Originally Posted as part of DCBLOG's MTV coverage earlier today,
re-posted for the interest of sports media enthusiasts
BY DC CUEVA
Last week on Pulse ExtraTime, we offered appreciation for one of the icons of sportscasting in CBS' Verne Lundquist, and previously we featured Garbage Time host Katie Nolan. This week, we will look into the revolving door that is moves of sports talent. If you're someone who follows sports media, then you likely go to a site called Awful Announcing, which covers what's happening in sports television, digital and all else. This past week, the editors and columnists of that site offered their opinions of which personnel moves have had the greatest impact, and influenced this mini-post.
It's been quite a past twelve months for the sports media world as it has been on the fields and courts, as rights and viewing habits have been all over the place, as well as a whole slew of changes as far as the talent is concerned...those who discuss the games, who call them and all on between.
It's been quite a past twelve months for the sports media world as it has been on the fields and courts, as rights and viewing habits have been all over the place, as well as a whole slew of changes as far as the talent is concerned...those who discuss the games, who call them and all on between.
● There's the co-host of ESPN's controversial First Take, Skip Bayless, who will shortly leave his post next to Stephen A. Smith to move ultimately to FOX Sports and join others who specialize in what is referred to as "hot takes" in Colin Cowherd, Jason Whitlock and Clay Travis, as well as former boss Jamie Horowitz who created the so-called "Embrace Debate" culture at the 800-pound gorilla and now is looking to bring his success - and viewers - to the fledging FS-1 channel.
● After his much publicized spat with ESPN that led to both his departure from Bristol and the eventual shutdown of his Grantland site, Bill Simmons joined HBO last year and give him all the freedom of being with premium TV's King Kong. The Ringer site launched this past week, his new HBO talk show debuts next week, produces a Game of Thrones companion show and he's already become a top podcast host (and someone who also loves watching The Challenge too).
● And there's David Feherty, a former golfer who's now the game's most unique broadcaster with his wit and humor, but has also dealt personally with alcoholism. For 20 years, he was part of CBS' golf team including The Masters, but last year moved to NBC in continuing to do on-course and tower commentary, while keeping a spot on Golf Channel, where he's hosted his own acclaimed, self-titled talk show with golfers and those who love the sport as the US Open takes place this week.
For the folks in Bristol, this surprise move by someone they thought would work his entire career there along with Bob Ley and Chris Berman is only part of a slew of bad news that has haunted The Worldwide Leader in Sports in the past year: falling subscriber numbers, fans on Twitter getting on Skip, Stephen and others for their provocative opinions, people like the aforementioned Simmons and Keith Olbermann being let go among a significant cut in ESPN's workforce, and declining revenues for this very section of The Walt Disney Company impacting the bottom line for those who hold stock in the mouse ears. His departure leaves a massive hole in the network's lineup that will be hard to fill, though another Syracuse alum and a son of one of the first sportswriters to do TV work, Sean McDonough, will take over for Tirico on MNF.
For NBC, they have snared a huge fish in the sportscasting pond and Tirico now represents the future of its sports division. Come the end of this month after he does hosting work on EURO 2016, he begins his NBC stint as a host for its Olympic coverage in Rio - returning to where he covered the World Cup two years ago, joining Cris Collinsworth on NBC's half of the NFL Thursday Night Football package, and going back to his roots as part of the network's golf package - including the Open Championship and Ryder Cup. Should NBC get a piece of the last big sports property up for auction in the Big Ten, he should figure prominently in that too. And considering its deep lineup of championship events, as well as family being factored in, it was not an easy call for Tirico to leave his home of 25 years for a new challenge that lies ahead.
All this shores up a sportscasting group featuring Bob Costas, Al Michaels, Dan Patrick and others too many to mention. And when those first two do decide to step aside, then Mike will most surely be first in line to take over Bob's seat as Olympic primetime host perhaps as early as the next Winter Games in South Korea in two years, Al's spot to call SNF and a Super Bowl, and return to his golf roots in joining Feherty, Johnny Miller and Golf Channel. He is one of the best in the business and now he's joining the best in the business when it comes to quality sports television. While a former sportswriter from Dallas moving across networks and a bad breakup for another have been big, it's live events that matter most in the sports TV business, and it's Mike Tirico's move from ESPN to NBC that is, to me, the biggest talent move in sports media in 2015-16.
- DC
For NBC, they have snared a huge fish in the sportscasting pond and Tirico now represents the future of its sports division. Come the end of this month after he does hosting work on EURO 2016, he begins his NBC stint as a host for its Olympic coverage in Rio - returning to where he covered the World Cup two years ago, joining Cris Collinsworth on NBC's half of the NFL Thursday Night Football package, and going back to his roots as part of the network's golf package - including the Open Championship and Ryder Cup. Should NBC get a piece of the last big sports property up for auction in the Big Ten, he should figure prominently in that too. And considering its deep lineup of championship events, as well as family being factored in, it was not an easy call for Tirico to leave his home of 25 years for a new challenge that lies ahead.
All this shores up a sportscasting group featuring Bob Costas, Al Michaels, Dan Patrick and others too many to mention. And when those first two do decide to step aside, then Mike will most surely be first in line to take over Bob's seat as Olympic primetime host perhaps as early as the next Winter Games in South Korea in two years, Al's spot to call SNF and a Super Bowl, and return to his golf roots in joining Feherty, Johnny Miller and Golf Channel. He is one of the best in the business and now he's joining the best in the business when it comes to quality sports television. While a former sportswriter from Dallas moving across networks and a bad breakup for another have been big, it's live events that matter most in the sports TV business, and it's Mike Tirico's move from ESPN to NBC that is, to me, the biggest talent move in sports media in 2015-16.
- DC
No comments:
Post a Comment
Got something on your mind? Let us know! But please be mindful and do not post spam or negative comments (due to that, all comments are subject to blogger approval... and we reserve the right to disable these sections if things get way out of hand).