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http://awfulannouncing.com/nfl/espn...e-great-nfl-draft-ratings-battle-of-2018.html

ESPN tops Fox and NFL Network in the great NFL Draft ratings battle of 2018

It seemed this spring as though everyone and their mothership was airing the NFL Draft. ESPN and NFL Network were set to broadcast the event as usual, while Fox committed to simulcast NFL Network’s coverage (and lend Troy Aikman to the cause), ESPN announced it would produce an alternate telecast for ESPN2, and ABC agreed to air the ESPN broadcast of rounds 4-7. It all seemed like a lot. Maybe too much.

Well, with the draft’s first day in the books, we have a scoreboard on the inter-network battle for viewers. Per The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch, ESPN earned a 3.9 overnight rating for its coverage, while Fox pulled a 2.9, and NFL Network slid in with a 1.5.
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http://awfulannouncing.com/espn/doris-burke-worried-contract-situation-perception-among-peers.html

ESPN’s Doris Burke is worried about her contract situation, perception among peers as she gets older

ESPN NBA analyst Doris Burke was the subject of a favorable profile in the New York Times this weekend. Writer Noam Schieber pointed out the admiration and respect that Burke draws from NBA stars such as Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the attention she gets from fans throughout the league.

But the feature also raised an issue currently weighing on Burke’s mind: her contract situation. “My contract ends Oct. 31,” she told Schieber. “It’s very anxiety-producing.”

Considering the positive attention that Burke receives for her work on ESPN, it’s difficult to imagine that the network would let her go. There would almost certainly be backlash among NBA fans and players, even if she were to land at, say, Turner as a game analyst.

Burke’s contract doesn’t expire for another six months, so ESPN may not see any urgency in renewing an agreement right now. Although there would be nothing but positive publicity to gain from such a gesture, especially while fans and media are currently watching the NBA playoffs. And ESPN has been a proponent of female broadcasters, most recently with Beth Mowins calling a Monday Night Football season opener and Jessica Mendoza being part of the Sunday Night Baseball booth.

Yet changes at the network — notably James Pitaro taking over as network president — have made her nervous about a renewal. She also took notice of Fox Sports Southwest moving analyst Stephanie Ready back to a sideline reporter role for Charlotte Hornets broadcasts before this season.

Additionally, Burke would like to work until she’s 60 (Burke is currently 52), but knows that women on television don’t typically work at that age, unlike their male counterparts. (She was rather candid on the subject during a recent interview on HBO’s Real Sports.) That has made her even more anxious about making a mistake on the air and being compared to fellow ESPN analysts like Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson.

Burke seemingly has nothing to worry about concerning her job status, but isn’t taking anything for granted. Just in case, she may want to take a copy of this NYT profile into negotiations, just in case there is any question about the work she puts in for every game and how hard she had to work to get that coveted analyst gig.
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http://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/23440573/ufc-espn+-reach-multiyear-media-rights-agreement

Deal calls for 15 live 'UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night' events per year

The Walt Disney Company and UFC have reached a multiyear deal to bring exclusive, live UFC Fight Night events to ESPN+, effective January 2019.

ESPN announced the new partnership Tuesday. The deal, which is the first media-rights agreement between ESPN and UFC, calls for up to 15 live "UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night" events per year, with 12 bouts on each card.

"UFC is a premier global sports property with legions of incredibly avid fans," ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro said. "We are excited to be able to bring their world-class events and content to ESPN+ and ESPN Networks. This agreement shows the commitment we have to delivering fans the very best across our entire platform."

In addition to live events, ESPN will air UFC content across multiple platforms, including a 30-minute special prior to every UFC pay-per-view event. Re-airs of previous fights will also be made available on ESPN platforms.

ESPN+ will also carry the UFC's Dana White Tuesday Night Contender Series, beginning in June 2019.

"I couldn't be more excited to partner with The Walt Disney Company and ESPN on an agreement that will continue to grow our sport," said White, the UFC president. "UFC has always done deals with the right partners at the right time and this one is no exception. We will now have the ability to deliver fights to our young fan base wherever they are and whenever they want. This deal is a home run for ESPN and UFC."

