fbpx
Friday, March 29, 2024

Korked Bats

That Funny Sports Blog

Sports Radio Continues Its Descent To More Of The Same With ESPN Cutting Ties With Dan Le Batard

Dan Le Batard is officially in his last month at ESPN.

The familiar radio voice and TV host will leave the company after a final day of shows — “The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz” and “Highly Questionable” — on Jan. 4, Le Batard and ESPN announced on Thursday.

The Post’s Andrew Marchand reported last month that a breakup was likely coming and on Thursday, ESPN executive vice president and executive editor Norby Williamson said in a statement that the network and Le Batard had “mutually agreed” to move on.

via New York Post

About six months ago when ESPN completely lampooned their national radio lineup, I wrote about how dumb it was. Little did I know the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network would only continue their descent into dumber.

Dan Le Batard is gone. And it’s a shame. Not just for him and his show, but for sports talk radio as a whole.

Say what you will about Le Batard; you can love him, you can hate him, but you can’t argue with his success in the industry. His show is perpetually recognized as the highest rated sports talk radio show in the country. He has more of a cult-like following for his show than any sports talk radio show since Jim Rome and his clones. It’s unreal how strong and powerful his listening audience is, and how much they ban together – much like the clones. No other shows have anything close to that. And that is such a powerful selling tool. Dan may not be your cup of tea, but he was most of America’s. In large part because his show is the most self-aware show in the history of radio.

But unfortunately, the world of sports talk radio wants more Colin Cowherds. And that isn’t a shot at Cowherd, either. He’s one of my favorite sports talk radio hosts in the country. But you’re not tuning in to The Herd for entertainment or fun, you’re tuning in for a sports TED Talk.

Does Dan talk a lot about politics and social issues? Sure. More than he should? Maybe. But that one’s tougher to answer considering how the line between the two has blurred over the last few years. Especially this year. Do I agree with every stance he takes? Not necessarily, but I still listen, because knowing differing opinions is a healthy way to go about life. If you don’t like listening to him because of #politics, that’s more on you. I’m sure you also block people on Twitter if they post something negative about the person you voted for.

But again, that was the thing that made him stand out. He was different. The show could be in a serious discussion about the pandemic one second, and then mocking Stugotz for mispronouncing a word the next. From Greg Cote’s Back In My Day, to the animal doctor Ron Magill, to the shipping container chiming in, that show is unlike anything else on the radio.

And there in lies its biggest problem. ESPN doesn’t want different. They want the same. Ever notice their TV lineup? There’s Get Up where people debate, followed by SportsCenter where highlights have been cut so people can debate, PTI where people debate, Around The Horn where people debate, even Highly Questionable where people debate. ESPN likes the same, and if you’re different, they’ll cut your show by an hour so they can make room for a radio show hosted by wet cardboard. Sorry, I mean, Mike Greenberg.

But that’s the thing. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know that different sells.

Howard Stern was different. (Not sports, but…)

Jim Rome was different.

Dan Le Batard was different.

Hell, even throw in Pardon My Take – it’s different.

And every single one of those shows not only rated extremely well – for years, but each one completely rewrote the industry. Apparently ESPN wants no part of that. ESPN – like most sports talk radio stations around the country – want more of the same. If you’re different, you’re doomed. If you can speak well, name all 32 NFL teams, and have little-to-no self-awareness, congrats! You will have a successful radio career! Or if you can’t do any of those things well, but you used to play a professional sport, congrats again! Because you, too, will have a successful radio career!

Don’t believe me? Fox Sports Radio is launching a new show this weekend hosted by LaVar Arrington, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, and Plaxico Burress. This show is probably going to be so entertaining! Also, I couldn’t have shot up that last sentence with more sarcasm even if I had a gun tucked in my sweatpants.

Fox Sports Radio VP of sports programming Scott Shapiro said, “LaVar, TJ, and Plaxico have such unique perspectives, which will make for a truly unique and entertaining listen. This is not going to sound like any other talk show.” Yes it will. It will sound like every other talk show. Because those men are football players, not creatives. Hell, even Scott Shapiro couldn’t sell it without using the same words more than once. He used “unique” twice in the first sentence of a prepared statement. Can’t wait to hear how unique and unique they are! My guess is they’re going to break down games by giving you their opinions and probably even give a score prediction that they’ll never revisit. And if they laugh during a segment, they’ll end the segment by saying something like, “That was fun! That was a fun segment!”

Image
Oh. Awesome. What a “must listen” guest lineup too……….

Sports talk radio has become so self-involved, there is absolutely no self-awareness anymore. Every show copies segments and bits from every other show around the country. There just very little fun. And in a year like 2020, fun is at more of a premium than toilet paper.

And that’s where Le Batard shined.

But ESPN felt the need to continue to shove that petrified tree bark named Mike Greenberg down our throats. Never in my life have I ever heard someone say, “Can’t wait to hear Mike Greenberg today!” And yet, ESPN keeps giving him front row seating like he’s Denzel at the Oscars.

Look, this isn’t the end of Dan Le Batard, but it is the end of his show being at peak accessibility. ESPN is the mountaintop, so they can offer you Dan in so many different ways. Now, obviously, over the last few months, they did everything in their power to destroy the show and its ratings by moving it exclusively to ESPN+, shortening the show by an hour, and hiding it on both the mobile and TV apps. It’d be like if the Dodgers kept Mookie Betts on the bench, only giving him spot starts and pinch-hit at bats. Personally, I’m looking forward to this next chapter for Dan. Glad he’s out of the abusive relationship with a spouse who doesn’t appreciate how great he is. Because ESPN letting Le Batard walk is like the Red Sox trading Mookie Betts. He’s only going to have more success at his next stop. ESPN not realizing what they have and letting Dan walk feels like when Blockbuster scoffed at buying Netflix. That turned out well.

Frankly, ESPN doesn’t deserve the E in their name, because there is very little entertainment in the programs they produce.

Put it on the poll, Guillermo. Does ESPN deserve the E in their name?

Austin

Austin hosts a country music morning radio show in Chicago after nearly a decade in sports talk radio (The Jim Rome Show, Steve Gorman SPORTS!) Colin Cowherd and Smash Mouth follow him on Twitter and he wears pants every day.

Austin

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.