Monday, July 30, 2007

ESPN'S PROGRAMMING DOES NOT AFFECT IT'S NEWS COVERAGE: NOPE, NOT AT ALL

Picking on ESPN is far too easy these days, and that's not what we're about here at GS. (Until Stuart Scott sends a text message; then we're totally all over it). But like many people, we can't help but sometimes feel that the Worldwide Leader is pushing their programming down our throat. Case in point, this screen grab from the .com on Sunday afternoon: NASCAR's Allstate 400 as the main story, and the "ArenaBowl" with prominent placement above all the day's news headlines. Far be it for us to question the importance of those two sporting events -- hey, some people really like NASCAR! -- but we have to wonder how much influence ESPN's programming contracts have over their news coverage.

As most people know, ESPN acquired a minority stake in the AFL back in December, and is now back in the fold with broadcasting NASCAR races. This naturally causes a curious conflict of interest for the Four Letter, and it perturbs us just a bit when we see this in action. But hey, the Sabercats and the Destroyers deserve their day in the spotlight too, we suppose, even if nobody is watching.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

this is absolutely the case. Espn is like the microsoft of sports. Whatever they offer us, we are forced to consume, or to have nothing at all. (except maybe foxsports but thats terrible, thats like buying a mac)

Funny article about the same thing.
http://www.thebrushback.com/pity_full.htm

friarfan04 said...

who cares?

Unknown said...

apparently you, considering you took the time to post a comment about the story

Anonymous said...

i would think he were a troll if he wasn't already a contributor.