We’ve all made jokes about the excessive coverage of Johnny Manziel. And Lebron James. And Tim Tebow.
Specifically, we’ve been critical of ESPN in particular for their over-coverage of these three hugely polarizing figures. Because ESPN is….well, not only is it the most popular network on cable among men 18-34, it’s #1 with a bullet. It’s numbers are so big that the flagship program, SportsCenter, if it stood alone would still be the fifth most popular network all by itself.
So when you’re that big, you’re also a big target. And you and I have repeatedly enjoyed taking aim. But I’m telling you the excessive focus on certain personalities is justified, and warranted. I had a conversation with Stuart Scott and Steve Levy, in which they verified this idea.
Levy and Scott will anchor the first new look SportsCenter with the new desk, new studio, new graphics, new intro (more on all that here) in the new building (more on that here) on June 22nd. For the rollout of the empire’s new shiny new toys, Levy and Scott met the media and did some Q&A. Now I understand the Manziel this, Manziel that. Manziel sneezed! Exclusive coverage!
Manziel bought some khakis! We’ll break in NOW!
It’s actually justified.
Same with Lebron. He’s earned the excessive amount of publicity he gets.
Tebow? Well, he’s terrible as a quarterback, and I knew he was going to be a terrible NFL quarterback, but I still understand. It’s justified. And he works for ESPN now so it all makes sense.
I know this because I see it with my own website. Most specifically, I see it with Danica Patrick. She is not good at auto racing. She’s been very very bad at it since moving to NASCAR; especially at the Cup level. But I have to write about her 100 times as much as the other drivers. Because the market demands it. Even though Danica doesn’t actually do much to deserve it. It’s market forces.
“We’ve got a ton of smart people working here. We wouldn’t be making mistakes like that,” Levy said.
“If people weren’t interested, we wouldn’t be talking about it. We’d be moving on to the next thing.”
Levy said they do have plenty of internal meetings in which they discussed why they were focused on a bad back-up quarterback on a bad team. But like he said, ESPN is in the entertainment and information business, and it’s the material that moves numbers. So the news and information consumer is seeking out this type of content.
“the numbers bare that out,” Levy continued
“I saw all this criticism, a couple years ago when we were in Tebow mania, and were at Jets camp,” Scott said.
“And like he said, we’re not making this up, Tim Tebow for whatever he was or was not as a quarterback, is there any argument that he was not polarizing? Is there any argument that Johnny Manziel is not a polarizing figure?
“Lebron James is a polarizing figure. People will watch what they do, because they either want to laugh at it, criticize it, love it, engulf it or damn the people who are showing it, they will watch. Period. And yes, the ratings bare that out.”
Then Levy chimed in with this:
“We’re not saying that we weren’t personally tired of presenting it. We get that too. But our mantra is to serve the sports fan, and the numbers said more Tim Tebow, and that’s what our job is, to be professional.”
I get it too. I’m tired of writing about Danica. I’m tired of writing about the driver who finishes in 27th place every week.
Remember this is show-business. The news business is show business. It’s a shame that journalism isn’t more publicly funded and non-profit. Because news and information serves a public interest. In a perfect world, this presentation of information would be free from the need to be marketable and profitable.
“At the end of the day, SportsCenter is the thing that drives the bus,” Scott said.
(More ESPN, Bristol, SportsCenter etc. We go “inside the numbers.” That post has zero Manziel references by the way)
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also a frequent guest on national talk radio. Banks, a former contributor to NBC Chicago and the Washington Times, has been featured in numerous outlets including NFL.com, Forbes and the History Channel. President Barack Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)
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