The Walt Disney Company launched ESPN+, its direct-to-consumer platform, last month. The UFC will continue to operate its direct-to-consumer platform, UFC Fight Pass, as well.

The UFC is coming off a seven-year, exclusive media rights deal with Fox, which was signed in 2011. That deal placed the UFC on network television for the first time in its relatively young history. The UFC was founded in 1993.
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http://awfulannouncing.com/espn/aft...uis-riddick-gets-new-extension-from-espn.html

After being passed over for Monday Night Football analyst role, Louis Riddick gets new extension from ESPN


Louis Riddick did not get the job he wanted, as an analyst on Monday Night Football, but he did get a new multi-year extension and an expanded role, ESPN announced Tuesday.

Per ESPN, Riddick will now appear live on-site on the network’s MNF halftime and postgame shows alongside Suzy Kolber and Steve Young. He will also continue to appear on Sunday NFL Countdown, NFL Live and NFL Matchup, as well as SportsCenter, Get Up and various ESPN Radio programs.

“Every day Louis is on ESPN, he makes viewers smarter about football,” Seth Markman, senior coordinating producer for ESPN’s NFL studio shows, said in a release. “He has earned this opportunity to expand his already prominent role, and our MNF audience will benefit from his insights, analysis and perspective.”

Though Riddick’s new role is a good one, it’s not the one he really wanted. The longtime analyst and insider made clear in recent months, both publicly and privately, that he wanted the MNF analyst jobs that eventually went to Jason Witten and Booger McFarland. In an interview with Richard Deitsch of The Athletic earlier this year, Riddick said he considered MNF “the pinnacle of broadcasting” and that he considered a role on the broadcast a long-term goal of his.

Although Riddick did not wind up securing the job, he did receive rave reviews from play-by-play man Joe Tessitore, whom he auditioned alongside. Via The Athletic:

On ESPN front office insider Louis Riddick: “The most unique perspective of anybody who called a game, from the front office stuff and knowing the league inside and out. He didn’t just speak X/O and not just big picture but player development, technique. You can go in any direction with Lou. It does not matter. I found it fascinating to work with him.”

Riddick joined ESPN in 2013 after a career as an NFL player, scout and director of pro personnel. Over the last few years, he has established himself as one of the media’s sharpest football minds, offering both Xs and Os analysis and broader insights into how the NFL operates. His role at ESPN has grown gradually over that time, to the point where he is now a staple of the network’s Super Bowl-week team, its draft coverage and its NFL studio lineup. And his stock seems to be trending upward, MNF booth role or not.
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http://awfulannouncing.com/espn/bom...orres-new-show-has-a-name-and-debut-date.html

Bomani Jones and Pablo Torre’s new show has a name and a debut date


More than a year and a half after it was first rumored and nearly a year to the date after it was officially announced, the upcoming ESPN show with Bomani Jones and Pablo Torre has a name and a start date.

ESPN announced Tuesday that the show will be called “High Noon (9 a.m. Pacific)” — yes, that’s the full name — and will debut Monday, June 4.

The show will air live from New York between 12 and 1 p.m. ET on ESPN.

High Noon (9 a.m. Pacific) has been a long time coming. We first heard that ESPN was weighing a Bomani-Pablo show back in October 2016, and after months of rumors, the network officially announced it in May 2017. It was originally supposed to debut in January, but construction delays at ESPN’s new New York studio pushed back the date. By the time the show actually starts, it will have been more than a year since it was first announced.

ESPN still hasn’t revealed much about High Noon, but based on interviews Torre and Jones have done, it sounds as if the show will feature longer-form discussion about subjects that interest the hosts. Appearing on The Tony Kornheiser Show last week, Torre said High Noon will be different from shows like PTI that bounce from topic to topic every few minutes.

“We are making a fundamental bet on the idea that there are a couple things that are underrated or at least useful in an age when attention spans have sort of been recognized as so short,” Torre said. “Television has been optimized, thanks to Erik [Rydholm], thanks to the internet, into a serving economy. It’s tight, it’s quick, we anticipate you’re going to tune out. And right now we’re betting that maybe we don’t have to do that. That there’s an audience in this world of great fragmentation for someone who may want what we have to ramble about for 22 minutes.”

