatives started gravitating to Foxnews, making it the biggest news network on cable, there are niches that are totally fed up with ESPN and will go elsewhere to find their sports fix.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

1. ESPN, even just a year ago, was not the bumbling giant it is today.

2. The Cox channel thing sucked. I turned it off faster than I turned off The Best Damn Sports Show. I'm pretty sure Time Warner/AOL is way bigger than Cox, and regardless, TW/AOL is a much more experienced in content distribution and would make an ideal competitor for ESPN and Disney.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

Simple stuff. More games, more highlights/analysis of those games.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

more aussie rules football and world's strongest man? seriously, to me, the best shows they have (outside of actual games), are the ones that come on mid day (PTI, etc) and eaaarly sunday morning (sports reporters, etc), where actual sports guys are discussing actual sports topics. even PTI is getting a little MTV-ish and played out, though. admittedly, I'm a pretty small demographic, so there's no way they'd cater to me, anyway. I think sportscenter delivers what their main target wants/expects, so I don't see them changing much soon.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

Among other things everyone has already said and otherwise are obvious, I'd go back to the old days where each sport had its own "segment" and stop jumping around from sport to sport. This idea of a highlight of a basketball game, and then a highlight of a hockey game, and then a story about Pedro Martinez's boil, and then back to the NBA, drives me nuts.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

As an avid sports fan who used to watch Sportscenter EVERY night I can tell you I have not an more than 5 minutes of sportscenter in several years.

I have even begun missing large portions and entire shows of my beloved College Gameday, as I find ESPN's coverage of college football to be the worst of any major sport.

ESPN has infrastructure and alot of contracts and that will make them hard to take on for anyone without an ass load of money.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

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Among other things everyone has already said and otherwise are obvious, I'd go back to the old days where each sport had its own "segment" and stop jumping around from sport to sport. This idea of a highlight of a basketball game, and then a highlight of a hockey game, and then a story about Pedro Martinez's boil, and then back to the NBA, drives me nuts.

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That is an excellent point that is not mentioned often. I can't remember exactly when they switched to the current format, but it sucks.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

Apparently Canada has a station (TSN or something) where you almost never see commentators on the highlight shows. Just highlights. Thats basically what's wrong with ESPN. All their shows are about the commentators getting face time and spitting out catch phrases.
Basically there is no nead for lead ins, or "he grew up dirt poor but now he gives back to the community" stories, there are enough channels out there doing that stuff. In fact CNN had it right like 10 years ago with headline sports. Just straight highlights- slow it down a bit, add tons more to fill in the 1/2 or full hour and i'll watch.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

Almost weekly I swear I'm boycotting ESPN and SportsCenter, but there just isn't anything else, at all.

I hate everything about it now. I hate the coverage, the anchors, the MVT-ization, the politics, the outrageous hyperbole about everything...but there isn't anything else. I wish there was.

P.S. I do like PTI, though not as much as I used to, and I liked Around the Horn before they got rid of Max Kellerman...he made that show. The only anchor I like on the whole network is Chris Fowler.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

Well, let's try to figure what sports fans like us like and dislike about Sportscenter. The below lists are my opinions and are obviously open to debate in order to figure out what should stay and what should go in a new sports show format.

Sportscenter Pros:

-Meat and potatoes segments: Generally show highlights of the biggest games of the night/previous day. The stats are readable and generally the most exciting plays are shown. Lots of these are good.

-Top plays of the day/week etc. This idea is the basis behind what we turn on the TV to watch. And I don't mean the Chris Berman "top 10 random plays that strike my fansy." I mean, best dunks, craziest catches, nastiest hits, and best saves/slapshots. I wouldn't even mind if this was expanded to top 15,20 or even 25. I love watching them. And I think many fans would agree.

-What to watch segment. This segment is usually excellent except FAR too short. I love to watch great games but usually don't even know when they are on and end up only seeing highlights. Instead of just showing us 2 random games that might be good like they do now, it should be much longer.

-Ultimate Highlight segment. This is not a terrible idea, all the best highlights of the day packed into one reel set to music. I generally enjoy it as it rarely takes up more than two minutes. The problem with it is that they'll often pick songs that many people hate and it ruins the segment.



Sportscenter Cons:

-Annoying personalities that become bigger than the sports they are reporting. I want witty sports lovers who are there to bring me all the action I missed, not to overshadow it and make we want to turn the TV off. Is it just me or did in the past the anchors get much more excited and seem to love what they were doing so much more?

-Human interest pieces. These things are touching and sometimes get me all welled up and teary, but honestly, it is not what I am looking for when I turn on a sports show. I want to be exhilarated and impressed by the height of human athletic capabilities, not depressed. One once in awhile is probably fine, but when they have a 5+ minute piece like this every show, it kind of gets annoying and tends to lessen the drama since you get a little numb to it.

-Bad analysis from ex players and morons. This one is obvious. Make the analysis better and more interesting.

