Saw this on Twix last night, and I’m curious as to your thoughts.
Admittedly, I’ve been mostly focused on Georgia games only so I haven’t seen the traditional “prime time” game that would’ve been the CBS game, but so far I have to say:
- Still hate the graphics
- Hate the intro music
- The Tennessee Tech broadcast was the worst I’ve ever experienced
- Still feels like I’m watching something that’s being broadcast on European TV, like it’s a hijacked broadcast or something
I used to have an idea that they should have an alternate broadcast that people could tune in to that was hosted by die-hard fans only, who had also been drinking all morning leading up to the game. I think it would be filled with colorful language and the appropriate amount of home-cooking commentary to make it entertaining. You could even put them in the booth with rival fans to make it even more interesting. Somewhere in the middle of it someone would likely start playing Skynyrd or something and they’d probably talk about their ex or their wife and start rambling while not even noticing the game was occurring.
And it still would be on par or better than what I’ve seen so far.
That’s my humble opinion, but I’m interested to hear about it from you. Have at it in the comments, scamps.
ESPN is the devil 👿
No, Disney is the devil and ESPN is evil spawn.
it has only increasingly fueled my disdain for ESPN. its mostly unwatchable. the tickertape info/updates at the bottom of the screen are the only thing worth viewing. at ESPN, college football is a popularity contest.
Fingers on a chalkboard is more easily listened to than Kirk Herbstreit’s “analysis.” I never was a fan of Gary Danielson’s delivery style or his blatant Bama @$$-kissing, but the guy could break down a replay and tell you exactly what happened and, more importantly, why it happened. I know some have thought Brad Nessler has lost a step on the PbP side, but he’s still so much better than Chris Fowler.
Calling Auburn fans “sophisticated” for booing an injured Georgia player made gary dead to me, permanently.
That’s fair. FThatMF.
I’ve been saying this for a while, but it’s not just the people involved that make the ESPN or ABC broadcast worse than CBS. It’s the quality of the production, the clarity of the audio, and even the number of cameras for replay purposes. It’s a dramatically worse product, and I blame Sankey for putting all his eggs in the same turd-basket.
CBS production for USC-Michigan was incredible, just like they used to do for us.
One thing I have noticed about ABC that might be a reason for the “lack of feel” is they are just rushing from one game to another to another, makes it hard for a big game to stand out – will be interesting to see what they do Saturday evening….
PS, don’t you love knowing Auburn is in the “late” (i.e., non-noon) window though???? Doesn’t that really help you plan ahead for next week???
Ditto. ABC/ESPN really threads the needle on getting maximum ad play, you can tell the guys in the booth are sometimes surprised/startled when they have to go to break or come out of a break. The day games on both networks are noticeably “cut up” with very few replays, analysis, crowd shots, etc. No effort to capture the “ambiance”. The “prime time” night games with Kirk and Chris are better than the day games though. They still gloss over the emotions of the environment, CBS used to use it to fuel the broadcast.
Just my thoughts, it would take a lot more words for me to really convey what I notice, mostly because it’s about everything BUT when the ball is in play and the game clock is live. Hard to capture what I think they are doing.
And I hate the ticker at the bottom. CBS always had the game score in a bar near the bottom but that was it, the ESPN screen feels “tight” to me, as if I could see more if they removed all of their other stuff.
You are absolutely spot on. With CBS, you almost felt like you were at the game. With ABC it sounds like they have the crowd noise tamped down so the game doesn’t distract from their all-star broadcast team. The whole production on CBS was FAR superior. Losing that intro music alone was a travesty.
Agree with everything you just said.
I have no love for ESPN. Hell, I cant stand most of the commentators like Palmer or Tessitore (this guy really gets on my f’ing nerves. Every play he crescendos his voice – “He got a… 2 YARD GAIN!!!!”). But I also don’t miss Danielson either. I flipped to some of the USC/Mich game and I actually had forgotten that CBS was the Big 10 partner so when I heard Nessler/Danielson I was surprised. Up to this point, I haven’t watch a single Big 10 game.
Looking through the TV ratings every week, CBS has been taking a beating. All the Disney owned channels have much higher draws than the CBS games. CBS should finally have a sizeable bump with the USC/Mich game that was on last week. But then it will be back to another crappy game next week. I bet if you asked CBS now about renegotiating SEC TV rights and could get them to answer truthfully, they would say they should have bid more.
The only ABC worth caring about, is what CKS does, other than that….watching how the wwl performs broadcasting other sporting related events, give ’em a chance and they’ll fuck it up….GO DAWGS!!
The CBS trumpet Blair just makes things feel exciting and unique. Plus the camera work is superior and Vern/Nessler knew how to let moments breath while ESPN guys just have to blather through everything non-stop. Danielson is predictive, Herbstreit rambles on the obvious. He seldom brings any insight most fans don’t already know.
“blare”. Stupid autocorrect.
Blather works too.
True. I will say this though. Kirk was spot on calling the OU flop “injury” as “unethical has hell” was a great call. Yes, statement of the obvious, but objecting and point out how obvious it is will hopefully continue to presser the powers that be that it must be addressed.
ESpN and all its family of stations are like a punk ass, richie rich teenage kid with a brand new porsche that has no fucking idea how to drive it but wants to look cool when he rolls up to the local hang out at krystal.
Hell Jefferson Pilot was easier on the eyes and ears.
Free advice to all espn announcers…cut what you want to say in half and then cut it in half again and it may be better. why why why do they fill the need to talk over every second – especially when what they are saying is straight from the pages of the capt obvious bible.
how many time are they going to have to extend the “3:30pm” game start time…i have seen it the past two wks in a row.
they are greedy, incompetent fucks that don’t give two shits about the viewing experience of their customers.
The Michigan vs. USC made me sad. The CBS production value is unrivaled. No matter how big the match up, ESPN just isn’t on the same level.
The Tennessee Tech broadcast reminded me of an in house high school newscast. Had me longing for Jefferson Pilot.
Anyone know how long the contract is with ABC?
Tooooooooo friggin’ loooong…in the sec “where it ju$t mean$ more”, that contract will get extended, then, when sec expansion happens (and it will), that thing will get renewed or extended, which ever sucks less….GO DAWGS!!
I usually listen to Screamin’ Scott with the TV turned down – a throwback to Munson days and the best of several bad options.