“Now, all of that is to say, that sounds like a terrible strategy if that doesn’t work,” he said, “but if it does, we’ll be visionaries.”

Torre is right that the stakes are high. With ESPN’s morning show Get Up struggling in its early weeks (in terms of both ratings and reviews), the network could really use a win. In the 12 p.m. ET time slot, High Noon doesn’t have to appeal to everyone, but it does have to find a core audience that will tune in regularly enough to make all this build-up worth the trouble.

There’s reason for optimism though. Jones and Torre have an intriguing concept, an imminent start date and a name that makes viewers feel as though they’re getting away with something. That’s a pretty good start.
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http://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/23581729/espn-ufc-reach-five-year-television-rights-deal

ESPN to broadcast 30 UFC events per year during 5-year deal

ESPN and the UFC have agreed to a five-year deal that will bring the mixed-martial arts league's entire rights package to ESPN in 2019, according to ESPN and multiple reports.

This new agreement follows a deal announced earlier this month between ESPN and UFC. The entire package will cost $1.5 billion over five years.

Variety first reported on the agreement early Wednesday morning.

The deal consists of 30 UFC Fight Night events per year, including 10 main cards on ESPN's television networks. The other 20 will stream on ESPN+, the company's newly launched streaming service.

UFC Fight Night events consist of 12 bouts.

Additionally, ESPN networks will air preliminary bouts prior to 12 pay-per-view events in 2019.

Fox Sports, the UFC's exclusive rights partner since 2011, was originally interested in staying in business with the UFC until NBC declined its option to match for WWE's "SmackDown Live" and Fox won those rights instead.

The domestic television deal with ESPN should bring further stability to the UFC's profits, as it has historically relied heavily on a pay-per-view model. That model is volatile, due to the possibility of proven stars losing or retiring and injuries, among other factors.
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http://awfulannouncing.com/espn/esp...-ratings-dont-improve-by-football-season.html

ESPN will reportedly make significant changes to Get Up if ratings don’t improve by football season


ESPN’s morning show Get Up has not gotten off to the start anyone in Bristol hoped it would. Ratings were low right from the start and haven’t improved much since. According to @ DidGetUpGet300K, a Twitter account dedicated entirely to tracking how many people watch Get Up, the show has cracked 300,000 viewers only nine times in 41 shows. Whether because of narratives around the show, competition with SportsCenter on ESPN2 or the actual content of the program, Get Up isn’t finding an audience, isn’t generating buzz and certainly isn’t justifying its massive cost and rollout.

So with all that in mind, it’s no surprise that ESPN seems to be getting antsy. Per Michael McCarthy of Sporting News, the network has circled September 6, the start of the NFL season, as the date by which Get Up must turn around its ratings. If things don’t improve by then, McCarthy reports, ESPN brass could make some dramatic changes, including to the show’s cast.

The result? The expensive “Get Up” is on a short leash, sources said. No, it won’t be canceled this year. But if the show doesn’t jell by the Sep. 6 kickoff of the NFL season, look for changes in front of and behind the camera, sources said.

Football season is when sports talks shows make their money. “Get Up” show-runners might add a fourth football expert alongside Beadle and Rose, who also co-star on “NBA Countdown.” Possible candidates include ESPN football analysts Ryan Clark, Booger McFarland and Damien Woody.

ESPN executive Connor Schell confirmed to McCarthy that the network had its eyes on football season but characterized Get Up not as a disaster but as a work in progress.

As ESPN’s executive vice president of content, Connor Schell serves as the network’s top programming czar. Schell won’t say whether ESPN is planning major changes to “Get Up.” But that wouldn’t be unusual for a new show still finding its way.

“This is a work in progress. That’s what any new show is. It’s not the same as Day 1. In fact, in many cases on a daily show, your first show is the worst one. Then you go, ‘OK, this felt comfortable, we’re going to do this, we’re going to move a little faster here, this segment worked,'” Schell said. “That’s a process that we want to give time to and let some smart talented people think about it and iterate it. I don’t mean for that to sound like a canned answer. It’s true. It’s what we said going in.”

