Time for some quick sports media thoughts. As always, they come in bullet form.
- The free agent frenzy at ESPN is over. Overall, ESPN lost two out of three major free agents, Erin Andrews and Michelle Beadle while keeping Scott Van Pelt. Beadle and Van Pelt were not surprises, but Andrews’ departure can be classified as a mild one. The fact that Erin decided to leave and part ways after ESPN aggressively tried to keep her shows me that the network still valued her, however, Fox stepped up wupith a role she felt comfortable with.
As Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch reported on Sunday, one of Erin’s goals was to work on the NFL, an opportunity that she was passed over at ESPN. She’ll now have that chance at Fox plus some postseason MLB work as well.
ESPN tome co-author James Andrew Miller tweeted that one could consider that both Erin and Micelle came out winners.
- Nice to see that NBC pulled tape delayed shenanigans for the U.S. Olympic Trials. The West Coast had to wait three hours to watch the gymnastics, swimming, and track & field trials over the last week. NBC will argue that the trials were available live across the country online, but that’s not good enough in this age.
- Great job by ESPN’s soccer unit on EURO 2012. Great coverage. World Cup 2014 in Rio is next.
- Starting today and going through Wednesday, ESPN and ESPN2 will have simultaneous coverage of Wimbledon with the Mothership focusing on Centre Court and the Deuce airing outer court action. It will be a tennis smorgasbord.
- Is there a more overblown event than The ESPY’s? Who votes on the awards? Does anyone think they make any sense?
- A couple of non-sports media thoughts: Ann Curry got screwed by NBC over the Today show and I like “The Newsroom” on HBO.
- Lastly, can we get Bonnie Bernstein a role on the Olympics? Or at least have her host a major network NFL studio show? Please?
Enjoy your Monday or least try to enjoy it.
