When did sportscasters, talking heads pod casters start becoming the story instead of the sports they are covering.

[Uncle Adolph]

Stephen A Smith, Skip Bayless, Jason Whitlock are just some of the egomaniacs I'm talking about. They do podcasts ripping each other and defending themselves. They make huge money and people kiss their tails I guess it goes to their heads. It's becoming unwatchable. They are never wrong. Some local people here are like that to a smaller degree.
I never knew Cawood Ledford but he was the best in the business. He did not talk over people he was interviewing. Did not interrupt or cut them off and never promoted himself.

 

[CincyUKFan]

That’s just the whole world now. Certainly the western world, at least. Egocentric. Any of those unwritten rules in journalism are out the window. Now it’s simply “bring as much attention to yourself as possible, and that helps the network too.”

 

[M4CAT]

I noticed it on a larger scale in the 2000s when more of these talk shows got the air time on ESPN and the internet blew up, followed by the social media boom where everyone gets a platform. Before then I really didn't know what many talking heads or writers had to say unless hearing what Tipton had to say.

 

[Tampa_cat54]

Around the same time politicians started focusing more on turning themselves into celebrities instead of their districts and being public servants.

 

[ukcatz12]

When ESPN's business model became outdated. When ESPN was at its peak you tuned in to shows like SportsCenter because it was the only place you could get highlights. It was must see TV if you wanted to keep up with the sports world. And you watched to the end to see segments like the Top 10 plays of the day.

But places like Twitter and Reddit made that obsolete. Why watch a 60 minute recap of the sports day when you can find it all on Twitter or the sport's Reddit page? NBA highlights are posted to Reddit 30 seconds after they happen. There's no reason to watch ESPN for what we all used to watch ESPN for.

So how does ESPN or FS1 draw in viewers? They need larger than life personalities that become the story themselves. Personalities that you need to watch ESPN to find and can't find on Reddit or Twitter. ESPN needed a new way to draw in viewers, and I don't really blame them for pivoting to a new strategy. They needed to at least try something.

 

[UKWildcatT]

it started with guys like Berman, Dan Patrick and King Idiot Keith Olberman

 

[FFWhite]

Steven A has taken it to another level. He thinks he is the story. ESPN gets rid of qualified people but pays Smith exorbitant salary to tell us how smart he is.

 

[KT34]

I think Vitale started the constant promotion of himself. Cosell did that also but on a smaller level.

 

[UKBB4Ever]

Cosell, Jimmy the Greek, Dandy Don, etc. As long as I can remember there’s been self promoting talking heads.

Just more of them and more outlets now.

 

[Jmeeks54thebest]

I think Vitale started the constant promotion of himself. Cosell did that also but on a smaller level.

Are you referring to Dickie V self promoting his charity to raise money for cancer? Because outside of that I never heard him brag about himself. He was an ACC diehard but that’s a separate issue.

 

[Jmeeks54thebest]

A lot of them talk like what they’re talking about (sports) is life or death information. I mean the seriousness they discuss this stuff is rather silly. The dramatic language that now goes along with athletes and sports also makes it hard to watch for me.

Our society went from looking down on athletes to worshipping them. I mean that literally. Go into any comment section anywhere, hell jump in a thread here discussing a minor criticism of a UK player or coach. Folks will get carpel tunnel defending what they perceived as a personal insult against their idol.

There is clearly a market for this but it’s not me. I have to mute the TV when the announcers get carried away.

 

[ukcatz12]

You guys are confusing sportscasters who self-promoted and what OP is actually talking about. Which is when drama between sportscasters or things the sportscasters say become the story over the actual sports they're supposed to be covering. A play by play guy promoting himself and having a big personality isn't what OP is talking about.

It's the stuff that's on ESPN where the actual talking heads react to what other talking heads say instead of what goes on within the sports themselves.

 

[UKWildcats1987]

You guys are confusing sportscasters who self-promoted and what OP is actually talking about. Which is when drama between sportscasters or things the sportscasters say become the story over the actual sports they're supposed to be covering. A play by play guy promoting himself and having a big personality isn't what OP is talking about.

It's the stuff that's on ESPN where the actual talking heads react to what other talking heads say instead of what goes on within the sports themselves.

Not to mention the constant injecting of non sports topics into sports shows and games. No one watches espn to hear about your political and social stances. We don't give a crap, whether it's left or right nonsense. Stick to sports. They don't do that though and ratings have decreased.

 

[Fox2monk]

Stephen A Smith, Skip Bayless, Jason Whitlock are just some of the egomaniacs I'm talking about. They do podcasts ripping each other and defending themselves. They make huge money and people kiss their tails I guess it goes to their heads. It's becoming unwatchable. They are never wrong. Some local people here are like that to a smaller degree.
I never knew Cawood Ledford but he was the best in the business. He did not talk over people he was interviewing. Did not interrupt or cut them off and never promoted himself.

Because since the age of 24/7 news and their ridiculous salary’s they have become pseudo celebs that people follow for some reason. I used to watch around the horn and stuff back in the day but got tired of it. Same schtick from the same people day after day. Most of them sound ill informed or just say dumb stuff for the ratings or “follows” now. You can’t talk about the game last night for 15 straight hours so they start talking about dumb stuff. I wish the news was on a 6pm and that was that again. Get the actual stories, no personal opinions.