Even as Schell tries to play things cool here, it’s clear that the stakes are pretty high for Get Up. ESPN spent a lot of money and marketing capital on this show, while moving three highly successful broadcasters (in co-hosts Michelle Beadle, Jalen Rose and Mike Greenberg) off well-regarded programs. If ESPN were forced to give up on Get Up, not long after ending the long-hyped SC6, that would mark two straight years that the network invested heavily in a show only to can it, which would send a troubling message about its ability to produce and promote well-watched talk shows.

As ESPN guru Jim Miller said last month in discussing Get Up, “This network needs to be able to deliver a successful show. It’s just as simple as that.”
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http://awfulannouncing.com/fox/joy-taylor-the-herd-jenny-taft-holly-sonders-undisputed.html

Joy Taylor could be heading to The Herd

It looks like Fox is preparing to fill the role Kristine Leahy left in April as The Herd‘s update anchor, and it may be a familiar face stepping in. Michael McCarthy of The Sporting News writes that Undisputed moderator Joy Taylor “is poised to succeed Leahy as Cowherd’s news desk/update anchor partner” on the FS1 show. Taylor guest-hosted that show on Friday. If she does make the jump, McCarthy adds that candidates to follow her on Undisputed include Jenny Taft and Holly Sonders:

If and when Taylor leaves “The Herd,” two possible candidates to succeed her on “Undisputed” are Jenny Taft and Holly Sonders, sources said. Fox Sports declined to comment Monday.

Taft has served as a fill-in host on both “Undisputed” and “The Herd.” This summer, she’ll contribute to Fox Sports’ coverage of the 2017 FIFA World Cup Russia. The former college lacrosse player has also worked as a sideline reporter for the network’s college football and soccer coverage, and as field reporter at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

Sonders made her name on The Golf Channel before joining Fox Sports. She’s currently one of the announcers on Fox’s USGA golf coverage. She also serves as a sideline reporter for NFL on Fox game telecasts.

Yes, that should be the 2018 World Cup, but who’s counting? McCarthy adds that the role on The Herd is seen as a promotion, which is interesting. Yes, it occasionally allows for interjections of opinion and so on, as Leahy showed during her time there, but there’s a whole lot of the show where the update anchor hasn’t been seen or heard relative to Undisputed. But being the moderator on a debate show isn’t always the most fulfilling job either, and it’s been a pathway to bigger things for some who have held that role
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http://awfulannouncing.com/espn/esp...ke-who-will-continue-as-nba-game-analyst.html

ESPN announces multi-year extension with Doris Burke, who will continue as NBA game analyst


The most popular woman at ESPN is not going anywhere.

ESPN announced Monday that it has reached a multi-year extension with NBA analyst/reporter Doris Burke, who has contributed to the network since 1991. Under her new deal, Burke will continue to serve as a regular NBA game analyst, a role she debuted in this past season, while also working the sidelines for ESPN’s NBA conference finals and finals coverage.

“It is hard to put into words how grateful I am to continue my career with ESPN,” Burke said in a release. “I’ve loved basketball my entire life and to be able to cover this sport is a privilege that I don’t take for granted. My love for the game, and for my colleagues, both in front of the camera and behind-the-scenes, make this job such a rewarding experience every day.”

Added ESPN executive vice president Connor Schell: “Doris is exceptional at what she does. Her ability, knowledge, passion and versatility are virtually unmatched and it’s evident every time she calls a game. She is dedicated to documenting the sport for the fans in the most prepared and informed manner possible. Our NBA coverage is better because of Doris and we’re thrilled that she’ll be with us for a long time to come.”

Burke, 52, had previously expressed some concern about her contract status at ESPN, perhaps related to her observation that women on television are often held to standards of appearance that men are not.

In the end, however, ESPN was not going to let go of “the LeBron James of sportscasters,” especially not if doing so would allow her to wind up at a rival network such as Turner Sports. Burke has been a staple of ESPN’s NBA coverage for years and seems to grow only more popular the longer she is on air. Given how her role has expanded over the years, it’s not crazy to assume she’s next in line for a game-analyst role on ESPN’s top NBA broadcast team, which could become open if Jeff Van Gundy and/or Mark Jackson takes another head coaching job.

Burke has said she hopes to remain on television until she is 60. With Monday’s news, it seems likely that ESPN will be happy to have her at least that long.
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