This is more true than you know. Look at content on television and in movies. When something works - even for a moment - it is regurgitated and sold back to you a dozen times in a dozen different packages. (How many CSI and NCIS shows do we honestly need?) What yields the biggest return on investment? What gets eyeballs? Once a trend is found, whoever can produce it is rewarded. You can see that trend all the way down to social sites like YouTube or Vine - each successful video a clone of another.Read this morning that Fox Sports will be paying Skip in the neighborhood of $5.5 million per year for 4 years + $4 million signing bonus. Now we know why it seems all these tv "analysts" i.e. Galloway and Kanell are trying to see who can be the biggest gasbag..
Bayless was one year behind me in HS. Surprise, he was an arrogant goof back then too.
I don't think anyone takes issue with the format. Most folks on here don't go ballistic over "Around The Horn" or other similar show setups. Like you said, it's planned to be "confrontational". It's his particular brand of logic and debate that I find egregious. I also take into account that he's more than likely forced to oppose or defend points that he doesn't agree with. Even though some don't care for Stephen A. Smith (and I don't always agree with him) his logic is typically more sound and he's far more nuanced in his arguments - as nuanced as you probably can be in the 5 minutes given to attack or defend a point.He's just done the job he's been asked to do. If he and Stephen A. agreed on a subject then the conversation immediately becomes boring. So ESPN eliminates that possibility.
It's not rocket science. The networks do what they have to do to create controversy and attract viewers.
That's why there's a CNN versus a Fox News. Probably half the journalists on CNN are conservatives and half the journalists on Fox News are Liberals. They're doing what the network asks them to do. It's a planned format.
It's their job.
It's nothing personal.
sip
I like Trent. He will land somewhere. He is the only superbowl wining quarterback that was traded after the season.http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/sec-football/trent-dilfer-espn/
Appears Trent Dilfer is on his way out as well. I believe Colin Cowherd was right when he said (last week) that ESPN swung and missed on their deal with the NBA. He said they overpaid to the tune of $400MM and weren't getting the results they thought. I tend to agree with that because I've noticed on shows like First Take, Pardon the Interruption, Around the Horn they have been very NBA driven no matter what the hot news of the day or week has been. They are force feeding the NBA down people's throats. So Cowherd's assessments seems to make sense.