 

[Fox2monk]

Around the same time politicians started focusing more on turning themselves into celebrities instead of their districts and being public servants.

💯

 

[Fox2monk]

it started with guys like Berman, Dan Patrick and King Idiot Keith Olberman

Patrick and Berman were good and entertaining when it was just Sportscenter but of course everyone of them have their own show now.

 

[STL_Cat]

PTI

 

[Fox2monk]

PTI

Used to watch that all the time too but Wilbon is terrible. He’s one of the worst IMO. Not like Kornheiser is special or anything.

 

[know1]

When the viewers let them. As for me, I haven't watched a sports show outside of College Football Gameday for maybe 10 years.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

I haven't watched an ESPN commentary show in its totality for probably 15 years.

 

[clevenger32]

Related to play by play, what about the PA and the Hollywood production of introductions of players and action?

For those of you old enough to remember the days at Memorial Coliseum, our PA, Mr. Jim Ingle was the best.

The intros were position, hometown, name.
A field goal was basket by and the last name of the player.
At the FT line if the team was in the bonus, it was the name of the player on the line for one plus one.
Those of you who were there can hear his nonevasive comforting voice right now can’t you instead of today’s carnival barkers.

Cawood and Mr. Ingle…best there ever was.

 

[BC_Wader]

I haven't watched an ESPN commentary show in its totality for probably 15 years.

Same. Before even looking at this thread, I tried to watch Unsportsmanlike on ESPN with my coffee. I couldn't even make it five minutes. All these shows are the same with just different people and studio decor. About the only show I can watch along those lines is SEC Now.

 

[YardCat]

Cosell, Jimmy the Greek, Dandy Don, etc. As long as I can remember there’s been self promoting talking heads.

Just more of them and more outlets now.

Howard Cosell was the best along with John Madden

 

[Mike-McD]

Stephen A Smith, Skip Bayless, Jason Whitlock are just some of the egomaniacs I'm talking about. They do podcasts ripping each other and defending themselves. They make huge money and people kiss their tails I guess it goes to their heads. It's becoming unwatchable. They are never wrong. Some local people here are like that to a smaller degree.
I never knew Cawood Ledford but he was the best in the business. He did not talk over people he was interviewing. Did not interrupt or cut them off and never promoted himself.

Social media today is all about selling yourself like a commodity.

 

[BC_Wader]

Howard Cosell was the best along with John Madden

I don't think Cosell was as bad as he was made out to be. I never considered him a self promoter. I think his voice just irritated some folks.

 

[JDHoss]

it started with guys like Berman, Dan Patrick and King Idiot Keith Olberman

You're obviously too young to remember Cosell and Meredith in the booth on MNF.

 

[KAB Cats]

It's not unique to sports. It's the same reason people watch Fox News or MSNBC. Americans favor infotainment over "facts", especially on cable TV and radio.

On one hand, something might be reported as "Debates are taking place over books".

On the other, it's "LIBERALS ARE STEALING ARE CHILDREN'S CHILDHOOD THROUGH BOOKS MADE BY COMMUNISTS!"

And odds are good, that if I don't mention this, the way this post will be replied to is "BUT LIBERALS ARE STEALING ARE CHILDREN'S CHILDHOOD!!!!!"

And that's why networks favor infotainment.

 

[Creed Bratton]

It's the Howard Stern shock jock effect.

 

[BigKari]

It's not unique to sports. It's the same reason people watch Fox News or MSNBC. Americans favor infotainment over "facts", especially on cable TV and radio.

On one hand, something might be reported as "Debates are taking place over books".

On the other, it's "LIBERALS ARE STEALING ARE CHILDREN'S CHILDHOOD THROUGH BOOKS MADE BY COMMUNISTS!"

And odds are good, that if I don't mention this, the way this post will be replied to is "BUT LIBERALS ARE STEALING ARE CHILDREN'S CHILDHOOD!!!!!"

And that's why networks favor infotainment.

Schools in Escambia County, FL just pulled the dictionary for review and possible banning. The dictionary. Their “woke” witch hunt knows no bounds.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

it started with guys like Berman, Dan Patrick and King Idiot Keith Olberman

That's exactly where it started. In its infancy, ESPN was literally just sports information done by people that didn't know if anyone would ever watch the channel or not. Then viewership got so massive and their anchors so popular, it became a massive career and marketing opportunity for those first people. Not a bad thing because it was still news just with a bit of added flair.

Then the 2nd and 3rd round guys came in. They wanted those spots as a vehicle to the bigger money. That was the break point where things started being more style than substance.

Then years later shock jocks got famous and sports radio rode that wave. At the same time around the horn and pardon the interruption were massive hits. That spawned the god awful debate shows and made stars of, again, style over substance. Skip and Stephen A took that to the next level. Especially skip because at least Stephen A had actual connections and reported breaking news. Skip was just a massive troll that got rich by saying outlandish nonsense.

Fast forward to today and it's all style over substance. ESPN constantly lays off actual reporters so they can pay millions to clowns like McAfee and Stephen a. It's a microcosm of American society in general

 

[Cawood86]

Don't watch them. That's what I do. I don't need any intake from them to see what's going on. No pre-game or post game shows. Don't care what any of them think