I have lots of others in each category but this post is too long as it is and I'd like to hear other people's thoughts as to what should stay and go.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

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Among other things everyone has already said and otherwise are obvious, I'd go back to the old days where each sport had its own "segment" and stop jumping around from sport to sport. This idea of a highlight of a basketball game, and then a highlight of a hockey game, and then a story about Pedro Martinez's boil, and then back to the NBA, drives me nuts.

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That's a great post and exactly what I'm looking for.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

My biggest pete peeve is the way everything is so ULTIMATE and ABSOLUTELY!

"This is the GREATEST TEAM"
"This is the BIGGEST CONTROVERSY"
"There is NO WAY team X will beat team Y"

There is nothing like hearing one of their "analysts" rail for 20 minutes about how team X stands no chance whatsoever against team Y and anyone who disagrees is a moron.

And then after the game try to explain why team Y's only real chance was to do what they did

AND IT JUST DRIVES ME F'ING INSANE.

Not every highlight is meant to have a funny quip ejaculated all over it.

Hey Chris Berman, NOT EVERY F'ING PLAYER IN THE NFL NEEDS A GAY NICKNAME.

Hey Lee Corso, your whole "piss of the fans of the home team we are visiting for Gameday" crap is old and not funny.

Hey Mark May, do you watch sports? I mean at all? Do you actually like follow anything? Or do you just smoke crack and sniff glue and then go talk about them?

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

Any network that would give a show to Steven A. Smith (even if it IS on The Ocho or whatever) deserves a swift kick to the nuts.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

A competitor has to find its own niche; it can't be ESPN reheated. I think the proper niche would be to cater to hardcore sports fans. If you can't atleast diagram a cover 2 defense or a zone blitz, you shoulden't bother tuning in.

Show highlights of plays that mean something, not just dunks, TD dances and homeruns. Actual analysis by people who know what they're talking about (ie Jaws instead of Hodge). Zero fluff, meaning no Mayne Event type segments. Just pure, unadulterated information for people that know sports.

Now that I think about it, Jaws is pretty much the only NFL guy they have that says anything useful on a regular basis. I still watch Berman, Young, Irvin and TJ do their thing every sunday, but it's not like I need to. I know you need to stop Shaun Alexander to beat Seattle. I know you need to rush the passer. Tell me something I don't know. Break down film. Highlight Faneca making a fanatic pull and block to clear the lane for Parker instead of praising Parker for running through a wide open space untouched to the endzone. Etc etc.

A hardcore sportscenter should show highlights of games, and breakdown some film of the major ones. It should have former scouts and players discussing things intead of talking heads like Skip Bayless. And don't bother with news unless it's big news.

Edit: I posted this before reading all the responses, which as it turns out, echo mine.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

How many current ESPN anchors/talking heads would you want on a new, hardcore sports channel?

Jaws, Steve Young... um.... I'm thinking....

Seriously, do they have anyone else that brings something to the table?

(Not including the PTI guys, who are entertaining but not informative)

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

i dont think sportscenter can ever be usurped. it doesnt matter if other sports shows/networks are better they simply will not garner as many viewers thus advertisers thus money.

sportscenter/espn is following the path of mtv. do you see music on mtv anymore?

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

Very nice post. Lots of good ideas. The obvious problem is that the majority of viewers are going to be bored by this kind of stuff and would rather watch highlights of TDs and Berman yelling "whooop!" Without the demand for such a high content, low fluff show, it will never be supplied.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

Budweiser Hot Seat should be 12 minutes minimum.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

Everyone so far has listed ways to make a 'better' show than SportsCenter, but I'm pretty sure that wouldn't work. If you want to compete with SC, you have to go the other way and make it 'worse.' You've got to make SC look like C-SPAN.

That's means louder, dumber, more combative studio hosts. More seizure-inducing graphics. More clichés. Melissa Stark reporting nude (her segment could be called "Melissa Stark Naked" -- get it?). And if you're going to pander to black audiences, no more half measures. Just get 50 Cent and Beyonce to do your NBA segments.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

Thanks NL.

I agree most viewers would rather watch the ESPN clowns, but I think there are plenty of hardcore sports fans out there, and if the channel was put together well it would recieve a cult following.

The major problem I see with it is filling the hours. On one hand, I don't want to sit through a three hour show that breaks down every NBA and NHL game from the night before. On the other hand, without all the fluff, how do you fill the hours and keep it entertaining, especially after football season?

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

[ QUOTE ]
That's means louder, dumber, more combative studio hosts. More seizure-inducing graphics. More clichés. Melissa Stark reporting nude (her segment could be called "Melissa Stark Naked" -- get it?). And if you're going to pander to black audiences, no more half measures. Just get 50 Cent and Beyonce to do your NBA segments.

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http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/7...tured238ij.jpg

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

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maybe we could call him the vanilla ice of the sports industry. everyone owned the record - then everyone got tired and laughed at the record. the bad news is - stu's not going anywhere.

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe someone should call Suge Knight and tell him that Stu ripped off that "cool as the other side of the pillow" thing from an artist on death row.

Re: How would you compete against sportscenter?
 

I wanted to kill myself when they did the mock GM press conferences for the Red Sox and Yankees.